THE SUKKAH STORY PART TWO

THE SUKKAH THAT JACOB BUILT
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Many years passed.  From Abraham came Isaac, from Isaac came Jacob and Jacob had twelve sons, one of them was named Joseph. 

The story of Jacob is long and detailed.  There are a million other stories inside the story of Jacob.  I will be short with the beginning and not tell it all here.  I will simply tell you that Jacob did something terribly wrong to his brother for which he had to ask forgiveness from God, and then he had to go to face his brother and make amends to their relationship.  

Jacob did this and it pleased God greatly to see that the two brothers were finally reconciled and living in peace in the promised land that God had given to Abraham and his descendants. 

Jacob found that he had to live outside of the land until he came back to make peace with his brother.  When the peace was made; Jacob rode back into the land God promised his father Abraham and began to build a home.  He had traveled for many miles with his family and his livestock.  The animals were hungry and tired.  These were the animals that God had blessed Jacob with in a foreign land in spite of his many sins.  These animals had made Jacob’s family prosperous and happy.  Jacob had to build them temporary shelters to live in once they crossed the river and came into the land of Abraham.

Until Jacob, no one in history had ever built a shelter for an animal.  Until then cattle, sheep and donkeys had to brave the elements.  Whenever it was hot or cold, dry or rainy, the cattle, sheep and donkeys were always outdoors, always exposed to the harsh weather.  Because Jacob built these temporary shelters for his family as well as his animals, the first city that Jacob dwelled in when he returned to the promised land was called Sukkot! 

Sukkot is the Hebrew word that is now used to describe the eight days when we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles!  It means “temporary shelters.”

It is said that the blessings of Abraham came from kindness.  This can be seen by his desire to feed and offer God’s stories to the Angels of God and the strangers and pilgrims that wandered throughout the land.

It is said that the blessings of Isaac came from self-sacrifice.  For Isaac had been willing to offer his life for the glory of God but an angel had stopped him and an animal; a white ram, was provided as the sacrifice in the place of Isaac.  Because of Isaac’s willingness to give of himself and sacrifice himself for the sake of others, we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, which is the sound from a ram’s horn.  Some say it is the horn from the white ram that was caught in the thicket which God provided in Isaac’s place.  Mankind has possession of one horn; God is keeping the other one to use one day at a feast in the future.

It is said that the blessings of Jacob came from his care and concern for the animals of God's creation.  God had originally put Adam in charge of the animals and let him name them in The Garden of Eden when they were created; but Jacob was the first to provide a temporary shelter from the elements for them.  Jacob carried on the purpose that God gave to Adam in tending to the creatures of the earth.  

It was Jacob who said to his son Joseph to “Please go check on the welfare of the sheep!”  We will hear more of that when we hear Joseph’s story.  But Joseph, being the youngest son of Jacob, was with him when Jacob returned to the promised land.  Joseph lived in the sukkah with Jacob and Joseph helped Jacob build the temporary shelters (sukkahs) for the livestock.

Now close your eyes and think far ahead many years past the times of Jacob and Joseph.  There was a young couple coming into the city to pay their taxes and to be counted among their people for the census.  Their names were Mary and Joseph.  This was ANOTHER Joseph. Mary, his wife, came riding on a donkey, and she was great with child. 

They had traveled into the area early in order to be there in time to spend Rosh Hashanah with some of their relatives.  The relatives feared that Mary could not endure the bumpy donkey ride for so long a journey.  They were afraid she might be forced into labor because of the bumpy ride, and perhaps end up giving birth to the child too early.  So on the way they stopped often and rested from the journey.  They spent time resting and celebrating Rosh Hashanah with their relatives who lived right outside the city of Bethlehem.  Afterwards they rode on into the city to find shelter during Sukkot, and to be counted in the census among their people who were of the City of David. 

The city was very busy and crowded.  

It was the time of Sukkot!  Everyone had entered Jerusalem to celebrate!

Sukkot was the Hebrew name given for the festival we call The Feast of Tabernacles.  In the days of Mary and Joseph it was the time when all the men from everywhere came to Jerusalem and built temporary shelters to dwell in for eight days in order to have a harvest festival before God.  They built shelters for themselves and their families, and they built shelters for their animals and livestock in honor of the temporary shelters Jacob had built for his livestock when he had re-entered the promised land.

Mary and Joseph had not had enough time to gather together what they needed to build a shelter.  Even if they had; they would not have been able to carry it with them on this long journey.  They had planned on finding and building such a place when they arrived.

They had no money and it was almost time for Mary to deliver the child!

They were hoping to find an open door or room in an inn.

Frantically Joseph knocked on the doors of inn after inn and house after house asking for a place for his wife to lay down to give birth to their child.

Joseph did not tell them the things that were racing through his head.  He did not say “THIS IS THE CHILD OF GOD!!!!  YOU MUST LET US HAVE A PLACE!!! Joseph knew no one would believe him, and they would probably just think he was crazy; so he kept up his stressful search, house after house and inn after inn until he realized he was not going to find a place. 

Finally, in desperation, Joseph sat down beside the road and buried his head in his hands.  He did not want to go back to tell his wife she must give birth to The Messiah on the side of the road.  He prayed for God to help! 

When Joseph looked up a kind man was standing next to him.  “What is the matter my son?” asked the kind man.

“My wife is with child and will deliver any minute.  I do not have a place for her.  I have tried to get into the inns in the city but with the harvest festival going on everywhere, everyone is booked up, and every house is filled to the brim with guests from out of town.  There is NOWHERE for us to go.  I do not want to go back and tell this to my poor wife.”

“My son,” said the kind stranger, “I do not wish to see you in such distress in the time of such a joyful celebration and festival!  Surely God has picked the perfect place and time for the birth of this child.  Come with me.”

And the kind stranger led Joseph to a temporary shelter, a sukkah where the animals of the people coming to the festival were kept. 

Will this do for awhile, until the child has come?  The entrance is temporary and the roof is only covered with palm branches, but in the back of this shelter is the entrance to a cave.  You can find water and privacy there, even though people will be coming and going to look in on and use their animals.  Will this work for you?”

‘Yes!” said Joseph.  He thanked the man over and over and ran all the way back to Mary.  He loaded her up on the donkey and brought her into the little temporary shelter where the animals were being housed.  Joseph had thoughts of his ancestor Jacob as he entered the place.  God had started making a way for their provision many, many years ago!  Joseph pondered how amazing this was.  Now Mary would lie down on a bed of soft hay and give birth to a perfect son in this little sukkah that backed up to a cave that was located next to a well of fresh spring water.

Joseph made the area as clean as possible.  He lay blankets down on the hay.  Mary lay down with joy on the the fresh soft bed and looked up through the covering of the roof of the little sukkah that was full of the creatures from God’s creation.  The animals quietly looked on with wonder, as if they knew the secret that Mary and Joseph shared about the child that was being born that very night!  

Mary saw the stars of the sky twinkling through the covering of the shelter as if they too were preparing their welcome for her little child that was soon to be born.  She could almost hear the stars saying “God always keeps His promises, God always keeps His promises!”  These words went through her head and she repeated them to herself as she labored in childbirth. 

When the little boy was born they wrapped him in the cloth they had brought for him, and laid him inside a soft hay-filled manger. 

The livestock huddled around in wonder at such a sight of a holy baby being inside their dwelling!  

The animals and Mary and Joseph could hear the angels singing, even though the people passing by did not even notice the heavenly choir in the sky.  

The stars were singing a lullaby to Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph gave thanks and praise to God.

Seven Shepherds appeared at the door of the shelter.  They were there on that special night simply to look in on and to feed and water the animals in their charge.  They came into the shelter with excitement on their faces, telling the astounding stories of how they looked up into the sky from the hills of their tents while keeping the feast and heard a glorious heavenly announcement that a child would be born in Bethlehem and they would find him laying in a manger.  

Then the shepherds saw Jesus!  

They fell on their knees with praise and adoration when they entered the sukkah and saw the child the angels had sang about. 

Mary and Joseph, though they were very preoccupied with the birth of the child, welcomed the seven shepherds into the little sukkah.  They invited them to share their meals and to sing joyful hymns with them.  

One by one the seven poor humble shepherds who had only been able to come to the harvest festival at the expense of their wealthy masters because they were given the lowest of jobs, that of tending to the needs of the rich people’s animals while they celebrated the feast, were the very first people who were invited to know Jesus. 

One by one they were all allowed to hold the Christ Child in their arms! 

Those poor, humble, uneducated men knew from God that a special miracle had happened at this feast and in this sukkah.  

Not one shepherd ever forgot that holy night.  Not one shepherd failed to pass the story on to their children and grandchildren.  They were reminded every Sukkot afterwards, and they filled their sukkahs with joy and praise for Christ the King, the One the Angels of Heaven sang about that night on the hills of Bethlehem. 

After the child was born on the first day of the feast, Joseph took their offering of two turtle doves up to the temple and gave them to the priest.  Then Mary and Joseph watched and listened to the whole world in joyful celebration of the harvest coming and going outside their little temporary shelter. 

From a distance they could hear the parades as the people took their offerings up to the temple.  They could hear the songs, the hymns from the Psalms of David, and they knew there was dancing.  The people were celebrating the end of a good harvest year and the beginning of a brand new year. 

Joseph and Mary smiled at one another, knowing that from this moment on, the blessings of the world were going to be so much greater! 

God always keeps His promises! 

Jacob had passed away long ago, but the legacy of his sukkah lived in Bethlehem that night and the descendants of Abraham saw the coming of The Promised Messiah.

The Messiah had come down to earth to dwell with mankind and hardly anyone even noticed he had come, but the form of a little tiny baby was laying in a manger inside a temporary dwelling in Bethlehem!

AND THE STARS KEPT SHINING, AND THE WAVES OF THE SEA KEPT BRUSHING THE SAND ON THE SHORE, AND THE ANGELS KEPT SINGING FOR JOY BECAUSE GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES!

THE SUKKAH STORY PART ONE ABRAHAM'S SUKKAH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Long ago, even long before your great-great-great-great-great-great  grandparents were born,  Abraham built a sukkah. 

It was near a tamarisk tree and a well of fresh spring water.  It was positioned in an area of Canaan near the road where the caravans of merchants and traders traveled back and forth to the large cities to sell their goods at the markets. 

Abraham would sit in the shade of his sukkah and welcome these guests to the land as they went by.  He would invite them to come inside his sukkah and have a meal with him.  He would tell them the stories of God. 

Abraham believed there was only One God; the God of Heaven and Earth, Our Creator.  Abraham worshipped no other gods such as the pagans around him did.  He wanted them to know about The One True God, so he would welcome them and tell them God’s stories at his table in his sukkah.

Sometimes, in the days of Awe before he sat in his sukkah, Abraham would go down by the sea.  He would sit on the shore and look at the sand and the waves rushing in.  Abraham would find he was in complete awe of the things God had created.  They were indeed wonderful!  Abraham would give thanks to God as he sat by the sea shore.

One day while Abraham was sitting near the ocean in awe, God make him a promise.  God told Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the sands of the sea.  Abraham knew that the sands of the sea were so many that it would be impossible to count them!  Abraham thanked God for this promise, even though as of yet, he did not even have one son with his wife Sarah.  Abraham still believed the things that God promised and he looked forward to the blessings that would come.

Back at home near the road that the merchants traveled, Abraham sat in his sukkah again.  On many cool clear nights Abraham looked up through the covering of his sukkah’s roof to see the stars in the sky twinkling back at him.  They were so bright and so beautiful that Abraham just had to praise God for creating them! 

When Abraham worshiped God and praised Him as he sat in his sukkah, God made Abraham another wonderful promise.  God told Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky.  Abraham knew he could never count the number of stars in the sky, and that would be a great miracle!  As of yet, Abraham and Sarah had no children.  They were old!   Still; Abraham had faith in God and he believed God’s promises and he looked forward to the blessings of the future.   

As the people traveled to and fro on the main trade route of the country, Abraham would invite these strangers into his sukkah.  Abraham would prepare feasts for his guests.  A feast is not just an ordinary meal, but a feast is a very festive meal with a purpose behind it.  Abraham’s purpose was to tell the stories of God to the people in the land.  Abraham and his wife Sarah were known for their gifts of welcome and hospitality to all the people of all the lands. 

You would be amazed at the guests that Abraham entertained under the roof of his sukkah! 

Red, yellow, black or white.  Skin color did not matter to Father Abraham.  If you were rich or poor or in-between; you were invited to Abraham’s sukkah for a festive meal.  The only requirement was that you had ears.  Ears are for listening and Abraham liked to tell the stories of God to each of his guests.

One day The Angel of The Lord (who was really Jesus in another form long before He came to earth as a man) and two other angels came to visit in the sukkah of  Abraham.  They were passing through the land  when Abraham spotted them in the distance, ran to them and invited them into his sukkah for a festive meal.

The three were on a mission from God.  Part of their mission was to deliver a message to Abraham, but Abraham did not know this.  Abraham was so honored to have someone from The One True God that he worshiped sitting in his sukkah and gathering around his very table!  Abraham had Sarah to cook an elaborate and very special feast for them.  Abraham brought his very best offerings.  They shared a festive meal full of some serious talk but also some laughter. 

After the meal they shared a glass of wine together.  Sarah was waiting inside the tent where she and Abraham lived, tending to some of the things she would bring out for dessert and she could hear their voices carrying on the wind as they spoke inside the sukkah.  Sarah heard The Angel of The Lord tell Abraham that a son would be born to them.  Sarah could not help but laugh out loud because she was very old and past the age of having children. 

 So when Isaac, the son of Sarah and Abraham was born in their old age; it was a great miracle and Abraham and Sarah remembered the words that were told to Abraham as their special guests dined with them under the roof of their sukkah.  Sarah remembered her laughing and so they named him Isaac, which means “laughter.”

Abraham had faith to believe the things that God promised and he looked forward to the blessings to come. 

SEASONS - PREPARING FOR THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES - THE JOY OF BUILDING A SUKKAH

PREPARING FOR THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

God is happy to meet us where we are, but once He shows up; you must be willing to take the journey!

Late September, early October brings the seven fall holy days we call Sukkot, or if you prefer English; The Feast of Tabernacles.  It is called The Feast of Tabernacles because we dwell in temporary booths or shelters during this time.  These temporary booths are called sukkahs.  The word “sukkah” actually translates from Hebrew to English to mean “temporary booths.”  

For some people, learning the name of the shelter and building it is about as deep as the meaning goes.  For others there is SO MUCH MORE to the whole experience.  For those willing to open their eyes and see, there are awesome surprises waiting in the sukkah.

If you actually participate in building a sukkah for Sukkot you will more than likely realize there is a lot of hidden meaning to the simple building process.  You really won’t get this unless you DO this.  The doing has a lot to do with obeying God just because He is God.  Obedience is the first step toward growth in any part of God’s Kingdom.  It is also a straight path toward joy!  You can be happy from using your human reason and doing what is logical, or you can have JOY from having faith in God and doing what He says.  He knows the difference.  He looks on the condition of our hearts.

Those of us who have enJOYed our Sukkah’s at the feast have realized after building the first one that there were many reasons God asks us to do this.  It is all about stopping to savor the journey, remembering the past and moving on to the future, and it is spiced with love, worship, compassion and mercy.  All of these things come filtering through to us from building and living in a sukkah. 

At first though, it is all about obedience.  This is the scripture that we are obeying:

“Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath, and you shall take on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.  And you shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year.  It shall be a STATUTE FOREVER in your generations; you shall celebrate in the seventh month.  You shall DWELL IN BOOTHS SEVEN DAYS; all that are Israelite born shall dwell in booths; that your generations may know that I made the Children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD thy God.”  (Lev. 23:39-43)

So if you are wondering if you REALLY should obey this because you might not have been born Israeli; think again.  Are you a Christian?  Then you have been grafted into the family of God and you are an adopted Son of God.  That gives you the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as the natural born children.  The other Christian customs you observe came from the Children of Israel, such as baptism and communion, so why would this be different?  God commanded them all for The Children of God.

Building the sukkah and observing the Feast of Tabernacles makes  us consider many things in a more careful manner.  God always shows us something new!  It never gets old or boring.  Each year our lessons are layered on top of the last year’s lessons until we are full of the knowledge of what God wants us to have inside our hearts and minds at this feast.  Like everything else in life it is a process.  When you begin any process you have to make a conscience decision to begin, carry on and finish the process.  Every phase carries a different meaning,and each season the meanings deepen.  Please don’t take my word for it, test me and find out if what I am saying isn’t true.

God knows we humans have short attention spans.  Sometimes just hearing words isn’t enough for us.  When we are involved in the process of building something, we consider what we are doing and grasp the meanings that correspond with our actions.  Our attention span last longer and we are able to retain the lessons learned much longer.  They also mean more to us because we were “hands on” with our first memory of the event.  We have a visual image in our brain of what we were trying to accomplish.  It is like a photograph that we can pull back up and look at closer whenever we decide to ponder our actions deeper at a later time.

 

By the time we begin building our sukkah for Sukkot those of us who keep all of God’s holy days have already passed through a process of examination of our lives for the past year.  We have found ourselves unworthy and lacking and we have asked for God’s mercy and forgiveness.  We have received atonement and cleansing for our mistakes over the last year.  This all happens through The month of Elul, Rosh Hashanah, The Days of Awe and The Day of Atonement that lead us up to Tabernacles.  By the time we are finished with all of those days and their processes and we come to the place of building our Sukkah for Sukkot; we approach the building process with clean hands, hearts and lives.  By entering the temporary shelter after it is built on good instructions from God we come to a new place in life, a new beginning again of the rhythms of life with everything in sync with God and ready to make a glorious new song for all the world to hear.  We don’t have all our “stuff” in the sukkah, so we feel much less inhibited and a lot less stressful because we have been reminded of what we REALLY need and dropped off the extra baggage before The Day of Atonement and we are refreshed from not having to carry it around anymore.

To build a proper sukkah, you need to be willing to follow God’s instructions for doing so.   It isn’t hard, but God wants things the way God wants things.  After all, He IS God.  His way is the way to go when building and using the sukkah.  It does seem that most Christians today have either forgotten or are not inclined to follow God’s instructions.  It was this way during the days of Nehemiah too.  The people had been in captivity so long they had forgotten God’s customs and how important they were to God.  Ezra had to remind them by reading the scriptures and repeating what they had been forgetting to do.  We can read about this in Nehemiah 8:1-8 and Nehemiah 8:14-18.

“All the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate.  They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.  He read aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, woman and others who could understand.  All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.  Ezra the teacher of the law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion.  Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedajah, Mishael, Malkjah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.  Ezra opened the book.  All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.  Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded “Amen!  Amen!  Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.  The Levites – Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah – instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there.  They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. 

They found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem:  “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees and from

myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters” as it is written.

So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in  the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim.  The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them.  From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this.  And their joy was very great.

Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the book of the Law of God.  They celebrated the festival for seven days and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.”

 So you see the people in the days of Nehemiah were a lot like the people of today.  They had been away from God’s laws and God’s Holy Scriptures so long that they had forgotten He said to keep the Feasts!  Those wise people corrected their nation and God had mercy on them for the time that they remained faithful.  Can ours do the same?  Have they even considered this, I wonder?  I’m not just speaking of just Holy Days here, but a million subjects where America has forgotten to chose to follow the ways of God. 

But I regress, I was telling you all that God shows us when we begin to build a sukkah and keep Sukkot simply out of obedience and respect for God’s word and commandments. 

We begin to think about many things in the building.  The family becomes a team and works together in the building.  We all want to make our sukkah special and bonds are formed among family members that might never happen otherwise.  Father’s teach sons, Mothers teach daughters, grandparents pass down their stories and everyone learns history and how to get along well together. Memories of being family are made!  Everyone learns if they work together they can accomplish more.  Abilities and talents shine forth from some that had never been noticed previously in the day to day struggles of family life.  Confidence is built.  People are bonded together in love and respect.  People are more appreciated for what God made them to be here at the feast while building the sukkah.  This all happens like in the days of Nehemiah, where people learned a lot about each other from simply building walls and gates.

Then comes the “MORE” part.  There is an element of the sukkah that makes it more than an agricultural shed, that element is the structure of the roof.  There are several reasons that the builders learn that make the roof special.  First, because it is a canopy made from stalks or branches everyone appreciates the shade that is given by the roof.  Then when night comes everyone realizes it is special because they can see the stars through the leafy holes in the roof.  You grasp for the first time that by looking through something grown by the earth you can see glimpses of heaven!  Now how do you think that helps the relationships of different types of family members to improve?  Even better, how do you think that type of thinking improves us when we leave our temporary shelters and go back to a more permanent structure of day-to-day life? Have you ever caught a glimpse of heaven by looking into the eyes or seeing the actions of another person?  This is yet another lesson of the sukkah. 

We also learn that the roof acts as a covering.  This is the most important element of the whole structure.  It reminds us of how God covers all of our needs, both spiritually and literally.  He provides a covering for us.  The covering of the blood of Christ.  That roof over our soul provides us salvation.  

We are also reminded to remember that God COVERED all of the needs of the people as they wondered through the wilderness in their temporary shelters.  They did not want for a thing because they had a mighty God looking after them.  Each night that they looked up through the covering of the roof and saw the stars of the heavens they were reminded of God’s provision for their every need.  We too, remember when we build and dwell inside our sukkah!

 There is SO much to learn from building the sukkah.  So much that it cannot be contained in this one little article.  I will be writing more on this subject of building and living in a sukkah as time goes on.  

Do you have all that you need for your sukkah?  The Feast of Tabernacles will be here before you know it!

PEN ART - A POEM FOR FALL

LIVING IN AWE
A Poem that doesn't rhyme:

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The crisp sharp sunlight filters down through my bedroom window.

It nudges me awake from warm and cozy sleeping.

The air is cool as I regretfully leave the comfort of warm quilts and grab my robe.

Bare feet against wooden floors whisper that winter is coming soon.

The air feels fresher; almost as if a cool rain has fallen through the night,

Leaving only cheerful sunlight behind.

Everything is brighter and cleaner today.

I take deeper breaths. 

The air feels good and fresh in my lungs.

I breathe in Fall and all of its wonderfulness.

Morning coffee just has a better flavor in this season,

I add cinnamon for fun.

I sip slowly as I linger in the slanted light, wishing I were more carefree.

Finally I step out into the morning and see the trees have put on their annual fashion show.

They parade all around me in their vivid deep colors,

Those long, lean, graceful trees that understand the art of modeling better than any human,

I pass between them on my way,

Feeling small and insignificant in their midst;

My eyes noting how each tree characteristically paints the sky behind it with a unique individual flair.

Their swirling leaves dance on the side of the road as I travel on toward the mundane destinations of the day,

Those messy trees leave their fashion in a trail all over the earth’s floor,

like a teen-aged girl who has over-shopped.

I drink in the colors of lovely leaves,

Waving at me,

dancing in the wind as if they were next door neighbors calling out for me to stop and say hello.

The pumpkins at the curb market smile toothy smiles 

as I venture on down the road.

I resist the urge to stop and pick one for my front porch.

I know I would be late for nothing important;

So I move on.

With the magic of God’s creation surrounding me as I go,

I proclaim out loud to no one in particular that it is a shame I must continue with my boring usualness.

On such a day, it simply isn’t fair!

And it just doesn’t seem right not to stop a bit in the Fall and move a little slower.

I feel as if the whole world should just stand still for at least a day

And absorb the returning of this lovely season’s beauty.

It is the beginning of Fall

And I am completely in awe.

OH THE PLACES WE SHOULD GO - TAKING A FALL TRAIN RIDE AT THE HEART OF DIXIE RAILROAD MUSEUM

(Writing and photography by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

A perfect excursion in the fall is to take a little train ride. 

It is a wonderful way to admire the beautiful changing colors of the landscape that now paints the autumn sky. 

I can't imagine a fall without some kind of train ride.  Our family has kept this tradition as often as possible for years now. I enjoy coming up with new and different places to accomplish another scenic train ride each season. There are lots of good choices of old trains to visit in the South.

One great place is The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Alabama. We went there with our daughter, Erin a few years ago and had a blast.  Not only will you get to ride the train through some very pretty woods; you also get to tour a fantastic museum, full of antique Alabama trains and train equipment.  This very informative museum features operating standard gauge and narrow gauged trains from Alabama. 

There are two restored depots full of lots of railroad history and memorabilia. 

You can also go outside and climb in and out of many old box cars, locomotives and cabooses.  These have been collected over the years from a bunch of train lovers who originally stored them in Birmingham, then brought them to Calera and formed this fantastic little museum and train station.   

There are lots of special excursions offered according to the season of the year.  The Fall excursion is called The Pumpkin Patch Express.  It would be a great adventure to enjoy with your grandchildren.  The Pumpkin Patch Express takes place in October most years.  You can visit The Great Pumpkin, take a hayride, bounce in the jump-station, enjoy good old fashioned boiled peanuts, and pick out the perfect jack o'lantern.  Who could ask for more?
There's also an event called "A Day Out With Thomas" if your child or grandchild loves Thomas The Train, you don't want to miss it.  Find the information here: http://thomasthetrain.net/index.php/pages/heart-of-dixie-railroad-museum.html 

There are also Christmas events where the kiddies can ride The North Pole Express and visit with Santa.  Check out this website for all the details: https://www.hodrrm.org/Events/NorthPoleExpress/tabid/121 

If you want a more adult experience, make a reservation on the dinner car that rolls through the Ozan Vinyards and stops there for a wine tasting.  I've put this on my bucket list and keep hoping that my husband will read it!   Here is the information you would need to know:http://www.ozanvineyardtrain.com/

Or maybe you would just like to take an ordinary Saturday afternoon train ride, each event is special.  Just check their home website at:  http://www.hodrrm.org

I highly recommend a day visiting The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum and love the fact that most of their workers are made up of enthusiastic train lovers who have generously volunteered their time to helping others enjoy the gifts that the Alabama trains have blessed us with over the years.

All Aboard?

See you at the station!