It’s autumn again and I am excited. I love watching the leaves on the deciduous trees change through the spectrum that defines autumn.  The air is cool and the colors are warm. I can already smell, in my mind, the fireplaces burning last years seasoned wood. Yes, when you live at 3,000 feet elevation in Hawaii it is cold and people do have fireplaces, unfortunately I haven’t seen any leaves changing yet.

When we lived in Flagstaff, Arizona I always kept a cord of wood ready for burning. I liked to have a mix of oak, aspen, pine, and juniper.  Each have their own distinctive characteristics. The oak burns hot and has a wonderfully robust warmth. The aspen burns very clean. The pine happily pops a lot from the sap trapped in the wood.  The juniper is messy because of the sheddy bark but it smells great. I always made sure I would burn a load of aspen after the pine or juniper to make sure the flue was cleaned out.

The holiday decorations are starting to go up everywhere. This cracks me up. I remember when….  (You know you are getting old when you start sentences with “I remember when….”)  I remember when no Christmas decorations would be put up until after Thanksgiving. In fact, you would spend Friday, Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving putting up the Christmas decorations. It was usually Friday because Saturday is college football day and Sunday is pro football day.

Now, in order to extend the holiday shopping season the retailers start putting up Christmas decorations the day after Halloween.  I am sure some do not even honor Dia De Los Muertos.  What is this world coming to?  Lol.

I enjoy carrying the Christmas spirit throughout the year. I believe every day is a perfect day to spread love, joy, and surprise someone with a gift.  Every day is a perfect day to be grateful for the blessings in my life.  So what are you grateful for today?

Hopefully the first snow will fall on Mauna Kea (Elev. 13,796 Feet) just a short 30 minute drive from Waimea. With any luck we will get up there and have a nice snowball fight. Of course I will have to let my wife win. 🙂

James Christopher

ThruJimsEyes.com