I think God left his hosepipe on today and forgot to tell Mother Nature to turn it off. The morning is visibly overcast like a melted bowl of vanilla ice cream. I’ve enjoyed gazing skyward and discovering all the different colors swirled in the bowl of ice cream sky. I can see violet, silver, lavender, robin’s egg blue, and pearl shades in the clouds as they travelled together on their path through the heavens. Father Sky has been sketching like crazy and the rain has been falling song-like for several hours. I saw the sun briefly, dressed in a formal strapless gown of yellow sequined sunshine, in a spot of blue sky, but the cigar smoke clouds gathered quickly and covered her golden rays.

One little squirrel keeps standing up in the yard and staring at me. Seems mad. I haven’t shooed the squirrels away today. They’ve been up and down on the feeders all day in the rain showers. Squirrels cache 3000 acorns and 10,000 seeds for the winter so I guess that’s why he’s working so hard for bird seeds. He’s climbing up the bird feeder pole but can’t figure how to get to the sunflower seeds. The bird feeder lid has him baffled. The rain is not keeping the squirrels or birds away. The songbirds are all over the feeders and their friends, choosing to hide from the rain, are having loud conversations in the oak tree next door.

Listening to the happy birds’ music I’m reminded of a quote I write frequently. “No matter what yesterday was like, birds always start the new day with a song.” I love that quote. What a wonderful way to look at life, having a new day each day. We can start afresh when the sun rises on tomorrow. The past is behind us, today is upon us, and no need to worry about tomorrow. It really is hard to not worry about tomorrow specially with a dentist appointment looming ahead. I’ve written this a thousand times, we’re not promised tomorrow. We’re never know what’s going to happen so we should live each day as a gift from God.

Been reading some of my earlier blogs today as I sit in the swing while the rain pours down. Loved reading the quotes I had chosen. Several stuck a cord in me. “Life can be a tightrope or a feather mattress.” That quote from Edith Wharton defines life so accurately. As we mature we make decisions that affect ourselves and ultimately our families. Sometimes we’re walking across a tightrope in life, stepping carefully, hoping we don’t fall off into eternity. We grasp for straws when we should be grasping for strength from God. Some of us pray only when we’re walking on the tightrope, worrying if our prayers will be heard. Praying is just like talking. Doesn’t take much when we lay our heads down at night to thank God for the day and its blessings. Want to land more often on that feather mattress when you fall off the tightrope? Pray and accept God’s answers. He’ll always catch you when you fall.

“Whatever happens, do not lose hold of the two main ropes of life — hope and faith,” Zig Ziglar.

Came outside after supper to sit in the swing and watch the sunset. The screen door slammed behind me. A slamming screen door just defines summer to me. No more door bell ringing, just hollering “Hello, anybody home?” through the screen. Keeps mosquitoes away and lets the cool breeze in. I actually think I have the only wooden screen door on the street. I love mine. Read this quote somewhere today, “Every so often, go where you can hear a wooden screen door slam shut.” I think that means we need to slow down and embrace the little things in life that bring us peace and joy. Maybe it’s a reminder to go home to a peaceful place and escape life’s fast pace. Love what Shel Silverstein said about the sound of a screen door. “How many slams in an old screen door? Depends on how loud you shut it.” When my children were young the door slammed a thousand times a day.

I enjoy sitting in the swing after supper, watching the day wind down with the beauty of the setting sun, listening for the magical quietness of the day that hovers over the landscape. At this moment, the sky is full of huckleberry and poke berry and blackberry colored clouds, heavy with dark rain filled bellies. The rain is beginning to fall softly, soon to become a heavy downpour. The sun has dropped off the horizon, her beauty hidden behind a curtain of clouds. As the dark blue colors of a damp twilight race across the neighborhood, Father Sky kisses the sun goodnight and steps from the twilight into the inky dark of the nighttime sky. The Man in the Moon in his waning gibbous phase, his luminous self half-dressed, is waiting behind the thick clouds to gaze down on the day’s dusky shadows of the coming night. Father Sky pulls the stars from their cozy clouds covers and places them on the stage of darkness to illuminate the world’s dreams. The moon becomes a glorious beacon of light in the black abyss of the sky, the stars a tapestry of twinkling diamonds. Night has awakened gloriously as the day goes to sleep sublimely.

“Night is a time to give thanks for all that daylight brings.” — Unknown