I really don’t hate cars, I know we can’t live without them anymore, but I didn’t want to hear them this morning. I awoke with the full expectation of not hearing that irritating, incessant hum….I want QUIET! Why did I hear it today? Isn’t it Saturday?

Then I remembered, “Country Thunder” is going on right now. Drat! The country music event that attracts thousands.

Those of you who live in quiet rural areas need to count your blessings. To those of us who live near major freeways, quiet is a luxury. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to post something nice and inspirational and meditative. Right now all I can hear is the incessant HUM.

I know, this is like complaining about planes overhead when you know full well the house you bought is next to an airport, it’s just that on Saturday I expect the quiet. Lord, help me to find the quiet in my soul today.

Tomorrow I will get up earlier!

Psalm 131:2
But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

One last walk around old familiar places…
Cannery Row, Monterey…..Setting of many John Steinbeck novels
A bookstore in Carmel, California one of my favorite towns, Clint Eastwood was once mayor here….bookstore regretfully not open.Highway 1, Big Sur, California….farewell to the ocean before turning inland…..
Home to the desert….

Home again after 2 books on CD and many miles and smiles later. Carrying sweet memories of family and friends. Places are magical but it’s the people traveling with us and the ones we meet when we are there that make the real memories!

We enter the bookstore and I am transported to my happy place, I gaze at the displays much like a diabetic at a See’s candy store. So many stories that beg to be brought to life in the reading! We head for the racks, a free afternoon and the possibilities are endless. Stress evaporates like a vapor. I am drawn to the tables, arms laden with treasure. Too good to be true, a table in the corner….we can’t believe our fortune as we unburden ourselves and settle in. Life is good today. This is one last grasp at the weekend before it all starts over again, we seize it, cherish it. One of mind and spirit, we will know when it is time to go without speaking, and the time will be right.

We fall in to the rhythm of page turning, enjoying a little slice of life here in this corner of the world. People watching is part of the fun. A college student nearby, stacks of papers ripped out of her binder, her pager nearby as a reminder of outside responsibilites. The number display is faced away from her, as if she doesn’t want to be reminded it may go off at any moment. A man with his back to us laughed out loud every once in a while, attracting stares as he did so. An elderly couple teetering to a table complained about the price of the coffee and cookies they had just bought. College girl’s pager goes off and she goes to use the payphone, coins clinking as she feeds them in.

It is tempting to eavesdrop as two older gentlemen sit down nearby and complain about the Rio Salado Project and living in Mesa in general. One of them says, “My wife doesn’t know it yet, but we are putting our house up for sale, then we are outta here.” I wonder when he will let her in on this?

Pages continue to turn, stopping every now and then to share what is interesting; we drink up the wonderful rhythm of sounds, the whir of the cappacino machine, rising and falling of conversation, the rustle of pages, all blending in and around background music. I sense that these are very precious times to be cherished. What a gift to enjoy these simple things with a like-minded person I treasure.

“Hey,” she says, glancing toward the display, “Did you see those chocolate cupcakes.”

“Yes,” I say, “I saw them when we came in.” I have the peripheral vision of a squirrel when it comes to spotting chocolate.

“Do we dare?” She says.

“Yes absolutely,” I say, “A perfect day like this calls for it.”

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven Ecclesiastes 3:1

Daffodil Hill, Sutter Creek, California

On the news today I saw New York once again buried in snow. I am sure they feel that Springtime is not on their horizon anytime soon.

But eventually it will happen. Snows will melt, green shoots of life will appear, everyone will start to thaw out, all the storms will be a distant memory.

I used to love Valentine’s Day in California because all the daffodils and tulips would start to break through the brown soggy earth. We would all feel hopeful that is really was coming. Then sometime in March, all the cherry and peach orchards would burst through in clouds of color. It was glorious while it lasted but then many times the March winds and rains would come and knock all the blooms off! In April we would go out and buy our new Easter dresses, hoping against hope for a warm sunny Easter. Sometimes we would get it, but I remember just as many times, running from the car, raincoats over dresses, wrestling with umbrellas that bent upwards against the onslaught of wind.

But we would always know that Spring was coming.

Here in Arizona, it always feels a bit like Spring, so sometimes I actually forget what time of the year it is! (Except for summer of course) So for me, Spring will officially start Monday March 1st. I have promised myself a new Easter wreath and my Easter flag will go up as well. I do these things with a smile, remembering other Springs, and pray that the east coast will get some relief soon.

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; Song of Solomon 2:11,12

Anyone have any favorite memories of Spring?

I never ever post twice in one day but I just heard the “evening bird” and had to ask if anyone ever wonders about this as I do. Why is there always one bird singing in the morning and one in the evening? Do the birds take a vote to decide who will take morning shift and who will take evening? I wonder if they take turns?

I first noticed this in the morning because there was always a singular melody to greet me at first light when I arrived in the parking lot at work; that silly bird always encouraged me. But since I love sitting outside when God paints His evening portrait I noticed this curious pattern again.

It is never more than one bird per area. Why just one and not two? Anyway, I am glad they are there. Maybe someone can solve this mystery.

I picked up “The Christmas List” by Richard Paul Evans at the library a couple weeks ago, being a fan of his other Christmas themed books starting with “The Christmas Box” several years ago now. I was captivated by the theme. What would happen if you read your own obituary in the newspaper. That is exactly what happens to James Kier to his shock and amazement. It gets even more interesting when he starts to read all the comments of his business associates about his death. He learns how they really feel about him. I won’t give the rest of the plot away, but suffice it to say, I had no problem reading it under the seven days…..

It raises some very important questions. What kind of legacy do we want to leave? What kind of legacy do you want to leave for your children? What kind of legacy does God want us to leave?

There are many things that this world considers important and noteworthy, worthy of recognition. How do those things line up with what God considers important?

Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

How about this one…. James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I think leaving a legacy of kindness is one of the best ways that we could glorify God. Being known as kind, nothing more complicated than that.

I have actually seen bears sit at tables like this. One time in Yosemite I actually saw one open a full jar of mayonnaise, proceed to lick it clean and then belch loudly before padding off the to next site. Another time a neighbor left their small dog tied to the car door overnight. The window was open a crack, just a crack mind you. The next morning they told us the dog had been so scared that he wedged himself into the car through that impossibly small crack. If they hadn’t told me, I would never have believed it! We nicknamed him Houdini after that.

Another time we had just set a beautiful table for breakfast, eggs, bacon, pancakes, the whole 9 yards. No sooner had we put the first forkful into our mouths we hear shouts of, “Bear, bear!” echoing throughout the camp. We looked up to see a good sized one trotting right towards us. I guess the human fear was overridden by the smell of bacon and maple syrup. It was every man (and child) for himself, as we all ran in different directions. He proceeded to clear the table of everything, including us.

In their latter days of camping my Mom had taken to sleeping with a scissors close by her bed, “In case I need to cut my way out the back when the bear comes in.” I guess she was assuming that the bear would automatically use decorum and come in through the front flap. Ever tried to cut into heavy duty canvas? I guess with the presence of adrenalin and fear anything is possible. Just ask Houdini dog.

This picture brought back some good memories of camping in my youth.

Photograph: Kenneth Libbrecht/Barcroft Media
Is each snowflake really unique? Says Hans Verlinde, associate professor of meteorology at Penn State:
“It depends upon how we define snowflake,” says Hans Verlinde, associate professor of meteorology at Penn State. “Let’s be specific, and define a snowflake as a single, vapor-grown ice crystal. I would say with a great deal of confidence that all crystals are different on a molecular level, purely because there are differences in the atomic structure of the atoms making up a water molecule, and hence, in the water molecules themselves.”

He further states… “But we can address the probability of finding two identical ice crystals, which is vanishingly small,” he notes. “The bigger the crystals get, the greater the freedom for different growth paths, and the lower the probability of finding identical crystals even at the macroscopic visual level.”

Enough about the science! The point is, God could have just made them look like formless blobs, but he didn’t! He is the original Master, and His Masterpieces are everywhere including you and me.

Last year I found a beautiful book at Barnes and Noble. On each page was a closeup of a different snowflake, about 200 in all. I just had to marvel again at the creativity of our Creator….nature speaks loudly for all who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear with….

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech or language, where their voice is not heard.” Psalm 1: 1-3

Painting by Alphonse François

“While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” Matthew 27:19

Dreams have always fascinated me. I guess because I dream a lot. It is more unusual for me not to have a dream. I have dreams where I fly through the air, drive wierd little cars, climb through narrow passageways, and ever since I was a kid I have dreamed about my teeth falling out. The Bible is filled with stories of the way God uses dreams to communicate with people.

Once I had a “healing dream.” I was suffering from anorexia in my very early twenties. It was a nightmare, and my Mom and Dad suffered the most their prayers seemed to hit the ceiling and go no further, until one night. What I actually dreamed was sketchy. Different scenes played out here and there, but through it all the one thing I remember was a golden light filling everything around me. When I awoke I knew that I had been healed. I announced it and we all cried, and I remember eating my first rational meal in months and months. The power that had held my mind and body captive was broken by the Great Healer! I will never forget it.

Do you ever dream about a place you’ve never been before but dream about it over and over? My Mom dreams of a little messy house that she can never get clean, always the same house. I have dreamed of a little alleyway restaurant more than once, an oriental restaurant with a walkup counter….I can see it now in my mind. I always wonder if that is a real place somewhere.

So what about you? Comment and share your dreams…..I would love to hear them!