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Let us learn to appreciate
there will be times
when the trees will be bare,

and look forward to the time
when we may pick the fruit.

-Anton Chekhov

We are starting to hit those days where it is warmer outside than in, and not yet time to turn on the heat at night, and it is so very difficult to drag my sorry carcass out of my warm bed in the morning. (Admittedly it helps when you have a four year old bopping you on the head and yelling, “Get up! It’s day!”)

This is the second woolly bear caterpillar I’ve found this autumn. The first had a much more pronounced band of brown, which I believe indicates a mild winter?

Of course this one says otherwise. And that’s what I get for not taking my camera everywhere I go; I swear I’m going to have it surgically attached to my hand.

A little research uncovers the fact that the length of the bands actually reveals the age of the caterpillar, and therefore is more of an indicator of how last winter went.

But that’s no fun, is it? October being a month that’s all about symbol, and superstition, and the supernatural, and ritual.

In my heart I know I found an indicator of a mild winter, though I lack photographic evidence. So that’s my official prediction. And my fervent hope.

For the record, I don’t walk under ladders, and I die a little inside when I break a mirror. My rational side cringes with embarrassment, but I just can’t help it.

Are you superstitious? What folkloric and non-rational beliefs can you not help but hold to?

Finish each day and be done with it.

You have done what you could.

Some blunders and absurdities

no doubt crept in;

forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day;

begin it well and serenely and

with too high a spirit to encumbered

by your old nonsense.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Um. I think this violet is confused. Don’t violets bloom in spring?

I looked all over and found just the one. But isn’t it lovely?

This quote holds a lot of meaning for me. I am one of those people who replay past mistakes over and over in my head, who hold grudges, who will dwell on past events until I’m hurt and angry all over again.

I have a slow-burning temper, and I am well aware that in the long run I only punish myself. But I could never just Let Things Go. I always wanted things to somehow be evened out, put right, made fair.

I wrote this passage out, painstakingly, in my very best lettering, and posted it prominently above my desk. I take note of it all the time.

I am learning to Let It Go. And I love thinking of it as my “old nonsense”.

How do you put the brakes on your temper? How do you Let It Go?

My Recycled Bags lists the Top 100 Environmentalist Blogs. I can’t wait until I have more than ten minutes in one place to sink my teeth into this list…

Van Jones puts forth his proposal for a Green Bailout Plan that “could even pay for ITSELF in energy savings and in tax dollars generated by new jobs and businesses.” Why isn’t anyone listening?

Didja watch the debate on Tuesday and wonder what the heck McCain was talking about when he said Obama gave $3 million in earmarks to fund an overhead projector? I did. Here’s the facts: Why Does John McCain Hate Planetariums? (I love that article title!)

When I was in college I was infatuated with this guy in my dorm, and one of the qualities I loved most about him was that he darned his own socks. How cute is that? Michael Swaine is going door-to-door and offering to darn people’s socks, essentially starting conversations on mending, while teaching and learning methods to do so. “So it is not only about the clothes — it is about community, people, social interaction and our throw away society.” Add to this the fact that he looks a lot like that guy from college… Swoon.

9 Reasons A John McCain Presidency Would Be A Disaster for the Environment. Pass it on.

Alex Steffen says that Optimism is a Political Act. Fear and hate can only drive us backwards, into a more primal version of ourselves. Growth and change and forward thinking is driven by hope. Just because hope and optimism are terrifically difficult right now, does not mean that they are not vitally important.

Finally, I offer up a video. This was voted the viewer favorite Sir David Attenborough moment. I’ve watched it half a dozen times now:

The first time I thought it was hilarious.

The second (after calling the kids in to watch) I was taken with the miracle of the mimicry. I mean, most humans can’t replicate the correct pitch or words of a song they’ve heard a thousand times, but this bird can do dead-on imitations of mechanical things? That’s insane!

Every time after that, I grew more and more depressed. Hearing a bird call out the sounds of humanity. Destruction. Hearing it, as Attenborough says, foretell its own doom. The sound of a chainsaw, of a car alarm, so familiar to a wild bird that it incorporates it into its language. It’s so sad. Birds should remain wild, and free, not caught up in the trappings of humanity.

Oops. I didn’t mean to end on a downer… Let’s see…

via:

Here we go!

Big winks all around….

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!