Oh, what a glorious sunset pageant tonight, a candy treat for the eyes. I waited all day, porch sitting and porch pondering, determined not to miss Mother Nature’s beautiful watercolor painting of the sun setting. The sunset painting began at twilight as a faint watercolor wash, in the colors of a Georgia peach, lit up the sky like a small camp fire in the forest and as the fire blazed higher, Mother Nature highlighted the sky with brush strokes of dark, ripe peach watercolors. The sun walked down the sunset pageant stage dressed in a gown of watermelon-cherry and her dress trailed the flames across the sky line in vibrant oranges. The clouds in the blueberry hued sky were stroked in layers of lavender and cherry and orchid and tangerine. A few wisps of clouds floating slowly along the horizon were tinted dark pink framing the sunset pageant, all the clouds in vibrant clear colors, like hard sour candies in a crystal candy bowl. A magnificent ending to the day’s little slice of my heaven on Earth.

I fixed the trip arm on the raccoon cage this afternoon. Finally figured it out and I’m anxious to see what has been stealing the marshmallows the last three nights. My yard was full of birds all day. I kept up with all my songbird friends and saw chickadees, titmice, wrens, downy woodpeckers, cardinals, purple finches, goldfinches, mourning doves, and that sneaky kestrel. As all the birds were happily feeding on the feeders and on the ground under the feeders, the kestrel dived bombed and snatched his lunch off a feeder. Sounded like a jet plane taking off as all the birds scattered. Never fails that when the birds are scared away the little goldfinches are the first to return to the feeders.

Beautiful little birds, the goldfinches, their feathers a dull olive yellow in winter but they are not dull in personality. They sing and chatter and fly in bouncy wave-like patterns, cheerful little beauties on the feeders, but nervous and if one gets spooked, they all fly away. I enjoy them and their antics and their twittering. The males will be putting on their canary yellow sport coat plumage as spring gets closer. John Keats wrote a beautiful short poem about the goldfinch. Here’s the poem as a paragraph.

Goldfinches — Sometimes goldfinches one by one will drop from low hung branches; little space they stop; but sip, and twitter, and their feathers sleek; then off at once, as in a wanton freak: or perhaps, to show their black and golden wings, pausing upon their yellow flutterings.

I wonder what the birds worry about and what loads they carry on their feathered shoulders. I know the little kestrel in my neighborhood worries them. We all carry loads on our shoulders, difficulties and challenges that cause us worry. C. S. Lewis said, “It’s not the load that breaks you down, but the way you carry it.” Life can be very hard and I think we subconsciously say, “Well, if doesn’t kill me, I guess I’ll get through it.” How we handle life’s difficulties has a lot to do with how we react. We can control our reactions to difficult circumstances. Some people give up hope and never recover. Others persevere and share their difficulties with family and friends to help lighten the weight on their shoulders.

We all grieve over our losses but we need to have enough faith to weather the storm of grief and go on with life. With God’s grace we can carry any burden that is put on our shoulders. Life is never easy and is always full of changes and challenges. When the load gets to heavy, go to God in prayer and ask for help. His hands are always open to carry our burdens and give us peace. Nothing is too heavy for God to carry. When we stumble with our burdens, he will carry us, too.

“When God places a burden upon you, He places His arms underneath you.” — Charles H. Spurgeon