Just had to write a limerick to go with the picture of this sweet house I spied. Hope you are having a home, sweet home kind of day!
Ok, now back to laundry and vacuuming...MY house beckons me...you can't just sit, you know! There are dust bunnies to be captured.
For those of you who know about our home in Friendship, Gull Haven, I am going to post some updates on that blog later today. It has been a stressful year, but some clouds are lifting. We may get there sometime...
This week we saw changing leaves and spied a beautiful, healthy fox in a field. Don't usually see a fox in broad daylight unless it is sickly. This one had a gorgeous bushy tail and was leery of crossing the field in plain sight, so he looked more like he'd been disturbed from his daytime slumber.
It reminded me of the maples turning red surrounded by the greens. I'd passed the tree a few times, and then we actually turned around so that I could take the picture. I just had to have it for a poem that was brewing.
I am sorry, but I will likely not visit others blogs this week. I wrote and scheduled this a few weeks ago in case I couldn't get back to it. Just noticed that it did post, and I'd even forgotten that I'd done it. So here I am apologizing. Hope your week is fun and your school year is going well, if you are teaching and retirement is going well, if you are doing that!
This summer has been one of fun, but other things, too, that have been slightly less fun or distracting to say the least. I must say, one of the more fun things that has kept my mind busy and happy has been Tabatha Yeatts-Lonske's poetry exchange. I wrote poems for other poets, and received some poems in the mail.
It has been fun to get actual mail in the mailbox - kinda like the olden days!
In the midst of some chaos, I received Molly Hogan's parcel. Molly just lives a few towns away, and knows the parts of Maine that I am familiar with also, so though I knew I wouldn't have time to savor the poem, I opened the envelope to have a sneak peak! Roses, ocean... but had to set it aside before reading very much. I slid everything back in its envelope for safe keeping. The envelope moved from the kitchen table to the kitchen counter, and then to a nightstand where it sat safely waiting for me to have a mellow moment to remember it again.
The moment came, and I went through a stack of mail and miscellaneous in the kitchen, looking for the packet. I suddenly remembered where I'd placed it and scooted in to grab it from its safe spot! I slid the photo of the familiar rosa rugosa out of the manila envelope and breathed a sigh of relief and relaxation!
Molly's poem, which I'd only skimmed briefly initially, now took hold of me, and I smiled to myself and nodded in agreement as I read "What Rosa Rugosa Knows". Yes, Rosa does.
"Don't be deceived by her simplicity
and seeming air of fragility"
Here it is with the brilliant picture with poem:
What Rosa Rugosa Knows
Rugosa knows
how to meet her needs
to protect herself with stalks prickled and brambly
to expand into new territory
sending out questing suckers with ease
using wind and water to disperse her seeds
Rugosa knows
how to live generously
to unfurl her tissued petals exuberantly
releasing scent into brisk sea breeze
her stems weaving a sanctuary
to shelter birds, butterflies and bees
her roots tightly gripping slipping beach
Rugosa knows
how to thrive in adversity
to tolerate salt spray from stormy seas
conserving water in deeply wrinkled leaves
to flourish in earth of poor quality
and valiantly resist disease
Don't be deceived by her simplicity
and seeming air of fragility
I scoured my brain for ideas for this month's topic for First Spiritual Thursday. It was not an easy task for some reason. So many activities, events, adventures and misadventures this summer
have taken up brain space, making it difficult to focus on writing at all.
I finally landed on a moving target - the paths we’ve taken
- by choice or nudging.
Do you remember a time something amazing happened because
of an
opportunity you took?
a corner you turned?
a door you opened?
How have you been led to where you are today?
Let’s just call it “My Path” and see
what comes of it!
Maybe this gives you a different take on it
altogether!
Even I will be surprised. I have no preconceived idea of where this will lead me...
I'm so curious as to where this "path" may lead!
1.
A way beaten or trodden by the feet of man or beast, or made hard by
wheels; that part of a highway on which animals or carriages ordinarily
pass; applied to the ground only, and never to a paved street in a city.
2. Any narrow way beaten by the foot.
3.
The way, course or track where a body moves in the atmosphere or in
space; as the path of a planet or comet; the path of a meteor.
4. A way or passage.
5. Course of life.
He marketh all my paths. Job.33.
6. Precepts; rules prescribed.
Uphold my going in thy paths. Ps.17.
7. Course of providential dealings; moral government.
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep his covenant. Ps.25.
P`ATH, v.t. To make a path by treading; to beat a path, as in snow.
To push forward; to cause to go; to make way for.
P`ATH, v.i. To walk abroad.
My take on Path: Course of life -
I was tempted to begin a timeline showing things along my path. But it isn't the things along or in my path that are the important things. They are the evidence of God working in my life even from an early age. For as long as I can remember I was searching for the God of my life. I was not sure how to find Him, but I knew He was real. I did not know why Jesus had to die. I just knew He did. I did not know how He related to God, but I knew He was important. I knew I wanted to be good so I could go to Heaven, but I didn't know exactly how good I had to be. Perhaps I could just do more good than bad. It seemed logical. So I set off on that path. I would be good and kind and helpful and try to do no harm.
I think God saw the path I had chosen, and maybe smiled a little at my feeble attempts to be good - at least to be more good than bad. And He kept watching me. I somehow knew He was. It feels now like my path was a bit of a maze that God was steering me through, sometimes holding my hand, sometimes nudging me around corners or over boulders, guiding me through deep waters, pushing me past some people, and leading me to other people until he could get me through the maze and end my confusion.
I believe my path has been guided throughout my life, even when I wasn't sure how it was happening.
Why did my future husband show up at the moment he did? Why did job opportunities open up when others closed suddenly? Why did we call that one real estate agency to list our home and end up selling it to his boss before it was even listed - at a time when we really had to move quickly? Why did - Why was - How did this happen to work out even when it looked like it couldn't possibly go right?
I have so many "why dids" and "how dids" in my pathway that are now answered simply. I always wanted God to lead me, even when I wasn't so sure who He was to me. And He guided my footsteps and helped me to avoid many storms in life - actually, I'm not as sure that He helped me avoid storms, so much as He helped me ride them out. Amazingly, often it wasn't until later that I realized it was a storm that I'd been through, and perhaps might have been concerned about had I not been fixed on God. I have rested peacefully and thankfully in His arms - as a newborn would in a mother's - almost unaware of the dangers.
I'm along for the ride. I'm on a path that has been set for me. It may look like I'm in control, but that's just because God's over in the passenger seat with all the controls - just like my drivers' ed instructor.
Psalm 16:11Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
This is not quite on the same "path" as the above, but it is a kind of path I remember thinking about as a child...and the disappointment when I learned that it was impossible.
To Walk on Clouds
I’ve always wanted to walk on clouds Billowed beneath my feet; Swirl them, twirl them with my toes Aloft on Nimbus Street; Then peering past The cumulus cast An eye on all below: Mountains insignificant, Rivers raging slow. But there is no solid stratus, No cirrus stony path, And I am much too heavy To amble on a draft. I’ll never traipse atop the clouds, Though cloudless days there’ll be When I will step so nimbly Unweighted down and free, Not to walk on clouds but skip And run on higher ground Above the highest mountain, Cause I’m not lost but found. I’d always wanted to walk on clouds Billows beneath my feet Until I found reality is More magnificent and sweet.
