by Ron Cook
Hello, it’s September!
We just passed over halfway into the year, as well as the end of summer. Teachers are back in school and gearing up for the Fall semester. Students are settling into the coming year. Year-round workers have returned from summer vacation or are reliving the vacations they have already enjoyed earlier in the summer months. Most adults are making mental check lists of what needs to be done as the season’s changes.
Let’s just pause a moment and take a breath … ahhhhhhh.
I was thinking it might be fun to slow down the pace and think about some of those old sayings we still use. We use them, but who knows what they mean???
“So far, so good. So much is done to good purpose.” -Written by James Kelly in his collection of Scottish Proverbs, 1721- This idiom, or Scottish proverb, could be the way we look at September. It’s been nice so far … let’s see what good remains?
“The whole Kit and Kaboodle.” This saying started out in England as a bundle of things. During World War I it became a reference to the need for a soldier to pack his Toilet Kit (Kit) and his duffel bag (Kaboodle). It was time to ship out! We still have some year left … let’s not “ship out” just yet!
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Usually means, if someone offers you something of value for free … don’t get too critical. Looking at a horse’s teeth is often used to determine its age. As summer waned, it is still the gift we don’t control yet we can still just enjoy in the coming months.
“One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the midst of winter.” Don’t forget to store up the memories of these hazy, crazy, lazy days of summer for a cold winter’s day.
“Remember to make hay while the sun shines!” Be sure to do all the things you wanted to do while it is still good to cut, dry, and gather your “hay.”
“We are still in the dog days of summer.” This refers to the hot days where we just want to lay around like a dog in the shade. They are still around even as we are moving into another season.
“Traveling on a shoestring.” Street sellers used to sell shoestrings for a low price. Even if you have a small budget, you can still do some traveling if you are careful.
“Il dolce far niente.” An old Italian saying which translates to “the sweetness of doing nothing.” Be sure to include the sweetness of appropriate resting, idle time. I’ve noticed that keeping busy really helps me to appreciate “shutting down.”
“Having a sunny disposition.” Summer can bring out the best in our moods and dispositions. We can also carry that with us into fall as we recall those positives when there is much less sun or daylight in winter.
“Chasing rainbows.” Is there maybe a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow?? Let’s go look!!!
“Reap what you sow.” In the spring we sowed our seeds of hope. Now we can gather what we have planted to enjoy in the winter.
“Nada te turbe,
Nada te espante,
Todo se pasa,
Dios no se muda;
La paciencia todo lo alcaza:
Quien a Dios
Tiene nada le falta;
Solo Dios basta.”
Let nothing disturb you, nothing shake you. Everything passes, God does not change. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. Only God suffices. -this was an old Spanish proverb from somewhere in the 1600’s.
Be well this month…enjoy the months left of this year … rest and enjoy moments of peace.
