Yellow leaves and golden sun…
The September trees are set in a halo of light.
Yellow flowers, like little stars
sit upon the pumpkin vines
just waiting to be pumpkins.
It is too early for all of that…
There is bliss in the September garden
summer flowers holding on
as if summer would never end.
But, so it shall, as with all Septembers
that come and go.
It is the soft light that we must cling to
season after season, drought and harvests,
fields of ice and snow, the whisper of a coming
spring.
The stars may fade, but the light is eternal;
we surrender to the light and find our way.
Colors of Bliss
The year I was born, 1958, Crayola introduced a 64-count box of crayons with a built-in sharpener. The joy this crayon box gave to children of that era, and for decades to come is beyond measure. It was ‘magic’ in a box. There was no end to the creations you could make with so many ‘brilliant’ colors to choose from.
Throughout my childhood, there were two favorite featured colors that I absolutely adored. One was called Magenta, and also went by the name, Brilliant Rose, depending on the year. The other color that I loved was called, Turquoise Blue, or Cerulean Blue. With these two colors, I could draw my favorite things, the deep blue sea and the sky, and ‘oceans’ of pink flowers with the rose crayon.
Together, my grandson and I colored the pictures portrayed above. The houses are close together because Henry said we are all part of a community, and he did not want my house set too far apart from his. (He was worried that Grandpa and Grandma would be lonely in a little cabin in the woods.) We linked our two pictures together with magnets. In his picture, it is he who has found a marvelous color for his pink houses! There are boxes in the attic of his house that need to be opened. He knows that in his Grandma and Grandpa’s house, there are lots of treasures in the attic… old toys we can bring down for him to play with. For Henry, an attic can hold some really fun stuff!
As a child, I always made room in my pictures for the clouds. And sometimes, I created rainy day pictures with stick figures carrying red or pink umbrellas. Of course, my favorite part was making my cerulean rain drops splattered all over the page. What fun to make so much rain! I thought soggy days were grand, splashing in big puddles and making my mud cakes.
One of my happiest memories of first grade was a day I came late to school. There had been a big storm and my parents brought me to school just in time for art class. It happened that it was finger-painting day which was one of my favorite things. Huge sheets of slick white paper were set out and I reached for the blue paint right away. I looked out the window and I was so very happy. With this thick blue paint, I would paint the outside stormy world, puddles and clouds, and gray skies.
In reality, I did not have any gray paint. But in the imagination of a child, I was content with my blue mess of a ‘stormy day’. I could not wait to bring it home and show it to my parents.
The color I would have needed in a crayon box was something like, Granite Gray, something not so cheerful and bright blue. Granite Gray is a color that comes to mind not just for rainy weather, but for the ‘storms of life’ that come our way, now and again. We are not always prepared for them, and they can take us by surprise.
Often in life we are going along, and things seem to be going okay. Then, a storm of life arrives, and we find ourselves in a ‘big blue mess’. Or perhaps, it is a very gray mess where the soggy days are not about a soft rainy day, but an out and out knock you out thunderstorm.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 19 we read the following: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Holy Spirit.”
When you are stuck in the middle of a downpour, it is not always easy to be cheerful. But our Heavenly Father is always close at hand, whispering His love into our hearts. I love the passage from scripture that details God’s intimate relationship with all that He has created in the universe. Psalm 147:4: “He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name.” It is such a beautiful thing to think about!
In Isaiah 43:1, God tells us not to be afraid. “But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD, who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you, says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.” In the next verse, we are told, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.”
We are on the eve of a new September, just a few days away. We cannot always choose our circumstances in life, but we can choose to trust God at all times. We can remember our blessings when too many raindrops fall all at once. And, we can also remember our ‘Colors of bliss’, those things that make us happy when the storms threaten to overtake us.
We are no longer children, but we can learn a lot from them. As Henry so eloquently told me, “People are in a community and they need each other.” We are all part of God’s community, and He calls us each by name. What a wondrous thought to carry with us into September. Every one of us is needed to share our gifts and our talents and our love with the world around us.
Wishing each of you a safe and happy Labor Day weekend! I hope September 2025 holds moments of bliss, soft light on your path, and new dreams to dream. (Just like the kids going back to school, September is a month of new beginnings for us all…”
I just loved this, Linda! How sweet that your grandson wanted his house to be close to yours in the pictures, and how wise he is, already understanding the need for community. Those photos are also gorgeous, but what I really loved was the reminder that God is with us all the time, especially when things are hard and our hearts are heavy. Too many Christians are afraid to admit that they get “down” sometimes, as though that means they don’t have enough faith. That’s not true at all: the trick is simply remembering that not only does God understand when we’re struggling, but he’s right there, holding us tight…….
It was sweet that he wanted our houses to be close together! There are difficult times for all people on this earth. It is a shared piece of our humanity. Knowing that God is always there for us is the fundamental truth. Being a Christian does not spare us from heartache. It does give us hope. Philippians 4:13: ” I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Just lovely, Linda. Magic in a box indeed!
Yes! It is still magic in a box! Our grandchildren all love to color and their drawings are precious. When we look at the world through their eyes, it is a wonderful thing!
Colors of bliss, indeed. My favorite time of year. Even the air will smell different. You helped to paint that picture for me. Thank you, Linda. God’s grip – Alan
I am so looking forward to Autumn this year! You are right…the brisk autumn air is a wondrous thing! We have a surprise pumpkin vine growing in our back yard. We did not plant it intentionally, but there are lots of flowers!!! 🙂 I do hope we get a couple of pumpkins…
Thanks, Linda. Great reflections. I shall remember, ‘People are in a community and they need each other…’ I love the wisdom that children bring. Too often we can be patronising or explain their words in our terms. What they say is usually enough.
Thank you! Children often speak the greatest truths. They are so young and yet they comprehend what is most important in life. 🙂
Beautiful piece! And I absolutely loved that photo of the sunflowers!
Thank you! Sunflowers are so awesome! 🙂 The little candles are from a dear friend. It does make me happy to look at that photo!
Ah, you touched well on many things Linda. Have a great weekend. I see red and yellow splotches announcing upcoming Autumn in our trees here. I have noticed the same maple and oak branches get to turn color every year long before the rest of the tree. Unique, peculiar, like God’s people are to be.
I hope you have a good weekend also! The trees are amazing, and each one is unique. Yes, we are called to bring God’s light to the world, each in our own way. We belong to God and Him alone. (1 Peter 2:9 KJV)
[…] The Eve of September […]
Thank you! I hope you had a very good weekend also! 🙂
Lovely. Enjoy your weekend.
How well I remember that box of 64 crayons! I think we reveled in those as much as today’s kids with the latest app or gadget! / Fall is my favorite season too. The black walnut trees around here have just started losing their bright yellow leaflets. They’re the first variety to do so each year, as far as I’ve observed. Soon those leave will come twirling down in waves. Golden leaf showers–beautiful!
Those golden leaf showers sound wonderful! It is a beautiful time of the year. We already have a lot of leaves coming down. It is time to get the rakes out…
Ah yes . . . there is THAT! Our yard is small; a lawn care company blow the leaves down a steep hill, into the trees and toward a creek bed. So glad raking is not on our chore list!
That sounds wonderful!
Beautiful words and photos. That rainbow is amazing! How lovely that you and your grandson colored together and joined your houses. 💙
We all learn so much from our children and grandchildren! No matter how many rainbows we see, each one is like a little miracle…so beautiful in every way, a gift from God! (Gen. 9:8-17)
I’d say my granddaughter is a gift of science, but in any case, a joy. 💙
Everything about this post is lovely, Linda: your poem, the photos, your memories of fingerpainting a blue mess, and how that inspired your perspective for this post. It was a touching memory, and imagining you coloring with your grandson was the best part of all. <3
Thank you! It’s funny the things we remember from our childhood that really sticks with us. I did love those messy projects…I had a great fondness for making mud pies. I would line them up in a row and let them ‘bake’ in the sun. 🙂 I was quite proud of those pies and I would decorate them with little berries. (My mother would always say, “Leave some of those berries for the birds!” (They were not berries we could eat.)
Lol. Yes, I remember mud pies too. What fun.
🙂 🙂 🙂