I can think of at least three things that cause me to get
that feeling.
First, Fall. It’s my
favorite season (other than FOOTBALL season but that’s a whole other blog so I
digress). *singing* It’s the most
wonderful time of the year! Yes, Fall,
not Christmas. Christmas should be about
that precious gift we received a couple of thousands of years ago and a
celebration of the birth of that gift but it has become a glamorized, money
grabbing, commercialized, stressful, hectic, rushed, (and I could go on but you
get the picture) mass chaos. But again,
that is a whole other blog so I digress.
Back to fall. Nothing
is more beautiful to me than the colors of fall. Golds, oranges, greens, browns. Warm colors.
The colors I have in my house because they comfort me and appeal to my
senses. There are the gentle breezes
bringing in the cooler and dryer air and pushing out the heat and humidity
that’s held us captive for three months.
I love driving with the windows down and watches the trees move and
shake the leaves off their branches. I
love to watch those leave fall and float ever so slowly to the ground. I love the colors of those leaves. And no, it may not be as colorful way down
here in the south but it’s still beautiful.
Such a contrast to the dark green we’ve had all summer. With fall comes mums and pumpkins. Nothing is more beautiful to me than a
display of those flowers with pumpkins and gourds and maybe a hay bale or two
with a scarecrow standing guard proudly as if to say “see, this is my season
and my bounty!”
With fall, comes some good eating! Daddy always planted his greens in the
fall. Mustard, turnips and my favorite,
collards. Oh my. Nothing but greens and cornbread make a full
meal for me. While those mustard and
turnips are still tiny and tender, we’d have wilted salads. First you fry some bacon up crisp and save
that grease! Mother always mixed in some
lettuce with the greens, then added green onions, chopped boiled eggs and
crumbled bacon. Then you take that hot
grease and pour it over all of this. You
can hear the crackle. Add a splash of
vinegar and that’s it. You might have some
greasy lips while you’re eating but it sure is delicious. Once the greens were older then we’d have
them cooked down. Daddy considered
himself the expert green cooker. He had
a specific cast iron pot and some tricks he used to get the bitterness out and
a certain length of time he cooked them.
I guess he knew what he was doing because they were delicious.
And fall brings my favorite holiday. Halloween.
Yes, I am a Christian and know other fellow believers that will cringe
when they hear me say that. I’m not
getting into the origin, that’s what google if for, as to whether it began as
Christian or pagan nor am I arguing with anyone about it. And you will not change my mind about it if
you have an opposing view. Growing up,
we participated in Halloween every year.
I did not become a witch or satan worshipper because of it either. Neither did any of my family or friends. It was all fun. That’s how I see Halloween. It’s not stressful. All fun.
You buy the children costumes, or make them if you’re frugal and
creative, and buy a few bags of candy and enjoy. No cooking, no tons of gifts to buy, no
worrying if someone will like that gift or not, no messy egg dye, no flowers
that will die in three days. We have an
enormous festival at church every year.
Now it’s a Hallelujah Festival mind you, not a Halloween festival. There are several hundred people there to
eat, have fun and get candy! It’s just
such a wonderful time of fun and fellowship.
Ah yes. All this
brings on that feeling.
Second, vacation. Now
I am an extreme homebody and a mysophobe so vacationing isn’t exactly my thing
but sometimes I do get brave and break out.
It’s just something about the planning, packing, getting ready, loading
the car and then leaving early in the morning for a trip. Pulling out of the drive brings on that
feeling. The worst part is over and all
we have to do is look forward to some rest and relaxation. No worries for just a while. And the biggie…NO ROUTINE. I have spent almost my entire life doing the
same thing every day. First school, then
work. Same thing. Every day.
Sometimes you just NEED to break out of the routine. Even us homebodies do. Especially us homebodies. Oh the feel of cool, crisp air in the
mountains, or the cool breeze blowing off the ocean water.
Vacation brings on that feeling.
Third, a hurricane. So
this is where the anticipation and fear part comes in to play the most I
think. And excitement. Okay, now I’m not “excited” about devastation
and destruction that a hurricane brings.
Hey, Katrina smashed my house down so I know what that’s like. It’s just something about an approaching
storm that brings on that feeling. My
snooze button gets lonely because I always wake up and get dressed early to watch
all of the forecasts before I head to work.
They always show that path prediction cone…that dreaded cone of
doom! Even with all of today’s
technology it’s still just a gamble predicting which way it will go and how
strong it will be. I watch all of those
people standing on the shore with the wind whipping their hair. Soon it will be rain beating them in the
face. But they stay there. Well except for Al Roker who was blown
away. And they always, always show that
stop sign flapping in the wind. If it’s
coming ashore near us I love to feel the wind pick up. First gently and then it gets a bit
harder. Then the rain. I’ve always loved the rain. I love sitting on the porch while the
elements do their thing. I’ve even spent
my lunch break watching the heavy interstate traffic coming from the south when
there was a storm approaching Louisiana.
So, a good, mild tropical storm, without any spin off
tornadoes, gives me that feeling.
Okay, so maybe I’ve nailed down that feeling or maybe I haven’t. It seems like one thing all of these three
have in common is the wind. Have you
ever seen the movie The Happening? The
wind comes blowing in something (I never figured that part out) and causes
people to go crazy and kill themselves.
Don’t fret if you’ve never seen it.
It was the worse movie M. Night Shyamalan has ever done. Anyway, I don’t know if the winds are blowing
something over me or what. I still can’t
explain the feeling.
And right now there’s fall and vacation just right around
the corner. I’m kind of getting that
feeling just waiting for that feeling.
You know that feeling, right? Or
am I just a bit crazy?