To Everything There Is a Season

I love fall, at least I loved it in the States.  This is my 4th fall here and I become melancholic each year.  One year I  begged for my sisters to send me pictures of leaves and mountains.  I received pictures and more.  Bless my sister Katie, she even sent me a box of leaves gathered from her yard and mailed across the ocean.  I cried when I opened the box and inhaled the scent of leaves and dirt.  I kept them and used them again the following year.  I still have them, but they are not displayable, except perhaps for potpourri.  It seems that here I have become more aware of the seasons and what I like and dislike about them because they are generally very different in this desert.

I so miss the changing of the seasons from hot summer into cool fall.  Each autumn as the breezes picked up a slight chill  a wave of nostalgia would  hit  me signaling a change in my life.  It meant the starting of a new school year and new adventures to come either as I went to school or later as I sent the kids to school.  It meant the last trip to Bear Lake for the season, and the oncoming canning season at Mom’s and Dad’s and the harvest of the garden.  (I never succeeded in canning on my own.)

However, our last trip to Bear Lake now usually means it is almost time for us to leave the States and head back to Saudi, where it is still hot and humid.  While  you in the States are donning your jackets for cooler weather, we are finally grateful for cooler weather here so we can leave our houses and enjoy the outside, un-air conditioned air. 

Fall still means heading back to school, Joseph in 5th grade at the elementary, Josh in 11th  at the high school off camp, and this year my baby Jordan entered kindergarten.  Last year, I remember visiting Jordan’s preschool where the teacher was reading them a story about visiting “the farm” in the fall.  The story could have been about my parents’ home.  The lump in my throat grew as they talked of picking apples from the trees, choosing pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns and harvesting other crops in the garden.  I had to squelch it down rather than try to explain why I was crying about a picture book of Mr. Jones’ farm.   I longed to see the leaves, choose a pumpkin for carving, and taste the fresh apple juice from home grown apples. 

As I left her class, I was feeling rather sorry for myself.  Or at least I tried for a few moments to justify my oncoming depression.  But the Lord is kind and opened my eyes and heart.  I felt the sun shining on me, a gentle breeze blowing and beautiful scenes before me I hadn’t appreciated before.  Yes, the seasons are very different here.  And yes, I miss the sights and smells of autumn.  But as I try to appreciate where I am and what I have here, I am blessed with a sense of gratitude.  Both places are  good and I feel appreciative to have experienced them both.  That said, if anyone sees any silk  autumn leaves, gather some up for me, will you?  Here are a few pictures of how we are experiencing the fall season this year.

Though not the traditional fall colors, I found other beautiful colors on our camp.  These bougainvillaea plants come in pinks, white, red, an orange here.  They are planted on several streets and in most yards.  

My brothers would probably say this would never come close to qualifying as a "mountain", and it isn't ablaze with fall color.  But it is the best we've got.   It is called a "jebel" which is an Arabic word meaning "mountain, hill, or slope." It probably qualifies as a slope.  

 Here is my fall "harvest".  This is a large open fruit and vegetable market where I go to buy produce from around the world.  Some days I get some good deals, some days I just wish I could go to a US supermarket as it depends on the time of year, the time of day as to what will be there.

Here I am at the market looking for pumpkins for carving.  They are not very orange, but after much searching, I found some that are suitable for carving.  One of the grocery stores does have some large orange ones shipped in from the US.  But when I compare 3 SR ($.80)/kilo to 30 ($8/kilo) I can handle the color.  And out in the open air it is a little more like going to the farm! The men helping me couldn't quite figure out why I kept trying to stand them all up to see if they balanced by themselves.  I thought better of trying to explain to them what I wanted them for. 

This is taken from inside the grade school. 
Someone drew this jack-o-lantern in the humidity on the glass door.