Stowing Unnecessary Baggage

Driving home from work today, I was dazzled by the breeze gently stripping leaves off of the trees.  Various colors of discarded foliage whipped across my path.  This, of course, is normal during Autumn, but I was taken aback by the beauty in discarded things.

For some reason, these days I've been feeling a burr under my pirate garb to discard many things in my life, namely clothes I don't wear anymore and so forth.  (Especially after the store changed the dress code.)  You get the idea, right?  Honestly, how much stuff does a pirate need?  The answer should be, only enough to carry aboard ship whilst sailing off on a new adventure.  But is that true?  Well, that's got me pondering again about life and what I want and need.

Why is my closet so full?  Why do I stash things under my bed?  (Besides 3 novels that will never see the light of day.)  Why must I cram other things in nooks and crannies to get them out of the way?  What do I do with normal decorations while I put out Christmas decorations?  And what's up with holding onto my kids things in the hopes that my grandchildren will play with them?  (They only want to learn to rove like Captain Mimi anyway.)

I digress... but you get the picture.

But today, I realized something as those leaves made their way lyrically through the air only to land in a heap on the ground.  We cast off from shore all the time, leaving behind old homes, towns, schools, friends, and least desired... family.  Yes, we entertain the notion that the grass is always greener on the other side.  We purchase and stash, purchase and stash.  We stand in long lines just for the chance to buy things on sale, even when we don't know if what we want will still be available.  All of this made more perfectly clear as this past weekend and Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping madness hit stride as stores opened on Thanksgiving night!

As I sit at my computer and listen to Baroque music while writing this post, it occurs to me that none of that stuff really matters.  As long as I have a crew to lead, a ship to sail, and a compass to point to what I want most, I'm content.

How do you deal with unnecessary baggage? 

Legends of the Fall

Fall is what it is, legends and all. (Cue Sleepy Hollow, Halloween & Thanksgiving)

The obvious and most notable change during autumn can be found in trees, old, new, Maple or Oak. Whatever genus, the colorful display never ceases to amaze. One can perfectly understand why Leaf Watching is so popular in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont, or anywhere else in the world, for that matter.

Here in Alabama, we take whatever pleasure we can get. Some seasons we're treated to a magestic display. Most of the time, we see leaves on the trees and then we don't. They're gone in a wink, floating on the breeze. No one likes to rake them up, but the piles are oh! so fun to jump on when the raking is done.

There's also nothing like walking on leaves in the woods. Brittle and noisy beneath adventurous feet, the world is a different place when a carpet of spent leaves covers the ground.

Leaves are symbolic of life. They wither and die only to be reborn in a fresh new display every spring, shielding heads from the heat of the day in summer or bracing against storms which pop up unannounced. Trees are a testament of time, patience and endurance. Like families do, branches spread out to cluster and build the canopy that protects the main stem.

As the years come and go, people are like seasons. Mankind goes through the same sort of metamorphosis. For many, Fall is a favorite time of life. Here children are grown, life settles down and couples share time alone for the first time in many, many years (unless your mother moves in). For me, Fall is Football, sweaters, boots, Burnt Sienna, Pumpkins, Spice, Cider, Hot Chocolate, everything that whispers winter is on its way. It's time to slow down, to take stock in the joys of life and remember to be thankful to God, those you love and those who've helped you get from Spring to Summer and Fall.

Julie Andrews sang about her favorite things in The Sound of Music. What are your favorite things about fall? What thrills you as winter approaches?