Best Half of the Year

Yesterday when I opened the refrigerator to retrieve the homegrown cucumbers and zucchini for refrigerator pickles and chocolate chip zucchini cake respectively, I was struck by the beauty of my fridge. Pitchers of iced tea on the top shelves, cucumber salad on the middle shelf and a veggie drawer full of cukes, zukes and yellow squash. This was my reminder that summer is coming to a wistful end and autumn is teasing us.

August to January is undoubtedly my favorite time of year though I hate saying goodbye to the heat and sending Adam back to school. I can still wear flip-flops and go sockless for several more weeks, my kitchen is cranking out wholesome goodness, the air is crisp and the world explodes in golden colors almost overnight. I love hearing the geese honk overhead and smelling bonfires in the air.

Toward the end of the best half of the year comes my most favorite holiday(s): Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving is more provincial since we moved to ND. We used to have huge celebrations of extended family, friends and orphaned acquantices of 40 people or more. The first Thanksgiving I ever hosted in my own home had 42 guests. Most years we'd all meet up in Hawai'i but in recent history it was just a fun-themed (think Mardi Gras in November) party. Now our T-days are more subdued. Though we've had visitors from CA a few times, as we will this year, mostly it's just the 8 of us. I've had to cut back on the number of desserts I make from 2 pumpkin pies, 2 pecan pies, 1 cheesecake, 1 chocolate something and 1 'show stopper' that usually conisided with our theme of the year to 1 pumpkin pie, 1 pecan pie and 1 something else. Pies don't hold much challenge, in my opinion, so I usually like to do something that stretches my baking abilities. No idea what it will be this year. I do miss all the hoopla but still love T-day.

Christmas has become an event unlike any other since we moved. We used to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day going from one house to another, squeezing in our personal family time wherever we could. 5 separate celebrations along with traffic and family dynamics was just too much. Now we have a leisurely Christmas while still including all the family traditions we built over the years as individuals and as a family. It's two full days of good food, fun times, and reflecting on the true meaning of the holiday.

So I'm again happy to see the yellow-orange leaves waving at me in the breeze. It reminds me that we chose to live a slower life in a place where family reigns supreme.

What Is Wrong With This World?

In days gone by, the world was a nicer place to be. If someone held open a door, you said thank you. If someone gave you a gift or invited you to supper, you sent a thank you note. If you received a card or a letter, you wrote back.

Frankly that's how it still is in our house. The kids send thank-you notes (okay I write Gracey's but she colors on them) when they receive gifts. Sometimes they call the giver as well to say thank you. We say thank you to strangers who compliment us or help us somehow. Scott and I refuse to raise ungrateful people.

But the world around us is so ungrateful. Actually our culture has raised up an entire generation of young people who think they are entitled to life's perks. And parents everywhere are feeding this entitlement by buying every little thing their kid desires. It's sickening.

And this is more than just material entitlement and ungratefulness. Youth and young adults are expecting the rest of us to do more for them as if they are somehow worthy of slaves. And I can't believe the number of teenagers who don't even have jobs! What is going on in this world?

Adam told me the other day that he didn't want to have to do any work around the house like clearing the table after supper. I didn't get angry. I just said, "That's fine because I don't feel like cooking supper, making lunch, doing the laundry or keeping the house clean. I'll trade you." He got it. Every night since then he's thanked me for a delicious meal whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I'm sorry world but I don't like you. I don't like what you're doing to kids. Clean up your act and learn some manners!