stories

There are people out there who, from early childhood, feel the need to tell stories. Spoken or written -- it hardly matters. It's what you are driven to do. (With or without talent for it. You want to use words to paint a picture.)

In my own family, I am told that my grandfather had that yearning. Then it skipped a generation, and then it hit me. And my kids? Well, one of my daughters was a story spinner at an early age and then she channeled it into other gifts and venues. The stories stopped. Until Snowdrop came along. (It could be that some of the other grandkids are story spinners too. Primrose may lean in that direction and Sandpiper looks like he may have it in him!) The girl needs time and space to listen to stories, both written and told, and to tell stories.

But my point is that not everyone lives to tell a story and not every story told is worth telling, even as it is absolutely true that there is that urge within some of us to put thoughts into words. It's just the way we see the world -- in numerous stories playing out there, waiting to be told.

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A brilliant, warm, sunny day. Need I say anything more?

(breakfast: hmmmm, he needs a beard trim...)

(one of our two meadows...)

(the VF -- venerable farmhouse)

(a walk, in the company of sandhills...)

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Some of my friends are traveling again. Indeed, some have been scooting across the country and back since the vaccinations first came along, and a few have even crossed the ocean. For me, it is abundantly clear that planning something for later is still iffy. There may be surges, there may be variants, there may again be waning efficacy. However, in the short term, the picture is much clearer: going places is always riskier than staying home, but you can maximize your chances of a safe trip by way of vaccination, powerfully protective masks for the journey, and safe behaviors once at your destination, which should be one of low infection rates and decreasing community spread.

Just sayin'...

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Evening: I'm thinking autumnal evenings are the best. They have the right amount of an earlier dimming of light, with cooler air (shorts during the day, but a sweatshirt after dusk), but not yet cold air. I haven't brought out the candles. That, for me, is a winter thing (you need props in winter, you really do!). But I'm getting hungry for winter soups and hot chilis. I've purchased hot chocolate and marshmallows for the kids (though they've discovered the loot and have munched down the mini mallows considerably, even as hot chocolate weather is still a ways off). 

End of September, beginning of October -- it's a beautiful time to travel, but I was thinking today that it is also a beautiful time to stay home.