Fall Moments

I'm not violently against it, but I've also never been a big fan of the term bucket list. On the other hand, I'm not thrilled with the origins of at least one alternative term. Intentionality List could work, but it's a little clunky so, just at this time, we'll use Moments as a place holder. In this particular minute, it works well enough to describe what we're getting at.

The last couple years, with each new season, it's worked really well to write up a list of things I'd like to do -- things to do personally and as a family, but all in a spirit of slowing down and living in the present with full concentration and gratitude. (That's the goal anyway. Hence the intentionality part does fit.) But on the flipside, this is just a record of what happened -- so some of these had more active planning and some just happened.

And some rough things happened this fall as well. Even in life, we are in death, as the prayer book says. And Ecclesiastes stands -- a great comfort.

~

Hopefully the list below will be inspiring to take a breath and enjoy whatever season you're in at the moment. (And I'd love to hear if you have your own alternative term to bucket list.)

Roughly in order:

• Dazzling dahlias in the garden
• Painting pumpkins up in the mountains while Daddy was on a job; lots of yellow fall aspens & saw two bears
• Draft Horse Festival with one of the aunties and Grandma (got rained on!)
• Pumpkin rolling
• Hiking at our local SP with other grandparents and a different auntie; collected lots of sticks and leaves
• Rain; enjoying Rescue Riders / cozy w/Mema & auntie while it rained outside
• Bike at our fairgrounds multiple times
• Gold mining museum w/family
• Visited the river to check for salmon spawning (they didn't seem to be)
• Bowling
• Vacation and driving around Tahoe with family
• Visited a neat Reno animal sanctuary / zoo
• Gorgeous mountain drive
• Playing board games
• Climbing on boulders and breathing in the mountains
• Tahoe blues
• Pebbly Tahoe beach
• Lying on the Tahoe sand / playing
• Watching wind surfers
• Collected more sticks
• Found lake crayfish
• Fall boardwalk by coffee shop w/boulders, fallen pine needles, leaves in little meadow
• More yellow aspens
• Lots of chai
• Hiking x 3 (2 were pretty tiny, but we did them)
• Lots of bike action at home (training wheels came off)
• Enjoying the cool air
• Girly playing outdoors in the fall sunshine
• Sunflower heads laid out for the birds
• Small person dressed up as Elsa and we went downtown for All Hallow's Eve (our first time trying it and have lots of interesting thoughts on the topic to be discussed another time)
• Ever After mama / daughter movie time (pretty much the girly's first time and she was totally invested and loved it)
• Leaf bouquets
• Drive around town with the fall colors
• Smelling the earth after rain
• Mama / daughter fall scavenger hunt walking to the top of our hill
• Fall picnic
• Fall picture books
• Fall colors walk without phone x 2
• Fall film list
• Local SP again, coffee, walk through our historic downtown already set for Christmas
• Rose hips
• Jumping in puddles
• Made a thankfulness string with scratch-art leaves
• Introducing Daddy to Princess Bride all the way through while we were all sick
• Family cozy time enjoying an old music box and Yellowstone snow globe
• Ticket to Ride with Daddy while watching a Simpsons ep xD

Fall food (with varying degrees of success)

• Cranberry cider with oranges
• Apple dumplings
• Pesto pasta w/butternut
• Charcuterie in the mountains