Mandala Monday ~ Circle of Thanksgiving

Circle of thanks

Obviously, I created this one before the snow fell, while there were still colorful leaves on the trees and green grass on the ground.  😊

I created it with the thought of welcoming the month of November – which I always think of as a season of gratitude.  It’s not too cliche to be mindful of gratitude during the month of November, is it?  😉  (For those of you not with me here in the States, our Thanksgiving holiday falls on Thursday of this week). 

Regardless of the month or where we reside on this beautiful planet, being mindful of all that we have to be grateful for is always in season.

 

Thank you all for being in my little circle here on WordPress.  Much Love and many blessings to you and yours…

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Tree Star Wishes

“Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.”

Oops… that’s for wishing on a different kind of star.

Let me try this again…

Tree Star abiding in branches up high, your bright autumn color catches my eye. 

As you grace the boughs of this beautiful tree, please grant these three autumn wishes to me…

 For trees lit with radiant colorful hues, a feast for my hungry eyes to consume.

For crisp autumn days,  alive with the sun’s golden rays.

And for clear starry nights, warmed by a bonfire’s cozy light.

© Julie Rehnelt 2013

~

I know this is rather silly, and I don’t in actuality go walking around wishing upon the leaves in the trees, but the shot of this leaf just reminded me so much of a star that I started hearing that old nursery rhyme in my head, and then my brain came up with a poem about making autumn wishes on a tree star.  Silly how the mind works.  Silly how mine works anyway…

May all your wishes (be they autumn related or otherwise) be granted today.

Peace & Love…

Autumn Leaves

Autumn leaves, colors so bright

a feast for the eyes, such a wondrous sight.

Shades of crimson, rust, and amber

a brilliant kaleidoscope of nature’s splendor.

© Julie Rehnelt 2012

~

Mmm Autumn…

Feeling the first hints of autumn in the air today!  Gosh I can’t wait for fall!  This morning when I woke up, the sun was shinning, the sky was a perfect shade of blue, and the air was clear and crisp.  All such lovely things to wake up to, and I swear it even made my coffee taste better.  😉

Autumn is my most favorite season.  I love everything about it!  I know it means that everything is dying, but it makes me feel so alive.  Every one of my senses goes into overdrive and is heightened.  I’m already craving caramel apples and hunting around my apartment for my pumpkin spice scented candles to start burning on the cool evenings ahead.  So cozy!  And I can hardly wait to start seeing some fall color.  Here in Minnesota, at the peak of the season, the autumn color can be spectacular!  Especially the further out you get from the city.  It’s my favorite time of the year to go for a drive ~ all of the trees blazing with colors of amber, copper, and crimson.  It’s a wonderful feast for the eyes!  I’m a little worried that we might be robbed of some of our fall color this year though because of an unusually early spring, drought, and the extreme heat we’ve had over the summer, but I hope not.

I also hope we don’t get a blizzard before Halloween even comes, as has been the case a time or two in my recent memory.  If there is any downside to fall, its the impending doom of winter being close at hand.  Not that I mind winter all that much, the snow is lovely, but the cold I can certainly do without.

Speaking of cold, it was pretty nippy out when I came home tonight, time to dig out my fleece sheets and down comforter.  Again… so cozy!  It would be a perfect evening for a bonfire tonight.  Love autumn bonfires!  I bought one of those little wrought iron patio type fire pits earlier this spring to use on my mom’s patio, and we’ve had a couple of fires in it, but now with fall coming I’m sure we’ll be getting much more use out of it.

This is from one time we toasted marshmallows in it.  🙂~

I’ve recently dug out my old camera to try and reacquaint myself with it.  I can’t wait to get out there and try and capture some of the beauty of fall.  I usually use my daughter’s camera, but I use it so much that she’s getting afraid I’ll wear it out.  Hopefully mine will take as nice of shots as hers does.

~

This is from last fall.  It’s one block down from my mom’s house.  I love how the trees sort of create a canopy over the street.  And look at the nice “dusting” of leaves on the street.  

Another shot of those same trees only with the camera pointing upward.  Ah so  pretty against the blue sky!~

Also from last year.  What a lovely combination of colors.  They look almost as pretty littering the grass as they do on the trees.~

This is from one of the apple orchards we visited last fall.  Going to the apple orchard every fall is a tradition I have done with my daughter ever since she was little.  Excited for this year!~

And speaking of my daughter and fall when she was little ~ this is one of my favorite photos of autumns past.  Of course, she was posing while I snapped this shot, but aside from that particular moment, there was repeated leaping into this big pile of leaves that was also going on that day.  Such precious memories.  ♥ So very grateful for those memories, and looking forward to creating more.

~

Mmm autumn…