Enjoying the Season Day Five

Week One: Preparing Our Homes for the Season

Day 4 Turn on your Senses - A Taste of Fall

In my first entry for this series I encouraged to get your fall inspiration started by activating your gut...

"You can't follow your "gut" instincts in decorating and planning until your gut is activated. Have a mug of hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick stir stick, and maybe some sweet treat too while you peruse your magazines and books. (i Know that's the second time I suggested food and drink - I'm part Greek, can't help it)"

I truly believe that we were designed as holistic beings. Our designer made us respond to (and therefore be vulnerable to the effects of) a variety of different things and one of those is our sense of taste. I'm going to ask you to look elsewhere for inspiring recipes and things that would tempt you. I love to cook but rarely follow recipes, and rarely write down how I produced something so I'm no help there. However, I do love to look through cookbooks in the fall, especially slow cooker meals. I'm sure you've already got lots of cookbooks, so I send you to pull those out and get inspired...

My dad was a chef and I only remember a few of the bites of wisdom in the kitchen that he shared, but one of them was this... when you are cooking, pick up different ingredients and ask yourself "would a bite of these taste good together in my mouth without doing much to them?" If the answer is yes, then they'll work in the pot. He also said not to be afraid of herbs and spices and salt - seasoning's are supposed to highlight what's already in there. If you can't taste what you started with, you've used too much :) Such simple insights.

For example:

Succulent slightly salted Roast Beef + Coffee + Sweet Root Veggies Roasted with Caramelized Onions = perfection

Oven Roasted Apples + Cinnamon/ cloves, brown Sugar + Toasted Oats + dulche de leche = bliss

Winter Squash roasted with Nuts & spices mashed together + broth + aromatic veggies + whipped cream cheese = no soup left in the pot

You'll have a really hard time failing at this method but it does require imagination and knowing what good food tastes like in it's simplest form.

On the other side of this issue of taste...

I find it fascinating how I've been able to take so many of those words of wisdom in the kitchen from my dad and been able to apply them to so many other areas of life.

Take for example the thought of "would those things taste good together?" I actually apply it to design elements with colour. I love trying new colour combinations, and have often come up with combos I love long before the "trends" come out in magazines. I loved turquoise and brown and pink and brown long before they were popular, In fact, some friends and family at the time were like "umm, I don't know about that...". I stuck with it anyways, and then moved on to new things while the rest of the world followed the trend.

Also, the part about the seasoning... sometimes we "over dress" our homes. If you've invested in great "bones" like hardwood floors, crown mouldings, wood railings, paint, tiles and basic furniture pieces - let them shine, don't clutter them up with so much "stuff" that you can't appreciate the natural beauty already in the space. Sometimes its as simple as highlighting how the sun shines through a particular window...

Sometimes I end up feeling a little alone and like I've taken a "risk", which is uncomfortable. For example this year with my deep red, purple and mossy green colour combo in the living room...and then adding orange to it.

I try to listen to that inner voices' first "yes - I like this!" before I let my brain talk myself out of it because it's not "normal". What is normal really? Sometimes trusting your own tastes is lonely or uncertain, but you will never experience the thrill of trusting your gut, if you don't try it out and stick with it long enough to fall in love with it.

Enjoying the Season Day Four

Week One: Preparing Our Homes for the Season

Day 4 Turn on your Senses - What Does Fall Look Like to You?

Today I'm not going to talk about the sense of sight, but rather the sense of "insight". "In" sight is the ability to see beyond simply identifying what something is. It's a form of intelligence that must be harnessed. Part of it is perception (to become aware of something through the senses, esp. sight. to come to comprehend, grasp or apprehend).

How we choose to look at the world around us, the season we are in (perhaps both literally and figuratively), and them process them, effects how we LIVE our lives. This is one of my favourite quotes of all time. I first heard it on the movie The Dead Poets Society.

248. To the Virgins, to make much of Time

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,	5
The higher he 's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he 's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;	10
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,	15
You may for ever tarry. Robert Herrick

Autumn has the same span of months as the other three seasons, yet for some reason it often seems the shortest. We tend to "hold on" to summer as long as we can, and then winter has it's way and always arrives earlier than we like.

"There is a harmony
In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,
Which through the summer is not heard or seen,
As if it could not be, as if it had not been!"
- Percy Bysshe Shelley

The essence of Herricks verse is... don't do that. Know the time you are in, embrace it and make the most of it, because the passage of time slows for no one. You cannot "hold" summer longer without forfeiting the present and then sensing a greater loss, because you missed the harvest splendour.

Having gone through many changes in our personal lives, I can really identify with that sentiment. If I had let go of wonderful "seasons" of my life more easily, perhaps I could have enjoyed the transitions mroe and settled into the next season with ease. Instead I fought the changing times, and I missed the passing beauty and celebration. If I had let things go or "die" in their natural course, I would have been more prepared to embrace the "new life" before me. I find I'm getting better at this...

"I prefer winter and fall,

when you feel the bone structure of the landscape -

the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.
Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."
- Andrew Wyeth

So how do you see fall? Do you see the depth of the beauty, the signs indicating that another year is coming to a close. Do you reflect on the abundance you've had, the growth, the vitality you thrived in all summer?

When you compare the school pictures of your children from one September to the next, do you give your heart time to reflect? to grief? to hope? to cherish?

When you begin to clear your garden beds of the dying and spent foliage, do you take a moment to whisper your gratitude for the summer you had? For the growth you enjoyed? For the company you kept? or do you simply see another job to do in the yard?

That's what insight or perception is. It's simply looking past the simple visage, and apprehending the "something more". Sometimes that which is holy is found in the mundane simplicity of each day. We can travel the path of least resistance. It is more heavily trod afterall, and the passage through the seasons of life are probably "easier"; at the least we won't have to think much. Or we can choose the road less travelled. In doing so, we have to be aware of what's going on around us, in tune with our world, the passing of time and seasons and be at peace with it. It requires being uncomfortable at times, and awareness often brings pain and shadows. But it also brings great joy, celebration and hope.

The true beauty of fall is not only in the sunshine and colour of the leaves of a summer past. It is in the depth. The colour that becomes richer and deeper when the wind, the shadows and the approaching winter are also embraced without fear or remorse.

Enjoying the Season Day Three

"Autumn is the season for enjoying the fullness of life -- partaking of the harvest, sharing the harvest with others, and reinvesting and saving portions of the harvest for yet another season of growth." ~ Denis Waitley

Week One: Preparing Our Homes for the Season

Day 3 Turn on your Senses - The Sounds and Scents of Fall

True enjoyment comes in moments. What is a moment?

Moment

1. A very brief period of time.

2. An exact point in time.

It gives support to the idea that it only takes a moment to change your life. Some of those moments are BIG moments. The one when you meet "the one" and later when you hear or say "I love you"; the moment you say "I do"; the moment you see a + or - on a little white stick. The moment you say goodbye to someone forever. They are all moments preceded and followed by millions of other moments that maybe aren't so monumental... but does it matter.

A life is simply made up of millions of moments. Several months ago my friend Christina put this post on her blog and it's crossed my mind several times since. You should read it. She's a real deep thinker and it was a good one on the Choreography of life, moments and decisions.

So back to my post, I wanted to talk about moments because it only takes a moment to "enjoy" something with one or more of your senses. To smell something or hear something lovely. To taste something delicious, to touch, to remember, to know, to really see. We can go through life and miss so much because we don't fully live in the present. God has prepared beauty for us to experience in a continual, never ending stream. I believe when we live in that inspired place, that we live better lives, we take better care of the planet and the people in it simply because we are more aware of and intimately connected with it/them.

Furthermore, if the majority of the moments in our day are more "enjoyable", then would not our days be better, and therefore our lives be better overall?

We have 5 basic senses and a bunch of other ones that God placed in our souls through which we perceive and experience His creation. In the next few posts we'll be highlighting those senses and how to get the most out of our moments and live more fully in them.

Autumn Scents & Smells

According to science, your nose is at its best when you can tell the difference between 4000-10,000 smells. Our sense of smell is centered in the frontal lobe of our brain and is closely connected to our memory. It's important to invigorate our brains to remember happy things, and what we smell can help do just that. Supposedly, there are seven primary odors that we categorize various smells into. They are: Camphoric (Mothballs); Musk; Floral; Minty; Etheral (Cleaning Fluid); Pungent; Putrid

Interestingly enough, most of the fall smells people remark on, are in the "pungent" category (which includes spices like cinnamon). Things that "stand out" or slightly "sting" the nose. Seems after all the fun of summer, we're ready for something a little stronger, deeper even...

Think of...

School supplies (especially a new box of Crayola crayons); Smoky campfires; the musty, earthy smell of leaves gathered on the pavement, Mulled Spices & Apple Cider, Fresh Baked Pies and Breads, The musky depth of a rich red wine, the fresh smell of pine, The cool smell of the night just after the sky darkens, The nutty buttery smell of melted cheese

Around this time of year, we don't even have to be intentional about this. Surrounding yourself with spicy smelling candles can help for sure, but all we have to do is go outside and when we smell something, take the extra seconds to really savour it... the moments to make a difference in your day.

Autumn Sounds

The second sense that we don't even have to be intentional about is our hearing. The sounds of Autumn are everywhere you go, take the moments you are handed to really 'hear" what's going on in your world.It's fascinting to me how our hearing directly effects our sense of balance. I would dare mention perhaps both literally and figuratively. It's dependant on picking up "vibrations" in the air, which is another way of being "in tune" with your environment and life. Can you pick up on the song that your Creator is surrounding you with right now?

Canadian Geese honking; the crackling and snapping of an open flame; the brakes of School Buses on the road; the rustling leaves in the trees, bells pealing; slippers on the hardwood floor; the roar of football fans in a stadium, Chile boiling on the stove...

For each of us the things that we remember are different, but the point is to live in the present. Enjoy the fullness of the times we are in right now. The point is to savour those moments with the senses and let it carry over into the rest of the moments that make up your day.

Enjoy!

Fully Enjoying the Season - Day Two

Week One: Preparing Our Homes for the Season

Day 2 Set some dates for fall get-togethers

I tend to listen to women who are older than me, who've been married longer than me and who've successfully raised children. My radar always goes up when they offer simple tips. One of those tips I heard years ago was "you are more motivated to get more things done when you know people are coming over". So set some dates and get yourself going.

That's obviously not the only reason I set dates, but it's sure a great little side benefit.

The main reason we need to set dates is so that we can actually ENJOY the best of the season with the people that make our life great. Fall is already full of festive reasons to get together like the Harvest, Homecoming, Thanksgiving and Halloween.

There's also little reasons like going back to school, the changing of the colours, football so why not maximize it?

The changing season usually drives us in two directions.

It drives us outdoors. We want to savour the last daring rays of summer sunshine. Better yet, Indian summer. We grab sweaters and hit the trails, the parks, the fields and farms. We trek out to apple orchards and pumpkin patches. We go on hayrides, dance at hoedowns and campfires beckon. Thanks to the changing weather (colder, wetter, shorter, darker) we are also driven indoors and in that we light fires in hearths, make soups and stews, pull out books and board games and snuggle under blankets.

No matter which way the season drives us, it drives us together. I encourage you. Don't fight it. Embrace and welcome it. Plan and Prepare for it and ultimately ENJOY it.

How? you may ask. That's what these 31 Days are all about my friend.

So, pull out that sorta empty daytimer/calendar and pick a couple days to invite people over. If this is not usual for you, keep it casual, and don't overschedule. Also, say yes to some of the invites you receive. Life is meant to be lived in community, the only way you can do that is by getting out there, and welcoming it in.

A few easy ideas for get togethers...

1. Fall Fondue Night.

For just the girls, or couples, or even with kids. Fondue is always FUN. In fact, it's FUNDUE (teehee)

2. Fall Hike and Pot Luck Feast.

My friend Jodi hosts one of these kind of annually, and it's always awesome.

3. Games Night. Have fun snacks and drinks and lots of board games or cards. Impromptu or planned will work for this.

4. Host a pick up football game.

Your pick on touch or tackle.

5. Tapas night. Appetizers and Visiting. You can tag it on to another event like going to the theater if you like.

Personally, we've been at this a long time. We host an annual shabang we call the Heaslip Harvest Hoorah. We group families into teams and do the old fashioned bobbing for apples; stuffn scarecrows; pumpkin carving contests and more. It's a hoot.

We also do not hesitate to say yes to invites. We've already gone apple picking and this year was my first time to a Preserve Pass Along... It was awesome! A must repeat for next year. It's kind of like a cookie exchange for what you "can" - relish, jellies, salsas, applesauce - yum!

Because we've started home schooling, we have the privilege of getting the most out of our days. I've loaded our calendar with outings so we can get out and enjoy the season and each other. But you don't have to load your calendar. Just do one small thing. It doesn't really matter what you plan. Commit yourself to enjoying the season and setting aside the time for it, you'll not regret it. I promise.