No season lasts forever

Beloved:

    The garden is going to seed.  I have more vegetables in the freezer than on the vine.  My kitchen and living room as get sunnier as the trees get barer.  The hens bed down earlier in the evening and pile all over each other until the morning sun reaches the coop.  I can still make bouquets of globe flowers but most everything else is too far waned.  Soon we’ll stack firewood close to the house and start planning for  Thanksgiving guests.   My favorite cold morning breakfast is oatmeal with chocolate and cranberries (recipe below).  I love putting on warmer clothes,  like cozy socks and a  yummy sweater.     

I love, love, love this weather. Once upon a time I rather dreaded the fall, because it signaled winter’s coming.  I’m slightly better at living in the present but the more likely reason is practice. Fifty autumns followed by fifty winters has convinced my soul that a fifty first spring and summer will invariably come.  Now I look forward to winter and my move from garden to sewing room and the projects that have laid dormant there for the last six months; quilt pieces, fabric and patterns for kid’s clothes I promised my niece.  

Finally, after fifty years I discover that I really am pretty much as happy as I choose to be, since every season has it’s own gifts and losses.  Since no season lasts forever.  Today I am supremely happy to be alive, to have oatmeal and socks and sweaters.  I pray you find joy in your own time and place today.  ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette


Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal
½ cup old fashioned oats
1 cup skim milk
2 tbsp dried cranberries
14 semi-sweet chocolate chips
pinch of salt
½ tsp of cinnamon
2 tbsp brown rice syrup or one packet artificial sweetener

Combine oats, milk, salt and cinnamon in saucepan and heat to boiling.  Reduce heat and simmer until oats are softened through and most liquid is absorbed - 3-4 minutes on my stove.  Pour into bowl. with cranberries, syrup and chocolate chips.  Stir and eat.  Delish.  Also reheats okay-just add a little extra milk.