The storm came and left and wasn’t all that bad. Our family went out and played in the snow this morning. Peter does not like to eat it.

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I very much wish I could play competitive volleyball again. Sometime I want to play in a good league with a team that is good enough to have a designated setter and maybe even wear kneepads. But Saturday I did have an opportunity to play and watch. It was the district volleyball tournament, and our ward played in it. We won by forfeit and just played for fun the first game. Then we played another team that was quite good and lost. (I was okay with that. It meant we didn’t have to come back later on.) I had a lot of fun. I’m not good anymore (I was never wonderful), but with the co-ed I don’t do to bad. And it is fun to play with Joe. Peter was with us, he did pretty good about being distracted by the other kids there. But he still sometimes tried to come play too.  When we were just playing for fun, he would wander out on the court. It was great fun to say “Hands up” and he would do it.

That night I went on a double date with my brother to the last BYU women’s volleyball game. (After a delicious meal where I made ham for the first time. I love to cook for people.) A girl I played with in high school plays on the team (and she’s really good). It was the last time I could go see her play, and it was lots of fun to watch her. It was a pretty good match too. Peter was crawling around the bleachers, and at one time ended up in a strange women’s arms. He was fine with it and stayed there quite a while. I love grandmas that like whatever kid passes their way.

For old time’s sake, here is a picture of me playing:

For three days we go exploring outside. He find rattles in a seedpod from a honeylocust. He walks so far away that I can no longer see him and have to go find him. He gets leaves all over his shoes and pants, using them as a cushion to sit in. He stares at everyone passing by, enthralled by the cat and dog. He goes to pet, but just with one finger, warily.

I am amazed at the warm weather. Just a jacket will do. I bring out projects to work on, but quickly get distracted by the smaller toddler, walking away. I tell him what trees and leaves and houses are. He even seems to understand a little, pointing up at the tops of trees and the bricks on the buildings. We smile and play together and neither of us go inside until nap-time.

I just started reading  A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. In the prefrace is this quote:

Conservation is getting nowhere because it is incompatible with our Abrahamic concept of land. We abus land because we regard it as a commondity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. There is no other way for land to survive the impact of mechanized man, nor for us to reap from it the esthetic harvest it is capable, under science of contribution to culture.

That lands is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics. That land yields a cultural harvest is a fact long known, but latterly often forgotten…

Such a view of land and people is, of course, subject to the blurs and distortions of personal experience and personal bias. But wherever the truth may lie this much is crystal-clear: our bigger-and-better society is now like a hypochondriac, so obsessed with its own economic health as to have lost the capacity to remain healthy. The whole world is so greedy for more bathtubs that it has lost the stability necessary to build them, or even to turn off the tap. Nothing could be more salutary at this stage than a little healthy contempt for a plethora of material blessings.

Perhaps such a shrift of values can be achieved by reappraising things unnatural, tame, and confined in terms of things natural, wild and free.

Do I want an abundance of material things in life, or would I rather enjoy the natural ones that are already out there?

It’s been a while since I posted. The weather is cold, and my thoughts have turned away from gardening a bit. But on a related note, I’ve been thinking a lot about the seasons. It’s fall now. The leaves are all senescing and everything is going dormant for the cold of winter. Lots of people around me are complaining about it. I have found myself complaining in other years. But this year I’m  loving fall, and looking forward to winter.

It’s wonderful to have all the changes in weather. I love living in Utah, where we have four distinct seasons and lots of snow in the winter. This year, I’m excited to take my toddler out to play in the snow. He has no idea what snow is. One morning it was raining dip-in-dots (not quite snow–that’s the best I can describe it), and we went out in our pajamas. He was captivated by the strange, small white balls. Winter means sledding, snowshoeing, hot chocolate, Christmas, and more laid back days without so much to do. Sometimes its a little too cold and long, but I don’t need to worry about that until January. Maybe this year I can actually learn how to ski too. (I’ve lived in Utah my entire life and never skied. It is something I need to change.)

But its not quite winter yet. It’s fall. Oh glorious fall that has always been my favorite season. It’s beautiful. The air is so crisp, and I get outside more (or at least feel like I do) than any other season. The leaves are falling off trees, and there is snow in the mountains. I’ve gone outside and played in the leaves with my family. I love the sound of them when I walk through. I even like the cold air, and bundling up myself and toddler so we don’t freeze. Thanksgiving is next week, which means great food and family. Fall is just a wonderful time to be grateful for all I am blessed with.

I’m actually grateful for the break in gardening as well. I can catch up on other projects, like a box full of sewing, and get my business more grounded before the rush in spring. I’m currently working on a sortable list of perennials I like, and I’m re-remembering all the ones I’ve forgotten. I am happy right now with the weather and everything else in my life.

*I feel stupid. The title of this post was misspelled. I rely on spell checker too much.