"Takin' Time Out"

Definition: A space or room just below the roof of a building.

 

You may be wondering what in the world is she up to this week and why would you pick the word ATTIC.  Well to be completely honest I have been really busy at work, I have thought about my blog article each morning and nothing was very clear on what I wanted to write about.  So here we are down to the wire and I was committed to not missing another week due to my busy schedule so I have a jar with little slips of paper on various topics I want to write about and I decided to draw from that jar this morning and this is the word I pulled out!  LOL…so here we are sipping on my scrumptious Cinnamon Chai Tea and my wheels are spinning as my fingers begin to type.

 

I was unloading my car late last night and looked at the small pile of remaining boxes I need to go through from pulling everything down from our ATTIC last fall.  This is such a BIG sigh of relief, amazing how much clutter one can gather through the years.  Why in the world do we every stick stuff up there in the first place?  Now if you have a two story house with an access through a door I would be all for it but our ATTIC has these narrow fold down steps that have become very rickety through the years.  Some stuff barely fits through the hole but somehow we managed to cram twenty plus years of memories in the floor of the ATTIC. In all reality it isn’t really the best place for anything as the temperatures fluctuate dramatically throughout the year.  Field mice or small rats like to creep in when the weather changes another thing I want to ask God when I get to heaven what good are those little varmints.  I will never forget my brother in law helping us move on Christmas Eve many years ago from another house into our current one and as we finished up the last load it was all the stuff from the ATTIC.  His exact words to me were, “have you ever heard of Bon Fire?”  This would be a great start…I just commented by saying “How Rude!” but he was probably right.

 

What comes to your mind when you hear the word ATTIC?  I guess I would define it as a place that you sort of put stuff that you used to be interested in and might be interested in again someday or things you think someone else might want someday.  Well that someday came and I had 3 stacks for my children…my oldest ask what in the world was she to do with all those trophy’s from elementary, Jr high and High school.  I stated I didn’t know but they were hers to store in their own ATTIC now or purge.  I did my part by saving them all these years.

 

Memories so many memories. The one box I pulled from the garage floor was a combination of old photos and my husband’s memorabilia on top lay a photograph of his precious Grandmother we called “Granny”.  It has almost been a year since she left this earth.  She lived 105 years.  Now let’s think about this for a minute, imagine what her eyes saw, the changes that transformed this world of ours – it’s staggering to think about it.  For example she went through two world wars, not to mention several smaller ones, the invention of cars, planes, electricity, radio, television and yes even computers and the internet.  The list could go on and on but I think about how hard her life was, her family was not very wealthy in terms of money and material things but she was so wealthy in terms of wisdom, hard work, determination and experiences.  In reflecting over Granny’s life and thinking back even as a child I sorta long to return to a different time.  A time of simplicity, a time for more family gatherings and community.  A time when doors were left unlocked and neighbors would drop everything and help to rebuild a barn.  A time when family and faith were what were most important.  Now don’t get me wrong I have some really good neighbors and they would be here for me if I asked but with the kids grown and gone and our time of sharing meals, kids playing tag football in the front yard are gone.  Also, my family and faith do take priority but this past year I feel life interruptions and work has really gotten in the way of what I want my primary focus to be.  So YES, I am making some changes for 2016 and recommitting to makin memories and “Takin Time Out” more often.

 

My cousin is currently preparing to move from one home to another in fact they actually own two homes but are selling one. The one they are selling is packed with most of their memories of 35+ years together.  In fact she has loves sharing old photographs of our family on Facebook some brought tears of fond memories, while others brought tears of laughter especially the clothes we wore or our hairstyles.  What were we thinking?  Give us another 20 years and we will probably be saying the same thing about what I have on today. LOL!

 

How many of you channel surf…I don’t very often as I am not a big TV person but on occasion I sometimes will stop at the “Cash in the ATTIC” or “American Pickers” it is amazing what I think is junk sells for a pretty penny.  What’s in your ATTIC?

 

In my quiet time I ran across a verse Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” I think this corresponds with the things and memories held in those little boxes from the ATTIC…each age or stage of life are precious and beautiful we just have to enjoy or maybe look for the beauty especially during the hard times.  Life is full of negativity or overwhelming challenges but we must dig deep into our souls to find the nuggets of gold and the positivity.  It’s up to each one of us to choose…

 

I think of a very special Victorian home that is my favorite B&B; it has that A line roof. There is where I find my happy place tucked under the angel and in the corner of that roofline, which was once part of the ATTIC.  It is called The Tyler Room, but I like to think of it as my special place.  There are so many fond memories sitting in the corner peering out the window onto the simple quiet little street, some mornings the deer would be feeding in the field and that is where God and I have had some serious talks.

 

While you are “Takin Time Out” this week what do you think of when you hear the word ATTIC?  If nothing else hopefully it brought back some precious memories of years past, sparked by keepsakes or marvelous stories of mischief, discovery and laughter.  What lessons have we learned and can apply for today.  What was once more and can we bring back some of the simplicity of yesteryear to our lives?  I hope you enjoyed reminiscing, until next time my friends, let’s breathe in deep, exhale slowly, work towards being more in the presence of today and truly be thankful for each of our blessings…

 

 

 

 

 

 

******************************************************************************