Gearing Up

Autumn is so much fun for me. It's not just the colors and chill in the air, but it is the gearing up AND down that entices me. Just as the rush of summer's activity and long days comes to an end, there is the Sun's retreat into quiet and the rush of the holidays. Autumn encourages slower days spent at home without yard work or home projects, but calls you on to the business of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. I can feel the pull of my own thoughts again instead of the demands of the world. Ah, quiet and respite.

I began my holiday preparations last week. How is that slowing down, you ask? Simple. I don't DO anything beyond serving and enjoying friends and family during the month of December and that is only accomplished through some foot work in October and November. 52 days isn't that long... if I baby step now, there is no real "work" to the holidays.

The library offered me up some inspiration this week in the form of Party Basics for New Nesters. It was a completely refreshing guide to the new homemaker on the estentials for hosting any event. More than once I wished I had had this book before I got married. There are loads of inspirational pictures to make you wish you could throw a party along with a "pantry list" to register for if you are preparing for a wedding; a dozen white dinner plates, colorful accent salad plates, champagne flutes, carafe, paring knife, griddle... the list is going to become part of my wish book.

As I read the list and looked at author Maria McBride's suggestions for throwing a dinner party I remembered choosing my housewares as a nineteen year old bride. I had no home for the gifts to go into and felt that I didn't even deserve them (certainly didn't expect much) given my "delicate" condition. Perhaps it's the autumn air that made feel nostalgic about that girl who chose mostly white and inexpensive items. I wonder what advice I would give to her now that the hopeful spring has past and the flurry of summer's activity has taken over her/my life? Good job on the white plates. You will love those for years. Why don't you pick what you really want without pricing it? Perhaps to wait for life's autumn for the list's fine stemware since your children help with the dishes. Gear up and down. Pausing to remember the past so that I can see the now more clearly. I think I will do that girl a favor and register her for the gifts I would give her now and pass the list on to her husband of 12 years.

Ah, delicious autumn thoughts!