Fall is perhaps my favorite season in North Carolina. The crisp leaves crunch underfoot, and sometimes when I sit in the living room and peer out the window into the park it looks like it’s snowing leaves. I heave a sigh and am thankful it’s just leaves.
This time of year I start hyperventilating about the holidays and then try to hyperfocus on what I’m thankful for. On a brisk morning recently I grabbed the kids and the dog for a little family project. I wanted to distract my kids from the premature focus on Christmas to reel them back to this season’s holiday, Thanksgiving. Call me crazy, but I’m a one holiday at a time kind of girl.
We set out for a walk. There was groaning at first, because Deal was dragged from LEGO creations while Bird was pulled from the latest book he would inhale in a day. Soon Deal found a big stick, and the boys ran amok in the park playing their own nutty version of baseball with a big, fat stick and pinecones. “This is actually fun!” they exclaimed!
Fresh air is the antidote to all that ails you.
Mac Daddy and I chatted. Lark sniffed around, chewed on some sticks. The boys played. It was downright Norman Rockwellian. I asked the family to find some branches to fit into a vase and some leaves that we could write on with Sharpie. Our gazes drifted downward as we walked home, taking care to select leaves in various colors and shapes.
We laid out the leaves and began creating the (Thanks)Giving Tree. On each leaf we wrote something we are thankful for. I dangled the leaves on the branches with some twine. It sits atop our kitchen table as a reminder of the season.
The leaves are drying out, but the sentiment remains. Sometimes you just need a dose of fresh air to gain fresh perspective.
