Dagnabbit and consternation, those heathen sons of bunny rabbit raccoons stole two suet baskets last night. I’ve looked all over my yard and the neighbors’ yard and I can’t find them. They usually leave them in the yard after they eat the suet. I even wire the baskets shut and they still open them. After looking for the baskets I gave up and noticed the beautiful winter blue sky, smiled to myself and thought about a quote I read yesterday, “An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day,” Henry David Thoreau. I hope the raccoons enjoyed the apple suet. Next visit they’ll find hot pepper suet to feast on. I’m bringing the other suet feeder in the house tonight and calling my nephew to bring his trap.

My yard was full of birds today. I’ve enjoyed watching them out the windows and on walks with Penelope. I feel blessed with all the cardinals visiting. Was too cold to do any porch pondering but I did some lady den pondering. Been thinking about being brave today after watching the movie, Society of the Snow. Don’t think of myself as brave, I’m a chicken liver. I don’t think you learn how to be brave, you just take action despite being afraid. Maybe I was brave when I sat by Chief’s bedside as he lay dying. Maybe I was brave when I packed up and moved back to my family home in Roanoke. Maybe I was brave when I buried a child. Courageous people stand up against things that threaten them or people they love. Love this quote by Winston Churchill about courage. “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Waited all day for the sunset, knowing it would be a muted pageant with the absence of a crowd of clouds. The sun rolled down the horizon late afternoon dressed in a formal gown of orange and red sequins, blinding in the shades of a summer ripe peach. As she got closer to the sunset stage, Mother Nature painted the flood lights in pink lemonade shades and brushed strokes of pink, vanilla, and turquoise across the curtains of the sky canvas. Wisps of cotton-stretched clouds, wrapped around the skyline in my neighborhood, were shaded in sweetart candy colors of pink and blue. Another glorious sunset painted in God’s glory with promises of tomorrow and the gift of an awakening sun.

Father Sky kissed the sun goodnight as she turned off the day’s lamps and he woke a lovely night, hanging a sliver of milky moon, luminous and ethereal, in the navy inky-black dark of the night sky. Scattering handfuls of glittering diamonds to twinkle in the navy darkness, he arranged the constellations so I could see the Big Dipper in the night sky, so beautiful and clear. Made me think how small I am on Mother Earth’s planet, a mere spec on the landscape.

I love this quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt. “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot in it, and hang on.” Ever had to tie a knot and hope it holds? I have! Maybe God ties knots in the ropes of our lives and while we are hanging on he’s tying more knots and getting ready to catch us if we aren’t able to hold on. Maybe the rope, which we have power and control of, is our life line. Some of us have long strong ropes with just a few knots. Others of us have ropes that are full of knots and frayed places. Some of us are holding on to our last thread and it’s unraveling. We’re just waiting to hit the ground.

The knots in our ropes can be the struggles and problems we face that take away the joy and peace in our lives. God can empower us. God can help us with the knots and tangles in our lives. A knotted rope binds things together and symbolizes commitment. If we tie ourselves to God he will empower us with his love and the power of his spirit. He will keep our rope from fraying.

“Whatever happens, do not lose hold of the two main ropes of life — hope and faith,” — Zig Ziglar