Posted by peskypippi | Posted in Family, Uncategorized | Posted on 27-08-2012
It is nearing the end of summer and our family is a bit weathered. You can feel the energy slowly eeking, wearing us down.
- My kids seem tired. Too much playing? Too much fun?
- The flowers are spent. Too much blooming? Too much color?
- The car is filthy. Too many road trips? Too many activities? Too many snacks?
- My skin is weathered. Too much sun?
The community pool is now closed for the summer. Already. Drained. Empty. A drained pool is so depressing, I tweeted. My friend @RayChatie tweeted, “I love this tweet! In a simple fact it speaks of emptiness when once there was joy, the passage of time, memories of lost days.”
Time to rest up this week and re-energize because Fall is upon us. Next week: Labor Day. Bringing early morning schedules, school, homework, shuttling, deadlines, practices, commitments, appointments, kids’ sports, activities, meetings.
All the “have tos” that are Fall in a busy family.
Good-bye Summer. We will miss you.
Ha ha ha! Pomegranates are in season. Enough said.
But Holy Investment, Batman! These suckers are $3.50 apiece where I live. But how can I say no to antioxidants and Vitamin C?
My kids love them. And we associate them will our family Fall traditions. No fancy cooking here. We just slice them in half and enjoy picking out the ruby-like seeds. Eating half of a pomegranate can last through a whole movie (if you eat it slowly)!
These bad boys have quite a history. Did you know, for example, that:
- The wild pomegranate dates back 4,000 years?
- Indian royalty used the pomegranate in rituals and for banquets?
- Traders in ancient days referred to the pomegranate as the “fruit of paradise?”
- The Greek myth of Persephone, the goddess of the Underword prominently features the pomegranate? For each seed she ate, she had to stay in Hades for A YEAR.
Enjoy ‘em–you are eating a piece of ancient history–and don’t wear your white toga while partaking.
Is there anything more cheery than a pumpkin? The color screams HELLO FALL. With their shapes, bumps, and quirkiness, pumpkins exude character. And I just love ‘em. So finding the perfect pumpkin for me is finding one that might not quite fit in. I seek out the pumpkins with personality. Not the fat, rounded, “perfect” pumpkins that Martha always picks. Last year, I went for one with the lumps and bumps. (Which, I admit, was a pain in the ass to carve.) This year, I went for the squash-like pumpkin, with its misshapen figure.
Kinda like the pumpkin, er (spoiler alert) squash in the book The Ugly Pumpkin. Have you read it? It’s a great book that teaches us that looks may be deceiving. You know, don’t judge a pumpkin by its skin? The pumpkin in the book was ridiculed for not belonging. It was simply trying to find its place in the world. Turned out the pumpkin was not a pumpkin; it was a squash and fit in perfectly at the Thanksgiving table.
Maybe now you’ll seek out the ugly pumpkin (or squash) and give it a proper home for the season.
So, we’re all busy and short on time. But my family loves our annual, seasonal family tradition of visiting a pumpkin patch. To me, it’s important to keep our family traditions intact. No matter how busy we are. Priorities, you know? Some families may plan a full-day pumpkin hunt adventure. Not us. We live close to a darling, little farm that has stayed alive in the middle of sburbia for generations. We have been going there for years. It’s the perfect place for pumpkins, pictures, a tractor ride, hay bales for jumping off of, just-picked apples, apple cider, and a maze (a pretty lame maze). But one of the beauties is that you can do it all in about an hour. The kids love it. And Moms get picture-perfect smiles with a perfectly orange backdrop. These photos are a Fall highlight for the Nanas.
Hey, we are all busy families. But traditions and partaking in fun seasonal activities are important. Who says you can’t go to the kids’ soccer games in the morning , squeeze in a quick but enjoyable pumpkin adventure, and get on with your day?
