sticking my nose where it belongs

into the lilac bush
and the misty morning air

into the orange
i eat

and my grandson's sweaty
little
neck 


"And the world itself - can I have been unhappy, living in Paradise? What keen, tingling sunlight there was! The mere smells were enough to make a man tipsy - cut grass, dew-dabbled mosses, sweet pea, autumn woods, wood burning, peat, salt water. The senses ached. I was sick with desire; that sickness better than health." 
                                             C. S. Lewis, in Surprised by Joy

april question

i asked myself
this
morning

what might i
do

if there were
no spring

no hope
nor hue



*But there "is" spring. There "is" hope. And i am thankful.

“Come away my beloved

For now winter is past

The rain has ended and gone away….

The blossoms appear in the countryside

The time of singing has come…..

And the turtle dove’s cooing is heard

In our land. . .

Come away my beautiful one.”

                    Song of Solomon

small things

there are raindrops

on my windows

this morning

thousands of them

one nestled 

next to another

sent to reflect the sky’s grey

and the tender way

of small things

“Do not despise the day of small things……” 

                                                        Zech. 4:10

It's been raining several days now and i am still amazed by the way tiny drops of water can change the look of things. And to think of the life they are sustaining .........

rain prayer

Father God,

i just wanted you 

to know

that i heard your early rain 

falling softly

on my rooftop this morning

and when i stepped outside

to feel it on my face

the scent of it

astounded me

it was as though

i had never smelled it

before

and the cold of it?

ah, the cold of it

quickened me 

Lord, i love your rain…

and i just wanted

you

to know

"Has the rain a Father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?"

                                                           Job 38:28

*Photograph taken later that morning in the Potwin neighborhood. (Topeka, Ks.)

march surprise

it was a quiet day

no wind

no throng

when i heard

the blossoms

singing

"A song will outlive all sermons in the memory." ~Henry Giles

"Let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. Let the trees of the forest sing for joy."  Psalm 96:12

trails

they crisscross
through the sky

and i see
miracle

one tiny being

in the middle of a pasture
in the middle of a life


"The only way to live is to accept each moment as an unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is: a miracle and unrepeatable."  Storm Jameson

thoughts while hurrying by

we could be friends
you and i

if i stopped to say hi
instead of just rushing by

you would nuzzle my hand
and breathe on me

something rare and
wonderful

"I regret less the road not taken than my all-fired hurry along the road i took."  ~Robert Brault

*A quick side note......i did stop and visit Mr. Steer this week and he did indeed nuzzle my hand and i think he breathed contentment.