Went on a walk with Penelope this morning searching for small things that were beauties in nature’s colors. I found a fall colored oak leaf, a stem of small delicate light purple flowers, a tiny green spiked weed, and a watermelon colored blossom that had blown off a crepe myrtle. Nature’s colors fascinate me in their richness. She can paint such beautiful pale hues. At dusk tonight the sky look just like the swirls of pink cotton candy resting in a turquoise cone. I took several photos but missed the perfect moment. Sat in the swing enjoying the swirls of pink, thinking how pretty the turquoise horizon was and I missed capturing a wondrous work of art.

Got new debit cards in the mail and spent the afternoon trying to get them activated. I think I must have some kind of number dyslexia. Took me several phone calls to get the cards working. Kept hearing, “The number you have entered is incorrect.” After I got them activated, I couldn’t figure out which card went with which account. I thought, oh, I’ll just check my account balance using one of the cards. Was so proud of myself for thinking about that but the automated service needed my member number.

Member number…never used this or even knew I had one. Had to call my son’s mother-in-law, the bank manager, and embarrass myself asking her where did I find my member number! She graciously helped me. She’s used to me calling her with stupid banking problems. But, I finally just gave up. My son said, “Go the dollar store and buy a candy bar and use one of the cards and then see which account it came out of.” Man, no way. That trip would involve washing my hair, makeup, decent clothes, shoes, and a bra. Never mind I’m sure I can find something from Amazon to order and figure it out there. Now on to changing all the automated billing thingies. Y’all pray I have enough sense to type in the correct card number!

Mother Nature huffed and puffed and tried to blow my house down this afternoon. The bamboo were slapping the ground and the oaks were bending their limbs. She even managed to cut the electricity off for a short time. The storm was so loud I couldn’t hear the wind chimes but I know they got a pounding workout. Made me think of that quote by Charles Dudley Warner, “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” I beg to differ. I think we do sometimes pray for rain when the land is dry and parched and the gardens are withering. And I think we pray for the rain to end when the creeks rise and the rivers flood.

I like to think of doing an Indian rain dance. The Creek and Cherokee Indians in Alabama were farmers so I know they had their traditional rain dances. I can hear them dancing in my mind now — the men dressed in breechcloths and leather leggings, the women in their tan deerskin dresses, some playing flutes made from river canes and drums covered with animal hides. The jingle of bells on their ankles keeping beat with the drums. Their feathered masks and colorful beaded headdresses bobbing in the rhythm of the dance. I’m sure the dance was mesmerizing to watch.

Somebody must have danced a rain dance the last few days. We’ve been blessed with lots of rain. I think weather affects us more than we realize. We’re grouchy when its hot, depressed after too many days of rain and storms. And I am deliriously happy to see even a lone snowflake fall from the sky in winter.

“Sometimes the greatest storms bring out the greatest beauty… Life can be a storm, but your hope is a rainbow and your friends and family are the gold,” — Steve Maraboli