Sunday Scribblings: The End of a Season

The prompt this week for Sunday Scribblings is The End. For many of us summer doesn't end according to the calendar season. It ends the day after Labor Day. For those of us that teach or attend classes in any school system the week after Labor Day is when we settle in for a new year.The sun is winding down earlier also. I am amazed that darkness comes so much sooner in the evening. It seemed like yesterday we were sitting outside after nine o'clock. The sun has changed its location as it moves over our gardens creating new shadows and challenges for this novice photographer.

New routines are being established. When September begins it is a time to reorganize for many. I know people that are getting back into a healthy eating routine again. As it cools it is more appealing to begin walking after dinner again. Also, it is a time to dejunk and declutter. Getting on a set schedule will be good for me. I have been practicing with the alarm clock and I have found early morning again refreshing. When one season ends and another starts there are other rituals at our house. The flags that hang in the front are changed. The table coverings are switched to celebrate another season. Canning and perserving of food continues on a schedule as unpredictable as the weather. I am sure that the second day of school when I have Open House and a BBQ that the beans will be ready to be canned. That is an event that always seems to happen in September.

September is also a slowing down time. The work in the gardens changes and lessens. I bring in coleus clippings to enjoy in the window. We begin to move slower through the week-ends, relishing those last weeks of warmth before the frost hits. We yearn for comfort food and start planning for soup and stew preparation. Soon it will be time to pick fall apples to use for applesauce. The houseboats on the lake are few and far between and the tourist traffic diminishes. I am ready to say good-bye to the end of summer and can't wait to embrace autumn with open arms.

You can find other Sunday Scribblings here.

Bouquet #18: Sunflowers Sprinkled with Pink

" Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful:

they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul."

-Luther Burbank

Cooler nights and milder temperatures have brought on a new burst of blooms in the flower gardens. It is also a reminder of which flowers are the hardiest and can survive hot weather and much less water. I think the sunflowers, zinnias, and lilies have proved themselves this year!

Clouds, Dad's, and Sunset

We did a final shopping trip today to Spokane before school starts. We watched the clouds as we headed south toward Spokane via Kettle Falls and Colville.

This is a picture I took from the car of the cloud formations near Chewelah.We always stop at our favorite coffee stand at the south end of Chewelah. It is called Dad's Espresso.

They have beautiful perennials surrounding the property, especially around the sign by the highway. They are friendly, they make great coffee drinks, and the owner loves to talk horses with JEJ.
One of my favorite highlights of a trip down Highway 395 is to see what they have put on the reader board at this coffee stand. Today's message was perfect for this weekend.
Annie was caught between the bars of the dog gate in the back end of the car. She looked like she was posing for America's Most Wanted Dog. She was disappointed this espresso stand didn't hand out dog bones.

We watched the temperature rise, the clouds move in, lightning strike, and rain fall as we drove to Office Depot, Costco, Zip's, Northtown Mall, Target, and Walmart. When we returned home after a long shopping day, the sky had cleared as we relaxed on the deck. The day's activities started early, but we got a lot accomplished. This was the view JEJ caught as the sun began to set. We love days that include good coffee, laughs in the car, changing weather patterns, lunch, photo opportunities, and cool enough weather that the dogs can enjoy it. Today was one of those days.

Thursday Thirteen: Road Trip Photos

Thursday Thirteen is a meme I enjoy on many blogs each week.The original site is here. This beautiful header was created by samulli here.

I was inspired by the Thursday Thirteen meme this week at Dog's Eye View. Here is mine:


This summer my siblings and I organized some outings to beautiful places around the inland empire of Washington and Idaho. We experimented with our digital cameras, appreciated many beautiful places, enjoyed good food, and had lots of laughs. Here are my thirteen favorite photo images from our summer outings. A few automatically repeated!

Books That Have Changed Lives

Every summer I have high aspirations of moving through a list of "must-read" books. Now here it is time for my summer to wind down and I gaze longingly at the basket of still unread books wishing I had just a few more weeks to immerse myself in reading. I love to read and I love a variety of books. A fascinating volume I just finished was " The Book That Changed My Life" edited by Roxanne J. Coady and Joy Johannessen. Writers wrote short essays on books that changed their lives. Some were expected and others were surprising. Here is a sample of the powerful words these writers penned about the books that changed their lives:

Jacquelyn Mitchard chose "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" by Betty Smith. " She writes," I take from this book lessons in writing, courage, and the absolutely intransigent necessity for utter honesty. Perhaps because of who I am , and from whence I came, nothing else between two covers has ever meant more to me." That makes me want to read this classic again.

A favorite title many writers chose was "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Susan Vreeland writes," Atticus's lessons of respect for all people and his efforts to instill in Scout a sensitive awareness of others culminate when she greets Arthur Radley with the simplicity of 'Hey, Boo'. It's one of the greatest lines in literature because it acknowledges a human being naturally, on his own terms, without requiring anything of him in return, which is the highest kind of love." I related because I remember getting to that scene in the book and having tears streaming down my face as Scout first greeted Boo Radley. This book changed my life also.

A book I have always wanted to read is "I Buried My Heart at Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown . After reading what Sebastian Junger expressed in his essay about this book I am more convinced I need to add it to my list. "We wiped out 90 per cent of the native population-even using Gatling guns against Sioux and Cheyenne villages in the last years of conflict. By any modern standard, that is genocide. Dee Brown's great service was to bring that painful truth to a country he clearly loved." When I converse with elders in the community where I teach this book often comes up. The words of Dee Brown helped many of these Native Americans come to terms with the history of their people. I hope to read it soon.

A few other titles recommended in this book are:
" The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
"Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
"The Nancy Drew Mysteries" by Carolyn Keene
"The Great Gatsby" by F.Scott Fitzgerald
"The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell
the Works of Shakespeare
the Bible
"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte

For book lovers that are always looking for titles to add to a must-read list, this book is a good resource. What books would you add this list that have changed your life? Please share and I will post a book list on the blog.
The love for reading began early for my brother and I. This is a picture I treasure of our dad reading to us on our parent's bed when we were very young.

The Blue Between

The Blue Between


Everyone watches clouds,
naming creatures they've seen.
I see sky differently,
I see the blue between-

The blue woman tugging
her stubborn cloud across the sky
The blue giraffe stretching
to nibble a cloud floating by.

A pod of dancing dolphins,
cloud oceans, cargo ships,
a boy twirling his cloud
around a thin blue fingertip.
In those smooth wide places,
I see a different scene.
In those cloudless spaces,
I see blue between.
by Kristine O'Connell George

photos taken by inland empire girl around northeastern Washington.