Tuesday Morning, November 1, 2011

Beloved:

      Experts say ten to twenty percent of our population experience some form of seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.  As the amount of daylight decreases, feeling especially tired, depressed and hungry for comfort food (carbs) increases.*  My mother had it and I do too.  Arizona is the cure for many folks. At her first opportunity, my mother moved to Florida. A spot of medicine and a kinder attitude toward November is my treatment of choice. 

    What’s so great about November?  Here’s my top twelve list, because twelve is a more biblical number than ten, and in no particular order except that number one is definitely #1:

1.   Changing into pajamas at 5:30 pm.

2.   Less time in the yard is more time in my sewing room.    

3.   The color of the sky in the daytime – a blue which surely explains the

    term watercolor. 

4.   The color of the sky at night when I go out with the dogs – an ink

black blanket thrown over a sea of silver light, stars glinting through

the weave.

5.   A song by Tim Grimm called Autumn Garden in which dried plants are

    word painted as old women with soft, loose chins, hands folded on

    their chests, heads nodding in the breeze.  

6.   Bill Coverdale’s sanctuary bouquets.  Last week he found burgundy 

    hydrangea leaves to go with burning bush and drying sedum. 

7.   The kids smell like outside cold air smell when I pick them up from

    practice; more so when I am late.

8. The huge racket two squirrels make when drag racing through deep   

    leaves. 

9. Supper is cozier in the dark. Our reflections in the kitchen windows

    make the table seem more crowded.

10.Wintery food like chili and chicken potpie, eaten while wearing

pajamas, taste like love with hugs.

11.Knitting with wool instead of cotton.

12. Flannel sheets.

It’s healing just to make the list, even more to live it with a grateful heart.  I pray the day finds you joyful and at peace.  peace & prayers, ~ pastor annette

*For more information about seasonal affective disorder, go to http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/seasonal-affective-disorder