Capricornicopia

E.T. Phone Home

A simple phone conversation brings incredible SFH! 

Thank you, God, 

for new connections in the meantime.

Road Sign

Heading to Snyder this morning...what a sight!

Bless it!

NCCIL Chair

Blessed

Waveriding

Some of my favorite childhood memories 

are of warm summer days in the Atlantic Ocean, 

riding wave after wave 

on skimpy little plastic air mattresses 

(the old fashioned kind) 

with my daddy.  

On these trips to see our Jacksonville relatives, 

the highlight for me was always the adventure of catching 

these very unpredictable waves and riding them 

all the way into the shore, 

until my body was scraping the sand 

and the thrill of another long ride was filling my spirit.  

"Let's do it again, Daddy!"  

And out we'd go for another encounter with the playful sea, 

never knowing if this next wave would be 

the thriller of the day or just a teaser. 

What we knew from experience 

was that the higher the crest, 

the more energy in the wave, and the longer the ride.  

It's just nature's way.

Now, some 50+ years later, I remember this experience 

and know for a fact that every wave that crests 

must eventually fall back into the sea from which it came. 

On those days 

when events and their resulting thoughts and feelings 

have taken me on another wild ocean ride, 

and it feels like it's nothing but 

CRESTING 

(When will this ever be resolved?) 

I now know it will fall...

it will resolve...

it will once again become part of the whole.  

And with every experience, 

I know, 

without a doubt, 

that the ocean is safe, 

even when it rises 

into those threatening  appearances, 

and I will once again ride 

all the way through it and onto the shore...

perhaps, even more willing 

to do it again. 

What a ride!

Thank you, God for reminding me 

of the dependable rhythm of your creation.  

May I rest always 

in the rising and falling ocean 

of your abiding love.

   

Monkey with kid on his back...

Chillin'

At Last!

Oooooops

Soap Spill

Nature's timing

This seems a delightful example of what Paula D'Arcy calls 

aligning with what is, with nature's timing.  

The photograph sits on my desk.  

The rest just happened before my very eyes.  

I'm sure glad I had them open!

~Time Flies~

                      ~Simple ingredients for hours of Soul-Feeling-Happiness~

Add a dash of forever friendship and it's more than enough!

Speaking my language

What a gift when someone speaks your love language, 

especially when it is not his native tongue!

Last gift of the day

Look what the sky gave me for my birthday!

You can't hurry love...

"You can't hurry love.  No, you just have to wait.  

Love don't come easy.  It's a game of give and take.  

No, you can't hurry love."   

Well, I declare...

out of the mouth of a mechanical dog, 

and just in time!  

Loving and waiting...loving and waiting...loving and waiting.  

Thank you God, for giving us strength and understanding 

while we practice this "game of give and take", 

learning to love bigger than we ever thought possible.

JOY

This precious video arrived today from my friend, Susan, 

who is recovering magnificently 

from a brain aneurysm she suffered a few months ago.  

"Play this and cry--such joy!" 

were her accompanying words to me.  

Amen, Sister Susan!

Pieces-of-Life

A dear friend sent this photo to me today, 

telling me she had fixed the broken pieces and even added 

a couple of new pieces from her own collections.  

It started as a gift from me to her, 

Pieces of Life, I called it. 

When I took it out of the bag to give it to her, 

the "Caleb-Twig" was broken.  

She assured me she could fix it.  

And as you see, she has, by adding another twig, 

found by special little grand-hands in her own family circle, 

and a shell I had given her years ago.

And isn't that the way friendship works at its loveliest?  

We present the gift of ourselves, 

our pieces-of-life, brokenness included, 

and a loving friend accepts the whole package, 

even our brokenness, 

and by doing so makes our gift even more beautiful, 

more complete perhaps.  

Sacred synergy!

The Hug

It arrived yesterday, 

a prayer shawl for my birthday 

from a faithful, forever friend of forty plus years.  

With every knit and purl, 

she said she thought of me and whispered prayers for me.  

And now it hugs me whenever I wish.  

What a gift of soul-feeling-happiness!  

My heart is so full.  

And, once again, I am surprised and blessed 

by Love unimagined.

Enter Winter

eARTh

                                                       Saturday Morning Wake-Up Call

                                                                            
                                                                             Playmates

                                                                            Band of Gold

Believing is seeing

This odd array of yard decor is evidence that we haven't done anything 

to enhance our new backyard since we moved here a year ago.  

Yes, that is a storm cellar--apparently the only one 

in this housing development "included with the house" 

when it was built ten years ago.  

I suppose it was an added incentive for potential buyers 

who had heard about Lubbock tornadoes of the past.  

All that currently sits atop the cellar door will one day find places 

amidst the stunning landscaping yet to be revealed.  

When I see this sight, my usual thought response is, 

"We've got to do something with that backyard."  

So how very refreshing when grandson Caleb, 

upon recently spotting the "animal cemetery" as I lovingly refer to it, 

remarked, "Oh, tell PapaRob I like what he's done with the animals."  

It's all perspective!

Heavenly Days

Free picture collage created with Smilebox

I've received some lovely responses to the Smilebox
I sent out on New Year's Day.  

One of the loveliest included this gorgeous West Texas sunset 

with accompanying description of where, when, and why--

yet another amazing story of the power of SFH, 

even right smack-dab in the middle of grief.