Another beautiful day today but what a scorcher. I got up and headed outside to walk Penelope and realized I had both my shirt and my shorts on backwards! Not even going to try to figure out what that might mean. At this stage in my life it doesn’t really matter, I guess. I filled up the bird feeders and picked the squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Even with a box fan blowing on me, I could not sit in the porch swing and ponder today. I came in the house at noon. I guess I really am getting old if the heat is running me in the house to my reading chair in my bedroom. Guess I’m pondering from the reading chair now. I hope Shady Oaks has air conditioning and assistance with getting dressed. Ha ha!

I had a towhee visit this morning. Haven’t seen one in a long time. They are beautiful birds, dark black and warm reddish-brown plumage, white breasts, bright red eyes. Their call sounds just like “drink your tea.” A flock of towhees is called a tea pot. I love that! The towhee dug and shoveled around the ground under the bird feeders and perched on the bird baths. He never sat on a feeder. Can’t understand how he can be an oversized sparrow but that’s what the bird guides say.

Penelope and I pondered in the air conditioning this afternoon and went outside around 7 PM for a walk to watch the sunset. Accuweather says it’s 88 degrees but the real feel is 96 degrees. It’s just so humid. Walked Penelope barefooted and the pavement wasn’t too hot on my feet but the heat and humidity was stifling.

Mother Nature really put on a show for us. She blazed a watercolor fire all the way down the street’s horizon with brush strokes of orange and red and yellow, setting the tree’s silhouettes on fire with their reflections of the vibrant flames of color. As we watched the watercolors darken and the rendered fire burn out, Mother Nature changed her palette’s watercolors and painted the rows of clouds in cotton candy colors of orchid and lilac, fuchsia and lavender, bubble gum and amethyst. She touched the spaces between the clouds with an aqua wash, perfectly beautiful. My imagination colored the sunset this evening. When I came in the house the sunset was a wash of golden watercolors. I didn’t watch the sunset pageant tonight. Never thought of a day I couldn’t enjoy the porch after supper in the twilight of the evening but it was just too hot. Maybe tomorrow the heat wave will cool.

Been reading quotes today looking for new ones for inspiration. I just hope I can later read my scribbles. I kept thinking about this quote. “Life isn’t meant to be easy, it’s meant to be lived. Sometimes happy, other times rough… But every up and down you learn lessons that make you strong.” I think some of us are afraid to really live, scared of the consequences of a wrong choice. If we don’t have times of struggle in our lives we won’t have strength for the trials and tribulations that are part of living life. Even when we struggle God is with us. Isaiah 41:10 counsels us, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Life is full of obstacles and road blocks but once we learn how to go around these stumbling blocks we realize there are good things ahead for us. When I’m fearful, I’m remember this verse of scripture, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” The times we feel like God is breaking us down he’s really building us up. We need to set goals and work towards them. Arthur Ashe says it best. “Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.” That’s good advice for all of us.

Life is wondrous but we have to have to courage to live, to not let our fears of not winning the race hold us back. Start today where you are and just vow to do your best. Be determined to live and let God help push you in the right direction. We all have gifts from God and we need to use our talents for God’s glory. We all need to do what we can to make the world a kinder more compassionate place.

God wants us to enjoy being alive. He wants us to live with joy. Jesus say in John 10:10, “…I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” When we accept Jesus as our savior we receive abundant life, joyful and eternal. Life is a precious gift and should be treasured every day.

“Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest — well, that is a choice.” – Andy Andrews