Monday January Morning

 

I wanted you to know, that the flower pictures I am posting are from this summer. I don't have a single flower anywhere around here just lots of shades of brown and naked trees. I talked to my daughter yesterday, and she said one of her friends lives some where that it is so cold at their house that it is warmer on Mars. I laughed and laughed but I thought of it all day. That is just cold.

 

It is January. I am always happy to have a new month in which to read "The Book of Stillmeadow." As I was looking for pictures of summer flowers to send you today. I ran across this passage. " The summer flowers are a memory now, the house still looks loved with the green arrangements in ironstone of a shining copper bowl."  This time of year, I find I walk in the grocery store and stand and drink in the sight of flowers and their smell. I think it would be so hard to live in a land without flowers.

 

Gladys Taber writes of January like this: " We all need to spend some time alone; people who cannot bear their  own  company for a time have thin souls." I think one of the things I had to learn in 2013 was how to spend time alone. I think my soul had grown thin and now, I have come to welcome the peace and even look forward to those times, because of the quietness and tranquility it brings to my soul and quiets my mind.

 

Little did I know when I was taking pictures in the summer that I was really capturing bits of summer in morning glories for the days of January to give me joy.  Gladys goes on to add about January, "  The deep part of winter gives most of us a little more time alone. The natural rhythm of time has changed from that of summer. But instead of dreading the dark winter days, we ought to savor them for what they can give. Now there should be a time to reread old books, to absorb some philosophy, to play a whole symphony without hurrying.

 

I went out early the other morning, and there was Jupiter , shining so brightly. I wanted to grab binoculars to see if perchance I could see Europa, one of it's moons. I find that there are surprises to see in winter that I don't notice in summer. The  trees are without leaves and I watched a Blue Jay try to open a pecan. He had a terrible time and would drop in on the ground and have to fly down and pick it up. As I watched him and I had been having the same problem in the house holding onto things, as my daughter remarked, " It must be a heavy gravity day." So I thought that as I watched. He did finally get to eat his pecan.

 

On Monday, I need to be up and getting some things accomplished instead of sitting here writing away the day. The dryer is running and clanking, because my first load is always jeans. The kitchen is clean from round one of breakfast. I have wool soaking in the sink so I can use my dye pot  a bit later. The sound of the heater coming on fills me with joy because I am happy to have heat. I have gone outside and walked around and looked at things a couple of times. I always enjoy walking into a warm house. I think that today, what I am thankful for are the things that are mundane. Those are the things I most long for when life gets crazy. There is peace for me in the daily routine things of home.

Have a lovely Monday,

~Kim~

"Stilled now be every anxious care;
See God's great goodness everywhere;
Leave all to Him in perfect rest;
He will do all things for the best.
(From the German.)