She sighs ...

She stares as the sun rises

Brilliant in all its glory

Waking up the earth with its radiance

She knows that people take myriads of pictures

Trying to capture the rays, the colours, the splendour of the morning

Knowing the sun is rising later with each new morning

And setting earlier with each evening

Although also brilliant, and with a splendour all of its own

The sun shows off the Creator’s creation

Neither sunrise or sunset is better than the other

But equally breathtaking and awe-inspiring

She sighs …

She looks around

At creation doing its thing around her

Geese flying in v formations

Taking turns at leading

Take offs and landings are all equally noisy

The honking never gets old to those who watch …

With awe in the spring as they arrive

And with a sense of foreboding when they are leaving this province for the promise of warmer weather

She sighs ..

She shuts her eyes and breathes in the smell of autumn

Overturned fields ready for their rest during the long cold spells of winter

She smells stubble burning and remembers the time the burn got a little too close for comfort

And yet the smell brings a nostalgia all of its own.

She shuts her eyes and hears the croaking of frogs and crickets

Knowing that they too will look for places as the weather gets colder.

Where do grasshoppers and crickets live for the freeze of the prairies

She sighs…

She keeps her eyes shut

And lets the sun shine on her

Warming up the places that were cold after the early frost of September 

Remembering days when she was young and the sun felt like it was helping her grow

Strong and sturdy

She sighs…

She looks up at the clouds that have gathered on the west and are blowing closer to home

Knowing that perhaps some rain will fall

But the rain drops feel good as they fall on her

Just a few that quickly turn into an autumn downpour

She nods,

Knowing that the rain is good for all of nature as it anticipates its hibernation

She smiles at the day 

Wondering what it will hold during the hours that are bookended by sunrise and sunset

Watching creation around her gathering and storing pinecones, and acorns

And laughs as they climb the feeders on the deck and empty the peanuts the Jays have not yet taken

Surprise on them!

Raucous bad boy of the bird world

You make so much noise but still,  you are simply lovely

Beautiful in all your splendour

Blues whites and black intermixed in all your glory

Do you really know where you are taking those peanuts?

Will you find them when the snow falls and the days are cold?

She feels laughter coming up from the bottom of her, to the top and it billows out in sounds that only the Creator hears

She sighs…

With a sigh that is not one of sadness or despair, 

But a sigh acknowledging what is to come

“For every thing there is a season”

That is how the creator has designed our life to be

Goodness, even the grass knows that it has its time - 

It is here and then withered..

Flowers are here today and gone ..

And all the seeds of the garden are now either dead or dying

Knowing that the season is upon them, and unless they die, they can not live again

All of Creation is an object lesson for the world to see

All of creation is in a season of continual praise to the LORD GOD 

To whom all praise is given, and from whom all blessings flow!

She takes a long look at herself, after studying creation around her

She stands tall and sturdy  and acknowledges her roots

Deep roots

Sturdy roots

Nourished by the water that they drink up

She has often taken her roots for granted 

But knows without them, she would not be standing

After the many storms and winds she has weathered in her lifetime.

She knows she is admired by many

Through each season of her life she shows off without even thinking

And she too becomes the object of many pictures taken and posted on instagram and facebook

She has a different splendour than the sunrise and sun set

But none the less - she is a prime example of the Creator’s workmanship

And she is captured in photos -  differently with every single season.

She catches her breath, as she hears it

(Even the girl walking in the yard stops,

Turns her face heavenward, eyes shut, and takes it all in)

And quickly joins in the symphony of praise .

She hears the sound of creation praising

Let all that has breath praise the LORD!!

Everything has joined in 

Even the trees are clapping their hands around her

The rustling is overwhelming as leaves blow in a song

She looks

And lets the wind blow her arms

Imagining the dance she is doing for the Creator

And the rustle that accompanies the dance is like praise

She looks and sees that seemingly overnight, she has gone from brilliant green to hues of orange and red and rust and yellow

She sighs knowing that the colours are a necessary part of her season too

And while she will be aflame in colour

It will be short lived, especially if a wind comes and shakes the life out of her

Shaking the colours off of her and onto the ground below

She sighs because she knows this season is the last hurrah before a season of rest …

It is necessary

It is part of her life

Living and dying 

Colour turns to a dull brown and grey that becomes bleak in its appearance

And as she hunkers down for a long winter’s nap

You can hear her sighing quietly …

But it sounds like a prayer ~ 

Of thanksgiving

and a prayer of acknowledging that life without seasons of rest ~ Is exhausting

Even to a mighty Oak.

And as the rain turns to ice and snow

As the squirrels have burrowed

And the geese have flown south

She shuts her eyes and thanks her Creator for the gift of this season, 

Knowing it is just for a time 

…. And her sighing stops as she rests.

Happy Autumn,

love 

j