Freelance Content Marketing Writer and Editor
We are just two weeks away from launching my dad’s anthology … and we are busy! But we’re also having a blast. After working in many corners of the book world for more than a decade, I’m completely hooked on publishing. I’ll have so much more to share with you about the process once I have a moment to catch my breath.
This weekend we managed to take a morning off to make our annual trek to choose the perfect pumpkin. I hope you too are getting some opportunities to enjoy this beautiful season.
“How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” -John Burroughs
Saturday is the first day of fall. I must confess that my feelings about this time of year have shifted rather dramatically. I used to delight in everything about fall – crunchy leaves, red apples, the start of school. But now that I share my days with two little ones, fall does not not hold quite the same appeal. I love summer with kids – gardening and running through the sprinkler and throwing the doors wide open in the evenings — so it’s hard to say goodbye to it. But, ready or not, fall has arrived. Here are a few simple ideas to observe the change in season:
Do we subconsciously tip waiters more on sunny days? So says Leonard Mlodinow in Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Life. And changes in the weather probably affect us in countless other ways that we’re barely aware of.
If you have some time this season to reflect on our relationship with nature and how closely our emotional states mirror the “capricious, moody earth itself”, I recommend David Abram’s mind-bending long-form essay “Air Aware,” which I read in Orion three years ago and still think about all the time. Here’s an excerpt:
If our sense of inward confusion and muddledness is anciently and inextricably bound up with our outward experience of being enveloped in a fog—if our whole conceptualization of the emotional mood or “feel” of things is unavoidably entwined with metaphors of “atmospheres,” “airs,” and “climates”—then it is hardly projection to notice that it is not only human beings (and human-made spaces) that carry moods: that the living land in which we dwell, and in whose life we participate, has its own feeling-tone and style that varies throughout a day or a season.
What better way to celebrate cooler weather than with a stack of fall-themed library books? Here are a few of my family’s favorite autumn picture books:
It’s also fun to read aloud from The Autumn Equinox by Ellen Jackson, which educates on different modern and historical cultural traditions celebrating the day.
Looking for adult reads to help you wile away the cooler days? Check out some of the season’s new releases.
Fall is a time of abundance where I live: bushels of sun-ripened tomatoes, every variety of squash . . . and pumpkins. Here’s a recipe that will bring some of the best tastes and scents of fall into your kitchen.
Pumpkin Bread
Mix and pour into an oiled bread pan. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. Test with a tooth pick. Cool and enjoy.
(Thanks to my friend Craig, who generously shared this recipe with me several years ago, including all of his healthy twists.)
Wishing you a happy first day of fall. You can find many more ways to celebrate the season here.
I love cold weather, but the shorter days are always difficult for me to adjust to. Over the years I’ve stored up a toolbox of activities to make cold, winter nights more fun. I find myself especially in need of them in the days and weeks after the time changes.
1. Eat by candlelight
We didn’t light a lot of candles in my house when I was growing up, but occasionally we’d eat by candlelight. Those nights, along with random power outages, are some of my happiest memories. Flickering soft light just makes any dinner more special. My family also eats by candlelight now and then. And every time we do it, it’s as fun and uplifting as I remember it being when I was a kid. Maybe it’s because it’s hard to rush when you’re watching the reflection of flames dance on glasses.
2. Start a fire
There’s so much to love about a winter fire – the warmth, the mesmerizing flames, the way it brings the entire family together in one spot to look at something other than a TV screen. Bonus: you may not have to turn on your heater to enjoy toasty nights.
3. Read aloud or tell stories
Years ago, an older friend told me that she and her husband had been reading books aloud to each other each night for decades. I loved the idea, and since then, my husband and I have read many books aloud together. These days we spend our read-aloud time reading to our kids. But I know soon, we’ll move on to adult books again. There are so many great reasons to start a family reading tradition. I wrote about them in this post.
Storytelling is also a fun way to pass an evening. In Robert Shank’s book Tell Me A Story: Narrative and Intelligence, he explains that “human memory is story-based.” We’ve learned by telling each other stories since long before Homer. If coming up with a fictional yarn sounds more pressure-packed than taking the GRE, don’t worry. Just relax and tell stories about your childhood, grandparents, or past adventures. If you’re a parent, this kind of storytelling serves a bigger purpose: it helps kids recognize their place in a larger family and feel closer to their parents. Most people love listening to stories. And the more you practice, the better you get at telling them.
4. Throw a potluck
With the extra dose of darkness, we can all probably use double-shots of health and happiness. Well, the research is in: social connectedness is good for us. Researchers from Brigham Young University recently reviewed 148 studies and found that people with strong ties to family, friends or co-workers have a 50 percent lower risk of dying over a given period than those with fewer social connections. As The New York Times reported, “Having few friends or weak social ties to the community is just as harmful to health as being an alcoholic or smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day.” Potlucks are a thrifty and labor-saving way to invite your friends, neighbors, or colleagues over. My acquaintances may just be exceptional cooks, but potlucks never seem to disappoint.
5. Stargaze
I wrote about winter stargazing in this post. Shortly thereafter I made bold plans to stargaze every night with my trusty copy of 365 Starry Nights. The first few nights of January, I had a great time scouting out Orion and Pleides. Then it got cloudy. And it stayed cloudy until … July. Yes, rainy Eugene is not a stargazer’s paradise. Oh how I miss the Colorado night skies. But if you live somewhere with few clouds and a dark sky, bundling up and gazing at the stars is an age-old, relaxing way to spend a cold, dark winter night.
6. Make Something with your hands
In her book Lifting Depression, neuroscientist Kelly Lambert argues that using our hands for manual labor helps us prevent and cure depression. She says that when we cook, garden, knit, sew, build, or repair things with our hands and see tangible results from our efforts, our brains are bathed in feel-good chemicals. I just got my knitting needles out after neglecting them for the summer, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see what I can make with my own two hands in a relatively short time (while I’m sitting in front of the fire, listening to a story, watching a movie, or otherwise enjoying a winter evening).
If you liked this post, you may enjoy these related posts:
What’s your favorite way to spend a cold, dark night? Do you have any tips for coping with fewer daylight hours?
Summer solstice, or Midsummer’s Day, is June 21. It’s the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere when we enjoy the most sunlight and the shortest night. The sun rises to its maximum height, bathing the Arctic Circle – including parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and all of Iceland – in twenty-four hours of daylight. Ancient monuments – including Stonehenge, England; Callanish, Scotland; Macchu Picchu, Peru; Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; and Monk’s Mound in southern Illinois – align with the sun. And people around the world celebrate.
How did people historically celebrate the solstice?
Bonfires. In several countries, including Germany, bonfires were offered to the sun to promote fertility and bring bountiful harvests. Men would leap the flames and run across the embers when the fire died down.
Staying awake. People in Japan, Britain, and Norway stayed awake until midnight or throughout the shortest night of the year to welcome the longest day at dawn. A British folk tale claimed that the spirits of those who would die during the next year roamed on this night. People stayed awake to keep their spirits from wandering.
Sun Dances. The Native American plains tribes, including the Arapahoe, Sioux, Ute, and Blackfoot tribes, threw elaborate religious ceremonies around the time of the solstice. The celebrations lasted from four to eight days. Many honored the buffalo and included singing, drumming, and dancing, and often fasting, prayer, visions, and acts of self-torture.
Gathering plants. In Denmark, women gathered herbs on the solstice, including St. John’s Wort, which got its name because it flowers around the time of St. John’s Day (June 24). If St. John’s Wort was picked and dried at Midsummer, it was said to chase away the winter blues when ingested later in the year.
St. John’s Eve festivals. Many countries, including Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Finland, and Sweden have traditionally celebrated Midsummer two days after the solstice on St. John’s Eve. Near Helsinki, Finland, modern people gather on this day to watch Finnish folk dances, listen to traditional songs, light bonfires, and participate in rowing races.
What are the benefits of celebrating the first day of each season?
Seasonal celebrations give you and your family the opportunity to:
Create some summer traditions this year!
The first day of summer is a great time to start some new family traditions. Pick activities that you’ll want to do year after year, and ones that will make the day relaxing and special for you and your family. Here are a few ideas:
Or create your own traditions to welcome summer this June 21. Hopefully you’ll be celebrating for years to come.
Mark your 2010 Calendars
Autumn Equinox – September 22
Winter Solstice – December 21
Resources:
(Originally posted on June 15, 2009.)
Do you observe the summer solstice? I’d love to hear how you celebrate!
The first day of fall, or the autumnal equinox, is September 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. On this day, the sun hovers above the equator, and most of the world enjoys nearly equal amounts of light and darkness. In traditional agricultural societies, the harvest season was drawing to a close, and people were working overtime to prepare stores for the winter months. The equinox was a time to relax, celebrate, and enjoy the bounty of the harvest while anticipating the scarcity or monotony of their winter diet.
In modern times, autumn is a time for new beginnings – a new school year, new clothes, new friends, a new outlook.
How do cultures around the world celebrate the first day of fall?
Asian Moon Festivals
The Chinese, Koreans, and Vietnamese have been celebrating the equinox with Moon Festivals, or Mid-Autumn Festivals, for 3000 years. In China, families and friends gather to admire the mid-autumn harvest moon, light lanterns, burn incense, and plant trees. They prepare mooncakes – a noodle-like dough filled with bean or lotus seed paste and duck egg yolks or other fillings, which are then steamed, baked, or fried.
Japanese Autumnal Equinox Day
In Japan, the fall equinox is a national holiday. The seven days starting three days before the equinox until three days after is known as Higan. The Japanese spend Higan holding family reunions and visiting family graves, offering flowers, cleaning tombstones, burning incense, and praying. Ohagi, sticky rice covered with adzuki-bean paste or soybean flour, is a popular offering to the deceased.
Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is a two-day holiday that falls on the first and second day of the month of Tishri on the Jewish calendar – usually between September 5 and October 5 on our calendar. This year it falls from sunset on September 18 to nightfall on September 20. Rosh Hashanah is the “day of judgment” in the Torah. Observors abstain from work and spend the day in the synagogue. A shofar (ram’s horn) is blown many times to waken listeners to the coming judgment. People reflect on mistakes made in the last year and plan changes for the new year. Many observers also practice Tashlikh, or “casting off” on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah. They fill their pockets with pieces of bread, walk to a natural body of water, and empty the bread into the water, symbolically casting off the previous year’s sins. Apples or bread dipped in honey is common Rosh Hashanah fare.
Native American Harvest Ceremonies
Many tribes once celebrated the end of the harvest with equinox ceremonies. The Cherokee gave thanks to all living things at a Nuwati Egwa festival and the Chumash of southern California held a sun ceremony at the end of September. The Miwok in Northern California still celebrate the acorn harvest with a Big Time Festival on the last weekend of September. Traditionally, the Miwok relied on the acorn for food. In the fall, they harvested the fruits, cracked them, ground the meat into meal, rinsed the meal to remove its bitter tannins, and made acorn mush, bread, or soap. At modern Big Time festivals, Miwok and other California tribes perform traditional dances, play hand games, and tell stories.
Create some autumn traditions this year.
Pick activities that you’ll enjoy and want to do year after year. Here are some ideas:
Have you started any new family traditions lately? Are you going to celebrate the first day of fall this year? I’d love to hear about it!
