Reading Outside During Bittersweet Autumn

"He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding..." ... Daniel 2:21

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Autumn! Beautiful, but bittersweet and no longer my favorite, Spring having that distinction because of whole months ahead of gorgeous Buffalo weather. Summer this year, oh my... I'd step outside and suddenly feel catapulted to 1969 and being ten again when Summer mornings wreaked of freedom. 

I think our air here contains high levels of pixie dust. Something's going on, something working in tandem with God's setting and keeping me free, that is.

My vintage Scholastic books arrived yesterday as Tom and I ate dinner while watching The Mentalist, so color me delirious.

These are the kinds of books which keep my personal world humming peacefully, not spinning all war and crime-like, matching this outside world of ours. I won't let that stuff in. 

These are the books I'll read/reread first:

If you need to find me, I'll be out on our front porch (we're expecting nine rainless days, something we've not had since 2013), with my books and mid-70's temps with tons of sunshine and trust me, before it all evaporates into blue-crusted snow, I'll be soaking up all that perfection, smiling like a Cheshire cat and thanking God for every moment as though it was a gift from Him. 

Because they are, you know, and I'm determined to never ignore one good present from His fingers.

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"Oh give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever."   ... Psalm 136:1

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."

Melody Beattie

“At no other time (than Autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honeysweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost.” 
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters on Cezanne

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Free Kindle Books:

Misadventures of a 1970's Childhood

Let's Meet In The Kitchen

“Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile."

[Indian Summer]” 
― William Cullen Bryant