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
Feathers
Reply
Neighbors
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
Vulnerability
vulnerable
transparent
available
hanging hearts
First Day of Autumn
speckled brown curls on warm stone
crunch underfoot
as one golden dappled herald offers
autumnal blessing
Mosaic
clusters of jade tiles
circle wide from center
spreading shade for fish beneath
mosaic circles of respite
hiding place
September Sunrise
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.
Flags of September
rains pass, air cools, sun warms
feathery plumes dance
waving September flags
Wonder
“Wisdom begins in wonder.” ~Socrates
Renewal
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.
Why?
Anyone who has been around small children knows how often we hear the question “Why?” I have been asking that question about my fig harvest this year. We have a fine fig tree in the garden that typically has so many green figs it is hard to keep up with the harvest as they ripen. This year we had an unusually wet June and although there were hundreds of green figs and they began to ripen early, harvest slowed and stopped completely in the second week. Our brutal Texas heat came on suddenly. My research tells me the tree went into conservation mode and began aborting its fruit. Even though we watered heavily, nothing brought back the production so the hard little green figs began to drop to the ground, wasted and of no use to anyone. Not even the birds would eat them.
The problem is that figs are shallow rooted and easily stressed. That reminded me of my own need for being rooted deeply to be able to take the heat and avoid reacting in damaging ways to the stress of our uncertain times!
” May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love;” Ephesians 3: 17, The Living Bible
Stones and Feathers 