Season of Leaves, Decor & Shopping
Autumn is my favorite season and this year has been the first year in a very long time that there have actually been seasonal temperatures that coincide with the season. I love taking Robyn and Jacob to North Georgia around this time to see the Autumn colored leaves before they “fall.”
Each year brings a slightly different change in the tree colors schedule often with the optimal viewing being a week or two earlier or later than the year before. About a month ago, I read a ranger’s report that said the optimal time to see the Autumn leaves in north Georgia this year would be around November 4.
We didn’t make it that week so I will give it a try this weekend. It’s likely past the prime viewing to see the oranges, yellows, and reds all together but we’ll take what we can get and appreciate it. Halfway through the first semester of virtual learning (which is going well despite some “virtual fatigue” by my son), all of us could certainly use a refresher and change of scenery, however brief.
Getting into the holiday spirit has come a little slower this year for me. I don’t usually decorate for Halloween except for maybe a coaster here or there but Thanksgiving gets me going. I pull out all my cute different colored leaf place settings, acorn dishes, and my beloved Native American chief and princess figurines. My Thanksgiving decor is out and up usually within a week of October 31, not this year.
My daughter asked last week, “Mom where are your Indians, it’s almost Thanksgiving.” I sighed and said, “I know.” They will be out and featured around the living room by the time this prints.
Christmas decor doesn’t usually go up until after my daughter’s birthday on the 12th in an effort to not diminish her birthday in order to commemorate that of Christ. Plus, we usually do a live tree and I don’t like handling more than three weeks of watering.
Thanksgiving next week won’t include a big gathering just a few hours with our normal “quaran-team” group. But then again our celebration are never really big but filled with much gratefulness and visit to Walmart afterwards, way after the crowds are gone. My daughter likes to buy personal items on sale Thanksgiving night, it’s her thing. We usually end up driving by a Walmart or three on the way home so we just pop in and browse.
But with Covid rampant most big brand stores will be closed on the holiday this year and I am loving it. Luckily for my daughter most stores have already begun their annual holiday sales spreading the savings throughout the month. With that in mind, we were able to buy many of those desired personal items last weekend.
If I am lucky, by Thanksgiving eve, I will have snagged most of the items intended. Birthday and Christmas shopping should be complete by Tuesday, if all goes as planned. And that will mean less time on my digital devices Wednesday and Thursday for online shopping. Whatever will I do? What every person should do – spend more quality time with their treasured ones.
If all that has transpired in 2020 with Covid, political upheaval, and civil unrest has taught us anything it should be to appreciate the breath in our bodies (literally), the life we have been granted, and those treasured ones in that life.
In a bit of irony when 2020 finally falls off the calendar in January, those of us still around should be able to file it behind us with a bit more of 20/20. Meaning we won’t have a perfect view of the world but we should have a sharper, clearer view of how to navigate the pitfalls of life after experiencing this year.