Another wondrous day the Lord hath made, porch pondering perfect. The sky was baby blue, not the dark azure of yesterday, and Father Sun had sketched all kinds of clouds in the sky, all shapes and sizes, all bleached white, kissed by the sun, leisurely sailing along on the blue sky canvas. The sun was warm on my face so I leaned back in the swing and watched the clouds frolic in the sky. I think Mother Nature is practicing for her pageant of springtime.

The birds were sparse in my yard this morning. I wonder whose yard were they breakfasting in today. Mid-afternoon the flock of goldfinches arrived bringing a flock of cardinals with them. Penelope and I enjoyed watching and listening to the birds. A bunch of goofy doves bobbed around the ground under the feeders, squeakily gossiping in their gray mourning dresses and bright pink high heels.

I put new suet out in the baskets and shortly after I saw Mr. Downy Woodpecker hanging on one of the baskets. He always knows when new suet is in the basket. The purple finches are slowly making their way here and are so colorful with their raspberry purple plumage. A few chickadees and some titmice joined the buffet, too. Mr. Hawk and Mr. Kestrel weren’t invited today. One of my friends had a female orchard oriole on her feeder today, a beautiful yellow bird not usually seen around here. I’ll admit, I’m jealous!

Late afternoon Mr. Waxing Crescent Moon appeared behind my house, not full dressed, but so handsome in his illumination against the blue sky canvas. He woke early today. Father Sky won’t have to drag him from his cloud covers.

While I was waiting for the sun to set, I heard the most beautiful train symphony. The train started blowing its horn in busts of short notes, loud and brash, and the notes musically echoed softly bouncing back like two trains singing lullabies to their little ones. When the horns stopped, I could hear the squeaking and rocking of the steel wheels on the train’s rocking chair tracks. I love listening to the trains as they travel farther down the tracks, their clickety-clack sounds softening as they play out, blending into the night’s music. It’s mesmerizing.

Like a beautiful luminous pearl floating in the ocean, resting on the waves’ bubbly foam, the sun rolled down the horizon’s shore in a silk gown of creamy milk white, as beautiful as a string of iridescent La Peregrina pearls. Mother Nature lit the pageant stage in a pale peach glow that blazed like an unwatched wildfire, flaming tangerine all across the skyline till the sun turned off the day’s light. Father Sky kissed the sun goodnight and bid the day adieu. The moon had placed himself earlier high on the night sky stage so Father Sky threw a handful of diamonds into the heavens to bejewel the stars. And the night was awake.

Been thinking about courage today. Courage is defined as mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. I found these quotes about courage in one of my books. “Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage; it can be delightful,” — George Bernard Shaw. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying I will try again tomorrow,” — Mary Anne Radmacher.

We know by many examples that life is not always easy. Life is difficult at times. There are trials and tribulations but such beautiful sunshine we see when these stormy times have passed. We need courage to get through these struggles. The hard times we face help us grow and help us appreciate the daily blessings we’re given. We’re invigorated when we accomplish something we have feared and sometimes it does take having the fortitude to try again to succeed. God gives us courage to face these storms. I feel I have little courage but when I pray to God for courage he always helps me weather the storm. He helps me stand up strong in the winds of life’s adversity.

Having faith and confidence in God gives us courage. Gratitude for having a loving God should give us courage, too. I think God wants us to find courage in our faith, confident that He is standing by our side. We don’t have to be forceful in our courage. Our Christian faith gives us the courage to choose wisely when the world closes in. We can conquer our fears quietly with God’s courage.

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” — John Wayne