The View

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There are different aesthetics to the three hills we explored around our house when we were little. On bald Hill it was always kind of chilly, looking back at the way we came; at the tiny house and trees and the road where we could see someone driving up from miles away. On the Red Hill it was fun, yet a little stagnant. We weren’t as far away from the house, but we could still quite a way around and almost every aspect of the house and yard. On the Little Pasture Hill, it always felt warm and bright. We could see the back of the house and the mountains stretch out beyond it like the bulk of a looming beast.

Of course, the color of the dirt on each of these hills had much to do with the feel. Bald Hill had a dirty white soil at the top, Red Hill obviously had red dirt and the Little Pasture Hill had a mix between the two along with a rich brown color mixed in.

But I think the way the hills made us turn back to look the way we came helped with the feel as well. On Bald Hill it always felt like I was looking back, back on my past, my memories. It was always a little sad, though it was a huge accomplishment, having made it to the top of the hill. The Red Hill had a comfy, homey feel and maybe that was because it was closest to the house, but when I looked back, I looked back on what was happening right then. I was in the present, watching my life play out right in front of me. On the Little Pasture Hill, I always felt hopeful. Like the mountains beyond the house were full of potential, full of life and adventure. I could do anything, be anyone and only the future could tell what was to happen.

All three of these hills always made me smile though, I can’t wait to climb them again.

Raisin Cookies

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There is no fair comparison between chocolate chip cookie and raisin cookies. One brings to mind every grand desire of your heart. You cannot beat the pleasure of a good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie. On the other hand, raisin cookies bring a sort of homey feel to my soul. I bite into one and I’m taken to a country kitchen, looking out over green fields that are touched with the golden light of the setting sun. The warm smell of cinnamon fills the room and only wholesome feelings of love and kindness are allowed into the heart. It’s safe and it’s happy and there are no worries or cares to bother you there.

It’s weird. It’s like chocolate chip cookies fill you with happiness, but raisin cookies fill you with peace.

 

 

New Year Resolutions

Well, here we are. Older, wiser, and very muchly ready to pick back up again. I’ve been idle for… a few years; distracted by many things and thinking altogether too little about life and the little things.

The funny thing about failing at something like keeping up on a blog, is that as soon as you fail, you don’t want to go back and try to make up for it. It’s almost like admitting to failure when in reality, never working at it again is the true failing. You lose confidence and drive and start to think that it wasn’t such a great idea after all even though you loved it while you kept up with it.

That was my mindset throughout these past few years, but this year I’m going to do my best to change that mindset. If I fail, I’m going to come right back and make up for it. If I post something horribly written, I’ll come right back and write something else horrible. But maybe a little less horrible than the first.

There are two mindsets that I’m equally fond of, but it’s hard to choose which one will get the job done. One is:

“I’m going to do my best and if that’s not good enough, that’s okay, because it was my best.”

The other is:

“If I’m going to fail, I’m going to fail spectacularly.”

Either way, it’s a just do it mindset that pushes past the fear of failure that I hope to maintain the rest of this year.

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Progression

I was surprised to find out one day that a friend of mine had started taking classes in college when he had not been even thinking about taking any at all before. I found out that it was brought about by his girlfriend who was going to school already and who told him he was being a ‘bum’. I have not spoken to my friend for a while so I really had no idea whether he was being a bum or not so I did not question the matter until the next day while I was making breakfast. I myself am not going to school, mainly because I cannot afford it, but in this college town I do feel the pressures of my fellow single adults to do so. I thought about what could have made my friend’s girlfriend tell him that he was being a bum and the logical thing that came to my mind was that he was not progressing in anyway. But as I thought this, it came to my mind that many people think that if you are a young single adult, and are not going to school, you are a bum; whether you are working or not. I disagree. There are -if I may point out- people who are going to school but are not progressing the way they should. Some people stay in school much longer than they should just because they like it and can’t be persuaded to move on and get a real job. In my mind, it doesn’t matter whether you are going to school or just working. You are only being a bum if you stop trying to better yourself and if you stop progressing. I’m not going to school but my education has not stopped. I read and write books about different things and because of certain research, I know more than I ever did going to school. I know more than I ever thought I would about animals, I know nutrition facts that most people don’t even consider. I know that there is a lot more to life than going to college. But none of it matters unless you are trying to always better yourself and progress.

Snow Fall

Have you ever stopped and just listened to the snow fall? Just stood outside with no distractions and listened? This last week my family and I went up into the mountains above our house to get our Christmas trees (two were for my married brother and sister and their families). It was beautiful. The snow was deep and light, there was a thin stretch of cloud that let just the slightest hint of blue out from beneath it and there was a light snow fall; the kind that just settles down where it lands and makes itself comfortable. The days before I had been in the city where there was no snow, and the days were filled with people and things and life. I never mind those things. They are good in their own way; but as we walked through the woods trying to locate the perfect Christmas tree, I just had to stop and listen. The snowflakes don’t make a sound as they fall and all is silent. After everything that had been going on, I felt like I was in paradise listening to the snow and taking a moment to appreciate the quiet beauty of the mountains.

The Most Wonderful Time

On Black Friday me and my siblings were listening to the radio and heard the song “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” three times. After a while my brother turned off the radio, looked around the car and asked: “What makes this the most wonderful time of the year?” No one said anything; we probably looked like deer staring into the headlights as we usually do when he pops out those random philosophical questions for us to answer. We all floundered around a bit to give him a legit answer but I for one, couldn’t think of one at the time. But now I think I have the answer.

In all the rest of the year we celebrate many different things, mostly pertaining to our temporal and physical state. New Years is the celebration of new opportunities, Independence Day is the celebration of our independence, Valentines Day is the celebration of love. On Christmas we celebrate the life of the Savior and I have noticed in life, that when we focus on the Savior, we are much happier people. Why then Is Easter not held in as much esteem? I’m not sure; perhaps it is the fact that this celebration is bitter-sweet.

Christmas time is indeed when we focus on the Savior more; when we remember the little child in His humble beginnings and we are made humble. It is the time when we remember the ponderings of His mother Mary and we begin to ponder. It is a time when we remember the love of our Heavenly Father and we are filled with love. I do believe that more good is done in the month of December than in any other month of the year because people remember the goodness of our Savior and want to emulate that. People want to be good people during this time and that is what makes this the most wonderful time of the year. Not the lights on the tree, not the presents underneath, not the excitement of Santa Clause; but the Pure Love of Christ that flows more freely among the people of the earth.

November

The leaves have fallen off of the trees, the grass is brown and dead.

We no longer hear the hum of bees, the clouds hang over-head.

The cold wind whips across my face, promising new snow.

Promising to cover up this place, that’s brown and dead and old.

Summer’s gone and autumn too, and now we’re in between,

Of autumn and winter, of life and death, of things that have always been.

There’s my poor attempt at poetry. Hope you like it.

Halloween

Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble! 

Now is the time for caramel apples, pumpkin spice, yellow leaves and graveyards. Now is the time for the supernatural things to come out and play! This is where I’m supposed to say that I love Halloween and everything about it. But then I would be lying. I do like Halloween, but only certain aspects of it. When I was younger I loved dressing up and going out into the cold with my siblings to go Trick or Treating and then coming back to dump our treats on the living room floor to count and barter with each other before going to bed. I loved drawing pictures of all things spooky and scary. I loved carving pumpkins and getting all messy from the stringy goop in the pumpkins and then later eating the pumpkin seeds mom roasted. I loved putting the candles in them and then setting them out on the front porch to watch them glow. But I hated being scared. Sometimes we would turn off all the lights and read ghost stories by candle light. Which, now that I’m older I can enjoy it more, but when I was young I hated it. My brother made scary movies which we were all apart of, but I usually could never go anywhere alone afterwards. I never liked the gory aspect of Halloween either so I will not dwell on it. Instead I will think of the spooky charm Halloween has on us all. The Jack-o-lanterns, the old movies, the candy, the costumes, the apples, the time of year when we are allowed to let out another side of us that is rarely shown, and just have fun with it! Happy Halloween!

Off the Computer

 I’ve spent a lot of time on my computer this year. Which makes sense, what with all the writing, blogging, and now this new found job I’m working on, posting links from Click Bank. I like working from home, but I must admit that I think I miss out on a lot of things going on outside my apartment. Sometimes I like to be outside doing some heavy duty work, just to feel my muscles actually work for something. To feel the sun on my back and the dirt on my hands. I know it doesn’t sound like heaven, but I think hard manual work is good for the human soul sometimes. Especially if one is working to better something. I like looking out the window at the natural things of this world after staring for hours at my computer screen by which I still get many things accomplished; but it is more emotionally draining than yard work would be. Funny how that is. The work that is less physically taxing is more emotionally taxing, and the work that is more physically taxing is less emotionally taxing.

Autumn

My goodness I have been slacking! I guess it all comes from trying to juggle all sorts of other things at once. Word of advice, tackle all your tasks one at a time. I’m 21 and I’m still learning how to do that. But enough about that; what I want to talk about is my favorite season of the year. Autumn.

Autumn is the best season there is because the hot summer rush to have vacations and fun is slowing down, the days are getting colder and everyone is ready to hunker down and ride out the rest of the year. The cold is something that I enjoy immensely. I love how brisk and sweet it is after the muggy hotness of summer. But it isn’t too cold either; it doesn’t have the harsh biting cold  of winter that practically attacks your face when it’s windy. Another thing is the changing leaves. The red, orange, and yellow leaves have always had a romance about them and a beauty that makes my heart leap. It is the time of the last harvest, when in the old days, they would celebrate with a festival where they would eat and dance before the winter came and they hardly saw one another until spring. I love watching the animals prepare for winter up in the mountains. They run about in a last ditch effort to get everything ready before they must hibernate and they can live in a nice warm hole or nest. The winter birds appear, hailing us, wishing us a good day and asking us if we are ready for the cold months. Perhaps it is because I love to get cozy on the couch with a mug of coco in my hand, in the living room next to the fire that I love autumn so much. It is a time of settling down. Spring, the season of new life has passed her baton on to summer, the season of maturity, now passes it to autumn, the season in which the earth has decided that it is done working, and now settles down for a long period of time; until spring awakens it from it’s sleep.