Another pretty day with Father Sky’s perfectly rendered blue, sunshiny summer sky canvas. I shut the windows in my bedroom this afternoon and turned the window air conditioner back on. Guess summer is back to stay and she’s showing out today. “Summertime and the livin’ is easy,” Porgy and Bess.

My yard has four squirrels running around the old water oak this morning. The littlest squirrel is sounding the danger alert, “Frank! Frank!” But I can’t see anything scary or dangerous for him to be alerting. Kat is sleeping on the porch. The fattest squirrel is stuffing sunflower seeds in his mouth and stands up straight, looking alert, every time the littlest squirrel screams, “Frank!” Guess our stray cat McFluffy, who shows up at Kat’s chow time, could be hiding under the purple poke salad stalks. I let the greenery and weeds grow back up around the old oak so the birds could enjoy the poke salad berries. Poke salad berries are an important food source for migratory birds. Chief and I loved to eat the poke salad leaves, cooking them like greens. My daddy made pickles from their stems.

The honeysuckle vines are climbing my trellis again. I’m so happy to see those vines. Nothing is more beautiful than the sunny honeysuckle booms in their golden yellows and snow white hues. I call them God’s wild orchids of the dense brush. Cardinals and white-tail deer love to eat the berries. I’ve never seen honeysuckle berries but I’m going to watch for them.

My yard is so quiet as twilight walks up the street I can hear the cardinals crunching the sunflower seeds open. The sun setting is coloring the horizon a beautiful grapefruit gold. Mother Nature is now blazing a wildfire across the tree line with her watercolor brush strokes of orange and red. Father Sky is kissing the sun goodnight, hurrying to raise the moon and throw the stars into the night sky.

I was thinking this morning as I sat in the swing — the sun rises every day, the birds sing, the bees buzz, the thunder booms, the lightning strikes, the rain falls, the breeze blows, the fog lifts, the rainbows follow the storms…. No matter what life throws our way, the world just keeps spinning on its axis like a well oiled machine. We can’t slow down time but we can be mindful of how we spend our time making each day count, thankful for the blessings of breath for another day. Don’t throw today away. Make it count, smile and be kind and compassionate.

I remember waking up the morning after Rosalyn died to a beautiful blue sky sunny Spring day. And I thought, how dare God create such a glorious day when my child is dead. But as I stared out the back screen door, a beautiful little rotund sparrow, sitting on the wrought iron bannister, looked straight at me and began to sing a glorious aria just for me. Course I thought that was a sign from Rosalyn that she was safe and happy in heaven. No matter how heavy a burden we carry, God is waiting patiently to take those worries away, to give us peace after the storms. Turn your worries and anxieties over to God through prayer. He listens and answers our prayers when we believe in him and pray with faithfulness.

“Never lose an opportunity for seeing anything beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting.” Ralph Waldo Emerson