Today was a perfect porch pondering day. The clear blue sky was dotted with clean white cotton boll clouds slowly moving across the horizon. The breeze was light enough for the wind chimes’ paddles to ping one note at a time and the yard symphony played out quiet and relaxing. The birds were singing, eating seeds from the feeders, and sipping water from the bird baths. I felt my world was as it should be and I was content in its peaceful happiness.

I ate a late breakfast in the porch swing and watched the chipmunks frolic on the porch. These fat little things are so brazen. They priss across the porch, their cheeks poking out full of acorns, their wiry tails bristled out. They scamper towards Penelope’s play pen, stopping in front of the porch swing looking at her, looking at me, seeming to study us, and then they scurry away. Saw two of them looking in the screen door this morning. Penelope was woofing at them and they were smart enough to know she couldn’t come through and get them.

Mother Nature chose the color orange for her sunset pageantry tonight. The sun lay her head down under a backdrop of pale orange, subdued in its coloring, fading from bright orange to pale tangerine, beautiful to see. Mother Nature strokes the sky every night with her watercolor brushes and never creates the same painting, or even the same colors. She must be inspired by the heavens above. Father Sky follows her beauty pageant, kissing the sun goodnight, and uncovering the glowing stars and pale white moon, pinning them to the dark night sky canvas. I’ll never tire of watching these wonders.

I ate a bowl of my homemade vegetable soup for supper tonight with a cornbread muffin and a slice of cheese. A simple bowl of soup was such a comfort to me on this chilly evening. Homemade soup always makes me feel better, kinda warms my soul. Funny how certain things serve as a comfort to us. Babies have their pacifiers, children have their blankets and stuffed animals, teenagers have objects and stuffed animals that are sources of comfort for them. As adults we get comfort from our friends and our partners and from a Hershey candy bar! We also find comfort in our faith and in our prayers to God.

God should be the first place where we go to look for comfort. The Bible says, He (the Lord) “is the God of all comfort.” When we’re discouraged, hurting, grieving, or lost in this fast paced world we can lay our problems on God’s shoulders through prayer and thanksgiving and know he has compassion for us and he will comfort us. I know this for a fact. If I didn’t have faith in God I could not hold myself together in this world without my daughter and husband. I know in my heart I will be reunited with them in heaven and that knowledge gives me peace and comfort.

It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth — and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up — we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had,” — Elisabeth J. Dunlea.