Happy September and Welcome Back!

After a nice summer break, we’re ready to talk about good books, share beautiful art and poems, rustle up some new recipes, and of course, play with our toys — as we mark 16 years of Alphabet Soup. Special greetings to all the new subscribers who’ve signed up recently. So glad you’re here!

The year has flown by at lightning speed and now that September has arrived, I wish time would. slow. down.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could have twice as many months during autumn (truly the best season of the year)? Twice as many crisp, cool days with deep blue skies, twice as much gorgeous seasonal color, twice as many pumpkins, apples, happy trick-or-treaters, and twice as much time to appreciate the small everyday pleasures no one can take away from us despite all the craziness going on in the world.

Hold on to what you can. Take it where you find it. Share it whenever possible.

There’s surprising news about Mr Cornelius, but first, a poem to celebrate the month that heralds more beauty to come.

*

THE MONTH OF ALL
by Henry Grantland Rice

You may take your winters southward,
You may have your golden Junes,
You may have your summer mountains
Or your eastern fog-swept dunes;
But I’ll take the first red ember,
Where the Painter works his will,
When it’s morning in September,
Or it’s noon-day in September,
Or it’s twilight in September,
And the flame is on the hill.
There is orange down the valley,
There is crimson out the lane;
There’s a fleck of purple tinting
Where the maples meet the rain.
For the glow that I remember,
With an everlasting thrill,
Is a morning in September,
Or a noon-time in September,
Or a twilight in September,
When the flame is on the hill.

(This poem is in the public domain.)

*

Continue reading →