Over the last week or two the weather has really been changing, becoming more Fall-like, and some of the trees are beginning to show their Autumn colors. It’s a slow process, and every day I notice some trees looking more and more festive. But on my way into work, I always see this one little tree, standing in a group of other trees who don’t seem at all interested in celebrating the changing of the seasons. It strikes me how wonderfully unique this little tree looks, daring to be different from all his neighbors. I feel a Jonathan Livingston Seagull moment coming on here! The other trees may never change, but this little guy looks so happy, so attractive, and so in tune with what’s going on in the world.
In other news, we’re taking a break from the podcast for a month to get some things done around the house. Right now, my goal is to put like items with like items, and eventually to go through the piles of like items and weed out duplicate and superfluous items. Some people like to to a “Spring Cleaning,” but I’m a big fan of Fall, and to me this seems like the perfect time to enjoy and organize my living space.
In other other news, I’ve been working my way through the Cat Who series, and right now I’m in the middle of The Cat Who Robbed a Bank. I’ve read four or five of these in a row recently, finishing one at night, and picking up the next one the following morning. It’s like one enormously long book. There’s something very comforting about the slow and deliberate pace of Qwill’s life. The fact that he’s solving murders seems almost beside the point! To me, the books are about him, his cats, and the people in his life. The murder mystery is just a convenient hook for this quaint portrayal.
Bought a yogurt maker, but I can’t make it work right. I think my unit is defective. Either that, or, as I think back to my dismal failures with the bread maker, I suppose I am simply not meant to succeed in any cooking or baking activity in which correct temperature is essential. I do everything precisely by the book and yet I can’t seem to get it right. I waver between “I’m going to work on this until I get it right, dammit!” and simply throwing in the proverbial towel. I mean, the way I look at it, it’s okay if I’m not a success in everything I do. As long as I’m a success in many of the most important things. And making a loaf of bread or a container of yogurt is not really on the top of my lifelong priorities list.
Chrissy, What an awesome photo! It almost looks like you painted that little “Charlie Brown” tree in among those overbearing monsters. It’s amazing, but I can’t help thinking, that we all want to fit in to the masses, but what an amazing difference it makes when we stand out and not be so concerned about how we appear to others.
We all want to be admired and if we can only learn and accept the fact that the Lord made us all different and we shouldn’t be spending so much time on trying to blend in.
We are His excellent creation and we should be thankful for the way He made each of us.
“He is the Master Creator and we are the mirrors that reflect His glory. And as He works in us, we become more and more like Him.”
How true! And one of the things I’ve been learning lately, which I think comes a result of getting older, is that fitting in with the masses is highly over-rated. Well, I’ve always known that, but I think the older you get, the easier it is to embrace that.
By the way, all the trees have turned now, so little red doesn’t look so small and lonely anymore.