Getting ready to visit the grandchildren for a few days. Excited to see oldest grandson in the marching band at the high school football game Friday night. Looking forward to the first Alabama football game of the year on Saturday and then two days of babysitting without the parentals. Might be able to sneak a Whoopi cushion in on this visit. We always have the best time with lots of board games and laughter. Those children bring me so much joy. I’ll be running columns from my archives during my visit but will have new thoughts beginning Monday night. So don’t give up on me. Keep reading!

The funniest thing happened this afternoon. I was listening to music from my Echo Dot and forgot to turn it off when I went to unload the dishwasher. I came a back later and at the exact moment I opened the door to my bedroom, I heard a deep male voice say, “Hello, Darling!” Thought I was going to have a heart attack till Conway Twitty started singing his country song, Hello Darlin’. It’s funny now, but wasn’t when it was happening. Scared me to death!

Anyone who loves a hot day in the south would have loved this Alabama 98 degrees day. That was at 2 pm so it might have been a little higher later. Bet the real feel temperature was a few degrees hotter. Been watering the flowers but they are parched and wanting some rain from the heavens to sustain them. The grass is turning brown again, too. But maybe a shower will fall this weekend. The sky was beautiful in his heat, hot and blue and filled with white fluffy cotton boll clouds. Looked like a photograph used to define the summer sky in an encyclopedia.

I’ve had the most glorioius yellow sulphur butterflies in my yard yesterday and today. Two of them have flown around the yard in a tumbling circle, like a yellow wheel in the air, rolling to a stop on the same zinnia bloom together. Maybe they are playing air tag. I’ve tried for two days to capture them with a photograph but they don’t stop long enough for me to get a good shot.

The yellow sulphur butterflies have a short life span, 10-24 days for an adult male and 3-17 days for a female, so I they do only have time to count the special moments in their lives. The little winged creatures fly around like the epitome of happiness. I read the butterfly is a master of metamorphosis, signifying transformation, freedom, and rebirth. They are so glorioius in their fluttering and hovering around the yard, their wings contrasting so prettily with the colorful zinnia blooms. Butterflies are also seen as messengers of good fortune and joy. I love watching them travel around the neighborhood.

Read quotes in my reading chair when the porch got to hot to sit outside. Never read one that inspired my thoughts so decided to see what the quote of the day says. Today’s quote is one I’ve used before. “The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough,” Rabindranath Tagore. I think Rabindranath was telling us we shouldn’t be concerned on how fast time passes in our lives but should be conscious of highlighting the special moments of life that move us with emotion, filing these memories away in our hearts.

We know time flies and we know life is short. Those beautiful moments captured in our hearts are what give life meaning. We should focus on those moments. When we become Christians we go through a change like the butterfly. We shed our old selves and become a child of God. God knows what’s best for us. We need to enjoy our journey with God. His unconditional love will transform our life’s journey into something amazing.

“Butterflies are nature’s angels. They remind us what a gift it is to be alive.” — Robyn Nola