It’s the middle of February and time for more holidays. There is Valentine’s day, a holiday to share love in many different ways. So Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone and may you have a good day to celebrate those people in your life that you love.
Happy New Year! It is now time to celebrate new beginnings while learning to write out the shiny new year of 2020. I still think that September seems like a better time for celebrating the start of a new year. Or spring also seems like a better time, with new growth and the start of new life. With cold weather and short days, it seems hard to get excited about starting fresh, especially after a busy holiday season. Yet somehow we manage to get excited and plan for the start of new adventures, work, romances and other stuff.
The year is drawing to a close, the nights growing ever longer as the days grow shorter. The winter solstice is almost upon us, just one of many holidays people celebrate this time of year. These celebrations, Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve are examples of diversity while sharing the goals of celebrating light, hope and kindness during a dark time of the year.
The topics for my blogs are planned out in advance, with a faint hope that I might work ahead instead of scribbling something out the night before. My son and I are collaborating on topics and this week he suggested the theme of birthday, specifically my birthday.
With some time off, I find myself wanting to write an extra piece for the holiday. WInter isn’t quite here, but there are shorter days and longer nights. With less sunshine, more darkness and cold, it can sometimes be hard to remember brighter times. The holidays help, with the gathering of family and friends, yet there are still times when that absence of light starts to seem like a lack of hope. negative associations with winter. We may wonder if the weather will ever warm and if spring will come again.
I’m writing this post on a quiet November evening, working to find words. Rain is drumming down on the roof, the first winter storm of the season, and I find myself relaxing in spite of stress at my day job. I am ready for a rest and next week I will take a few days off to spend time at home with my family.
Over the last couple of years, I have answered questions from other parents who are looking for more information about autism. I decided to pull out sections from each chapter of our book that contain references and some thoughts about different times of parenting an autistic child. A PDF of those excerpts is now available on our site, you can download a copy at Resources, References and Reflections Excerpts
Another change in the season and the carved pumpkins and scary decorations are put away until next year. There are still pumpkins on display, with the added display of squash, and corn, symbols of a bountiful harvest. There are some Christmas decorations sneaking in, but most people are enjoying the quiet thankfulness of November before moving on.