rural ontario

Some stand straight and some tilt,

hand hewn in earlier days.

Some people aim to pull them down

and I photograph them

before they are gone.

monarch

flowers

september

cross across veins

new life

The wind is decidedly colder and the leaves have started to rustle. The garden plants are looking tired, as if all their remaining energy is being used up to prepare for the next generation. Seeds are dropping onto the soil, popping out of their capsules. Burrs are stuck to the dogs' fur and to our pantlegs. Sometimes beautifully engineered parachutes float by with a tiny seed at their core. A massive attempt to recreate in the face of decay. Autumn is just around the corner and time is drawing short.

And so it shall be, "until He comes".

why I like Sunflowers

The cardinal was feeding at the sunflowers in the wildflower garden gone wild but was much too shy to be photographed. The less colorful, but more sociable chickadee was happy to oblige me.

He who paints the sky..

For a few minutes tonight the sky was filled with splendid brush strokes of colour

and the moon hung bright in its southern orbit.

Childlike, I wonder, "Are you up there somewhere mom?"

I dream about her at night, being "whole" and healthy

and I wonder, in my dreams, if her illness from 4 years ago was all a bad dream,

but wake up to the truth-

The Truth beyond any dreams.

restless

When the music is right and the day is quiet contentment settles quietly and drapes around restless shoulders.

There are times when restlessness stirs the spirit and feet want to dip into a maritime ocean and dance to celtic fiddles. When feet wish to be clad in hiking boots and struggle up mountain paths where spirits can soar with the beauty of it all. When feet want to wander northern woods where hearts can listen to the wind in the conifers. When the world is just too big and too wide and too wonderful and the home front too small and too common.

Yet God is the Author of our lot (Chris Tiegreen) and discontentment speaks of dissatisfaction. Would He, who created us not know our needs. Does He, who already wrote our life story not have a plan?

And as I sit, morning by morning, on my front porch

and watch the restless birds fly to and fro

I know that I am blessed, immensely.

I am loved.

And beauty is there for the taking

if I pause awhile and open my eyes to it.

september 2nd

Each moment is precious, each hour a gift.

A new day presents itself with new opportunities

to live to the Glory of His Name.

september 1st

Showers pelt the black-eyed Susans

and leave glimpses of an upside-down world

hanging precariously all around the garden.

Just how did we fall into september so quickly?

My summer's to-do-list is longer than it was in the springtime,

and the end of summer dissatisfaction creeps in

with feelings of ineptitude and regrets.

How can we be ready to shoulder new responsibilities

when slates are not wiped clean?

august 31st