*The leaves are now beginning to turn here in Southeastern Wisconsin. The red maples are starting, and within about 10 days or so they will be breathtaking. The leaves crunch under my feet on my walks. On Saturday, the sky was that deep, deep blue, and the air was absolutely still. A perfect autumn day.

*We have new neighbors. Both houses across the street were empty, one for a year and a half before it sold. We have two nice families, both with little ones, that have moved in. I’m going to take over some cookies and a note to say welcome like some neighbors did for us when we were new. In South Carolina, the neighbor boy came over when we had just moved in. The little guy stood there on our porch with his blond shock of hair standing on end and shouted, “Hi, Ma’am! Ya’ll must be the new neighbors. I’m Johnny!” It was a rousing welcome. I was new to the Southern habit of a lot of children calling adults “ma’am” and “sir.” A wonderful habit, I think.

*The last vestiges of childhood are bittersweet. Will and I were leaving Target today, after buying him some jeans that are long enough, when I felt his hand slip into mine for a moment. He looked up at me and grinned sheepishly. I squeezed that hand and let it go again, knowing that boys his age don’t like lingering for long, but it was a sweet/sad reminder that those days of childhood are really ending quickly. I’m so glad he doesn’t mind doing little things like that once in a while. It does a mother’s heart good.

*I found the Mrs. Tim books at the library today. Our library hasn’t yet discarded the lovely old books like so many have. The Mrs. Tim books are by D.E. Stevenson and are the fictional journals of a military wife in the era of WW2 and afterward. They detail all the happenings of a family with a husband stationed overseas while they stay behind in England. I read them years ago and am happy to find them again. They make for cozy fall reading. I really can’t stand most of the modern novels with which libraries are stocked today. There are exceptions, but so many are laced with sex and foul language that they aren’t fit for decent households. Why is it so many authors could be artists, like Elizabeth Goudge for example, without that? I find it terribly sad that so many wonderful books are being taken out of the library now as they go out of print. I get used copies of my favorites on eBay before they disappear into the mist forever.

*I’m starting to smell woodsmoke from fireplaces at night now as it dips into the high 40′s. Colder days are coming.

*O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good…His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations!