Such a pretty day! Father Sky found his white pastel stick and dragged it several times across his blue sky canvas. His scraggly cloud lines have all turned into feather clouds! I’ve watched them blend together to make a huge cloud that resembles an angel. The angel cloud was brief and then the clouds grabbed hands and created an overcast sky canopy. The clouds stayed together till time for sunset when they parted ways, waiting for Mother Nature to paint their formal pageant gowns.

Three black vultures have started their circles in the sky this morning, their dark wings shining like black glitter in the bright sunshine. The man in the moon has his cloud covers almost up to his chin. He stayed up again till almost noon today. I can even gaze on him sitting the swing. Wonder if he sees me? The breeze is cool, playing a soft symphony on the wind chimes. Fall leaves are dancing from the oak limbs in a shower of brown sugar, floating down in a ballerina pirouette, joining the others who cover the grass. Penelope is taking a sun bath in the yard, her fur the same color as the oak leaves. The day is perfect and pleasant.

Watched and waited all day long for Mother Nature to render her sunset panorama. I knew it would be unusually beautiful because there were lots of different shaped clouds floating around the horizon, just waiting to be tinted by her watercolors. Mother Nature started her sunset mural by brushing a vivid lilac across the line clouds resting low on the horizon. She continued painting the line clouds, brushing on layers of turquoise and purple and orange and blue and gray. I wrote the colors down so I wouldn’t forget to list all of them.

I kept watching the sky, as the day was turning to night, and Mother Nature, in the gloaming of twilight, dipped her paint brushes once more in pale rose and light purple and painted the bellies and crowns of the cauliflower shaped cumulus clouds. Though brief, the sunset was magnificent. I didn’t even think about Father Sky bending down to kiss the sun goodnight, resting in her layered quilt of colors.

My friend sent me a quote this morning and I think it’s so beautiful. “Give me a quiet life, give me trees, the wind through them, give me a sea and the song it sings. Give me heartbeats shared with those I love, give me peace and a long sleep,” — Tyler Scott Greyson. To me, this quote describes life as we wish it would transpire every day.

“Give me a quiet life.” We can live a quiet life but quietness doesn’t mean not talking, it means living a life of humility and kindness, a quietness of spirit, willing to sometimes yield to others, agreeing to disagree, to keep peace in this world.

“Give me trees, the wind through them.” The wind is strong and causes trees to sway, limbs to break and fall. The wind can change the paths of our lives. Maybe the trees are metaphors for strength. God’s strength helps us weather the storms that come our way. We want to be tested so we can show we are strong in our faith and stand tall with God’s love. Being tested strengthens our faith and teaches us to look for the rainbows in the storms of life, teaches us to be appreciative of the sunny days that pass without storms.

“Give me a sea and the song it sings.” I think all the beautiful creatures and things, that the Lord has colored our Earth with, are our sea of life. The songs of earth — you know I’m thinking of the song birds singing, humming birds wings beating, the loud buzz of big bumble bees. The natural world has such beautiful music. Or maybe it’s the slaps of waves on the sandy shores that give us peace in a water song. Maybe that’s life, a sea ebbing and flowing, making its own music in everyday living. We can be timid and stay in the shallow waters or be brave in God’s care and swim out in the deep waters knowing God is watching every stroke we swim, ready to come to our rescue if needed. We just have to believe and have faith in him. God’s love is everlasting and limitless like the sea. He will save us.

“Give me heartbeats shared with those I love.” We all need friendship and warmth from each other and hugs to hear and feel the heartbeats. Don’t let a day go by without telling those you love how you feel. You never know what tomorrow will bring. The last words my daughter heard me say as she drove out of the driveway were, “I love you!” I’m so grateful that the last words I heard her say were, “Bye, I love you more!” As I waited for Chief’s heartbeat to stop the last words he heard were, “Chief, I love you.” Course he didn’t speak but I heard his words loud and clear. The Lord whispered them in my ear.

“Give me peace and a long sleep.” We all want and need that! God said he will provide everything we need and he wants to take the worries away that keep us awake at night. We can’t control life. Life happens and life changes from day to day. Most things we worry about never come to be, so give those burdens in prayers to God and lay your head down at night in peace knowing God is watching over you. His love and his mercy can lighten our daily burdens, relieve our worries and stress, and take away concerns that are weighing us down.

“You will always be searching for peace in yourself until you find it with God.” — Unknown