Such a pretty afternoon with the rain clouds gathering and the setting sun beaming through the dark clouds. Thundering now. Love to sit on the porch when it rains. Slept upstairs last night in the guest room. So comfortable with the window air conditioners on in the rooms up there. Gonna bite the bullet and put in my window unit tomorrow. I always take mine out in the fall so I can open the three windows in my bedroom and enjoy the birds and fall breezes. Took the unit out of the window in the grandchildren’s bedroom room, too. Putting that one in involves a few cuss words and squeezing by a two ton cedar chest! Not taking the units out this year! I say that every year but I mean it this year.

Today was Miracle Grow day for my flowers and vegetables. They all gobbled it up. The birds sang their yard symphony so happily all day. I don’t think the heat bothers them. It’s dusk now and they are still singing. Birds sing to defend their territory, attract a mate, and to alert other birds of danger. Seems like they sing because they like to but research says they sing because they have to. Lots of purple finches, cardinals, and titmice in my yard today. One lone brown cowbird is enjoying the suet feeder. The little downy wood peckers are being pigs on the other suet feeders.

The sunset is pretty but somber. I was thinking God paints a different sunset each day. He reaches in his box of pastels and chooses what colors to smooth across his sky canvas. I wonder if the sunset are indicative of his pleasure with the world. Todays sunset was highlighted by dark purple rain clouds. I know tomorrow he’ll paint a different sky and I look forward to the sunsets as closure on my day.

I was reading quotes today searching for a quote that would inspire me to ponder on a certain subject and this quote from Wilfred A. Peterson spoke to me. “Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it.”

It would be a wonderful gift to Mother Earth if we were all inspired to leave the world a better place. There is trash on our highways and trash in our waterways. Our woodland creatures are being run out of their habitats for new subdivisions with cookie cutter homes. We need to recycle and repurpose and reuse things. Simply turning off the sink water while we brush our teeth can conserve water. We need to plant trees, volunteer, use non toxic chemicals, drive less, buy less plastic, recycle, reduce the trash we generate for landfills. Use less paper. Chief saved junk mail to use for his writing paper. He’d write on the backs of the junk mail letters. His piles of junk mail paper drove me crazy but he would always say, “I don’t want Brother’s children to grow up in a polluted world.” We need to be generous and kind to earth’s inhabitants, too. A genuine smile has so much power.

“The earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.” — Pope John Paul II