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Green, Green Leaves of Grace

I awake again with a burdened heart, a sad heart. My daughter’s mastectomy broke me, the weight sitting on me like an elephant, taking my breath. Mornings on the porch restored my breath, albeit shallow, yet sustaining, consoling. The next bout in this healing process is now here – chemo.
 
I go once again, from my bed, to my porch.
 
I breathe in the morning breeze and feel the warmth of sunshine on my skin. I have a spirit to know it.
 
Orioles sing. Dogs bark on a farm on a far road. The sounds carried in the breeze. Peacocks and roosters crow across the country road. Chippy birds chatter. I have ears to hear.
 
Green, green maple leaves by the thousands – the millions – dance beside me. I have eyes to see.
 
I open the Word. I don’t choose the Psalm. It chooses me. It speaks. I listen. With the Psalmist, I “praise the Lord … I praise the name of the Lord … for the Lord is good … great … does whatever pleases Him … will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants.” His servants. That’s me. That’s my daughter. We are His servants.
 
And now, once again, I know His grace. He has revealed it to me in a thousand ways. I have a spirit to know it. I have ears to hear and eyes to see. It is a beautiful sustaining grace like the green, green of the maple leaves.
 
I breathe it in – grace upon grace ..
 
Psalm 135
 
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The Sun Sets on Route 66 (Route 66, Chapter 7)

The Leaning Tower of Texas caught our eyes as we left Texas and entered Oklahoma . 

The tiny city of Sayre, Oklahoma welcomed us

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At the Cross (Route 66, Chapter 6)

Ron was hoping to see ranches, but Texas is a BIG state and there weren’t very many ranches this far north, in the panhandle. We did see a few, and I was fascinated with their old windmills.. catching pics of all I could see along the road.

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Where is Everyone? (Route 66, Chapter 5)

We could often see Route 66 running parallel to the Interstate.  We slipped  onto the actual Mother Road  as often as we could. And in New Mexico, we had opportunity several times.

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You don’t even have to ask – (Route 66 Chapter 4)

Still in Arizona, we continued traveling west on Route 66, literally I-40 at times, but I liked knowing it was as close to the original Mother Road as we could get! We hoped to reach Grants, New Mexico before dark.

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The Corner – We own it! Route 66 (Chapter 3)

You do something – you hear something – you remember something – you experience something – you see something – it sticks with you. You were impressed, touched, stirred.

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Get Your Kicks . . . Route 66 (Chapter 1)

“If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, take the highway that’s the best
Get your kicks on Route 66″

You’ve heard it. Even if it was before your time, which it probably was.

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If a Bear Growls in the Woods, . . . – Post 10 from “The Getaway . . .”

That last day of our northern getaway, we drove on to revisit and re-create the final sites from my memories in 1955. In this case, I’m glad only the photo setting was recreated – not the actual event that occurred here at my grandpa’s cabin many years ago.

I was just a wee one. My family was at the cabin – a small log cabin in the deep woods, just south of L’Anse, Michigan, located on a sandy road on the way to Little Mountain.

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The Last Waterfall of the Trip – And I Missed It! Post 9 – From “The Getaway . . .”

Daddy bought a new Kodak 3 mm in 1955, so my family, including my brother and sister, inherited a plethora of photos, most preserved in slide format. Some years ago, I transferred these slides to digital form, saving them on disks for my family.  I’m nostalgic, to say the least. I thrive in a mid-century décor shop. Program my TV to record 40’s and 50’s  movies on Turner Classic. So when I view those digital photos or browse through my mother’s photo albums, I seem to “go back in time.” And I love it!

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