Reflections on October 2010

Yesterday I realized that there is but one week left to my favorite month of the entire year. October has been extremely memorable this year.

Opening the month were my endearing moments with the ladder while Sharpshooter was away – and, cheering up a discouraged Sam. We weathered well with no lasting scars or emotional damage.

Fifth Annual Cousins’ Reunion, highly anticipated for an entire year, came and went far too quickly. For the past five years, eight cousins from five different states have met

in Lancaster PA to spend three nights and two full days celebrating cousin-hood and friendship. We navigate around buggies, bicycles, scooters and horse apples shopping for crafts, Whoopie and Shoo-Fly pies, and avoiding homemade root beer! This year we reveled in the sights and sounds of Joseph – the play, at the Sight & Sound Theatre. Amazing place. Amazing performance. Amazing God!

An event to remember – my 60th birthday party. My husband and children did well with their behind-my-back schemes and plans, although I knew about the celebration, I was not allowed to (and I quote), take over and be a control freak (end of quote). Mid-week I was told that several of the invitees couldn’t make it and a bit of disappointment (thinking too highly of myself!) set in; however, even THAT was part of the plan. I must say, I was more than surprised when I came down the stairs and entered the dining room to see the entire guest list standing before me shouting, “Surprise!” The dining room walls were bordered with poster-sized photos of me, all the way from a five-year old with a funny toothy grin to a buckskin leather-sheathed bride in a tee-pee (yes, you read it correctly). One always knows the party is a success when the guests aren’t eager to leave – it was a lovely time and one I will not soon forget.

The fourth weekend of this awesome month held a gathering of the Heavenly View Book Club. The setting was golden and delicious, our host’s home is cottage-like and nestled in a grove of Maple trees in their glistening, golden fall foliage. The discussion was just as tasty as we talked about the life-changing book, The Shack by William Paul Young. Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu were quoted, Mack and his family’s pain was embraced, as we shared our thoughts on this (to some) controversial work of fiction.  We all left richer for our time spent together. Some of the take-away quotes: be a verb, not a noun; never walk on the water alone;you are free to love without an agenda.

So, there it is…October in a nutshell! Seven more days to celebrate this beautiful time of year, the time when everything around us changes. The air is cooler, the leaves are colorful (and then gone), the grass isn’t as green, and the pumpkins have already seen several mornings of frost – the time of year when we are reminded that the grass truly does wither and die. I rather think that I am in the autumn of my life, which is a reason to celebrate – I am in my “golden age”! I still have plenty of leaves and they shine in the sun – sure, one or two have fallen away and a few have fastened where they’re not welcome – but, all in all, this is a very good season to be in. If I’m going to make a difference, I need to be an active participant in life around me. I want to be a verb, in action every day…not a noun sitting in one place being stuffy and still.

“And well you should, Mackenzie, because this garden is your soul. This mess is you! Together, you and I we have been working with a purpose in your heart. And it is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process. To you it seems like a mess, but to me, I see a perfect pattern emerging and growing and alive — a living fractal.” Sarayu to Mack, The Shack by Wm Paul Young

A blessing to share this time again. Surreal. My mom is now gone. The Savard cousins haven’t gathered for a reunion since 2012 – this post is good for me to read again. Hope you weren’t terribly bored!