Have you seen the mountains this morning?!!????
Purple-headed mountains singing the glory of Creation.
There is no way I can ever thank My Lord in any way for what He DID for me, for us. And then we get these beautiful mornings, new, just as they are. And most with coffee.

I'm pretty cynical these days with a side of apathy. Then I get out walking. And loosen my muzzle. And let the mind-crap just fall away star-magnolia blossom after star-magnolia blossom, sweet smelling planting compost after compost, Sheltie grin after sheltie-grin, shadows on mountains after shadows on mountains, white-laden sky-reaching plum blossoms after blossoms, step after step with strong healthy legs in warm clothes or lack thereof, breath by breath--each step a prayer. "Why?" becomes "What Now?"becomes "Oh" becomes"Wow" becomes "Home".

No blueprints of any kind. No security. None. Almost wrote "Non" and that would work, too. Earthquakes in Italy. More folks rediagnosed with cancer (not me). A family member of Fletcher's taking a sweet step for a move into a sweeter future and falling while moving a heavy piece of furniture, hitting his head, and not waking up. ever. These have happened in the past 24 hours. And I step out with dog and leash and coffee and mind and start the "Why?" and What now? and....

And then Spirit steps in with Tenebrae. The nourishment. The healing. The sharing. The settling into shadow and love and communion. The music. The voices. The heartsong.

And then Spirit steps in with a parking lot conversation with a 7th grade teacher that I respect greatly. greatly. She noted that she sure got a lot of compliments about what was happening in Ms. Raney's 2nd grade on the Celebration of Learning night. Filters were off. Couldn't help myself. I said "What?!?"She said she had many parents who also have younger siblings in our secondgradeland and others who stopped by down in our part of the schoolworld first and then headed down to middleschool-land. I thanked her. I was hoping for some kind of feedback about how things are going for the families and the learners. I don't trust my own feedback these days unless it is data-driven and I have the summative results in front of my face. These past few months have been full of unrest. Ok then.

So I checked through my Gratitude Journal this early, early morning and added some more. There are some definite patterns--star magolia blossoms, warm on my back and face, dog(s) and angel-dogs, Breath, words, walks, simple/classical music, camping with Mary J., recovery in spirit and body, sleep, moon, and coffee.

I'm glad my short commute to work involves two sets of mountain families and one Sistah-Mountain!