The sky was painted blue perfectly today. When I walked Penelope it was cold and clear, not even a wisp of a cloud to mar the sky’s blueness. Late afternoon Father sky sketched a few clouds for Mother Nature to paint at sunset.

I hear the old hoot owl hooting his song. Sounds like he’s saying, “Who cooks for you?” My yard is full of cardinals. Sunset’s dusk is their favorite time of day and all the feeders are full of handsome crimson males and prettily dressed fawn-brown females. The cardinals are always the last song birds to bed down at night.

I love to watch the sun change colors. Started out as a bright white fire ball, halfway down the horizon her color darkened and she became a beautiful summertime ripe peach, rolling down the sky line to turn off the day’s light. When the sun was fully down she lit a forest fire of orange and red that covered the horizon. Mother Nature’s watercolors are so beautiful, shades of orange and gold and yellow and red, dark hues on the bottom, lighter hues on the top. The clouds are coconut and blueberry washes of color, striped like hard candy. Father Sky covered the sun in her quilt of watermelon and blueberry cloud covers and kissed her goodnight. She turned off the day’s light and Father Sky began the night sky pageant by waking the moon and stars in the chasm of the inky black sky canvas.

Not much for making New Year’s resolutions but I like the ones Snoopy has. “Laugh a little louder, smile a little bigger, love a little deeper, and walk through life a little slower,” Charles Schulz. The only thing I’d add is “do everything with kindness.” The world needs all the kindness we can bestow on it.

Been reading prayers this afternoon for the new year so I’m closing with a favorite one.

A New Year’s Prayer —

God of all time, help us enter the New Year quietly, thoughtful of who we are to ourselves and to others, mindful that our steps make an impact and our words carry power.
May we walk gently.
May we speak only after we have listened well.
Creator of all life, help us enter the New Year reverently, aware that you have endowed every creature and plant, every person and habitat, with beauty and purpose.
May we regard the world with tenderness.
May we honor rather than destroy.
Lover of all souls, help us enter the New Year joyfully, willing to laugh and dance and dream, remembering our many gifts with thanks and looking forward to blessings yet to come.
May we welcome your lavish love.
May we cast off the small, vindictive gods our fears have made.
May the grace and peace of Christ bless you now and in the days ahead. — Vinita Hampton Wright

“What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.” — Vern McClellan