~upon hearing September's song~

     The calendar rolled on over to the month of September yesterday and as hard as it is to imagine that the year has gone by as quickly as it has, it is what it is.  Especially in this month I think of my mother, for the ninth month of the year was the one of her birth and sadly that of her death as well.  The last birthday that she celebrated with us was her 87th one and this year would have been her 94th.  Mom left us two weeks after her last celebration on earth.  The parties for her now are in a place much more magnificent than any place here could have ever been.  I miss her and wish she could see the place where I now am in my life. 

    Back home in Kansas, the good folks of Hutchinson are preparing for the Kansas State Fair to begin.  The Friday after Labor Day has always been the traditional starting date for what has been deemed "The Great Kansas Get Together".  My old home was only a few blocks from the fairgrounds and for many years I could sit in my backyard and hear the sounds of fairgoers for late into the evening hours.  On a good day, I could even hear most of the grandstand concerts that went on at night.  Once a few years back, I entered the head of one of the sunflowers that I grew, the Russian Mammoth kind, and actually got 2nd prize and $12.  It was always fun to enter things but I never got any ribbons other than the one for the sunflower.  That was ok because truly it was just fun to give it a try.  I won't be at the fair this year but I'll be keeping up with it on Facebook and through the blog posts of my good friend back there in Reno County, Rob Rue, who loves the fair more than any one I know.  I'll attend vicariously through him so if you are reading this Rob, please have an extra Pronto Pup or two for me :)

     September around these parts is a time filled with changes.  Won't be long until the beautiful Aspen trees begin to change their color to the shimmering gold that they sport when the weather becomes colder.  Last year, one of my Bucket List thoughts was to take as many photos of the Aspens in autumn as I could.  Mike and I went up to Telluride one Saturday in mid-October to see if we could find some nice ones to photograph and indeed there were aplenty.  They reminded me so much of golden coins, shimmering brilliantly as they blew in the mountain breeze.  The sun hit them just right that day and I was so glad to have seen them.  Couldn't have asked for the Colorado sky to have been any prettier or more clear.  A perfect day to enjoy God's creation of nature at its finest.

     Snow had already fallen in the high country by the time we made the journey up there.  I especially like the picture at the top, the one with the bales of hay aligned all in a straight row. For some reason, it put me in mind of my old home back in Kansas (sans the mountains of course) and rather than feeling sad or homesick, it warmed my heart that day.  It put me in mind of getting ready for the winter and all of the snow with its accompanying cold temperatures that would soon be to follow. 

     Yesterday we were listening to the radio and someone mentioned that the Old Farmer's Almanac predicts that the state of Colorado is in for a harder winter with an even earlier freeze than normal.  For a "non lover of winter", that news was a little unsettling.  Not sure what the term "harder winter" really entails but I guess if that is true then we who live here will be among the first to find out.  Last year about early October, Mike and I made the journey back home to Haven, Kansas in order that I could go to my 40th class reunion.  Just a couple of days before we were set to go, one of the first big snows of the season was predicted up on Monarch Pass, the very mountain that we must go over if we want to go from the Pacific side of the Great Continental Divide to the Atlantic side.  We heard the weather report early in the morning, a couple of days before we were scheduled to go and I was afraid that if we didn't go a day early we would not be able to go at all.  I received the "ok" to take off from school one day early, Mike made similar arrangements with his work and off we went.  We made it over and back home to Montrose with no issues 4 days later.  Exercising caution is the only way to travel out here, or anywhere else for that matter.  I learned early on that those who live here are at the mercy of the mountains.  My part of Kansas, the south central one, is 611 miles to the east but the first 150 miles or so to get there is like driving through an obstacle course.  Backwards. 

     The daylight has not yet arrived here but soon, very soon, it shall be.  "The 22" will be getting up and out of bed, packing their backpacks and heading out the door for Olathe Elementary.  We have much to do this week but we shall do just fine.  Yesterday was Labor Day, a great reminder to me to be ever thankful for the job that I have.  I don't take having a job "lightly" and my heart is always grateful that it is one that I truly love to do.  So glad that I listened and paid attention to the calling that God always intended me to do.  I have no regrets for choosing education as my life's passion. 

     This is the second day of September in the year 2014.  It's a great day to be alive in and I shall give thanks for that always.  Whether I am in Kansas, Colorado or any point in between, the God who made me knows exactly where I am.  He has a purpose for me here and I go forth in faith that I can do whatever it is that is set before me.  Thinking of you my friends and family this day and praying all is well for you this day.