Two days ago I traveled home to the Autumn woods of East Texas. There we celebrated the life and final home-going of my brother-in-law.
Color left the trees and bled into the sky as we turned south to head home.
City lights and sights say “welcome home.”
November morning light
glows through still green leaves
Autumn in South Texas
shifting clouds darken
trickling tears
turn to pouring rain
garden bathed and blessed,’
grace received
Photograph by Jeremy Parker, near Reno Nevada October 2015
feathers
telling of wings and nests
of flying
of grace
mostly found grounded
but now looking up,
seeing feathers
and Light
open the garden gate
come sit while we talk,
receiving the gift of each other
“While the spirit of neighborliness was important on the frontier because neighbors were so few, it is even more important now because out neighbors are so many.” —Lady Bird Johnson
Tonight is National NIght Out, a time when we are encouraged to get together on our street or in our neighborhood. There will be a gathering near us. I would like to know my neighbors better. I need to know my neighbors better. Because all of us are so busy with our own family’s schedule, it becomes an act of mindfulness and will to take the steps that make that possible.
“We become neighbors when we are willing to cross the road for one another… There is a lot of road crossing to do. We are all very busy in our own circles. We have our own people to go to and our own affairs to take care of. But if we could cross the road once in a while and pay attention to what is happening on the other side, we might indeed become neighbors.” Henri J. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith
vulnerable
transparent
available
hanging hearts
Driving toward Houston at dawn is a rush of hurrying commuters headed for their work target, streams of traffic, sounds of impatient horns. On a morning recently when Joe and I were headed to an early appointment in the Medical Center, I photographed the quickly changing colors of sunrise. The car was moving fast, the clouds and colors shifting, and there was no opportunity for focus. The wash of color is still a gift, and a reminder to me to look for beauty everywhere, all the time.
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.
rains pass, air cools, sun warms
feathery plumes dance
waving September flags
“Wisdom begins in wonder.” ~Socrates
Last Easter we planted a Chinese Fringe tree in our front yard. It already had white blooms and as more opened, the tree was covered with clusters of small white blooms. It is a deciduous tree and the blooms appear after the leaves each Spring. As temperatures soared in July, we noticed a few brown leaves and then more. We made sure the little tree was watered deeply every day; for awhile it seemed that we would lose it. But over a period of weeks, new green leaves outnumbered the brown ones. Gradually, the tree announced its survival
One day we noticed new white blooms! The tree evidently thought it had survived fall and winter and that Spring had returned!
Withering drought has caused loss of many trees in our area, particularly recently planted ones. I am glad our little tree is a survivor!. In the springtime we often talk about new beginnings and renewal. I am glad for the fringe tree’s lesson – when I am experiencing a season of drought in my soul, there can be another Spring.
Stones and Feathers 