Susan's Season

Autumn in Madeira - Jacek Yerka


Susan's Season
©2014 Susan Noyes Anderson

Fall is a cozy season, made

to match my patchwork house.

What better spot for cider hot,

doughnuts for man

and holes for mouse?

Fall is a spicy season, round

as pumpkins, brisk as tea.

Red-orange leaves tumble from trees,

crunch crunch and crumble,

all for me.

∞§∞

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Riding the Wind

©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson

Sometimes on a windy day,

I close my eyes and fly away.

I float with leaves upon the breeze,

then skitter about the lofty trees.

I hop and skip from yard to yard

and frolic down the boulevard;

until, at last, my journey through,

I find my way back home to you.

click below for more fall colors

The Secret of the Harvest

The secret of the harvest is to love the work you do...

to give thanks for the labor that becomes a part of you.

A gentle heart makes certain that each crop is picked with care

and takes a tender moment to enjoy the goodness there.

The richness of the harvest does not come without a cost.

Sometimes you walk with confidence,

and sometimes you get lost.

But if you reach for gratitude...

and give reverence its due,

you'll find abundance all around...

with joy

and friendship, too.

You'll find a love for every creature

underneath the sun,

and peace will fill your heart

before the harvest day is done.

(Then––if you've worked real hard––

a candy apple might be fun!)

=)

These photos of my grandchildren were taken by their talented mom:

Heather of Tendershootz Photography.

Evening Falls, Spirits Rise

Evening Falls

©2010 Susan Noyes Anderson

Evening falls like gentle rain

upon the weary day.

The colors fade, then flash once more

before they pass away.

The darkness brings tranquility,

a velvet peace of night,

rich blackness that is gently breached

by moon and starry light.

I love the silence sheathed in grays,

as purple shadows fall.

Each sacred sunset speaks of God,

Whose hand is over all.

∞§∞

I really do love the way the world feels to me at night! Soon we will "fall back," and Daylight Saving Time will end in the United States. Unlike most of the people I know, this makes me happy––not because I don't like the daylight (I do!)––but because I have a medical condition that does not allow me to spend time in the sun. This means that I am freer in those months when evening comes early and invites me outside to enjoy the sunset or walk beneath the stars. As the old Swedish proverb says: "Those who wish to sing, always find a song."

The night is one of my songs. Only one. But a good one...

Which Way Is the Wind Blowing?

March has arrived, along with the winds that blow me back to my growing-up years in Southern California. This poem grew from a fun memory of my childhood love for those sometimes windy days:

I've posted the words below and apologize for the print above being somewhat illegible. (I wanted to use Ron Hodgdon's original illustration from Clubhouse Magazine, so my only option was to scan it in, as I didn't have a copy.)

THE AIR MATTRESS

©1992, Susan Noyes Anderson, Clubhouse Magazine

Illustrated by Ronald Hodgdon, Creative Arts

One time the wind was very strong.

It blew and blew like crazy.

So I just let myself go limp,

like when I’m feeling lazy.

And can you guess what happened?

It held me up so neat!

Like I was laying on my bed

while standing on my feet!

From Fall Foliage to Christmas Crush

It's a beautiful day in my neck of the woods.

Just around the corner is my favorite tree.

(I love the blanket of cinammon leaves on the lawn.)

Not too far down the freeway is my favorite city.

(One of the best places to be on a crisp and sunny fall day.)

But I, of course, will spend the afternoon cruising the outlets.

Shopping up a not-very-winterish storm with two of my sons.

=)

A Bow to the Pilgrims, Who Started It All

“The Pilgrims, being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet upon the firm and stable earth, their proper element. And no marvel if they were thus joyful."

–William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth County

“Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of [our enemies], has spared us from pestilence and disease, and has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience, Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the daytime, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to Almighty God for all His blessings.”

–William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony

So once in every year we throng, upon a day apart,

To praise the Lord with feast and song, in thankfulness of heart.”

–Arthur Guiterman

Happy Thanksgiving to every one of you, and thanks for being such faithful visitors to my blog. As the saying goes, when I count my blessings, I count you twice!

For the joy of human love

Brother, sister, parent, child

Friends on earth and friends above

For all gentle thoughts and mild

Lord of all, to Thee we raise

This, our hymn of grateful praise

=)

PS. Here's a little Thanksgiving treat, which will probably be far more enjoyable than my pies. Below is a picture of the first meeting house of the Pilgrims, built in 1689 at Plymouth.

And a picture of the first landing that makes me feel instead of think.

Let's remember them today.

How grateful I am for this great nation

and all that we enjoy as its citizens.

What a bountiful harvest is ours!

(even in hard times)

In Every Thing, Give Thanks

When wintry winds and stormy seas

Make all the world seem bleak

When hope is difficult to find

And peace is hard to seek

Through troubled times and dreary days

In glorious and simple ways

My eyes are somehow turned to Thee

And once more, all is well with me.

For this, my heart will ever raise

A song of love, a song of praise.