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| View to the West-Sou'west from Chez Sarge |
I grew up in Vermont, where in October the hills laid out before us were a riot of various shades of orange, yellow and red. Here and there were the somber dark greens of the pine and the fir trees. It all made for a very stunning view out of our living room windows.
And yet I seem to recall that, as children, we were rather blasé about the whole thing. I mean the view out the windows in fall was nice. But that's what it looked like every fall. Let's not make a big deal out of it, 'kay?
But in later years I look back on that and realize, we had this fantastic tableau laid out for our enjoyment every single year of our childhood. And we took it for granted.
Wow.
To give you an idea of the view from where I grew up...
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| The Old Sod |
Yes. It got pretty spectacular back in the day. But when you saw it every fall, year after year.
Meh.
Hard to believe, but it's true. We really did take it for granted. We'd even whine about the tourists, traveling for hundreds of miles to see what we saw everyday. For we were young and thought the whole world looked just like where our home was.
Um, no. Not so much.
But you don't understand that until you grow up and move somewhere else. Where things might be radically different. Like, oh let's just say, Okinawa. Or Korea. Different. Very different. (Though truth be told, there are places in Korea where the fall foliage is every bit as spectacular as Vermont. Just not where I lived. Sigh...)
So keep a little something in mind as you go through your day. Enjoy it. Try not to take it for granted. Stop and smell the roses.
Or the smell of newly fallen leaves. Or the scent of a distant fireplace.
Drink or eat some pumpkin flavored whatever.
Life is short. Savor it.
This needs a "like" button...
ReplyDelete...or an "amen" button.
Thanks Skip.
DeleteAmen!
ReplyDeleteThanks Juvat.
DeleteVery true my friend, and that taking thing for granted can be extended to food and shelter as well...which is why I never go camping.
ReplyDeleteI think those mountains must look beautiful in all seasons.
I echo you on the camping thing. (Besides which I'm too old for that sleeping in a tent thing.)
DeleteThose mountains are beautiful the year round. (You should see them with a fresh coat of snow. Very picturesque, very cold!)
We really did take it for granted.
ReplyDeleteWell... ya know what they say: "Familiarity breeds." (I think there's more to that.)
I do miss autumn in the Northern Tier. Western NY is every bit as spectacular as New England as far as Fall color goes, especially around the Finger Lakes. Michigan is pretty good, too. I recall with great fondness walking the dogs on an autumn evening, kicking at the leaves and taking in the coolness. Sigh. We COULD go all nostalgic on ya. But we won't.
Upstate New York is also magnificent. As a matter of fact, I think it's gorgeous all the way up into the Maritimes. I've seen Montreal in the fall, c'est magnifique!
DeleteOh yeah, the leaves underfoot. I love that sound. Well, except when I'm hunting. But that was a LONGGGGGGGG time ago!
I grew up in places like Rhode Island and Virginia and Kansas and New Jersey and New York et al.
ReplyDeleteIn 27 years of living in San Diego and some of the other deserts of the world, I never raked a single leaf.
This is why I decided to return even so far as Ohio. I really found that I missed the turning of the seasons more and more.
Looking forward to the shift to the fall plumage!
Ohio, though a bit flat for my tastes, is a gorgeous state.
DeleteNothing like driving through the Ohio farmland early on a summer morning, just as the sun starts to burn off the mist.
Winters are mighty impressive there too! (Take it from an old Vermonter who passed through Cleveland on the tail end of a December snowfall!)