31 Days of Beautiful Things

I only six blogged times in September. Six times—that is probably a new low for me. I can't say why, other than that I was overwhelmed with busyness. I don't like being overwhelmed, nor do I like being so busy that I don't have time to see the beautiful things all around me.

One of my favorite semi-regular posts is "Three Beautiful Things." I wrote one a week or so ago, called Baby, Cool, and Tradition. These are simple posts, snippets of the beautiful things in my life. These are the things I want to take time for every single day.

For the next 31 days, inspired by The Nester, my goal is to capture a few beautiful things each day—to breathe in and focus on the simple and the profound, the quiet and the obvious, the things I almost missed. October is perhaps my favorite month, the month of cooling down and crisping, of colors and bonfires, pumpkins and soup. There is no shortage of beautiful things in October.

Maybe you'll want to join in, jotting down three beautiful things in your life every day this month, whether on your own blog, in the comments, or with actual pen and paper. Maybe you'll want to go into all-out 31 Day writing mode with hundreds of others on The Nester. Whatever you do, don't forget to deliberately notice something beautiful every single day this month. It could become a habit.

And I'll end this first post with a quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne, with whom I've just spent four weeks teaching The Scarlet Letter:

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October."

This post is Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew 
Day 11: Little Girls
Day 12: Boy Home 
Day 13: Quiet 
Day 14: Family Legends 
Day 15: Comfort Food 
Day 16: Family Legends 2 
Day 17: Sleep 
Day 18: Anticipation (AKA, Beauty in Cleaning) 
Day 19: Soup and Pumpkins
Day 20: Old Friends, Brand New  
Day 21: Leaves
Day 22: Sunrise
Day 23: Cat in the Sun 
Day 24: Shopping with My Mother
Day 25: Book Club 
Day 26: Warm and Safe
Day 27: ARC 
Day 28: The Love of October 
Day 29: Dog's View 
Day 30: Boo
Day 31: Us