SMALL CHANGE...

 

Every once in awhile during the pandemic,

 I have looked back to one year past

 to see how, if any, 

things have changed.

  It seems that after 

one year ago and change, 

things are pretty much the same. 

 I can remember in 2020 hearing,

 and wanting to believe,

 that come the next autumn we should be getting back to normal. 

  During the majority of  times 

it feels like it was just wishful thinking.

No matter what is happening in the world,

 it seems that mine

 doesn't change all that much. 

 At the end of 2019, we were looking forward to Christmas,

 just as we are now.  

At the end of 2020, same thing and now, in 2021, 

we have come full circle. 

 My birthday is coming up next month 

and as a yearly celebration, 

I have always gone to Home Goods.

  It is a good time of the year

 because most of the Christmas items are beginning to fill the stores.  

I have been very careful within the confines of the last year and a half, 

only going out for specific reasons.  

Trips for a doctor's appointment, or the blood labs,

 or for an occasional bone density test or a mammogram.

  All of my joy has been done online 

and it hasn't always been

 a rewarding experience. 

 Things look different in a catalog or an ad. 

 They are not always as expected.

So this year,

 I have made up my mind. 

 I have been double vaccinated 

and have an appointment on

 November 3 to get our booster shots. 

  If all the planets are in line

 then my mask and I

 will venture out to Home Goods 

where my "normal" will be happening again 

after a very long dry spell.

Speaking of dry spells...
we are having some stormy weather now.

 Lots of rain coming with high winds.
 The past weekend was proof of that. 
 The down side is 
that we have finally gotten 
some beautiful fall color 
which will be washed away 
but beggars can't always be choosers!

I just received Susan Branch's book, 

Home for Christmas.  

It is just a tiny thing,

 easily read in one sitting

 if you have some spare time. 

 It is a story of her growing up

 and how her family celebrated Christmas.  

If you were to roll up every story that Louisa May Alcott had ever written,

 and sprinkled some of my 

childhood memories in between the pages, 

this is what her story is. 

 She is a bit younger than I am,

 as I was attending high school when most of her story was just beginning. 

 Bits and pieces 

of our stories, though not the same,

 either were similar or brought back times

 that I had forgotten.   

It is a very entertaining and delightful read.

  I would recommend it to anyone wanting a bit of pure Christmas joy

 and a return to some 

long ago childhood memories. 

 It is available through Amazon or susanbranchblog.com.

I am not receiving any compensation for telling you. 

I do it just because I know

 most of us already know and love her.

Halloween will have come and gone

 before I post again. 

 Since the Cottage Witch has retired 

there is not much Halloween decorating done here at the Cottage...

...unless you count in 

the "Queens of Screams". 

 Even though cases in California

 seem to be going down,

in our county they are still 

too high for my liking 

so we will be sitting out Trick-or-Treat

 again this year.

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween 

and I will leave you with a story I posted a couple of years ago, 

part of the legacy of the Cottage Witch:

"The Dream"

first appeared at Gold Country Cottage

October 23, 2018

https://judyatgoldcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-dream.html

...Judy...

Sharing today with:

Love Your Creativity at Life and Linda