I LOVE FALL TIME: COLORS, FRESH AIR, RAIN

I love rain. It is raining today in Moses Lake...love it...but my men cannot harvest corn today so they are bummed out about that, but I am looking at rain as a gift to us to help cleanse our air, settle the dust and give a much needed "drink" to our trees and shrubs and Fall flowers. Of course when our hay has been cut and it is drying and then it rains on it, I only see $$$$ signs that tell me we lost money because the hay got rained on.
I came from Medford, Oregon...near the Oregon-California border on Interstate 5. An absolutely beautiful town with old oak trees that "umbrella" many of the streets...like a canopy.
I have walked those streets many times and enjoyed the crunch of the leaves on the sidewalks and often would find myself kicking as I would walk so I could see the colorful leaves fly up from the sidewalk. These leaves were huge...some the size of dinner plates.
Autumn is my favorite time of the year, not only because of it's beauty but because it brings back the memories of my hometown. Cherished memories of life there with grandparents, mother, brother, aunts and uncles and wonderful cousins and of course dear friends.
Medford is where I found my life...my religious life. I found the church, was baptized at 15 and know that this became a decision that was to go beyond myself. Little did I know that I was paving a way of life for future generations...children, grandchildren and on and on. One day I will tell the story of the church in Medford...tiny little congregation to the present, which includes the Medford Temple.
Back to autumn time....I love the peaceful sound when rain falls. My husband dislikes having a bedroom window open, but if I could I would have it WIDE open so I could hear the sound of rain. I just knew that when I got married that one day I would have a house with a tin roof so I could hear the rain falling. What does it do for me? Sweet peace. Relaxed. Comfort. Calmness. Oh...forgot to tell you that I did not get my tin roof, but I can still dream about one.
I love to walk in the rain. My walking days have ended due to some physical problems, but the desire is still there. Sometimes I have even gone out and just let the rain "cleanse" me as baptism cleansed my soul.
I know some people "hate" the rain...but this person loves it and appreciates it. When I was very young I made up a poem about the rain. I cannot remember it except for the first few lines:
A little girl at the age of eleven
Watched the rain fall from heaven.
Mother was sleeping,
Brother was weeping.
That's it...no memory of the rest of it. My brother really was not crying, but I remember having to say that so I would have a word to rhyme with "sleeping."
Fall time is a time of beauty and is a time that the earth is getting ready to go to sleep so it can produce again in the spring and summer. We are so blessed to have the four seasons here in Moses Lake. I would not want to live where I could not experience the beautiful colors of autumn, the white snow of winter...which reminds me of a blanket for the earth; the peeking tips of green leaves to signal the flowers of spring and lastly, the summer which gives us our food, warm sun.....life in the earth is back and then it begins it's cycle all over again. God is good to us....He gave us a wonderful place to live.

What is your favorite time of year?

Mimi's Thought for the Day: God our Father, gave us the seasons of life for our good. Each season has it's purpose. One is for producing, one is for resting, one is for sleeping and one is for awakening. Have you noticed that this is "life"? You are awake..you are here on earth.You are in the springtime of your life. Then you are producing...you are serving and giving...the summer of your life..full of energy. You will reach the season of your life, call autumn/fall where you will go a little slower, see how mature you have become both physically and spiritually, yet marvel at this "season" as you reflect on what has been and what is to come. Then comes the time for your "sleeping"...the rest. But that is not the end!!!! The "season" of a new beginning will begin with no pain, no sorrow, no trials...only the good things of His creations all wrapped up into one package that is called life eternal.