September 19, 2003 10:42 A.M.

RAMBLINGS

I love this photo. I have no idea where I found it. It is in my collection in �My Pictures� on my hard drive. It may have come from Webshots, but it doesn�t have a copy write, or it would not have downloaded to my computer. I can get totally lost in the ambiance of this scene. It is a warm, Indian Summer day, but there is a suggestion of cooler weather upon the breeze. The dusty odor of fallen leaves is stirred and released by our feet scraping their crunchy shells and sending them helter skelter along the path. If we stop and stand very still for a moment, we hear their hushed fluttering as they fall, gently deflecting off emptying branches like soundless pin balls headed downhill. A sudden breeze sweeps up a small cloud of brown and gold, swirls it around, rearranging and laying it down again at our feet. The road ahead, Is like a bed for summer to lie down and rest her head. We sense her ease in autumn�s breeze and long to hold it fast instead of knowing what we know - that it will have to go - the way of fading beauty, which we dread. Let�s capture with our eyes the golden earth, blue skies the brilliant glory all around us spread.

I have never met anyone who didn�t love Autumn. I am sure you are out there, but I have not met you. Most people love the season, and many would choose it as their favorite. The temperatures are mild, the colors are as glorious as any other time (different from Spring and Summer, of course.) There seems to be a host of fond memories connected with our Autumns. In spite of the fact that it is the �winding down� of the year, many new ventures in life have begun in the Fall. (School, relationships, new occupations, etc.) It is strange, but somehow this season often contains as much anticipation for newness and revitalization, as Spring. Isn�t this the season of �Jewish New Year�?

Maybe my Jewish friends have it right. I have often thought that I would have much less of a sense of loss at sundown, if I considered it the beginning of a new day, instead of the end of the present one.

Justathot�

I know that so many of you read a lot of journals. It is always amazing to me, when I run across a person who spends a considerable amount of time on the web and is not aware of on-line journals. We all have our little �internet worlds� � reading specialties. But frequently, when I tell someone that I write an on-line journal, they get a quizzical look on their face� �What is that?�

To get back to the point at hand, because some of you read several or many on-line journals on a fairly regular basis, I am (probably) overly sensitive about my writing content. It is hard for me to believe that anyone wants, or needs, to spend their precious time reading about the mundane details of my daily life. (I know, I read about a lot of others� �but I don�t consider their moments mundane.) So I struggle far too much trying to come up with content which I consider to have (however small) redeeming value. I guess I think that I don�t want people to feel they are �wasting their time�. Maybe that is too much self-contemplation. But isn�t that what on-line journals are all about? Self contemplation?

Today�s Thought: �You owe it to everyone you know, to be as happy as you are able to be.�

I find this to be one of the greatest challenges of this stage of my life. The various stages in life bring varying challenges. For instance, when my children were small, patience and sufficient energy were my two greatest challenges. Now, due to all the combined circumstances of my personal life, discovering or creating happiness, day by day, moment by moment, is a real choice and accomplishment. I try not to let my guard down for too long, because I tend toward a melancholy temperament, and can�t allow myself to go too far down that path.

I once heard the phrase, �Climb or die!�. That thought comes to me at times when I feel like I am beginning to �sink�. I have never heard of climbing, which did not take choice and effort.

I appreciate your company!

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