Living Simply
We’ve had 8 straight days of 80 degree weather in October — unusual for Minnesota. The normal temperatures are in the 60’s.
I’ve been basking in it and working furiously on our yard. So many things to do to prepare for winter. Unlike Seattle, we have lots of leaves to rake, wood that needs to be stacked, deck furniture that needs to be put away, etc. etc.
The leaves on the trees have been beautiful.
It’s a beautiful season — autumn in Minnesota.
A recent article in the New York Times reported that a Catholic order in Canada had settled on a sexual abuse suit for $17 million dollars.
“The settlement covers incidents from 1950 to 2001 …”
1950? That was a long time ago. And yet, people have not recovered. People can’t recover from sexual abuse. It doesn’t matter if it’s a stranger or someone you know. All the therapy in the world can’t get rid of the pain, the shame and the feelings of worthlessness that can be associated with sexual abuse.
Sure — therapy is good. But through the years, I have found that unless you have dementia or Alzheimer’s, you can’t erase what the brain has had to deal with.
And so we have millions of people walking around who aren’t whole. The walking wounded. Sadly, the cycle continues as some of the hurt people turn around and hurt other people.
The next time you see anger, sadness, alcoholism, addiction or a myriad of other dysfunctions — they all may be a defense, a mask, for an abused person. Some wear faces of clowns when in public only to shed tears when in private.
May we always reach out in gentleness as we never know who has been touched by this horrible act.
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2
Autumn is my favorite time of year. When I lived in Seattle, I would put a rake along with some garbage bags in my car and head to where leaves had fallen. I would rake leaves from streets and from a local church yard just so I could use them for my worm compost bin. I didn’t bring my worm bin with me but instead scattered the hundreds of worms throughout the yard. So — I don’t really need too many leaves now. However, I moved into a house that sits on an acre of land with lots of trees.
Since I enjoy raking leaves, I headed to the driveway to begin my first rake of the season. I started at the driveway and worked my way to the house. It didn’t look too bad.
The neighbor’s son from across the street came by. “Nice leaves, huh?” His response “You need a leaf blower.” I told him that I enjoyed raking leaves and he again said “You need a leaf blower. I usually wait until the end of October.”
I assured the man that I would be fine.
It looks so pretty when the leaves are picked up off the ground. Well, it’s pretty when there are leaves too but this is much cleaner.
The next day I woke up and went outside. I can’t say I was surprised. Where’s the driveway? And the walkway to the backyard?
Hmmm … I think I’ll get that leaf blower.
Autumn is the perfect time to take walks through some of Minnesota’s State Parks as wildlife can easily be seen but the bug population has decreased.
Afton State Park is located in Afton, Minnesota, a small rural city south of St. Paul with a population of approximately 2800. The park borders the St. Croix River and one of the trails leads you down to the water.
The visitor center was bustling with people when we arrived. We did not have to check in though as we have a pass that covers State Parks and another that covers the Preserves.
One of the first signs we encountered warned of wild parsnip growing in the area. I hadn’t realized that parsnip could be a problem. This is commonly planted parsnip. The sign says the parsnip “escaped” its domestic use and has become naturalized in open areas and fields.
When our sweaty skins come into contact with this plant, a chemical called psoralen is tranfered to the skin and can cause some people to become super-sensitive to sun exposure. Who would have thought parsnip could have this effect? Fortunately for us, we did not run into any.
The trail we decided to take went down to the St. Croix River.
Picnic tables and beautiful sun-drenched trees lined the trail.
The view from above, of the St. Croix River and the valley surrounding it was very pretty.
The trail we took headed downwards. I’m always hoping the walk back is not too steep.
And here it is — the St. Croix River. Sailing, fishing, swimming … extra fun in the summer time. The swimming area is closed now.
A fisherman takes advantage of the sunny day to catch fish. The St.Croix River has large and smallmouth bass and walleye fish. The bass must be 14 inches or more in order to be kept and any walleye less than 15 inches must be released.
I have not had the opportunity to fish this year. Maybe I’ll try ice fishing when the snow freezes our nearest lake.
Although swimming was not allowed this time of year, it was nice to walk on a sandy beach on a sunny day.
Looking over to the Wisconsin side of the river, a house is almost hidden in the hillside.
The walk back to the parking lot took us past a hillside of ferns, a babbling brook and the ski lift area. Yes — there is skiing in Minnesota. Since I’m not a skier, I’ll probably never be able to tell if the “hills” are tall enough to be challenging or if they can be considered “bunny” slopes.
Minnesota is lovely in autumn. The blue sky, the changing of the leaves on the trees, the smell in the cool air — all these help to give a sense of inner peace.
The leaves change colors just like in the seasons of life.
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At a Stanford University commencement speech in 2005, Steve Jobs stated:
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
It is true. We all — good and bad — suffer the same fate, death. We all prefer life though. Even those of us who believe in heaven don’t hurry to die to get there.
We are entwined with each other in our humanness. Flesh to flesh — heart to heart. Something tugs the strings that connect us when death’s breath hovers over or breathes on someone we love.
“You are already naked …” Sorry Steve, I disagree. We aren’t naked. Rare is the person who is real — who doesn’t hide behind words or actions. Rare is the person who doesn’t have something that they don’t want revealed.
Even if we live as if we were going to die tomorrow, no one wants their frailties exposed for fear of judgment by other people whose frailties are possibly worse than theirs.
I understand your premise — live your life, be true to yourself. All good in words. But in reality, we struggle to be real.
I hope you attained your sense of belonging while you lived. I hope you reached the pinnacle of humanness. As we are entwined with each other, there has to be someone to reach that pinnacle with us, in order for us to truly live it — the realness, the nakedness.
Prayers ascend for your family’s loss — another human brother gone from this earth —
“… for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:19
Clearing the deck furniture in preparation for winter, I looked back and noticed this tree frog sitting on the chaise.
He watched me work for awhile before finally taking off when I went inside to get some clean water for wiping down the pillows.
In summer, these frogs would climb our windows at night. Their suction-like feet allow them to hang on.
Minnesota is known for it’s many lakes — at least 10,000 of them although I don’t know who went around counting them all.
Can you imagine having the task of making a logo for each one?
Well, someone is doing that. It’s quite interesting. They are doing a logo a day so it should take, uh, 27 years? That’s what they predict.
Check it out! Â www.branding10000lakes.com/index
A recent article in the Business Insider discusses the possibility that Google is destroying our memory.
“This evolution of how we learn and retain details might allow us to be more efficient in our consumption of information, but what happens to society when we become overly reliant on Google to do the job our brains have always done?”
Retention has always been a problem for me although as I get older I seem to have a clearer understanding of things in life.
The task of searching for information helped our memories retain that information. No more — we know we can “Google” it.
Well, at least the majority of people I know seem to head that way.
It’s always interesting when I visit some of my “older” friends — some just 5 years older — who don’t care to have computers at home and don’t care about all the additional information they could possibly know about.
They are content where they are. The newer generation does not know anything different as cell phones, iPads, Kindles, printers and every new technological advancement is globbed onto.
Are we in a better place now than we were 20 years ago? Depends who you ask. Our social skills have gone downhill, in my opinion. We choose to text instead of talk, email instead of visit. Intimacy with others is at a distance — really it’s no intimacy at all.
Rare are the days when we talk on the phone for hours at a time laughing with someone. Oh — LOL (laughing out loud) is texted to people but it doesn’t have the same depth of value.
Let’s be careful out there not to lose our relationship building skills for lack of using them.
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I’ve always enjoyed a song by John Denver called Fall. It’s one of four songs in his Season Suite mix. But, I don’t think I’d make a change as he would — I prefer autumn to summer.
Fall
Reflections in the water like shadows in my mind
Speak to me of passing days and nights and passing time
The falling leaves are whispering winter’s on it’s way
I close my eyes remembering the warmth of yesterday
It seems a shame to see September swallowed by the wind
And more than that it’s oh so sad to see the summer end
And though the changing colors are a lovely thing to see
If it were mine to make a change I think I’d let it be
But I don’t remember hearing anybody asking me
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My trip to Seattle proved to be quite relaxing. Six nights and 7 days — almost like taking a cruise.
Visiting with friends always makes my heart glad.
The plane’s descent over Minnesota on the return trip was beautiful. The autumn colors could clearly be seen and the many  lakes were visible to the eye. A perfect welcome home.
I was thankful when I arrived at the house. I missed the new house – a sign that I am finally settling into this new state called Minnesota.
So many autumn changes in the week that I was gone. The colors on the trees are absolutely gorgeous as the sun filters through the leaves.
I enjoy raking leaves. We’ll see how I feel after this autumn when I have the opportunity to rake many many leaves.
Autumn reminds me that there can be beauty in death — another aging revelation. Beauty can be found in just about everything.