A wondrous breeze is blowing across my porch creating wind chime symphonies, temperature is in the low 70’s, perfect for porch perching and pondering. September has arrived but I know she’s still got summer hanging in her closet. So happy to be back in my routine this morning, bagel breakfast on the porch, perched in the swing, watching all the songbirds frolicking. I’m completely out of sunflower seeds for the birds. Had enough to fill up their favorite feeders. I honestly can say I’ve never run out of seeds, always have a 40 pound bag in reserve. I’ll get a bag in the morning with my grocery order.

The sky is the color of vanilla bean ice cream with a few swirls of blueberry sauce mixed in. So pretty and if I take the time to stare at the overcast sky I can see lots of hidden color. Seems Father Sky shook some colorful sprinkles on his clouds and they melted so prettily as he stirred them around. Never saw the colors in an overcast sky till I became a porch ponderer.

The cardinals are flocking to the yard late morning. Seems to be lots of juveniles, some being fed by their parents. One little piggy cardinal, big as his father, is letting his father feed him. Tickles me to see his little fat self, sitting there begging for seeds. Just watched a female cardinal peck a little chickadee to make him leave the feeder. Cardinals are usually meek, she must be feeding a baby, too. Cardinals feed from dawn to dusk everyday. They always stay till late dusk.

Saw this quote on a friend’s Facebook page this afternoon and I think it’s great advice for all of us. “Never regret a day in your life: good days give happiness, bad days give experience, worst days give lessons, and best days give memories,” Professor Richard Feynman. I love good days, happy days with lot of porch perching. My bad days are few and far between for which I am thankful.

“I never regret anything. Because every little detail of your life is what made you into who you are in the end.” — Drew Barrymore

We all have those bad days with disappointments and challenges to overcome. Those days are life’s gifts to make us appreciate all the days that are full of beauty and truth. I remember Lynn Anderson’s song, “I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine there’s got to be a little rain sometime.” Life happens and the storms do rage. Those experiences test our faith but we grow in faith as we pray for God to give us strength. Lessons from the bad days teach us about the power of hope and the important of perseverance.

Hold on to those happy days that etch your hearts with joyous memories, days that remind us of the magic of being alive on this wondrous earth. I was thinking of when I was a young bride, Chief and I living in his father’s art studio, no heat or air conditioning, deliriously happy, pregnant with our first baby, stirring wild plum jelly boiling on the stove in my little 100 degree kitchen. I had never been happier. Chief was just thrilled to come in from the garden and see the jars of jelly cooling on the top of the wood stove. I’ll never forget the look on his face as he touched each one counting them. He turned around and smiled and said, “That’s something, Mama. Thank you!” I’ve never forgotten that moment, makes me tear up to just type it.

I think life is like a rollercoaster, up and down, twisting and turning as we journey through our time on earth. Good days are rays of sunshine and full of laughter. Even the storms of the bad days make us hopeful and thankful for God’s rainbows. They teach us that we can weather the storms and persevere as we trust in God’s grace to guide us through the darkness.

Be thankful for every day God gives you on this earth. Life is a glorious ride!

“Life is a journey for us all. We all face trials. We all have ups and downs. All of us are human. But we are also the masters of our fate. We are the ones who decide how we are going to react to life.” — Elizabeth Smart