The day was so pretty today. The azure fall sky had a few wisps of cotton candy clouds, thin white wisps that quickly changed shapes and melted away. I was hoping they would hang around till sunset so Mother Nature could change their colors. When she tints the cotton candy clouds pink they are perfectly beautiful. The sun was bright and warm and soon hot on my legs resting in the swing.

The birds are still scarce but the butterflies are swarming all over my yard. One of the zinnia plants had three butterflies drinking nectar from its blooms. Course I never have a camera when these butterfly beauties show off. Saw a crimson cardinal and his partner on one the bird feeders. I’m missing the noisy fighting finches and waiting for the cyclone flock of cedar waxwings to pass through and eat all the holly berries on the trees across the street. The titmice are enjoying the feeders near the porch bannisters. They sit on the gardenia branches and crack the sunflowers seeds open. So much work for such a little bite of nut meat.

The sunset was played out tonight with pale shades of turquoise and gold. Mother Nature’s pageantry was subdued in its painting but wondrous in the colorings of the horizon. Father Sky kissed the sun goodnight and waked up the half moon to pin him in the sky. Looks like a half moon but actually its the second night of the first quarter moon. The moon is so luminous tonight. I could see a few stars twinkling in the night sky, silvery light points on the purple night sky canopy.

Heard the most beautiful train whistle last night. Sounded like ocean waves with its “woo-woo” building up in intensity and then softening down. You could hear the undulations of the sound waves as they followed the cold metal train rails down the tracks. The wheels’ hisses and clicks added percussion to the trains lonely symphony. Train whistles just sound differently in the fall. They are lonesome and forlorn but I love to hear the trains pass by late at night. The train’s music is mysterious and melodious. I love listening!

Life is like a train ride. We ride the train tracks all our lives and blow our own whistles at different junctures. We’re born on our tracks and our railcars to hitched to our parents’ engines. We don’t choose our journeys at the beginning, we ride the rails that our parents provide. As we grow up, we ride the switch tracks and make our own decisions to stop and enjoy the scenery that travels by or we choose to ride the fast track, never slowing down long enough to enjoy the wonders of God’s world. We travel with other passengers and all head for the same destinations. But the journey with God is the most important. Those that don’t believe will take a side track and get off somewhere along the journey.

Be sure your train is headed in the right direction. Once you arrive at the station it’s too late to go back and change routes. A train follows a predetermined track and stays on course till it reaches its destination. The train of our faith will stop and blow its whistle at many stations and we have to decide whether to continue our journey or disembark from the train. No one said the journey would be easy. Our belief in God and our thanksgiving for his love will help us reach our heavenly destination.

We need to travel with God, let him help us with our decisions and our destinations. Our journey of faith is a train ride with God as the conductor. We can stay on the correct rails or get off on a side track where our faith is tested. No one said the journey would not be without trials and tribulations. The most important part of a train is the engine that pulls the cars. We need to let God be our engine. We need to hook our cars to his engine, blow our whistles of faith loud and long, and follow the path God has chosen for us.

“Our life is a constant journey, from birth to death. The landscape changes, the people change, but the train keeps moving. Life is the train, not the station,” — Paulo Coelho