last day of november

like the geese
fly high
and away

so does my
nuanced november

ah, i shall
miss her

what's up

hmmmmm
and what do i say
in my poem a day
about this scene?

shall i call it serene
or funny
or sick?

or point out the thick
tongue she displays

as she strives to be clean
and maybe queen
for the day



*Question:  When a cow laughs does milk come out her nose?

fallen

and all must
fall
at last

ere winter's icy
blast

but don't despair

though flesh fades way
the seed will stay

and bring forth life
again

bending

it reminds me of Christ
bent low
in humility

the magnificent burst of color
to come



*I am thankful for my loving Savior who emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant.

red barn applesauce

melinda
sent me applesauce

all the way
from connecticut

such a treat it was

tasting the succulent sauce
brings to mind
her smiling face

i picture her
in an apron
surrounded by those glorious
McIntosh

humming
while she stirs

all the while
loving the smell
and
labor



*I met Melinda ths past September through a photography workshop. She offered to give me rides to our "shooting locations" and we quickly became friends. In the back of her car was a large pot which she told me was for the "applesauce making project" she would be working on in the weeks to follow. Little did i know then, that i would be the happy recipient of a jar of homemade Red Barn Applesauce.  The recipe Melinda uses for the hundred-some jars of applesauce she makes was handed down to her from her mother who learned how to make it from Melinda's grandmother.....a true family treasure.  The following quotes came to mind when writing the poem about Melinda and her applesauce:


"No one  who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers. "  ~Laurie Colwin


"The simple act of making something for someone to eat, even a bowl of soup or a loaf of bread, has a many layered meaning. It suggests an act of protection and caring, of generosity and intimacy. It is in itself a sign of respect. "    ~Nigel Slater

"Year by year, the complexities of this spinning world grow more bewildering and so each year we need all the more to seek peace and comfort in the joyful simplicities."  ~From Woman's Home Companion Magazine, December 1935


*I am thankful for good food, the hands that prepare it, and for joyful simplicities.

red berries

oh thank you God
for the color
red

for berries bright
right before the chill
of winter

for luscious fruit
leaves, trees
meadows, brooks

for friends
books

and for You
oh God
who give birth
to joy, mirth

and hope
on earth



*It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to His name....to declare His steadfast love in the morning and His faithfulness at night.   ~Psalm 92:1

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

abstract autumn trees

as the sun
sets in the west

once again
i find myself
most blessed

by arms held high
in a pastel sky

i stop
in wonder

still, the evening
but for the soft breeze
through the leaves

and the sound of my own
breathing

in
and out



*I am thankful for beauty and the ability to see and hear God's great creation.

in a scene

someone stood here
not long
ago

drinking
breathing
readying themselves
for the day

maybe looking at the sky
or laughing with a friend

yes,
a miracle
happened here

this very
morning



*I am thankful for people; family, old friends, new friends and strangers i will never know in this lifetime, but who share with me in the great adventure of living.

messengers

out of nothingness
through the fog
they came

ever so slowly
emerging

one by
one

a surreal image

like the ghost of christmas future
come to give a message

there is more
there is more

there is more



* I am thankful for mystery, unanswered questions, and the knowing  that "there is more."

potato diggers

it's sitting on the mantle
now

before that
it hung
above my reading chair

for fifteen years
i've seen it almost
every day

and have never tired
of looking at it

how did you do that
mr. henry?

how did you paint a scene
that would find it's way
from bonnie ireland
to the open kansas prairie

to be humbly admired
fifty years after you
passed on?

thank you for taking up your paintbrush
using your gift

and blessing
even
me


*This photo is of a print entitled The Potato Diggers by Paul Henry (1876-1958).  The original hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland.

**Since this is Thanksgiving Week...this week's postings will feature things i am thankful for. Today's post is to meant to represent my thanksgiving for ART in all it's many and glorious forms. Thanks be to God, the first, and most amazing artist of all.

cemetary's edge

some days i choose to walk
beside the
gravestones

i find a comforting quiet
there
among autumn leaves
and carved inscriptions

i wish i could have known
the woman wise
whose headstone lies
before me now

"she did not try
to set others right
but listened,

loved

and understood
her fellow creatures"




*"Now abide faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."  ~1Cor. 13:13

pumpkins in november

the first snow of the season
fell yesterday

the large white flakes
barely sticking
to the pumpkins

as i watched
i realized another reason
november is my favorite

i'll tell you
(even if you
don't really want to know)

it's "in between"

partly fall
partly winter

so many trees
void of all their leaves
but the lawn is green
and my ferns still thriving

geese
fly high overhead
not quite
home

i could point out so much more
but it would all be for
simply saying

i love november

it's "in between"

like me

abstract pasture grass (#2)

it's one of my favorite things
of the season

this showing
of glowing golds
purples
and rusts

i wish everyone could witness
flinthill wonder

at least once

in their
life

squirrel

hey mr. squirrel,
may i sit beside you?

will you scratch my back?
you seem to have the knack

could you rub my head
and massage my neck?

then just for the heck
of it
sing me a song?




* "Be it human or animal, touch is a life-giving thing. Has anyone ever had a stroke or heart attack while cozied up with a pet? I doubt it.        ~Robert Brault

layers

oh come with me
some early november morning

let the soft spreading light
show you the trees
in ways you have never seen
before

let the morning haze
stay your mind
on God



*Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.
                                                                   ~Isaiah 26:3

mr. morris's front porch

let me tell you about
mr.morris
bending over in the fields
his seventy sixth year

up at four
and out the door
to hoe potatoes

climbing trees
to harvest grapefruits, mangos
and more

navigating four girlfriends
and ten children

he has some stories to tell
especially since he fell from the ladder
those many years ago
and broke
most every bone
in his body

a lively lad
that mr. morris



*We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Morris in St. Lucia while visiting our son Ben. He was one of Ben's good friends during his time of service there with the Peace Corps. We truly enjoyed our visit with this very interesting elderly young man.

**You never know till you try to reach them, how accessible men are; but you must approach each man by the right door.   ~Henry Ward Beecher

compassion

sometimes the best
we can do
is give

a tender
touch

november pastel

between the warm hues
of autumn
and the cool blues
of winter

if find you

sweet quiet
november

raindrops on my window pane

it's raining this morning
the first november rain

actually, the first autumn rain

the ground dry
the gavel road so very dusty

quiet and calm the land, Lord
through it's receiving
of this amazing thing
called rain



* "Let the rain kiss you, let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.  Let the rain sing you a lullaby.   ~Langston Hughes

gift

my friend gave me a gift
the other day

she didn't even know

it was in the form
of a
question

"can that amazing red in the maples
be captured by a camera?"
she asked

well, i thought to myself,
we shall see

of course that "amazing red"
changes
with each shift of the light
but i knew what she meant

so i set out this morning
to do my best
and at least take a nice
 photo for her

i didn't expect all the miracles
along the way

and she never could have known when she asked
that i would be made so much richer
by her simple question

she never could have forseen the shaft of light
through the golden river birch
the duck sunning himself
or the shimmering reflection on the lake

she couldn't have heard my feet shuffling
through the piles and piles of
oak leaves
or felt the autumn breeze
across my face

she couldn't have smelled
the subtle scent of the
distant rain

she couldn't have
wouldn't have
guessed



*Besides an amazing day out in nature, i came home with some lovely imgaes as a result of my friend's question.  We should all voice our "wonder" every chance we get.....and perhaps we should voice it often in the form of a question.  Who knows where a simple question might take someone. :)

**"Sometimes questions are more important than answers."  ~Nancy Willard

ready

he's been preparing for
winter
quite some time now

the planting
mowing
baling done
it won't be long

till he meets
snowy frigid mornings
and the herd

pitchfork in hand

birthday wish

if i should die
before early morning's light
please know

that i have lived

i will have not left this place
in regret
for i have smelled autumn leaves
and felt the spray of saltwater seas

i have walked in rain
and snow
sat silent in a deer stand and listened
while animals of the night
came to life

i've been to dreamed of places
seen Ireland's rocky face
the Cliffs of Mohr

marveled at a peasant woman
in a rice paddy
and hundreds of waterfalls
pouring down New Zealand's coastal mountains

at home
on winter nights
i've read tales of courage
warmed by the fires of hearth
and valor

i have watched my boys grow into men
into themselves
they'll be fine
when i am gone

i made mistakes
i have struggled to forget
though now i don't regret
how could i have learned
(if i were perfect)
the sweet repose of
grace

i've known love
the joy
and pain of it

laughed loudly in the light
giggled quietly in the dark

i've cried till there were no more tears
saying goodbye to friends
and family
too young to die
why
shoud they have gone
before me?

i have questioned my God
not held back fears
doubts, disappointment

and in my loneliness and rage
i have not found him
wanting



*If you are reading this today, thank you for indulging a more "personal" post. Today is my 59th birthday. It seems rather strange to be staring at 60 from such close range! I have found myself a bit more contemplative today than on most birthdays. However, you must know that i do indeed still feel 35 inside! :) I wrote this poem over 10 years ago. Not a great (or even good) literary work ( a bit too sentimental perhaps), it came to me rather quickly and was from the heart. I made a few small changes to it this morning and wonder what changes i will make in 10 years if i am still walking the planet. For now though, i head most gratefully into another day to see what beauty the Good and Mighty Lord will put into my path. My, what a creative "giver" He is! Again, if you are reading this, thank you. You  are contributing to my life by sharing in it. We are all "so connected". I don't think we begin to realize to what degree. Have a marvelous November 9th.

**As to the picture ....i thought it captured the mystery of November. I love that i get to celebrate my birthday during my favorite month.

in flight

oh let your soul
take to the sky

fly high
as you draw nigh

to home

amber leaves

like the gift of purity
given
for you and me

are berries of white
on a crimson
tree

signs of sherlock

ah, dear watson
i detect that sherlock
has been here

is that not
a whiff of pipe
i smell?



* "I know every book of mine by its smell, and i have but to put my nose between the pages to be reminded of all sorts of things."                ~George Robert Gissing

morning haze

oh God,
you have given us something good
in those early morning hours

when the sun's first rays
make their way
over the land

like a mother's gentle gaze
settling on the face
of her newborn babe

hanging loose

i've been running around a lot
lately

but yesterday
i spent the whole day
at home
alone

it was wonderful

i puttered in the kitchen
walked the dog
caught up on e-mail

and cleaned out the fridge
to the sentimental sounds of
steve tyrell

"some like the high road
i like the low road. . .
give me the simple life"

sing it steve!

"i used to walk in the shade
with my blues on parade. . .
but life can be so sweet
on the sunny side of the street"

yesterday was a "hang" day
a loose and
free day

yesterday
i took hold
of the hand of my soul

and we danced




* "There is more to life than increasing its speed."
                                                         ~M.K Ghandi

abstract pasture grass

we're in the middle of a kansas autumn
and the grasses are aglow

stunning in the morning
sun

at evening time
sublime

like fire

st.lucia sunrise

how lovely
the shades of morning
found
round the world

i think God knew
we'd need a dose of beauty
to begin

our every
day



* This photo was taken from the village of Fond St. Jaques, St. Lucia while visiting our son when he served there as a Peace Corps volunteer for two years. He learned last night of the devastation occurring in Fond St. Jacques Sunday night, due to Hurricane Thomas. Though Thomas was designated a "category one" storm, the debris resulting from high winds caused the river to dam and flood the village. Mudslides also resulted from the torrential rain.  If you are interested, the following link is a news report direct from Fond St. Jacque: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPZGRgBaO0g&feature=share . The young man interviewed was Ben's closest friend during his time of service there. In talking with other contacts, Ben has learned that 75 people have taken refuge in the church.  Three deaths have been confirmed and a missing person. As of this morning they are without power and supplies due to roads being blocked. The whole island has been impacted by this storm.

I'm sure the beautiful sunrise over St. Lucia this morning was met with tears and confusion along with love and courage. Let us remember those suffering around the world in our thoughts and prayers. Thank God that the sun and His Son continue to rise and give us hope.

november

ah november,
you speak not in colors
like october's brilliant glory
nor in snowfall's serenity

your beauty unadorned

naked branches
against a vast grey sky

ah, beautiful
barren
november



* "I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape--the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it. The whole story doesn't show.  
                                                              ~Andrew Wyeth