Fall is, without a doubt, my absolute favorite time of the year. There are so many reasons and for this blog, I've decided to try and write them all down. :)
Reason I Love Fall:
- I was born in October :)
- I also married the love of my life in October :) :)
- The start of a new school year - a new beginning of sorts
- Beautiful weather - the nice fall breezes and sun shining
- Sweatshirts - who doesn't love sweatshirt weather?!
- The world is surrounded by beautiful and rich fall colors - the reds, oranges, yellows
- Minnesota fall apples (and of course caramel!)
- Perfect cool evenings for a bonfire
- The sound of fallen leaves crunching under your feet
- Football games
- A fall rain
- Jumping in piles of leaves as a kid (or an adult...haha)
- Pumpkin patches, carving pumpkins and pumpkin seeds
- Hay rides
- Halloween - YAY for candy!
- Thanksgiving - YUM
- The cooler temperatures which means open windows
- Cuddling up in blankets on a cool fall morning
- Harvest - so many memories of going to the farm to bring dad lunch or dinner and helping drive the combine
- That fall smell - maybe a combination of woodsmoke, cinnamon and spice, wool, apple cider, dried leaves and pumpkin pie
- Fall premiers of new and returning favorite TV shows
- Homecoming at Wartburg
- Candy Corn and Pumpkin candy
- Oktoberfest celebrations
I am tempted to stop at 24 since October 24th is our anniversary... :) And so I think I will. If I think of more later, I might add them.
So welcome fall! I am happy to have you back again! :)
It's been 10 years. Ten years since that day that changed America. That changed us all. It was a day like no other. An attack on America, that folded out on live television. Everyone watched. Everyone watched in horror. In shock. It was a day that changed America.
I was a sophomore in High School. It was picture day at school and I had on my favorite light pink sweater. I was sitting in Mrs. Ehlers' Spanish class, our classroom right by the Superintendent's Office. Someone came up the stairs and motioned Mrs. Ehlers outside. They were whispering and we couldn't hear what they were saying. Mrs. Ehlers walked back in, with this look of shock and utter disbelief on her face, stared at us for a moment, then went back out into the hall. I remember wondering, what is going on? When she came back in, again she looked at us with that look on her face and told us, "Your country has just been attacked." I remember not understanding. I remember questioning how could that be. Mrs. Ehlers told us briefly what had happened, what she knew. And then she told us, "I don't know who your God is, but whoever He is, you need to pray to Him right now. You need to pray for your country." The rest of the day is a blur and I really don't remember much else.
Looking back, even as a sophomore in high school, I don't I understood what really had happened that day. I didn't understand how everything was going to change. Sometimes I wish I could remember more, wish I understood it better. But every year, every anniversary, I look back and read news stories, look at pictures, watch video. And every year, I understand more. As I've grown up, I've watched how the events of Sept 11th have changed so many things - the unity we feel as Americans, the patriotism we share, the increased security at airports, the War on Terrorism and the rise of the voice of the American people.
Watching video of that day and the days after, reading stories, listening to survivors and looking at pictures, I have a lot of emotions and thoughts that run through my head. I think about how lucky we were that some of the planes weren't full. I think how there was enough time in between the impacts and the collapses of the building, that many people did get out. I think about all those brave men and women of firefighters and police officers that ran into the building to help who they could when everyone else was running out. I think about the people of Flight 93 who fought back so there weren't any more deaths elsewhere. Their stories are incredible and the sacrifice they made were unbelievable. And the continued efforts of rescue and clean up for the days and months after - each of those people deserve our thanks.
And while what happened to America on that day was horrible and should never be forgotten, I can't help think about the areas in the world where things like attacks or suicide bombers happen daily. We are blessed to live in America where we do feel so secure a majority of the time. I can't imagine living in a place where you feel constantly under attack. How do you live like that? How is that okay? I have to remember that there are places like this and that so many people are much worse off than we have ever been. And for that, I am grateful. Grateful of where I live and for all the people that make that possible.
And at the same time, I think about hate. To me, what America stands for is freedom, for opportunity. What American doesn't stand for is hate. And I am ashamed to admit that 9/11 did bring out some hate in people. I'm not saying I haven't been angry about what happened, because I have. But never hate. Yes, there are some people out there who hate America, but we shouldn't hate them back. In watching a documentary on TV today they showed video at an Islamic Center in New York just days after 9/11. People had called and left messages of hate. Messages about how they hoped they would die and that people would be coming after them. And that makes me just as angry as the events of 9/11. I just don't know how people can hate like that - especially to a group of people that are completely innocent and just as hurt by the events of 9/11 as the rest of us. There are bad seeds in all groups of people - that is true for America too. But it doesn't mean we hate that whole group. That is not American. And that is something I feel like we didn't learn correctly from 9/11. But 10 years later, maybe there is still time to learn.
It's hard to believe 10 years has pasted. But it is still feels like a recent event to most of us. Especially with all the media we have available. And I think it's good that we have so much video and pictures, it keeps it real, it keeps it recent. It makes it so that we don't forget. And we never should. 9/11 will always be in our hearts. Along with all of those people who lost their lives that day. We will remember.
