Drove to LaGrange, Georgia, this morning to have my car serviced for a recalled headlight switch. Such a pretty drive, 25 miles on a country highway under a beautiful blue sky, cloudless and clear, full of sunglasses’ sunshine. I saw a field of daffodils, their yellow blooms contrasting beautiful with the herd of Black Angus cattle enjoying the pasture’s green grass. I always get excited when I cross the Alabama/Georgia line knowing the Wehadkee Creek that flows through our family farmland is pouring its waters into the Chattahoochee River at this point helping fill West Point Lake.

Wehadkee is a tributary of the Chattahoochee River in Alabama and Georgia. The Creek Indians named the creek Wehadkee which means “white water creek.” As I drive over the river bridge I can see two adult American bald eagles perched on their nest high above the water. When I was almost across the water I saw a swallow tail kite! Took me all afternoon to finally identify it. It’s snow white head was kissed by the sun as it flew right across the bridge in front of me, so beautiful in its contrasting black and white plumage.

When I came home I spent the afternoon in the porch swing counting my blessings. My yard was full of cardinals and purple finches, their heads so gloriously tinted ripe raspberry. One lone American goldfinch stopped by in his olive yellow coat. As I watched the birds a large large lemon yellow butterfly, a cloudless sulphur, a beauty of the butterfly world, danced and pirouetted across my yard. Cloudless sulphurs symbolize hope, transformation and spiritual awakening. Their lifespan is only a week but the butterflies gratefully dance their life away on tiny black legs as they drink nature’s nectar.

The colors of God’s creation are so lovely. Even the snail’s trail has a rainbow silvery glow when the sun’s rays strike it. I detest snails, they eat my marigolds, but I marvel at the trails they leave. Religious interpretations read that God colored the world to show us his beauty and diversity. God’s intention was to paint our Earth in a variety of colors so we could experience the wonders of the natural world through color. In biblical scripture we find different colors — white for purity, red for power, green for life. Other colors found in scripture are black, purple, blue, gold, scarlet, and crimson.

I always wondered about the biblical colors of Joseph’s coat of many colors. I’ve questioned if it was made from animal skins. If it was thought to represent Joseph’s birthright as the firstborn son of Jacob’s second wife, Rachel, it had to have been specially ornate. Research says his coat of many colors was probably made of yarns and linen colored red, yellow, and orange from plant dyes.

God colored a wondrous rainbow, too, his promise to never flood the earth again. Seeing that “bow” in the sky gives us hope for tomorrow. Have you ever noticed how often children put rainbows in their drawings, adding a circle sun with spikes all around it. Read that happy children draw rainbows and suns. Not going to think about what sad children draw. I’m sure it’s painful to look at those drawings. Bless their hearts.

When I was a child I loved coloring. I was so careful with my crayons. If I broke one crayon, I’d beg for a new box. In 1958, Crayola debuted the 96 count crayon box with a sharpener inside. This box absolutely thrilled me. I never used the sharpener, though. I didn’t always get the big box but when I did I was so happy. I still love to color. I have an adult songbird coloring book.

Somewhere I read that “our attitude is a box of crayons that color our world.” That’s true. We can color our world drab and gray, not choosing to see the other colors. Or we can add some bright colors. Our lives are like a painting and we’re the artists. Just a splash of color can change the canvas of our lives.

“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson