Just Get Up!

Waking up is a sign of life, 

proof that you're still in the land of the living

...that your time isn't up.

As long as you wake up, 

there is hope for anything you choose.

However, we often begrudge the act of "getting up".  

We tap the snooze over and over, 

happily sliding back into warm blankets for ten more minutes of

...interrupted sleep?

We lay there, vacillating between sleep and awareness, 

too tired to get up,

too awake for peaceful rest.  

But mostly, we worry that we will oversleep. 

The hardest thing to do is actually the best cure.  

Get up!  

Turn off the snooze.  

Start your day.  

And it can only help
to wrap your hands around a fantastic cup of coffee.

JUST GET UP!

Simple Things

It's amazing how the simplest of things can be the most memorable.

This morning I sat down to breakfast.

Suddenly the room brightened and my eyes were drawn to the kitchen window.

Sunshine streamed through blinds casting shadows,

no...light through shadows, 

that brightened cabinets and walls with its design of diagonals.

Beautiful.

Simple.

I left my breakfast in search of a camera.

Surely there was more of this "simple beauty" throughout the house.  

And there was:

...across the drawers of a chest

...illuminating closet doors

...resting on a bed quilt

And then,
as quickly as it had brightened to a blazing contrast of light and shadow,
it softened.
Outside, a haze of clouds slowly crossed the sun, stealing the magic.

Often natural beauty is fleeting,
but the joy,
the lift of spirit,
the childlike smile it brings,
lingers
and sometimes,
commits itself to memory.

Like the song that plays on the radio and takes you back to the exact moment your first heard it floating through an open dorm room in college.

Or the Cardinal on your fence that takes you back to a childhood nature walk when your father said it was your state bird.

Funny thing is, you never know when or what will trigger this new memory in the years to come.

You only know that, right now, it has changed your mood and insight for just a little while.

God's Good Rain

We've been hoping for rain around here for the past few weeks.  

Temperatures have been in the 90's, and most of our lawns resemble farmer's hay.   

I've learned that in weather this hot, 

we can water our lawns each morning 

but loose the battle of "greening" over time.  

On the other hand, 

we can get a good soaking of what my mother calls, 

"God's Good Rain" 

and our lawns green almost over night.   

Last night "God's Good Rain" came in great torrents.  

Lightning lit the sky and thunder boomed.  

I loved it...great sleeping weather.    

Morning's light, however,

 revealed other effects of that rain.

Drivers navigated their vehicles through a foot of standing water on some local roads.

I swung into the driveway of a local shopping plaza for coffee from 

Lake Caribou...

The usually calm portion of the river that runs through our city park 

 over ran it's banks and spilled onto 

the walking and picnic areas. 

Perhaps, 

God chose to answer all of our prayers for rain 

at one time!

Grow Where You're Planted

          A beautiful bouquet 

 

                                       can sometimes hide the real story...

      

of its struggle.

Peaceful Coexistence - Another Lesson From My Yard

Busy Airspace

Every day

in my garden 

I see evidence that we can live together

in peace

as long as we respect each other.

I recently planted the last of my annuals: 

beautiful yellow and orange Marigolds

red and white Geraniums

pink Begonias. 

I timed the planting in specific areas around the work of bees and butterflies. 

When bees were busily working among the Lavender, 

I planted around Cone Flowers and Black-eyed Susans.  

When they were ready

we'd switch places

working in concert 

without conflict.  

At the end of a few hours my flower bed looked beautiful 

and the important work of insects continued...

undisturbed.  

Life Lesson From My Yard

It's amazing what two days of heavy rain can do to restore life.

Amazing how brown, brittle grass turns lush and green.

Amazing how leaning flower stems raise themselves tall.
Amazing how wilted leaves develop firmness.
Amazing how droopy fern fronds stand erect.

Amazing how weak buds grow into strong blooms.
All because of rain.
Even when it comes at the 11th hour.


Is there a lesson here?
Where does your rain come from?
Be Restored!

We Learn What We Live

I have appreciated the beauty of flowers for as long as I can remember.
My mother planted them at every home we've lived in.
She began with Irises, Lillis, then moved on to Rhododendrons, Peonies, Sedum, Dinner Plate Dahlias, Dusty Millers, Hibiscus and a host of colorful annuals.
Like her, I plant.
As soon as school is out I start.
It takes about three weeks before I'm satisfied.
Blue Hill Salvia, Cone Flower, Black eyed Susan, Shasta Daisy, Gaillardia, Columbine, Catmint.

My absolute favorite is Lavender.

I plant it near the front door.

The fragrance from its beautiful purple flowers wafts into the house through the screen.

Three beds are complete. Four more to go.

I'm Grateful For...

"I'm grateful for every day above ground," my mother's words.
As a child I thought them funny.
My father would recount the days of his youth then say, "Seems like only yesterday".
As a teenager, I found those words odd.
How could the twenty years I had yet to see, seem like only yesterday?

As an adult who has seen
joy and sorry,
sickness and health,
birth and death,
fairness and bias,
faithfulness and anxiety,
trust and betrayal,
I find myself grateful for every day above ground and the youthful memories that seem like only yesterday. They make me who I am.