The one advantage to daylight savings time is that morning light arrives a little earlier, and this morning's beautiful sunrise made getting up so early a little easier!

I always take quiet pleasure in hanging this banner on my china cabinet every November.  Not only does the message remind me daily to remember my blessings and recall how much I have to be extraordinarily thankful for, I also love the memories associated with it. 

 

I made the banner from a few pages of an old set of Collier's Junior Classics. I loved reading the adventure stories from this set at the old Carnegie library in my hometown, and years later, as a thank you for assistance in grant writing the children's librarian gifted me with the set when it was being discarded.  I ended up with two of the poetry books so I didn't feel too heartless in using a few of the poetry pages from the extra book.  I know altered books are all the rage right now, but it's still hard for me to dismember a book!

I choose each page with care, using autumn poems that carry a special meaning for me in one way or another.  "T" features How the Leaves Came Down by Susan Coolidge...

I'll tell you how the leaves came down.
The great Tree to his children said,
"You're getting sleepy, Yellow and Brown,
Yes, very sleepy, little Red;
It is quite time you went to bed."

"Ah!" begged each silly, pouting leaf,
"Let us a little longer May;
Dear Father Tree, behold our grief,
'Tis such a very pleasant day
We do not want to go away."

So, just for one more merry day
To the great Tree the leaflets clung,
Frolicked and danced and had their way,
Upon the autumn breezes swung,
Whispering all their sports among,

"Perhaps the great Tree will forget
And let us stay until the spring
If we all beg and coax and fret."
But the great Tree did no such thing;
He smiled to hear their whispering.

"Come, children all, to bed," he cried;
And ere the leaves could urge their prayer
He shook his head, and far and wide,
Fluttering and rustling everywhere,
Down sped the leaflets through the air.

I saw them; on the ground they lay,
Golden and red, a huddled swarm,
Waiting till one from far away,
White bed-clothes heaped upon her arm,
Should come to wrap them safe and warm.

The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
"Good-night, dear little leaves" he said;
And from below each sleepy child
Replied "Good-night," and murmured,
"It is so nice to go to bed."

and "H" displays Rhyme of November Stars by Sara Teasdale.  I loved reading this poem as a young girl and then from my top bunk at night I'd watch the stars and moon march by my window--what a lovely sight.  This morning the moon was shining brightly in the early morning sky...

 The noiseless marching of the stars
Sweeps above me all night long;
Up the skies, over the skies
Passes the uncounted throng,
Without haste, without rest,
From the east to the west:
Vega, Deneb, white Altair
Shine like crystals in the air,
and the lonely Fomalhaut
In the dark south, paces low.
Now the timid Pleiades
Leave the shelter of the trees,
While toward the north, mounting high,
Gold Capella, like a queen,
Watches over her demesne
Stretching toward the kingly one,
Dusky, dark Aldebaran.
Betelgeuse and Rigel burn
In their wide wheel, slow to turn,
And in the sharp November frost
Bright Sirius, with his blue light
Completes the loveliness of night.

Tomorrow we will see what lovely poems the letters "A" and "N" have to share!  Until then, please remember that

Today is a good day for a good day!