As winter draws near

Wheweeeee...it's a chilly wind blowing around this morning. The black birds had the acorns falling to the ground in bucketfuls yesterday so even if I hadn't listened to the weather (or my dad), I knew the cold was coming. But...the sun is out and it's not THAT bad. We usually think of winter as a bleak time of year. The trees lose their leaves and the days get long and dreary. Well, I know it's not quite winter yet but anyway... sometimes it's all about how you "see" things. Wednesday morning it was down right COLD. There was a heavy frost on the ground and all I could think of was...yuck...here we go. Coats and hats and colds along with boxes and mounds of tissue. As I bundled up the grandsons and headed out the door the 3 year old's eyes grew wide and a smile broke across his face and with that childlike glee in his voice he exlcaimed, "Look Grammy! It's snowed!!!" Now, suddenly the cold didn't seem so bad and the frost took on a whole new look as I saw that sparkle of surprise and wonder in his eyes. He wanted to make a snowball but the frost became slush as soon as he touched it. But it didn't curb his excitement. On getting to the car he saw the frost on the windshield and he thought the window had cracked but when I explained he launched into the thousand question game he loves to play and we focused on the individual quality of the frost which now seemd to look like tiny little spider webs as it branched across my windshield. I think we all need to look at things through the eyes of a child...again. We forget that sometimes because we get so busy being "grown-up". Oh I know what some might say to that but really...if we could look at things that way and not let a little "melting" curb our excitement about life itself...look for the mystery and the glory of the world around us...wouldn't we cope just a little bit better? Maybe our days wouldn't become so dreary nor the world around us look so bleak...not just in the winter...but every day. Look for the good...make things fun...smile a lot...and maybe the cracks in our lives will begin to look more like tiny bits of spider web glued together by laughter and joy. Share your life...and once in a while...just be a child. Love ya...

Today

Two days post election. There are those who say history has been made and those who say that this particular point in history was foretold long, long ago. I believe we just might want to give the fig tree a second look. I saw my yet to be born 3rd grandchild today. I saw both of my daughters, one the mother and the other the aunt, as the heart beat on the screen pulsed for the new life forming. Faces so utterly filled with joy. We were there...the four of us...mother, daughters, and grandchild...a bond so beautifully strong. I may not know for sure what the future holds. I've never known that. What I do know is that this new life is a promise. A promise as old as time. And I believe that time has not run out...it is only beginning. Love you all...keep the faith...hold the promise.