SoulePapa Blogs :: Faith in the Fall and the Full Moon

The kiddos were up very late tonight, howling at the full moon and happy to be causing a disturbance in general at such a late hour.  We were shooting a night scene for Calvin and Ezra's pirate movie which, for them, is a very good excuse to play with dangerous tools from the shed.  Calvin had a machete and Ezra a hooked garden implement with a scary looking point on the end.  They were more than a little agitated when the clouds rolled in, foiling the moonlight and drizzling rain on my digital apparatii.  The disappointment was short lived however, as we packed up and ran giggling back to the house trying to follow the erratic rhythm of the flashlight as held by Ez. Inside, the fans were attempting to blow away what will most assuredly be the last of the really warm days of the year.  Amanda and Adelaide joined us for a round of "Animal Lotto" in which Ada, still feeling the lunar pull, provided the comic relief by claiming every animal as her own and dancing around the table to distribute her bounty onto the proper lotto card.  I sat back and took in all that I have and, being a bit of a sentimental type, felt a sincere sadness at the passing of this summer.  I thought that if I could freeze time into one season, of my choosing, it would be this summer.  With my life where it is right now.  With my kids running all day on the beach and swinging in the back yard until dark.  Stopping only to eat and talk for a while.  But...I'll roll with the time and welcome in a new season.  In these parts, people are not impartial about fall.  Some love it.  Some do not.  For me, it is religion.  To relish the long walk into a cold, dark winter.  To meet it with my family in warmth and love.  To have faith that it will all come around again and that it is how it should be.  How it's always been.

Comments

[Melissa]

For me as a mom, the sadest part about a season ending is that my children will be a year older when it comes around again. Time is so fleeting.

[kathryn]

Lovely!

[shannon]

it seems there are two writers in this home...

[Melissa]

Absolutely beautiful. I live in northwest Florida and while I do have four seasons they are not like yours. I feel fall in my bones, but fall won't really be here until after Thanksgiving. Then a short winter, then Spring and the long, long summer.

I can so relate to wanting to hold onto moments in time. My oldest is nineteen, I miss the year he was seven. I can't remember why but seven was such a good year. For my sixteen year old, it's five. Five is just tattooed in my brain as the year I want to hold onto for him. The days of cuddling are gone, we're on a different journey now, my twelve year old is close to the teens and I ache for the time when he was a babe, every year he was a child in my arms.

I think the empty lap is the hardest. Cuddle them all for as long as you can.

Thanks for sharing your special moment in time.

[grace]

When can you write us a book? I'd love to read it.

[peggy]

this is maybe the best blog post i've read anywhere. LOVELY!

[Julia]

Already sentimental because of autumn arriving, you almost made me cry.

[kimberly]

Yay, Soulepapa ride again!! We were waiting for you...cheers!

[Julie]

What a treat that post is!

[heather]

welcome soulepapa! what exactly did happen to that little blog you wrote? ;) my, my, you have a knack for this.

i love your mention of religion, a practice or system that embodies the quest for an ideal life. how beautiful that your family along with the seasons are the center of that, even the practice itself. you really captured the essence of something that is greatly misunderstood in our culture.

the passing of time is always bittersweet, but i imagine the summers ahead where the boys teach adelaide to ride a bike for the first time, or climb a tree, or bait a hook, those will be moments worth freezing in time as well.

nice to have you back!

[claudia]

Hello again, SP! Your voice, so calm and strong and warm, is most welcome here. I agree with the above - when is the SoulePapa book coming out?

[lottie]

Such a great rendition of summer memories. If I could give my (currently hypothetical) children as much as this I'd be so happy.

[sarah]

Welcome back SP! I agree with you and what the first comenter said. I think I get sad thinking about my kids being totally different the next time the season rolls around. It's so bittersweet isn't it? Love hearing your perspective on things. So similar to Soule Mama and yet so different.

[Stefani]

Oh my gosh, you ROCK the blog, Soule Papa! Here I was, all prepared to miss Amanda (and I do!) but dang! I can see that I'm in for a real treat while she's away. Welcome, and consider me your newest fan. What truly blessed little ones to have such a Mama and Papa as you two.

[julia]

beautiful words. thank you for sharing. looking forward to what other goodies you'll have to share with us.

[Lina]

Beautiful words Soulepapa. Memories of my own childhood are firmly frozen in summertime, playing in the back garden, shelling peas on the doorstep, staying up late...magical times indeed.

[Melody]

total sense of a calm as I read this post this morning..a quick remind to be ever so thankful of the bounty that i call my own ;)

[annette]

beautiful, SoulePapa... a "companion" book is not a bad idea. The mix of soft and lovely verbal images and dangerous tools is irresistable! Also, Sebastian wants you to post the pirate movie!

[Eren]

Just wonderful Soulepapa. I swear you two need to write a book together...two peas in a pod I tell you.

Blessings from our home to yours.

[camerashymomma]

great imagery soulepapa! i love reading perspective on life through a father's eyes. and the photo is great action and stillness, with darkness coming on. we used to live in a tipi in colorado so the sight of it stirred me up!

[brit]

Life is truly a circle and there is both beauty and pain in that circle. For me fall symbolizes our journey. It seems like the end, everything is dying and we should be sad? yet there is so much color and joy and activity as we prepare (build up the woodpile, darn the socks, quilt the quilts) for the winter months that it is hard to be sad. I find such joy in the crisp air, in digging out scarves and hats.

[Petula]

Welcome back, Soule Papa.
I used to love fall, but then it finally sunk in that it inevitably leads to winter. Kind of put a damper on my enjoyment.

[emily]

so absolutely beautiful and perfectly put. thanks to your image, i can see the long walk ahead, and all of the warmth of being wrapped up in the love of a family along the way.

[bubbachic]

what a lovely snapshot of family life and what a beautifully descriptive way to put it.

Dee
x

[kat nicholas]

you words were so accurately descriptive, I could really envision an evening in the soule house this time of year. what a great feeling to share; it left me with a lump in my throat and eagerness for a sibling for my son. and i love the way you just dove right in, no extra introduction needed. a reminder that even though we don't actually hear your voice as often as amanda's, you're there the whole time.. .I look foward to hearing more! thanks.

[SoulePapa]

Thanks for the welcome everybody...
Annette - tell Sebastian great idea to post the pirate video! I have to ask SouleMama.
( it's her blog;) )

[Gry]

Welcome Soule Papa. You manage to bring out the love and warmth for your family just like Soule mama. I can feel it all the way to Norway. I'm looking forward to reading more from you. And your pirate video sounds great. Just the kind of thing my son would love. Please puplish it in this blog, that will be awesome!. Tell Soulmama I said PLEASE:-)Have a wonderful day and my best regards to the book writing mama!
Gry

[julie]

Your posts are as good as soule mama's. Thanks for the poetic words.

[Pup]

oh my.
do you have a brother.....

you spoke exactly how we all feel about certain times in our lives. when the kids are at the right age. the house is just as you like it and there is contentment.
people underestimate being content.

well said, papa.

[Ariana]

I've loved watching your summer through your blog :)

I have to say I'm never as excited as I am when I realize summer's almost gone. BUT I live in Texas and came from Arizona where summer temperatures are above 100, so I have a good excuse :)

I like your description of your Ada being silly. I swear the full moon pull is stronger than parents realize most of the time :D

[Diana]

I've had exactly the same feeling about freezing moments of my life. I thought this summer could be THE ONE. Maybe this means that this fall will really be the best of all my life, and so on...
Good to have you blogging around!

[Anne]

What a lovely way to describe the changing seasons - and the photo is perfect. It's nice to read from a papa's perspective.

[cloth.paper.string]

perfect, simply perfect.
i'm really looking forward to seeing more of the soule experience through your eyes in the coming days!
thanks much for stepping in and for sharing such loveliness, soulepapa!

[Glenn]

What Peggy said.

[Lisa G]

What a nice post! And a magical photo. Thanks for filling, Soule Papa.

[Shandy]

hey. I haven't had the morning coffee yet and I'm already feeling all teary! No fair! Seriously, this is such a powerful observation. May we all take in our children and the seasons with such reverence. Thanks for guesting over here!

[Susie]

Welcome back, SoulePapa!

"To relish the long walk into a cold, dark winter. To meet it with my family in warmth and love. To have faith that it will all come around again and that it is how it should be." That is poetry! Thanks for this lovely post.

[Toni]

Soule Papa, you write with such soul :)
I love it. Children grow up way to fast, you are right to relish this incredible and precious time.

[Katherine]

Lovely post. I think it's good to be sentimental, because it can hightlight what it is we're grateful for. I hear a deep love for your children when you write. You have a beautiful, talented family. Continue to enjoy and treasure them. I feel that way about mine. Season in and season out, there's much to be grateful for.

[Grace]

wow. i feel so compelled to leave a comment to this extraordinary post, but feel a bit speechless. How exquisitely said!!

[tricia]

this is gorgeous. my goodness.

[stephanie]

thank you for this. i have been so overwhelmed with gratitude for the lessons learned from insightful and generous men. my own husband is magical and wise and i have had such epiphanies lately about how a strong partnership, and a sense of faith in family has changed us both.

[Jennifer]

I love how you guys embrace the seasons so much. An inspiration.

[Aimee]

Thank you...so, so, so beautiful.

[Jessica]

Extremely poetic.

[kendra]

That was a beautiful post! And the perfect picture to pair it with. A fleeting, time goes on kind of picture.

Thanks to you and Amanda for providing me every morning with inspiration to be the best mom I can be. You two are my daily 'mom vitamin'.

[Beth]

Beautiful.

As much as I love fall (there is no finer season!) I find myself a little meloncholy this time of year. There seems to be a more tangible line between summer and fall than any other two seasons.

I always feel so full of life and so full of good things and good feelings this time of year - favourite clothes, harvest-time food, the pull of home that is the beginning of the domestic snuggling-in for winter, my fall birthday and celebrating with loved ones .

That fullness coupled with the passing of another year makes me feel like time is slipping through my fingers and as much as I want to stay in all the present goodness life moves on.

And I think of all the people it HAS moved on from - all the people that ever were who sat and thought how lucky they were in that very moment and how good life is. And then it is gone.

Okay, now I may need to eat a big pumpkin muffin to make myself feel better...

[Dacia]

that summarizes exactly how I feel. in Seattle, I'm always more than disappointed with how much the peeps here LOVE fall. they go wild with their fleeces, warm socks, scarves and fall colors. it's like they are dormant all year until the leaves start to change and fall off. I love summer and am always so sad to see it leave.

[manda]

So good to have SoulePapa back (even if it does mean missing Amanda!). Lovely post as always.

[julie]

Beautiful photo... and beautiful words!