You could not ask for a prettier day than this morning, dark azure blue sky crisscrossed with bright white jet contrails turning into huge feather clouds before dissipating. Intermittent cool wind pinging the wind chimes, making their tintinnabulations into a yard symphony. The feeders are full of birds, enjoying sunflower and thistle seeds and apple suet in the warm sun. Sun rays are peeking through the lady den windows, beaming on Rosie’s Christmas tree, making the silver tinsel branches sparkle. Guess it’s time to undecorate the house. The house always looks depressed when I take the Christmas decorations down. The cedar tree in the dining room is still alive in its pressure cooker stand. I really do need to take that tree down before the shedding starts.

The raccoons pulled up the bird feeder pole outside the lady den windows again last night and emptied the two feeders. I sprayed the pole with clove and cinnamon oil, supposedly they don’t like that, but maybe the rain washed it off. Gonna buy some hot pepper bird seed and if that doesn’t work guess it will be cage trapping time. Last time I used the hot pepper seeds they stayed away for a while. The hot pepper seeds didn’t phase Fatty the squirrel, he just shoveled them in. Pepper doesn’t bother the songbirds.

Made a quick run to the grocery store early morning and saw some little round purplish clouds, floating low on the horizon, the clouds looked like little pigs, all in a row running home, one behind the other to their farm in the sky. I love clouds. One percent chance of snow in those clouds for Saturday!!

The pageant of sunset is about to take stage. The sun is a blinding white beam standing in the wing shadows of the stage, getting ready to take her late afternoon walk down the horizon, dressed in a sterling silver satin gown. As she walks on stage, Mother Nature bathes the horizon in layers of watermelon-peach hues and brushes stripes of vanilla and pale blue along the sky line, highlighting the inky black silhouettes of the old oak trees. The sun rolls down the horizon, blushing dark peach as she turns off the day’s lights and greets the night. Father Sky kisses her cheek and hurries off to wake the twinkling stars and the milky white moon. Night slowly wakes as Mother Nature’s magnificent watercolor painting melds into the twilight.

My new quote book has a quote for every day. I’ve enjoyed reading it. Not using the quotes in chronological order but thought just for today, I’ll use the one chosen. “If the wind will not serve, take to the oars,”— Latin Proverb.

Some of us always expect the winds on our sails to push our boat across smooth seas all our lives. But sometimes the wind stops or blows in the opposite direction and causes a headwind. These headwinds are the challenges and changes that alter the direction our lives take. When the winds aren’t substantial, we put our oars in the water and pull and push ourselves forward. When we hit stormy seas, we trim in the sails and ride out the storm praying for calm seas, for sunshine, and possibly a rainbow.

But what if we have enough faith in God to let him be our sails and our oars on our ships of life. His winds of love will push us forward and his hands will hold us safe when we go through stormy waters. Sometimes I think Chief’s hands felt like the hands of God, large and warm, callused and rough, but full of tenderness and love. When Stew was born early weighing four pounds, Chief could hold him in one of his hands. God’s hands are strong enough to captian our ship and tender enough to wipe the tears from our cheeks.

God will hold us and make us safe if we open our hearts to him, using our faith and thanksgiving as oars, letting God captain our ship, calm the rough seas, and lead us to calm waters throughout our lives.

“Life is like the ocean. It can be calm or still, and rough or rigid. But in the end, it is always beautiful.”—Unknown