Summer to Fall Refresh

The boxelder, sentinel of the west lawn, is always the first to announce summer’s ease into fall. A lighter, brighter green appears in the leaves, so slight you might miss it. When next you look, the green is almost yellow. Not all the leaves, mind you, but small choruses of them that slowly catch, then spread as September’s song floats by.

With this subtle announcement, I’ve taken to clearing off shelves, cleaning out drawers, dusting nooks, washing crannies. Separating things we use and enjoy from those that no longer serve us. Paring, always paring. Defining, really. And of course, learning.

Life shifts, and with it I find that our home must too, ever thankful that small, simple changes are often all that are necessary to make the fit right again. Swap out a desk for a dresser. Switch out a jumble of cloth napkins in a jumble of colors for a set of linen napkins in natural. Add a shelf in that out-of-the-way place (right where you need it). Paint a tabletop and a set of drawers. Order new pillowcases for the naked pillows in the loft (where do they disappear to?). And we already know that a hook in the right place can work wonders.

It’s curious how these simple gestures can mark a fresh start, set a new energy, make you long to be home. Settled. Expectant.

Perhaps this is why I like the idea of keeping house. Keeping alive the thrum of possibility. What awaits in an environment that comforts, energizes, and inspires you? If sweeping a dusty corner also sweeps away roadblocks, then sweep I will. If trimming excess brings clarity and ease of breath, then trim I will. If a thoughtful rearrange brings better flow, then I’m off to rearrange.

Outward and inward; inward and outward. Curious, that.

So, in the odd spaces of time that wedge themselves into my days, I tend and keep. The little things; the bigger things. Mostly finished by my time, my tools, and I; some by a carpenter and his.

Curious?

+ this duster

+ this broom

+ this vacuum

+ this spray bottle (filled with 1/2 white vinegar, 1/2 water, 2 pumps of dish soap)

+ this drill

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