Companion of Religion

"Music is the child of prayer, the companion of religion."
~ François-René de Chateaubriand

Doubling Our Joy

"Friendship improves happiness and abates misery,
by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief."

 ~ Cicero

Getting ready for Bev and Sandy, arriving Charlotte tomorrow for brief stay... Excited! 

Overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of this new day... Counting my blessings. Trying to choose a sunrise photo. & Eating cantaloupe... I never choose photo #1. Never. Until today.

Into the Firmament

"An old story tells of a man who grew so fond of the sky—of the clouds like hills and the shadows of hills, of the birds like notes of music and the stars like distant blessings that he made his heart a kite and sailed it into the firmament."

~ Kevin Brockmeier

Letting Go

"The spiritual life is always about letting go. It is never about holding on."

 ~ Jesse Lee Peterson

Passion

"If I had to choose my driving force,
it would be passion."

 ~ Anita Roddick

Clouds are all smeared and swirling against the horizon. Quite wonderful to watch... Easy to be happy when a glorious sun is coming soon: Photo. Wow. Wow. Radiant light extending completely out. (So nice of those clouds to hang right there.)

Passing Time

Spectacular dawn fog. Colors of bold passion, my heart reflected. Get a load of what is going on this morning...

The colors have dissipated. Don't know what kind of sun (if any) is coming, but it is gorgeous gray and fog outside. 

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."

~ Earl Nightingale

Glorious Uniqueness

"While we have the gift of life, 

it seems to me 

the only tragedy is 

to allow part of us to die 

whether it is our spirit, 

our creativity

or our glorious uniqueness." 

~ Gilda Radner

Gold dawn. A plane soars straight up to heaven. Photo


All gold and glorious outside. Not too cold. Small flying birds soar all around me. Waiting for the sun to crest. Photo

Information & Energy

Ridge glows golden. Good grief, look at these clouds. 

Wow. Wake up world! Photo

"Anger is loaded with information and energy." 

~ Audre Lorde

I love it
when the clouds and sun dance
in the morning sky.

Me & the Pisgah Forest
stand still & watch
Like interlopers.

Every Hour

"To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle."

~ Walt Whitman

orange sherbet
Asheville sky... Photos 1 | 2


Backlit by the sun,
the bare row of trees
are ablaze
with gold white light

Hope to Hope

My mountain ridge
glows golden. 

Saying my prayers. 

So easy to be grateful...
 & hopeful.

As the sun crests
my heart soars
like that airplane
lifting the sky.

"The natural flights of the human mind
are not from pleasure to pleasure,
but from hope to hope."
~ Samuel Johnson

So Startling

Accuweather says it's 15° but with wind chill,
 it is -10° here. Negative Ten.
Thinking it is time to jump back under covers. 

Or not.

 "To live is so startling  

it leaves time for little else."

 ~ Emily Dickinson

How Will I Know, ♪♫ ♪♫ Whitney Houston ♪♫ ♪♫

Thousand Rays

"When you come right down to it
 all you have is yourself.
The sun is a thousand rays
 in your belly.
 All the rest is nothing."

 ~ Pablo Picasso

Clouds,
somewhat clear
horizon.
Maybe a sunrise? #fingersCrossed

Snow this morn
 in Asheville.
Sticking. Photo

Profound Secret

"A wonderful fact to reflect upon,
that every human creature
is constituted to be
 that profound secret and mystery
to every other."
~ Charles Dickens,
 TALE OF TWO CITIES

I never grow tired
of waiting for this sun
to crest.
My heart thumps
loudly, steady.


Ice everywhere.
Fire in the sky. 

Quiet Places

Cloud or fog. Fog or cloud. Just can't decide. That fine fog in the cove is my fave, but I'm obsessed with this cloud this morning. Which one?

"In quiet places, reason abounds." 

~ Adlai Stevenson

Video. 
thought I'd try see...

Trust Yourself

"Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live." ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

And as the mighty sun crests
through the bare winter branches,
my heart bursts with love.
And gratitude.

"my heart bursts"

So much light.
New day,
endless possibilities.
Again. Photo


Cornflower blue sky.
Radiated by gold.
How can it be this beautiful?

Intimate Connection

"To have an intimate  connection with the world... (is)... to know about its passing."

~ Natalie Goldberg

It is so lovely again this morning.
Low hanging clouds.
Cotton & marshmallows.
& gold light. Photo.


Above, a jet hums the sky.
A cawing crow harmonizes nearby.
Clouds are turning red before my eyes.


Red, my favorite color: Photo.


When gold takes over,
the clouds smooth,
transformed from passion to holy spirit.
& now all golden, here comes the sun.


Sun sun sun here it comes... Photo.

Always Intoxicated

"We were always intoxicated with color, with words that speak of color, and with the sun that makes colors live." ~ Andre Derain

Orange sherbet sky
with purple frosting.
smells of clean wonder
sounds of blue birds
giving spirit light.

Absolutely Miraculous

"The ordinary can be absolutely miraculous."

 ~ Simon Armitage

Sweetness of Gardenias

LIKE THE SWEETNESS OF GARDENIAS

Mother, you died 15 years ago. At first, I felt shards of pain so deep I couldn't breathe, then numbness so complete the sun could not break the clouds. Then there was just stillness like the sweetness of gardenias in the crystal vase on your yellow kitchen table. so fragrant, so strong. Today the tradewinds blow your voice to my ear reminding... a pleasant mantra of tenderness: magic words that move my palms, your palms, together we mold, help, create. your gift has become my gift. In the mirror I see your eyes, your beautiful brown circles looking back, so radiant. "Don't forget me," you whispered that morning your heart stopped forever I won't forget.

Superb Meteor

Cold this morning.

Even though it looks warm out.

It is not.

Ice on skin hurts.

Need to remember this.

And my shoes.

Happy Birthday, Rick... & Dana...

"I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." ~ Jack London