Good Morning!

Morning tiptoes gently and hopefully into my personal space, sidling up to chronic discomfort and distraction (loud noise screaming inside my head), calling me above and apart from it, challenging me to live unharmed even while tangibly consumed.  Soft sunlight ministers peacefully through the window while I am still bedridden.  It urges me to rise and shake off darkness, to thrive beyond private torture, to love (even with a limp) on this pilgrim journey, to celebrate mercy as my constant companion. 

For she is enough.  Mercy, that is.

“If we abandon ourselves to the love [mercy] of Christ, then all will be overturned, all will be transfigured, all will be transformed, all will be transubstantiated.  Anger, resentment, jealousy, indignation, censure, ingratitude, melancholy and depression will all become love, joy, longing, divine eros.  Paradise!” - St. Porphyrios

Good morning!

Tea Party Picnic

“Can we have a tea party, Nana?”  Her crystal blue eyes shone with anticipation as she recalled the details of our special one-on-one event a year ago.  “Remember?  We made two kinds of quiche, and we sampled them on the antique china plates, and we had fruity tea in the teapot.  Just you and me.”

This day was a bit different.  We weren’t alone.  Her grandfather, mother, three sisters, and a neighbor’s granddaughter were also in the mix.  “How about a picnic-style tea party just for you girls?” I answered.  “With special plates and tiny teacups?  Outside on the picnic table?”

She happily agreed.  

The menu included macaroni-and-cheese, ham rolls skewered on frilly toothpicks, veggies and dip, fresh blueberries/strawberries/cherries, and almonds and raisins – all served in pretty bowls.  Each girl’s place setting included a hand-painted china plate and smaller cut-glass one, bright blue cocktail napkin, and tiny demi-tasse cup with saucer.  

I like it.  Girly finery gone casual.

Summer at the Lake

Grandchildren

Sunshine

Waves

Laughter

Blue eyes

Blonde heads

Hammock

Sandbox

Sailboat

Ski boat

Pontoon boat

Flexaboard

Tubes

Water socks

Lifejackets

Wet swimsuits

Wet beach towels

Baby Betty

My Little Ponies

Soap carving

Pizza

Ice cream bars

Velvet, the neighbor's mini-horse

Unique glories are imbedded in summer as I overlap with progeny in fleeting, golden moments.  What a tender thought, to know they will carry these shared memories into coming years and shape future generations in ways beyond my understanding.

Lilies

Grampa (also known as Grampa the Adventurer) invited our five “big” grandgirls, ages 3 through 7, into the fishing boat to tour the wild shoreline where swans quietly raise their signets amidst thick cattails. Where nature reigns, untouched by man.

At their destination, each one plucked a special blossom from among the lily pads. 

Upon returning home, individual bud vases were grouped as a centerpiece on the picnic table, each holding the special treasure of a little girl enthralled by simple, unique beauty as exceptional as her own.

 

“Be simple, hidden, quiet and small.” – Fr. Thomas Hopko

Clouds

Celestial sheep drift across the sky, grazing on ample sunshine.  Some nudge each other and meld into communal heaps, while others float apart like dissolving wisps of sea foam. Either way, their destinies are decided by the wind.

I watch their wanderings, and consider my own mysterious journey: my posture under the sun.