Ate breakfast perched in the swing this morning in 62 degree weather. Felt like fall had arrived. My feet were freezing when they touched the cold red tile on the porch floor. Placed my hot coffee in the cup holder fastened to the swing slats and put my feet up in the swing to get them off the floor. Spent most of the day on the porch. The sky was just a perfect robin egg blue full of bright white clouds. The breeze was cool and refreshing making all the wind chimes ping and pound, composing loud happy morning porch music.

The fighting finches came early and disturbed the cardinals with their arguing. The cardinals left for a little while and when the finches departed, the yard was again filled with the vibrant red male cardinals and their warm buffy brown mates. Chickadees and titmice and the squeaking doves joined in the bird buffet. Three pileated woodpeckers have been chasing each other around the magnolias across the street. I’m so glad they are back.

Pileated woodpeckers are as large as a crow, jet black with white stripes on their face and necks. So majestic with their large flaming red crests on top. I loved watching their flights and hearing their jungle like calls. You think you’re in a zoo hearing the monkeys. I remember the first time I heard one in the back yard in Alexander City. Scared me! My brother-in-law said his daddy called them, “Lawd Gods,” because when you hear them for the first time you think, “Lord God, what was that?” They are beautiful in flight, too, with their white underwings. I hope they are here to stay.

Have a new little creature visiting my yard. Yesterday and today I watched what I first thought was a tiny, tiny hummingbird but it turned out to be a magnificent blue dragonfly. Been reading up on the ones that live in Alabama and I think he was a blue dasher. So pretty, his wings sparkling with glitter in the sunshine. He lit on one of the bird baths and I realized it was a dragonfly. My daddy called them snake doctors and said, “You see a dragonfly, there’s a snake close by.” I just know my resident king snake Balthazar was sun bathing somewhere out of my site. Dragonflies like to eat mosquitoes so my little blue fella with the turquoise eyes is welcome to stay. He can even doctor on Balthazar if he needs doctoring. He picked two pretty blue sky days to visit my yard. Dragonflies are symbols of joy and positivity and their blue color symbolizes peace and tranquility. I hope he stays around. Maybe I can take a photograph of him tomorrow.

Mother Nature painted the glowing horizon a pale pinkish peach for the sun to lay her head down at dusk and kiss the night hello. The few wisps of cotton candy clouds left floating overhead were tinted pale pink and pinned in the sky next to a luminous waxing crescent moon. So pretty! Another day bedded down with hopes of another sunrise on the horizon.

Had a beautiful phone conversation with a friend from Alexander City this afternoon. I was texting folks my new phone number and she called me when she received the text. She is a widow, like myself, who has buried a husband she dearly loved and was devoted to. We talked about the trials of being widowed and of the waves of grief that wash over us. He loved to garden and she’s been gardening this summer and making jelly, doing these things without him that he so enjoyed. He was jovial and gregarious. Always had a smile on his face and a willingness to help out whenever and wherever he could. We used to visit them and once enjoyed taking our children over to their gardens to pick blueberries to make jelly. I know his family, like ours, is missing their anchor. She and her husband were so kind to Chief and me when Rosalyn died. They were and are true friends and I love them.

Friendship is such a wonderful part of life. We have friends we see all the time and friends we see after time has passed and we just jump right in like we’ve never been apart. Real friendships show unconditional love and expect nothing in return. Friends are honest and speak from their hearts. They sincerely listen when we talk. They know our secrets and keep them safe. They accept us as with all our idiosyncrasies. They support us and our choices. They’re kind and pleasant, and fun to be around. They make us laugh.

We need to choose our friends wisely. A true friend understands your heart and believes in you and stands with you even when God’s plans put a stumbling block on the path. Real friends support and comfort us in the most difficult times of life. Have a personal crisis in your life and you’ll quickly find out who is a true friend. True friends are always there even when you don’t realize you need them. They just know you need them and they come running. My dearest friend has run to comfort me many times.

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” — Walter Winchell