Today, Fall Arrived In Florida... In A HUGE BOX, Delivered Right To My Porch...

It all started when I rather jokingly

mentioned on my Facebook page

that I would be willing to send someone who lives up north

a large ziplock bag

if they would be willing to share some of their Fall leave with me

-- a poor

Florida gal

who only gets to hear about all the Fall color

as it begins to be discussed

across blog-land each September.

There just aren't words to describe what I felt

late this afternoon as I opened this HUGE

box sent to me by another blogger/Flickr/Facebook friend,

Rebecca Lewis

who lives in the "enchanted" area of upstate New York,

where apparently gorgeous, fiery-colored Fall leaves are

so plentiful

they

"fall like rain"

as Rebecca put it.

I honestly began to cry as I cut the big box open and saw what was

lovingly contained inside.

WAY MORE than a mere

ziplock baggie-full

of leaves...

Rebecca carefully packed out this box with a sweet notecard adorned with an original photo-print of her own (she is an AMAZING photographer with lots of pics on Flickr).

The photo she used on the notecard is a close-up of a beautiful Maple leaf specimen from a special tree in her yard.

There was a large yellow envelope PACKED FULL of carefully preserved and pressed Maple leaves --- SOOO many I can't even imagine how many there were in that envelope!

I noticed immediately that there was a HEAVENLY smell coming from the box, and I began to cry even more as I saw that there was not one, but two beautiful hand-poured candles from Rebecca's antique shop.

One candle is scented

Grandma's Kitchen (the orange one)

and the other is scented

Chardonnay (the white one).

They smell sooo incredible!

Some of the pressed leaves scattered on the table as well as the two candles AND a "mystery wicker hamper"....

You'll notice a wicker hamper in the photos...

I could not believe my eyes!

{Remember, I only asked if someone would fill a Ziplock bag for me!}

I lifted the hamper out of the box and placed it on the table along with the

candles and some of the pressed leaves that I scattered on the table.

{You can see I DID take time to light the candles!}

I hadn't yet opened it to see what could be inside...

Well, inside I found...

still MORE beautiful leaves!!!

SOOO many, I can't even think of how many there are.

I mean, this trunk is PACKED with leaves!!

So Rebecca has now gone sooo far above the whole Ziplock bag concept...

I received:

beautiful leaves still on their on branches/vines (see photo below),

TWO wonderful fall-themed candles

from her shop,

a beautiful wicker hamper,

and a bounty of leaves contained in the wicker hamper

oodles of carefully preserved/pressed leaves,

and a lovely card personalized with one of Rebecca's wonderful

images of nature found right on her own property.

I am stunned, touched, humbled and just simply flat-out amazed

at what Rebecca did for me.

And it couldn't have come

at a better time,

on a better day.

It's been SOOO hot here --

I'm talking HIGH humidity combined with high 90's,

equalling hot, steamy, sticky weather

that makes you kind of not want to read

one more blog post about

apple-picking

and boots

and sweaters.

:)

To top it off

I haven't been

feeling real good lately

~especially today,

so when this box showed up,

it really,

really

made my day.

This has to be one of the things about blogging

and online friendships

that continues to

just amaze me.

That we women,

who mostly never meet face to face,

can forge such true friendships

simply by sharing our lives

on our blogs.

I love this about blogging more than anything - that I can honestly

say

"Oh my friend in upstate New York sent me...."

And I mean it.

I truly mean it

when I call her

(and you)

friends.

To you, Rebecca,

you will never know how you touched my day today.

Fall/Winter seasons mean so much to me --

they are what I live for all year long

and unfortunately they are all too swiftly

gone again

here in the south.

To receive a bit of "true" Fall from so far away

(and SO much more than I ever dreamed would be sent to me)

just really got to me ...

I cried today

upon opening the box

for many reasons,

not the least of them being

that someone I've never even

met

went to that kind of trouble...

for me.

And all because I said in passing:

"I'd be willing to provide a plastic baggie if someone would fill it for me with some of their leaves..."

Don't for one minute ever lose faith in humanity.

If you ever feel yourself doing so,

come on over to blog-land and have your

faith restored.

Ladies,

you

are

one

special

group

of

people...

Rebecca,

you are

one

special

lady.

Love,

Ruth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to know more about this incredible lady named Rebecca

aka

Fall Dream-Grantor?

Click over to her

BLOG

ONLINE SHOP

ETSY SHOP

FLICKR PAGE