Enjoyed the porch today. The beautiful blue sky was sunny and fluffy white clouded. I had a radiance of cardinals, a banditry of chickadees, a charm of finches, a bouquet of hummingbirds, a descent of woodpeckers, a bevy of doves, and a charm of finches happily flitting around in my yard today visiting the feeders, enjoying the warm sunshine. I love all the names of the different bird flocks. Trying my best to learn these group names. All of the songbirds, singing in time with the wind chime tintinnabulations, were making music for the cloudless yellow sulphur butterflies’ dance recitals. I love watching the yellow butterflies do their pirouettes on the hot pink zinnia blooms, such beautiful pairings with their contrasting colors.

I sat outside in the porch swing this evening and heard the sighs of dusk settling on my neighborhood, the gradual quietness of the cardinals, the beginnings of the night’s musical lullabies as the cicadas, katydids, and crickets began singing. The sunset pageant was played out behind a curtain of clouds. I could see Mother Nature’s magnificent watercolor painting of the sunset in my mind, the sun dressed in a formal gown of sequined peach silk, matching beautifully with the orange and red brush stokes of Mother Nature’s watercolor wildfire blazing up on the horizon. Father Sky, dressed in his jet black tuxedo with matching top hat and cane, escorted the sun down the horizon, kissing her goodnight as the day’s light faded. Father Sky left the sun and hurried to wake the moon and stars, turning on the glimmers of light in the black velvet of the night sky. The day ends and the night begins.

Sitting in the swing today I made a mental list of my favorite books, most of them read right here sitting in the porch swings. The books I chose are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens; The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough; Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell; The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston; Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, and Beloved by Toni Morrison. I think I could read these books over and over again. I’ve read Gone with the Wind eight times. Course I’ll probably wake in the middle of the night with a new list but I’m not changing it. Yeah, I know these are old books and there are great new books but this is my list.

All my children love to read and Chief and I spent many happy hours reading to them in our laps and when they were older, we read to them sitting between them on the sofa by the wood stove. Reading to your children and grandchildren is such a gift. A love of reading is so fundamental to succeeding in school. For 13 years I volunteered on my lunch hour reading books to children at Jim Pearson Elementary School in Alexander City. I collected a children’s library of books in Rosie’s memory and read her books to the children. I enjoyed those reading days as much as the children did.

I’m already starting to think of a new book list for my favorites so I better stop writing. Need to add Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier and The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans and of course a Sibley and a National Geographic bird guide and an anthology of short stories from Flannery O’Connor. Let me know what you’d put on your list cause mine is still growing. Probably going to keep me awake.

Rereading this, I realized I left the Bible off the list of books. Read it all the way through in college, reading it now as I write my blog, searching for scripture to add meaning to my words. The Bible is the primary way God communicates to us in our daily lives as we read and study his word. Just found a new way to read the Bible as a novel — The Story, The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, an abridged, chronological Bible that reads like a novel. “For those intimidated or overwhelmed by the unabridged Bible, The Story helps people understand God’s word more fully and engage with it more easily.” Putting this in my Amazon cart right now.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 reads, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Reading Bible scripture every day gives us a better understanding of God and who he is. God’s words give us guidance and wisdom, deepen our relationship with him, and teach us how to overcome sin and temptation. The Bible teaches us to love God and to love others.

“The Bible is the greatest of all books; to study it is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.” ― Charles C. Ryrie