The damp morning leaves a mist of gray hanging in the air among the trees. The sleepy scene is interrupted by cars pushing their way through to start their days. The thirsty ground, browning from continuous drier days, seems erect as if awakened again. Even a mist is worthy of gratitude.  This reminds of how appreciation is relative, and the tougher times serve to grow our gratitude.  

What may you be taking for granted that deserves your gratitude today?

The blue jay hops about the tree speckled with orange dots, fluttering inside then coming around to the other, freely moving within.  Inside the tree is a secure welcome home, full of food and covering. After a quick dance around the tree with others, in and out of the green branches, he flies off. It reminds of how home is the stable provision we fly back to gain sustenance. It surrounds us and we freely move about; while it's purpose is to give us strength to fly off.

Where is "home" for you? 

Like pulled cotton a layer of transparent gray lays across the morning sky. Off on the horizon, away from where the sun rises,  is a band of golden gray hinting at a brightness hidden beneath the cotton somewhere. Like a young child playing hide and seek, a bright spot emanates through a pencil thin line of clouds to the left, revealing the suns position, formerly undetectable.  The otherwise dreary looking day, holds within it an invitation to play; to find the joy and hope always there for the persistent perceiver.

How might you add playfulness to your day? What would it takes to persist until you find the joy in your challenging situations?

Flanking both sides of the roadside tree are rose shrubs, popping their brilliant fuschia heads out from their green homes. Like those eager to greet, they cover both ends of the side walk, awaiting with a cheery ready welcome, even in the stillness of the outside scene. No one is walking by. None, but those spying from the window, to notice. Stretches of our lives sometimes are spent waiting, ready, with greatness and beauty to offer. Yet, frustrated anticipation melts away in a moment more satisfying from the persistence that ushered it in. 

What are you longing to offer or others to see? What do you need in order to keep going?

The blue gray sky above the horizon draws curiosity and imagination. Nothing discernible but the inviting color, consistently spread across the ceiling, yet somehow permeable. It reminds of a journey into the unknown. As we make decisions in life, we may sense the grandeur we cannot yet see behind the veil; but until we take a step, we remain just an observer with a dream.

What step do you need to take to break through to the imagined?

The gilded clouds express beautiful complexity within, that with scrutiny, defy the simplistic view of puffs that occasionally form familiar shapes. The breathtaking intricacy of turns and shades paint a backdrop impossible to replicate, a moment unredeemable.  As we zoom in and focus on the true complexity and depth in parts of ourselves and our lives, the reality that this beauty is revealed once in a lifetime stuns, and we don't want to miss a moment. 

What beauty is in this moment that you don't want to miss? 

What would you like to take a closer look at in your life?

Tuesdays's blog that I didn't post:

Amidst the greenery is the tiniest of buds on the oldest of trees. Two small reddish leaves, brand new, are standing like wings on the twig at the top of the tree. Leaning toward the brilliant white sun, the new growth defies the remainder of the aged branches below.  It reminds that even at the end stages of our lives, there is always something to create, offer, or learn; and with life of any dimension, there is regeneration.

What do you want to create? Where is there new life in you?

The silhouette of the treetops, against the sky, hint at the intricacy among the leaves masked in their darkened state. So much detail is hidden as the eye surveys the curvy outline on the whitewashed blue background. What draws the beautiful line across the horizon is the clustered details never seen in full. Like the tree line, much of our work and deeds remain unknown to others, without acclaim, yet distributed in such a way as to create an awe inspiring design, to the unknowing onlooker.

What contributions are you making to others that remain unknown? How can you acknowledge yourself for you work that is unseen?

A celebration of light marks the morning, as the rays illuminate the powdery sky and quiet scene below. Suddenly, as if running from the light, two black birds fly in the opposite direction breaking the stillness; then a bicyclist, upright and peddling with steady determination, heads the same direction, followed by a car rolling out past view;  all one after the other. They were not escaping, rather, the beams illuminating their paths now enabled their movement forward, on their way. Our lives seem to stand still at times, until in a moment inspiration and purpose bring the path to light,  and we are off and running. 

What is your inspiration? Where is the source of your light?