A view of my garden, before the crazy rain started! Fall is my favorite season of the year and looking at all the beautiful colors that the leaves take on is quite inspiring to me.

I scooped up these acorns off the ground over the weekend and put them on the patio table in the photo above. Look at all the detail these nuts have. And of course, the squirrels just LOVE our front yard and all the trees they can nibble off! On another note, 4 more days until Christmas vacation... to say I am looking forward to having some time off is an understatement. Beautiful moments like the ones above remind me that I must slow down. They remind me of my days of studying literature and not having a care in the world, of reading and teaching Emily Dickinson:

"Because I could not stop for Death"

by

Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death-

He kindly stopped for me-

The Carriage held but just Ourselves-

And Immortality.

We slowly drove - He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility-

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess - in the Ring-

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-

We passed the Setting Sun-

Or rather - He passed us-

The Dews drew quivering and chill-

For only Gossamer, my Gown-

My Tippet - only Tulle-

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground-

The Roof was scarcely visible-

The Cornice - in the Ground-

Since then - 'tis Centuries - and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity-