Rust

 I asked my husband

to let a bit of the old lilac

bush remain.

 This morning, we gathered

rusty items

and created a rust tree!

I'm aware it's not everyone's

cup of tea...

but I'm a happy camper.

Downsizing

What started out a trimming of our old lilac bush

ended up being so much more!

Finding much old, dead wood,

he kept cutting back...

He would have gone further,

but I assured him I liked this interesting shape 

It has character, I think.

i give up

i've written that before

and meant it

about other things

and everything

but i'm writing it again

about something

and everything

and mean it again

as far as i know

(rlg, 6-27-2020)

...One of the daily ten lines I've written since Ash Wednesday...

Sane, Simple, Sacred Scenes from the Weekend

 I had a rather relaxing weekend

 Spent an overnight with my sister

while her husband was away.

 I enjoyed the farm scenes along the few miles

between our two homes...

So thankful that at least a PART

of the world around me is peaceful...

This too is a grace from God that I accept with a thankful heart.

Picnic in the Park

 Beautiful picnic lunch Sunday

 with social distancing, family, and a beautiful site--

 a local park featuring a rose garden...

...and did I mention "perfect weather"?

Of Poetry and Prayer

yesterday's scene far from the maddening crowd

 

 

 

 

the crowds 

chanted 

and waved

littering the street with branches

as the town shook with excitement

and i wonder

what exactly was accomplished that day

because i know 

where the crowd was

a few days later

After a day of watching noisy crowds all day yesterday, I wrote the above 10 lines as one of many "10 lines" I've written since the beginning of the Lenten Season.  I post them on my Facebook page.  This morning, a person I respect commented that he read my "prayers" and added, "If it were up to me, I would gather them into a collection  But that's just me."  

I thought about that word prayer.  I thought my 10 lines more poetry than prayer.  But then I read these lines from Bodmin Hermit on  Twitter:  "The heart of prayer is not to be found in the recitation of many words but in opening ourselves to a different level of consciousness which the Christian tradition calls the contemplative mind, or the mind of Christ." 

Maybe poetry and prayer.

are more closely related than I realized!

Now THAT'S Better!

 Finished and reset.

And while my husband was applying the protective finish,

I asked him to add it to this puppy

which had set outside and lost its original painting.

I simply sprayed it and added two black spots to the eye sockets.

I'll find a place for him outside.

He already HAS a place in my heart!

Renewed

A recent photo from our tiny patio

(pretty as it is)

resulted in a project....

 and so my hard-working husband did the "grunt work"

to clean off and replace a bolt on this bench...

Dad, 93-years-old, sanded it down to prepare for finish.
It takes a village!
Stay tuned for the completed project.

Of Flowers and Fear

 Iris are the flower du jour

around here!

 It's as though someone (Someone?) 

gave the order and voila!

 I'm not sure why or how their beauty exists in my thoughts

right along with a few thoughts about fear...

Suffice it to say, that my thinking on the subject of fear these days

can be summed up in this statement

that is subject to change, by the way...

Fear does NOT equal caution NOR  uncertainty.

I'm not trying to justify my emotions

or response to the current challenges--

simply to understand and clarify them.
Right now, I DO feel both caution and uncertainty.
Not necessarily fear.
Does that make sense?

Two Calls

I received two calls within minutes of each other this morning.

The first was from a friend whose adult son had been

transferred to Cleveland Clinic after one of two heart valves recent

recently replaced had developed trouble.

His surgery would be tomorrow.

The second was an elderly friend confined to his room in 

a local nursing home.

He was waiting for his shower which had been scheduled for 10:00.

Of course, he'd been ready since 9:30, and he was still waiting

at 10:30.  "It's hard to be patient," he explained apologetically.

***

Thinking about the two calls,

I thought of their importance to each person.

  In the grand scale of things, we might be tempted

to rank the severity or significance of the two higher or lower.

But weighed in the personal circumstances,

 I recognize the importance of both issues--both calls.

More importantly, the Heavenly Father does--

He who knows and cares when a sparrow falls to the ground!

The Apostle Peter reminds us to cast ALL our cares upon Him 

for He cares for you/me/us. 

2 Peter 5:7

 

It Found Us

A friend moving into an assisted living arrangement

called the other day asking if we'd be interested in buying her

riding lawn mower.

Would we!?!

 Today was its maiden voyage!

After my husband made the trial run,

he acquainted my 93 year old father with its intricacies...

 and then he was off!

 Our yard has never looked prettier!

 It's definitely in its element in the springtime.

 I'm very happy we have this new (used) lawnmower

to make the job faster and easier for my husband.

We knew we needed one, but kind of dreaded the search.

It found us.

Clutter

I'd REALLY like to think my mind is not as cluttered as my chairside! 

I will be straightening both, I'm sure.

I will begin with chairside...

I highly suspect the two
are related somehow.

Silence

 silence 

can be golden

or guilting

silence

can defend

or defeat

silence

can be private

or public

it's all in the hearing

(rlg, 5-11-2020)

I continue the discipline of writing ten line compositions
almost every day since the beginning of Lent..

At first it was just a way to create during the Lenten season.

Now it has become an almost necessary form

of personal expression.

My inspiration often comes the night before via a scene, experience,

something read, or something heard.

The fire pictured above happened on Mother's Day morning.

The air was conducive to silent fireside contemplation.

The cattle grazing were seen on one of our drives through our rural countryside.

Silence for me is almost always golden...

Nothing Wasted

We trimmed this bush yesterday afternoon...

Let NOTHING be wasted!

He said to his disciples, 

"...Let nothing be wasted."

John 6:12

Tiptoe through the Tulips

short-lived

and concentrated

in beauty

blooming for a season

then yielding place

to other

sturdier stock

till their time

comes again

as it will

(rlg, 5-2-2020) 

Such a sweet time
in the sunshine with some
family at a local, city park
this week.