This morning the sky was perfectly beautiful and perfectly cloudless. Not even one turkey vulture or crow circling to mar the blue sky canvas. The yard was so quiet, the wind chimes were pinging a one note Big Ben bong, counting off the hours in minute time. As the day progressed, jet contrails morphed into angel wing feathers covering the sky in large pale wispy clouds.

The funniest thing happened to Penelope and me on our walk when we encountered the mean little squirrel again. Wrote about him last year. He’s fierce. I’m pretty sure it’s the same squirrel cause he’s so fat he’s shaped just like a pear when he stands up. Got a big acorn belly. I had named him Fatty but I’m changing it to Feisty. We were walking down the root broken sidewalk and he was sitting way down the street on the sidewalk watching us. He didn’t run towards us this time. Last fall we stopped walking and the squirrel came hopping right up to us, bold and fierce, stopped about 4 inches from Penelope’s nose. Stood up, raised its little fists, and looked right at us in a “I’m gonna beat you up” stance. Then raced off with Penelope in hot pursuit, dragging me along. She about ripped my arm out of the socket.

This encounter today, Penelope shooed it off the sidewalk. Feisty ran to the bamboo forest, scrambled up a cane, then over the power lines to the big oak tree. Took all my strength to hold Penelope back. After Feisty climbed high in the tree he set off the danger alarm screaming, “Frank, Frank!” Maybe he’ll leave us alone now. I’m a little scared of it being so bold. Research says no one in the United States has ever gotten rabies from a squirrel. Course you know me, don’t say it can’t, cause with me it can! I’ll be on the lookout for Feisty on our walks tomorrow.

Went outside after supper to walk Penelope and to enjoy the sunset pageant. I watched the sun lay her yellow fireball head down for the night on a pale apricot horizon. Mother Nature didn’t have any clouds to paint tonight so she stroked her watercolor brush across the top of the horizon leaving a glowing blush of pink grapefruit. Father Sky kissed the sun goodnight and went to wake the moon and the stars in the heavens. I only see a few stars pinned in the sky, so guess the moon stayed under his warm cloud covers.

Was cleaning out a junk drawer today and found a scrap of paper where I had written some quotes down. Took a while for me to decipher my scribbles. This quote by Aristotle made me think about how my faith has been a beacon of light during sorrowful times in my life. Aristotle said, “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” Think about how many times God leads us out of despair and sadness with his love. Just when we think we can’t go on a tiny ray of God’s love pierces the darkness and we begin to see the sunshine again. Just think, all the world’s darkness can’t extinguish the light from one little candle. Love this verse from Ecclesiastes. “Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.”

One of the other quotes was attributed to Carol Burnett. She said, “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let it go.” We all have dreams in our lives and we work diligently toward their accomplishments. You can’t give up. It takes effort to pursue a dream but its possible if you set your mind to achieving it. Take small steps. Step carefully over the obstacles in your way and be dedicated. You can achieve anything you set your mind to. If your dreams are aligned with God’s truth he will give you the abilities and opportunities to achieve your dreams.

“You may be the only person left who believes in you, but it’s enough. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness. Never give up.” — Richelle E. Goodrich.