Hello All! It's such a beautiful autumn Saturday here in Northwest PA! Almost too nice to be indoors. There won't be many more of these kinds of days before "Ol' Man Winter" awakens. While the autumn colors are beautiful - although not as vibrant as I've seen other years, most likely due to the hot, humid summer we had - it's been a melancholy, reflective time for me. The past two autumns, as I eagerly and excitedly raked up leaves in my backyard, I'd be on the lookout for the most bright, vibrant leaves to package carefully in air-tight storage bags to be shipped to my dear sister/friend, Leslie...but this year that won't happen. So seeing the autumn leaves this year is a reminder of what I've lost. As I sit here looking at the autumn colors, I'm reminded of the hysterical laughter of the first year's package. I don't know if I laughed more at the fact that I was crazy enough to send something like leaves through the mail or if Leslie laughed more at receiving them! I clearly remember the look on the mail clerk's face that first year, when she asked me if there was anything fragile, flammable, perishable or liquid in the package and I said, "Nope, just fall leaves". I'm sure she thought I was crazy. I probably was...heck, I probably still am...but knowing that it made for a special surprise for Leslie made my craziness worth it. Then last fall, I packaged up more of the colorful leaves and sent them again - this time it was a delight for Leslie to share with her grandson, Tyler. She took pictures of the leaves scattered on her living room floor with Tyler amidst them. She even shared the leaves with the Kinder-kids in her class. So while it's been kind of bittersweet looking at the leaves and knowing that I won't be packaging up any to send through the mail this autumn, it's been nice to remember back to how rewarding something so simple delighted so many.
Stay tuned readers...I have a few new book reviews to share...
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