My absolute favorite time of the whole year has arrived. Autumn. Technically, it the official 'first day of autumn' has already come and gone, but to me, it started just yesterday. I looked out the window and saw a thickening blanket of bright yellow leaves swirling about in the delightful blustering wind. Sunlight rained down through leaves still attached to the trees with the effect of a cathedral window, stained in hundreds of varieties of red, orange, gold, and green. The two young apple trees in the yard were overloaded with fruit. Enormous white clouds were rolling by, revealing large lengths of blue to contrast the vibrant colors below.
No other season causes my heart to beat so erratically. The memory of this is the fiery beauty and the promises of God keep me warm throughout the winter. The tomatoes I planted earlier in the year were not quite as fruitful as I had hoped, but plucking the small harvest from the limp green branches still had that wonderful hint of satisfaction which nothing but hard work can provide. (Next year, I shall do far better, for I have learned from my mistakes.)
I hope that you all enjoy this season as well and discover the immense beauty in the little things, as I try to do daily.
Words are everywhere. From birth to death, people have the opportunity to learn them, use them, or if nothing else, simply think about and enjoy them. I still remember where (and sometimes when) I first learned so many English or other words. For example, here is a list of a selection of words and where I learned them for the first time:
Acquiesce --- Pirates of the Caribbean; The Curse of the Black Pearl, Captain Barbosa
Nautical --- Spongebob Squarepants, the singing pirate
Salicylic acid --- Gilligan's Island, the Professor
Hygiene --- the Sims computer game
Vigilante --- The Dark Knight
Delectable --- Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Willy Wonka
Pygmy --- Spyro; A Hero's Tail PlayStation game
Phosphorescent --- Nancy Drew; The Secret of Shadow Ranch
Regurgitate --- Horton Hears A Who (the one with Jim Carrey and Steve Carell)
Posthaste and Brobdingnagian --- Sarah Elizabeth at her blog Daughter of the King
Heroine (a hero, but a girl instead of a guy) --- Trixie Beldon; The Secret of the Mansion
Funny --- nay, fascinating --- how you can learn new words nearly everywhere you turn. I'm one of those kinds of people who goes to look up one word in the dictionary and ends up spending hours just going through it and taking volumes of notes! I am an utter logophile. A lover of words. And I am so glad!
Well, that goal certainly spurred me on. I was up until almost 2 AM writing the night before last, and I finished the first chapter of my novel in a cinch. And then last night I was up until past 1 AM uploading photos to Facebook and writing some more. In total, since I posted my goal, I have added 1,826 words. Let's see how many more words I can write by October 1st, eh? Fortunately, if I just get myself to start writing, it comes naturally. (And blogging is a most excellent way to 'prime the well'.)
{ weheartit.com }
I was at a volleyball homecoming game with eight dear friends and two new acquaintances, plus my sister Lilly. It was amazing! They all did an incredible job, and Lilly and I were fortunate enough to photograph and videotape the game for the team.
They won by a landslide!
My dad let me use his camera, a Canon Power Shot, which has zoom-power seemingly a hundred times better than mine own camera. The only downside was that the sport setting (which captures movement better) made the pictures a little 'noisy', or 'grainy'. Ah, well --- it was still good practice.
For once in my life I felt a little more professional, with that nice-looking camera slung around my neck. And the girls are all naturally photogenic, and positively beautiful. It was a fantastic evening. GO LIONS!
I fear that something has happened to my blog that I've been afraid of; that I've made all of my writing too official, and not the flowing, personal delight I had ever hoped it to be. I have a habit of writing far too matter-of-fact when I mean to sound intriguing.
So, in my roundabout way, I mean to say that I shall endeavor to sound less... formal, and more... exciting. I have some books of poetry nearby to put me on a head-start, and a willingness to let the inspiration come and sweep me up in the cloud of blissful writing.
Also, I have only written 6,940 words to my novel --- that's really quite smaller than it sounds! --- and have not even finished the first chapter. But, oh, inspired as I am presently, this should soon change! I'll make myself a goal, shall I? I shall strive to have at least the first chapter of my novel completed by the first of October. That gives me... eight days, not including today. Time to do the work that is as play....
And here we have it --- the beginning of the end of another wonderful summer. The past few weeks have been filled with some days too busy to hold my head upright and keep my eyes open by the end of them, and other days so free from obligation that I've sat about and completed hardly a thing.
Just this past Friday, my family went to the Minnesota State Fair. Same as always, we walked about without any certain plan as to where we would go. Sadly, I missed watching the 4-H Arts-In performance, which is one of my favorite parts of the whole fair. We did, however, run into some dear friends and talked for a good while while I pecked at a corn-dog. My sister and I were fortunate enough to happen upon the Webkinz booth, and each purchased dear little toys for ourselves. (It may be considered a childish game, but even now at the age of seventeen, the little girl in me loves visiting this blessed game-site!) Overall, it was a fun day. Oh, and Emily got a picture with Captain Jack Sparrow! (Not Johnny Depp, but close enough.)
{ "Take what you can, give nothing back!" }
I think that was the highlight of her day --- not to mention a great way to end it! We heard about an fairly new apple for the first time in the Horticulture building called 'Sweetango'. We visited an orchard just yesterday, but they didn't have it quite yet. Hopefully the other orchard, Pine Tree, the one we usually visit will have it so we can give it a try.
{ photo by me! purevioletphotography }
Today, my older sister, Lilly, turned nineteen! I never could imagine what it would be like when I was younger --- watching as my older sister became an adult. But it's happened. The day started out slowly. I cleaned, cuddled with my cat, and ran out the door dragging along my socks and shoes as I chased after my family. We took her, blindfolded and bursting with excitement, to a bowling alley as a surprise birthday gift. She loves bowling.
I lost poorly, but considering I haven't bowled since I was nine, I guess I have a good excuse. Lilly did really well, however, and I'm so happy to see that she had a great time.
Halfway through, we were blessed with the opportunity to babysit my darling little niece, Olivia. Emily best of all of us can get her to smile big, and she has the most beautiful eyes in the world. Here, you can see Lilly is holding her. They're both so precious!
I heard this song for the first time today. I can't believe how sweet it is. If I ever have a quiet moment, not doing anything --- not writing, not reading, not celebrating --- I'm going to hear it all the way through for the seventh or twentieth time and cry my heart away.
For a moment, I wasn't even sure I was hearing Adam Young's voice, but every time I listened it became clearer and clearer and clearer that the fine sound belonged to no one else.
On a sadder note, my family lost our sweet feline, Ned, early this past Sunday morning. I went downstairs and found him, dragging his hind legs behind him. At the emergency vet about an hour later after this alarming discovery, my dad and I learned that our poor Little Buddy had a blood clot, hence the sudden loss of usefulness in his back legs. By then, knowing I couldn't bear to put Ned through anymore misery, I began to resign myself to letting him go. I had plenty of time to cuddle him in my arms and say goodbye. I couldn't watch, but my dad was there holding Ned tenderly until the very end.
At times it seems silly to cry for a cat. But I realize that God gave us emotions to use them. I know that it's okay to cry for an animal. After all, he was my Little Buddy; no other cat I have ever known had a sweeter disposition, a deeper love for people, or a greater appreciation for any and all kinds of attention. I'm going to miss him a ton!
On a much lighter note, Emily is excited --- nay, completely beside herself --- about starting the fifth season of Psych. I know, it's the sixth one coming out next, but we don't watch live TV; we do the much more fun waiting-for-each-season-to-come-out-so-that-we-can-borrow-it-from-the-library-and-watch-all-of-the-episodes-within-a-week thing. We've seen every other season several times through Netflix, and now seeing new ones is truly... very fun.
Twenty years of breathing, nine years of being a Christian, seventeen years of writing stories, five years of having my own bedroom, two brothers, two sisters, three nieces, two nephews, five fish, one cat, and a lifetime of memories... I am the Purity Girl, striving to honor God in every part of this adventure that is my life.
