Intertribal Life Newspaper -

Summer is leaving and autumn is arriving. Some call it Fall. I sometimes wonder if that is because it is related to the Fall of Man from the Garden of Eden. We are falling away from green grass and colorful flowers and heading for white and brown frozen things.

I'm not really depressed about it, as it may sound; I enjoy cuddling under a soft blanket and reading or watching a movie as storms rage outside. I just know that life is more difficult in winter.

This changing season is a good picture of my changing life seasons. I used to be a tidy person. Everything had its place, and I liked to keep it that way. I asked my dad how he remembered his grandmother. He said, "She was tidy."

I don't think I would like for that to be my family's greatest remembrance of me; fortunately, I probably won't have to worry about that. Yesterday I nagged my husband about the number of shirts he had on his bedpost. I only allow two shirts. (I have no idea why there is that rule unless it is because I have only two shirts on my bedpost.) They are shirts I can grab if I am cold. They are soft and warm. My husband has regular shirts on his bedpost! They should be hung up in the closet.

I continued to expound on the shirt rules as I looked for something to wear out of my pile of clothes stacked on my walker. (It is so handy to toss pants and no-iron shirts there when I'm tired and getting ready for bed.) I began laughing so hard I couldn't explain my silly standards to my bewildered husband, who was reviewing his bedpost shirt issues. My humour increased as I glanced to the doorknob at my left and saw the shirts and blouses hanging there waiting to be ironed. I think they have been there since the last season change.

We decided we just need to declare that we have a few closets. We have a closet full of work clothes that we wore in Toronto but have not touched for nine years (since retirement to Thunder Bay). We really need to do something about that. We have our regular closet that is stuffed full of clothes that are too small or just out of style. (I'm not really a shopper-especially since COVID–19.) We keep saying we need to make room for the 10 things we actually wear. We have our bedpost closets, my walking closet, the doorknob closet and the flat closet. The flat closet is nice for holding items until we decide which drawer to put them in.

Pixabay/OrnaW

This has all come with the changing season of our lives. Seasonal signs include our snowy white hair and frozen joints. It is harder to accomplish daily tasks. We fuss about not getting things done like we used to when we were 30 or 40-or even 50. However, there is one thing that we do better than ever before; we laugh at ourselves a lot. Proverbs 17:22 tells us that "A cheerful heart is good medicine." I hope that medicine keeps us going for years to come.

Sue Carlisle grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. An enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, her passion is to encourage people to look at creation and see our awesome Creator. Sue is author of Walking with the Creator Along the Narrow Road. She and her husband, Wes, now live in Thunder Bay, Ontario.