September Story

Well, the promise is that we will be getting cool weather this week. I'm more than glad to hear that, but I really need my furnace repairman to keep his promise and get back to me. Yes, I have called him, but that April promise that we would get my furnace back online and working is now coming to a point where said promise needs to be fulfilled. I really like the guy, and I'm pretty sure he'll get it done. I do have a little ace up my sleeve because I have a gas fireplace in my living room that I'm itching to turn on.



 My magical helpers have been earning their wings lately in my house. We have done our share of decluttering, decorating, cleaning, and enhancing. I'm sitting here right now with a brand new pedicure, and that is a luxury I've never had. I still have those same little crooked toes, but they sure look better. I call these two pedicured friends little hobbit feet. Sounds super enticing, does it not?



 I had a bit of an electrical issue last week, and my lights began to flicker, fade, flash, brown out, and expire. Then they would come right back on and repeat. Anything electrically powered caused this to happen, and sometimes the house just went through the paces by itself. After the power company checked my lines out, I called my wonderful electrician. He is a former student, and he is so good to me. Of course, he came right away and inspected the house and the antique ... I mean old... wiring that I have here. His verdict: I needed a major fuse, which he installed, and voila! the lights were back to normal.



 This young man is just wonderful…and very organized and sensible. He flat-out told me that my fuses should have just gone out. He said that they don't usually flare, flicker, flash, go out, and then come back on. I looked at him straight in the eyes and told him that the lights probably had gone out. Then I said that it was my magic that was causing all the flickering and flashing. My former student who knows me so well stood there a minute and thought of what to say. I can only imagine what might have been going through his mind, and some of it is kind of frantic because here sat his old school teacher mumbling about magic right in the middle of Missouri. But finally he looked at me and smiled. Then he said, "Yep. That sounds about like you."



 September is a month that bridges the gap from practical to magic. I don't know if any of you were lucky enough to get to see the new movie Practical Magic. It sure has big, pointy black shoes to fill. I got to thinking about my childhood and the magic that surrounded me as a little girl. I'm not sure, but I believe a good deal of it came from a Better Homes and Gardens collection of stories for young people. Another bit of it may have come from another storybook. In fact, according to the Internet, I have woven several short stories together. One of my favorite stories was “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” a Norwegian fairytale collected by Peter Kristen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe.  (I seem to remember the name of the story as “More North than North. More South than South.”)The story had a white bear who was a prince by night and a polar bear in the day. A young woman married him, and she was not allowed to look at him at night. When she disobeyed this promise, three drops of tallow from her candle fell on his shirt. It's an enchanting story of travel and love and magic. I thought there was an old witch called Baba Yaga in this story, but she doesn't appear in the current tellings of the tale.



However, I spent my younger days living out this story. I loved to take my collie dog and make the appropriate “sacrifices” to an old, invisible witch I called Baba Yaga as we went down to the creek near my house. It was the only Woodland area my parents allowed me to visit because I was a little bit too curious to go into the real woods that our farm holds. This is just a little creek that I can see every day from my windows. However, it was enough. Baba Yaga, that old witch, allowed me to sit by the side of that creek and absorb new stories that were not in the book. She told me tales and as long as I was good and my dog was good, we could sit and listen.



 My favorite time of the year to go was Autumn, of course. Was I afraid of snakes? Never! Nothing bothered me — including the bugs, the chiggers, or the threat of poison ivy and oak. My dog was very good, and so was I. We learned a lot. Old Baba Yaga shared her secrets well, but she made me promise not to tell you a single one. So, of course, I won’t.



As the first day of Autumn approaches on Tuesday, I plan to have a real pumpkin on my fireplace hearth, a candle glowing, and some vegetable soup. Beyond that, I suppose Autumn will have to enter on her own, and I look forward to those first frosty mornings. Do you have Fall traditions in your home? What is your favorite season? I'm lucky because my family represents all seasons. My mom's mother loved Spring, so pinks and greens and early flowers made her happy. My dad's mother was a fellow Autumn lover, so just the hint of Fall makes me want to bring out her special apple cake recipe and give it a whirl. My mother and my dad loved Summer. Nothing made them happier than haying time and garden time. Of course, that leaves old Mr. Winter, sitting in the corner by himself. I always hesitate to say it because people somehow blame me when the weather gets cold, but I love Winter. I love the short days, long whispery nights, the blustery wind, and of course, that magical and glorious SNOW. Let me know what season you embrace. Whatever it is, I hope the first day of Autumn brings you joy …and love …. and kindness.