Days of Summer

 

Have you noticed how much the sun has changed? The light has become golden and warm in a sleepy kind of way. It is still warm, but  fall seems to be stealing in bit by bit, little by little. The trees are growing tired and longing for a rest. I am starting to see migrating birds flying though. I saw some kind of a scissor tail last night. A few flocks of geese have started flying in the evening and early mornings. The crickets sound half hearted  in their fiddling.

 

My flowerbeds look like they are weed beds. The weeds have won and  I  plan on doing some Labor Day yard work. My Mums look very good and I know as soon as a bit of cold weather comes in they will look so pretty.

 

With school starting, it feels good to be back in some sort of routine. Getting dinner cooked on time, coffee in the afternoons with the kids. One of my favorite things is listening to every adventure and funny stories. It is cooler so baking is nice again. I was thinking about daily life and I have come to the conclusion that it is the little daily routines that make up a joyful life.

 

I am so glad to get back to walking in the morning. It is so different from last year. When I walked last year, a stick would become a snake, or a pile of leaves was a skunk. People could walk right up to me before I saw them. I always felt off balance. Walking this week, it was so nice to be aware of my surroundings and see sticks that were sticks and leaves were leaves. It made my mind go off on a tangent. I thought about gratitude and trials. I think that when John Newton wrote Amazing Grace, it was a prayer from his heart. He had lived such a terrible life of his own choices. Once he realized what he gained when He returned to God, the grace he felt daily was over whelming. My favorite verse now of that song, " I once was blind and now I see." As I walk and think about being able to see, that song for me has so many levels for me.

 

I have an old picture of one of my great-great-grandmothers. She went blind about my age. I wonder if she had what I had and if she had lived now, would she have been been able to see?  In the photo she is sitting on a porch in a rocking chair, with her hair pulled back in a severe bun,  but her dress is very nice. I wonder if it was hard to have to give up her handwork and reading. My grandmothers were all great readers. They might have been poor but the greatest treasures they passed on was their love of  books.

I thought about how grateful I am for the trials that have come and gone. I am thankful that they don't last forever and that there is always something to be thankful for and to fill my life with joy.

Have a wonderful day,
~Kim~

" People don't care how much you know,
They just need to know you CARE."

---Barbara Johnson, " I'm So Glad You Told Me
What I Didn't Wanna Hear."