“Here it set red maples on fire; there it turned oaks russet and yellow.  Fat persimmons became the shade of  melted gold, waiting for frost to turn their bitter flesh to honey.”

Jan Karon, author of ‘These High Green Hills’

“Merely walking out the door of the door of the rectory was invigorating.  It was if he’d come back from the grave, given the dazzling, living energy of every green thing he saw.”

Jan Karon, author of ‘These High Green Hills

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

Confuscius

I’ve been thinking about the two big holidays coming up.  Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple days.  Christmas is a month away.  Both holidays here in the  United States have a lot of traditional colors and specific items for each holiday.  Thanksgiving’s main colors are orange, yellow, red, and brown while Christmas’s main colors are red, white and green.  Of course there are many other intense colors associated with the holidays mentioned.

For us, the nights are getting longer and the daylight time getting shorter.  And I think the longer nights add to the vividness of the colors we see, both inside the houses and outside where lights on houses, buildings and trees and other decorations in yards and on poles help brighten our nights and days.

Thanksgiving is a day we celebrate the harvest of the summer and the transition to winter.  We give thanks to Mother Earth for the bountiful food and for all the many things we have in our lives-friends, family, love and caring, a child’s laughter, the sun coming up each day, strong coffee, busy traffic, someone smiling, the rain, especially the rain in a drought which nourishes the ground, the plants, the rivers, the farms, the fish and the people.  We have so much to be thankful for.  I continue to bring the practice of gratitude into my daily life.

Christmas  is a religious holiday, but it’s become more than that too.  Along with Thanksgiving, Christmas also has a sacredness about it.  In our darkest days, the story says that the sacred came to be born.  I understand there is an Asian ‘Festival of  Lights’ near the time of our Christmas.  There is so much we share with each other.  This holiday  is about children, giving, magic, family and friends, love, traditions and more.

In this time of sacredness and traditions, may  you enjoy the gifts of the holidays and the visual elements-colors, traditional items, smiling faces, lights, leaves, turkey, a table with food and friends and family.

Does the sacredness and the traditions of these holidays help you enjoy what you see?  And does what you see help you enjoy the season changes?

I included a quote for you who are experiencing the spring in the Southern Hemisphere.  Do you have holidays that you celebrate where ever you are that are different from Thanksgiving and Christmas?  Please let me know what your holidays or traditions are at your home at this change of season.  Please leave a comment.  Not only would I enjoy your comments, but others would enjoy them as well.

May you have a blessed season change where ever you are.  And may you enjoy being able to see these happy moments.