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Goldenrod and Sedum Days

They say that life is like the four seasons: 

Spring is..... 
birth,
childhood,
beginnings, 
freedom,
freshness,
far-flung future,
joy of the present,
endless possibilities. 

Summer is.....
young adulthood,
living in the present,
vitality,
busyness,
planning ahead.

Autumn is..... 
middle-age,
seriousness,
questions,
fleeting of the present,
limited possibilities,
future is now. 

Winter is..... 
old-age,
living in the past,
fear of the future,
grasping at the present.

I guess I’m in the Goldenrod and Sedum days of life: the Autumn; the shorter days and longer nights, the introspection of what’s left of limited possibilities, the bucket list time of life. 

Spring has always been my favorite time of the year until fairly recently. Now, as beautiful and hopeful as the springtime is, it represents much hardship.... watering, weed-pulling, digging, hauling and planting which I generally love, but has gotten more difficult for this aging body.  Autumn now represents the closing down of the business of the outside...less work, more time, the anticipation of family togetherness and holiday joy. My perspective is changing with my life, apparently.

And that’s a good thing...........

If I were still clinging to the springtime as my greatest joy of the year, I would be in pretty sad straits. 

The Goldenrod and Sedum are in full bloom around here. While Goldenrod has been considered a weed due to its invasiveness, it has been used for centuries as a dye, a tisane, and stomach and skin soother. It gets a bad rap because most people confuse it with ragweed, the nemesis of fall allergy season. It really is not the allergen people think it is. It is invasive because it has spread all over the edge of our barnyard. It’s quite tall and happy-looking because it’s yellow, (well, I guess, golden is the better word).  The best part... both plants, the Goldenrod and Sedum, are covered in honeybees. They love it! 

I just took a break and went out to photograph the fall bloomers. What a gift of grace to see a tall Goldenrod stem covered with honeybees and a beautiful Monarch butterfly!

Perhaps other women are doing this....I’d love to know it if you are..... I am spending much time lately contemplating what I think God might want me to do with the rest of my life. I know these things: that He wants me to continue to be a helpmate to The Doer, that He wants me to continue to be a coach for my daughters, that He wants me to continue to be a caregiver to the elderly in my life, and that He wants me to glorify Him in anything that I do. But I’m thinking of using the talents that He has given me to start a business of some sort. 10 Cuttin Sage has awakened in me an excitement and desire for hospitality in some form or fashion, be it a bed and breakfast type of establishment, purchasing more rental property, and/or selling some homemade food items that I love to make. I’ve created my brand image and my logo (to be revealed at a later date). The rest involves much prayer and faith. I guess I’ll have more to write about in this blog as I continue on this journey!

Just so you know, I will be back in Ocracoke in a couple of weeks for a much needed getaway and I hope to sit on the porch on a cool Autumn morning, watching the birds in the canal and posting more on this blog. So very thankful that the island has stayed hurricane-free so far this year.  Stay tuned......



Here’s a portion of the ring of Goldenrod around the old barnyard.




One hungry little honeybee.




Look at that hunk of golden pollen collected on her back leg!




Hello, your majesty monarch!



Hello again!



And again.....




Love the Sedum!



No wonder this variety is called “Autumn Joy”!

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