30 September 2016

Autumn Poetry


"It's September"
by Edgar A. Guest

It's September, and the orchards are afire with red and gold,
And the nights with dew are heavy, and the morning's sharp with cold;
And the good old-fashioned asters laughing at us from their bed;
Once again in shoes and stockings are the children's little feet,
And the dog now does his snoozing on the bright side of the street.

It's September, and the cornstalks are as high as they will go,
And the red cheeks of the apples everywhere begin to show;
Now the supper's scarcely over ere the darkness settles down
And the moon looms big and yellow at the edges of the town;
Oh, it's good to see the children, when their little prayers are said,
Duck beneath the patchwork covers when they tumble into bed.

It's September, and a calmness and a sweetness seem to fall
Over everything that's living, just as though it hears the call
Of Old Winter, trudging slowly, with his pack of ice and snow,
In the distance over yonder, and it somehow seems as though
Every tiny little blossom wants to look its very best
When the frost shall bite its petals and it droops away to rest.

It's September! It's the fullness and the ripeness of the year;
All the work of earth is finished, or the final tasks are near,
But there is no doleful wailing; every living thing that grows,
For the end that is approaching wears the finest garb it knows.
And I pray that I may proudly hold my head up high and smile
When I come to my September in the golden afterwhile.

Rudolph Day, September 2016

"Rudolph Day" is a way of keeping the Christmas spirit alive all year long. You can read a Christmas book, work on a Christmas craft project, listen to Christmas music or watch a Christmas movie.

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW
Christmas in the Crosshairs, Gerry Bowler
"There's a war on Christmas!" has been proclaimed now for several years by groups angry about stores saying "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas" or state governments forced to take state-funded creches off state property, etc. Is there really a "war on Christmas"? Well, yes, says Gerry Bowler—but then there always has been.

Christmas has, believe it or not, been a bone of contention since 4 AD (or 4 CE, if you prefer). The early Christian church sanctioned no Christmas celebration and in fact, over the years the most vociferous opponents to Christmas merrymaking have been Christians themselves. "We should not be celebrating the birth of the Christ child as if he were some King Pharaoh," thundered early Christian leaders. The Puritans pointed out that nowhere in the New Testament was "Christmas" mentioned, just a weekly day of rest and prayer, and those were their only days of rest practiced in their meeting houses. The new Protestant religions, especially the Calvinists and Presbyterians, post-reformation rejected "Popish" Christmas celebrations while others pointed out that most of our Christmas customs derive from earlier pagan practices (mistletoe, the evergreen tree, the Yule log), other old time practices (feasting due to killing of livestock that couldn't be fed during the winter and gifts which came from Roman custom of giving gifts at the New Year), or involved wicked events like dancing and singing of songs that were not hymns and—heaven forbid!—men dressing like women and vice-versa. Other religions, as well as nonbelievers, were tired of stores being overwhelmed by Christmas carols and decorations from late November, and worse, their non-Christian children being forced to make Christmas ornaments and sing religious songs.

Bowler neatly and sometimes humorously recounts the history of the holiday, and the protests against it, from the Christian rise which overtook the pagan religions (and absorbed so many of their customs) all the way up to the protests by the Westboro Baptist Church, the ACLU, and various organizations who feel there's just too much Christmas in December. Since I collect books on the history of Christmas, this was a welcome find. I have Mr. Bowler's World Encyclopedia of Christmas and I'm off to find Mr. Bowler's book about Santa Claus now; Christmas in the Crosshairs would make another good-reading addition to my library!

What if we make something for Christmas? Many craft projects should be started now:

"Better Homes and Gardens" Christmas Crafts

"Country Living" Christmas Crafts

"Parents" Christmas Crafts for Kids

Cross-Stitch Christmas Free Patterns

12 September 2016

Autumn Poetry



My Autumn Leaves
By Bruce Weigl

I watch the woods for deer as if I’m armed.
I watch the woods for deer who never come.
I know the hes and shes in autumn
rendezvous in orchards stained with fallen
apples’ scent. I drive my car this way to work
so I may let the crows in corn believe
it’s me their caws are meant to warn,
and snakes who turn in warm and secret caves

they know me too. They know the boy
who lives inside me still won’t go away.
The deer are ghosts who slip between the light
through trees, so you may only hear the snap
of branches in the thicket beyond hope.
I watch the woods for deer, as if I’m armed.