Rain…

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.” ~E.E. Cummings

Rain, to me, is the most wonderful kind of weather…in any season! I especially love late aftenoon or early evening thundershowers. There is something healing in rain…it touches my soul with comforting peace. It’s also beautiful as it falls from heaven and dances on the ground. Rain at night, plays a soft lullaby as I sleep…with the sweetest melody. The sound can make even the loneliest heart feel loved. I love the smell of rain…everything is so fresh and clean, and to take a walk in the rain with my love, is a joy to be treasured. My heart will forever, long for rain.

Life…

I  haven’t written anything in a long while…so much going on in my life. The holidays kept me very busy, doctor visits and tests for myself, helping my two daughters who are pregnant, helping with my Mom’s care, our great nephew (seven years old) battling brain cancer, and now…I am taking care of my husband, who just got out of the hospital after being treated for a serious injury, having medical evaluations on his heart, and having pacemaker surgery. I’m exhausted, and I’m only able to continue with God’s help. There will be more days and weeks to come, where I will have to rely on God more and more, but it is a comfort knowing I can. God Bless everyone!

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Smiles…

“No smile is more beautiful than the one that struggles through the tears.” ~Unknown

I love this quote, and I’ve been thinking a lot about smiles. I usually don’t have a hard time smiling at others, and I have to admit that I love receiving a smile in return, but to smile at myself…or just to smile FOR myself, is another story. I have a friend that told me that he has learned to smile at himself in the mirror each morning…something that I have never really thought of doing, but it made me think of this quote by Andy Rooney: “If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.” I can’t imagine what a day I would have, by starting the day smiling at myself, especially when I feel like crying. If smiling at others makes them feel happier, then certainly smiling at myself would do the same…what a beautiful way to start the day, and bring a smile to the heart.

Procrastination…

“Procrastination is my sin. It brings me naught but sorrow. I know that I should stop it. In fact, I will – tomorrow!” ~Gloria Pitzer

I recently told someone, that I’m a hopeless procrastinator… and it’s not funny, but this quote made me laugh. Finding humor in it, in some way helps.

I have been a procrastinator for as long as I can remember. As a child and teenager, I would put off doing my homework until the last-minute, and I would always get to school just as the morning bell would ring. I would put off my chores, and then rush to get them finished. Sometimes I would wait until the day before my piano lesson to go over my pieces, and that even carried over into my adulthood.

When our children were young, things didn’t get any better. I would wait last-minute to get what they needed for a project, or a gift for a party. If they needed a costume, I would be rushing to the store before it closed to find something. There were many nights that I would be staying up very late to bake cookies or cupcakes for school holidays, and wrapping gifts was always something I did the night before, or in the morning just as they headed out the door.

Now that my kids are grown and I find myself an empty nester…I am still a procrastinator. I will put off housework, shopping, projects, wrapping presents and exercise. Spring projects become fall projects, winter projects become summer projects…a vicious cycle that has no end!

I don’t know the answer or the cure…will think about it tomorrow.

The night…

“Night is a world lit by itself.” ~Antonio Porchia

As a child, I was afraid of the night…because it was dark and scary. As an adult, I have found it both beautiful and mysterious. The moon and stars make up the beauty, but there are things, both seen and unseen…and also those things revealed only by hearing, that brings out that part of me that searches for such mystery. I become more aware of sights and sounds…and my whole body tingles with excitement each time I experience the night.

The night seems larger than the day…like a curtain draped over the earth, and I feel quite small amongst the wonder of it all. I feel alive in the night, and sometimes I feel the angels all around me…and there are moments I forget to breathe.

My funny dog…

I’ve had dogs all my life, but the dog I have now has given me the most laughs. Her name is Greta, and we heard of her when she was found on the streets, at about eight weeks of age. The minute we saw her, we fell in love. She’s a Lab mix, and is now two years old.

She learned at an early age, that if she brought us a “treasure”…she could trade it for a treat. A treasure is anything that she finds…sticks, rocks, paper, bugs, socks…anything that she might find outside, or lying around the house. At first, this game was just when she happened upon something, but she soon learned that if she wanted a treat…she would have to go on a hunt. She will dig for bugs or rocks, look in the garbage cans, raid the closet, grab things from the kitchen table or counters…anything for a treat! One of the funniest things, is when she finds a huge stick, and will work at it until she gets it through the door, or circle round and round until we notice that she has something.

When we would leave the house, she would get very upset…barking, and trying to grab our clothes to keep us from going out the door. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling when she would grab the skin too! I did some research, and found that by placing “hidden” treats around the house, it would help to take her mind off our leaving. It works, because now she WANTS us to leave! What once caused anxiety, has now become an exciting time…she practically pushes us out the door!

She loves to chase anything, and is very fast! Once, she actually caught a squirrel by the tail…but didn’t know what to do. The squirrel kept running, and thankfully got away. She’s very sneaky…waiting for the perfect moment to start the chase…birds, squirrels, and rabbits have learned to watch for her. She’s funny to watch when she’s excited about something moving in the bushes…she actually leaps like a deer, and she is always on guard…making sure her yard is safe from all critters.

Now, her newest comedy is – seeing how many times she can knock the couch pillow on the floor and watch us pick it up! For some unknown reason, she will NOT let that pillow stay on the couch. Everytime we walk into the living room, it is there on the floor. It’s only that particular one…she is definitely a clown!

She brings us laughs and much joy…and we love the many sides of her, and she is very smart…has US, well-trained!

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” ~Roger Caras

Things that can’t be explained…

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” ~Albert Einstein

Last night, my husband and I were swinging in the back yard…looking at the beautiful sky, when out of nowhere came a VERY bright light slowly moving across the sky. The light did not blink, and there was no noise like heard from an airplane. It was very beautiful, and exciting to watch. I had not seen anything like it since I was a little girl…riding home on a very dark night from my grandmother’s house. My Dad and I spotted it…he pulled the car over, and we got out to watch something that was very strange, and scary. One afternoon, several months ago…while driving in my car, I spotted something strange in the sky. I knew it wasn’t a plane, helicopter, or balloon…watched it as best I could while driving, and then *poof* it was gone!

I’ve had other strange things happen that can’t be explained…other than these “UFO” sightings. When our children were small, we moved into a new house. For two weeks straight we experienced: lights turning off and on, loud footsteps, moving objects, candle lights flickering in the dark, blankets “magically” moved from the closet to the bed, toys that worked by motion sensor (made noise with no one around), and invisible impressions made on the bed…and then nothing else for the three years we lived there.

In our next house, we had a resident “ghost” that lived in our son’s room for many years. Our son KNEW it was there, and so did our dog. Our son’s room was upstairs, and our dog wouldn’t even go up there…but would stand at the bottom of the stairs and growl. Every night, after something strange would happen…he would come into our room and sleep the rest of the night. He was a teenager when this “ghost” finally left, and only because I went into his room and told it to leave…and it worked, because nothing ever happened again. I never knew that I could be scary enough, to scare a ghost!

Our kids are now grown, and we’ve been living in our present house since July 2009. I’ve had only one strange occurrence here…after my husband was asleep in the bedroom with the door closed, and I was in the office on the computer. There were no lights on in the house, except for a night-light in the kitchen. Our dog was asleep in the living room…and there was complete silence. We have a door in our kitchen, that leads out into the garage. All of a sudden, there were several LOUD bangs on that door…so loud that it woke up my husband. I couldn’t move…my first thought being that we had left our garage door open, and that someone was standing there banging! My husband and I, plus the dog, got to that door at about the same time…and it was locked. My husband grabbed a “weapon” and slowly opened the door…only to find that the garage door was truly closed. He searched the garage, and the outside of the house, but nothing…and we’ve never had it happen since.

I love a good mystery, but am content in not knowing the answer…it’s enough that I was just able to experience the thrill of it, and I look forward to more mysteries in my life.

Growing up southern…

“The south – where roots, place, family, and tradition are the essence of identity.” ~Unknown

I was born and raised in the south, and experienced all that went with it, like…meals made from scratch, homegrown vegetables, soft drinks in glass bottles, country and gospel music, sweet tea, homemade clothes, neighbors knowing their neighbors, swimming in the river, picnics in the mountains, tent revivals, neighborhood ballgames, rolling yards, homemade ice-cream, pot luck get togethers, sliding down hills on cardboard, door to door salesmen, riding horses bareback, wading in the creek, lightning bugs in jars, tying strings around June bugs, homemade kites, neighborhood caroling, selling my homemade pot-holders door to door, circling the drive-in, spray painting the rival town bridge, walking to and from school, sharing cokes with the bears, making necklaces out of clover and chains from chewing gum wrappers, and the list goes on and on…

It is a blessing and a privilege to be a southern belle…something I didn’t really appreciate until I became an adult. There’s a sweetness here, that is music to the soul…a song that will forever play in my heart.

Finding the magic…

I love this quote by Paul Klee: “A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.” Apparently, I’m not taking my lines for enough walks!

When I was a kid, I loved to doodle and draw. When I became a teenager, I found that I was able to do more…even took an art class in high school, and never wanted that class to end. My teacher was a bit eccentric, but amazing! She always encouraged me to reach into myself and draw my feelings…something that I wish I had continued to do, but I let “life” get in the way and I lost touch with that part of me.

I never drew for anyone but me. I have always done that, and not only drawing…but also with playing the piano, writing poetry and singing…never feeling that anyone else would care. It’s only been recently, through the encouragement of a friend, and the nudging of God…that I felt I should step out of my comfort zone, and “find” those parts of me that have been hidden for so many years.

I think anything that is placed so lovingly in the heart and mind should be attempted…even if it’s just for one’s own personal enjoyment. I want to find the magic of drawing…where I might unlock that secret place, and my feelings can go on happy walks again.

Heroes…

I know that yesterday, the world lost Steve Jobs…a hero to many, and a man who helped countless people. I too, knew a great man once…my Dad, and he was my hero and forever will be. He wasn’t famous or rich…nor did he have a fancy job, but he stood 10 feet tall in my eyes. My Dad was a man of strength, character, love, hope and heart…and he always wore a smiling face. Everyone loved and respected him…he was a gift to all who knew him.

Today, I am going to the funeral of another great man…a man that fought a hard battle of illness, and lost. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather, and a friend to many. He wasn’t famous either, but he was a hero to his wife, family and friends…a man that had a winning smile and a willing heart. I will always cherish his funny stories, and remember how deeply he loved…his eyes told it all.

Heroes…they have been written about, talked about, quoted, and had movies made about them…but anyone who has touched a heart and soul…that is a hero. All heroes have fought battles, but still marching forth in readiness to help another human being…that is worth more than any award they could receive.

“The world’s battlefields have been in the heart chiefly; more heroism has been displayed in the household and the closet, than on the most memorable battlefields in history.” ~Henry Ward Beecher