The Weekend Re-Boot

We had a pretty low key weekend which is code for me spending much of it plopped and propped on the couch resting my ankle.  Slow and steady wins the boot race, right? 

I missed the monthly share your shelf book link up this month, so thought today I'd combine the weekend recap with my June books reviews. I didn't read as much in the month of June as I would have liked, but we were busy going and doing and that was fun too. 

Fun of course until I learned I'd been walking on a fracture, but I'm on the road to recovery now. 

So first the weekend...

Friday I rested. I was going to meet two college friends for lunch but then I remembered I'm not driving, so they came here. It was nice, and afterwards we sat on the porch for a few hours catching up and making plans. I didn't think to take a picture. 

Hubs and I did make a delicious pasta for dinner, all from memory-ha. Our collective memory I should say. He'd seen the recipe online somewhere and was certain he'd sent it to me, but I went through all the many, many, many things he sends me and couldn't find it. 

Anyway it was simple and I think we were close to correct. It was basically garlic, onion, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, shrimp, and a diced red chili with tagliatelle, which I didn't have so we used Fettucine. It was all topped with freshly grated parm and tasted so good. Definitely got the spice from the chili but we like spicy. 

Saturday I rested. Some. Hubs made us breakfast on the griddle (bacon and eggs) and he carried everything up and down the stairs so I didn't have to. Once we'd eaten he got the grill ready and some ribs prepped for smoking. 

Daughter1's hubs was on call this weekend so she came over late morning to swim in the lake with her kiddos. I made one trip to the dock and one trip back to dry land. It was hot and the lake felt good. Hubs got the paddle boards out and the boys (and little miss too) had a grand time paddling around the cove. 

It goes without saying I did not paddle board. 

We had lunch then they went back to their house and I returned to the couch. We had the most delicious ribs for dinner...

Afterwards we popped over to Daughter1's house for dessert. We brought them ribs and they treated us to their fantastic homemade peach ice cream. It was so yummy hubs and I decided to put peach picking on our to do list this week. Depending on the orchard set up it might be more peach buying but we'll see. 

We came home and watched a couple more episodes of our current show-Department Q. Hubs thought it got off to a slow start, but he's hooked now too. Maybe not hooked, but he's watching. I'm hooked. 

Sunday we went to church, then out to breakfast with the kids and their momma. My son-in-law was still on call, which on a weekend pretty much means you'll be operating. We came home and I propped my leg up once more.  Sunday night we finished Department Q-it's so good. Hubs agrees. It's a little raw, lots of language, and pretty intense, but I recommend and hope there's a season 2 in the works. 

And look at me now...ten paragraphs talking about pretty much nothing. It's my superpower. Let's change topic and talk books. Here's what I read in June-

1. Drunkish: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving Alcohol by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor

This was our July book club selection and a different sort of read for us. This is a candid account of one woman 'breaking up' with alcohol for good. After spending a lifetime wrestling with the question of whether or not she's a real alcoholic, one night brings Stefanie close to the edge of losing it all. The event wakes her up and she decides she doesn't need to hit actual rock bottom before deciding to stop drinking. She wants a better life and if sobriety is what gets her there she's all in.   

I don't like to rate a memoir, as it's someone's personal story. That being said, this wasn't a bad read, there's language (she comes from the world of stand up comedy), and I admire someone who admits and confronts a difficult problem.  

2. The Favorites by Layne Fargo

Childhood friends Katerina Shaw and Heath Rocha rise through the ranks of ice dancing to become Olympic stars. Their tumultuous relationship is fueled by love, ambition, and a desire to flee from their painful shared past. An incident at the Olympics ends their partnership, and then a documentary ten years later forces Kat to confront the past and tell her side of the story. 

The story is told in a documentary interview style format, with multiple characters talking about Katerina's and Heath's careers ten years after the Olympics. Initially I wasn't sure I would like the format, but ended up loving it. In this case it definitely worked, and I think helped the story along. 

I kinda loved this one and also kinda didn't. I found the world of skating interesting and really fun to read about. I'd never given a lot of thought to ice dancing and feel like the author really did her homework here. I think she captured the drive, focus, and ambition Olympic athletes in any sport must have and the story moved.  That being said, I think maybe I'm just a little too old for the 'coming of age' storyline when that's the focus. This one teetered on too much of that for me, but it also had enough of the skating-competition/friendship piece to keep me reading. 

3.  The Southern Trial (Joe Hennessey legal thriller #4) by Peter O'Mahoney

This is the fourth in a six-book series featuring Charleston lawyer Joe Hennessey. Hubs and I have listened to this series on Audible and we've both enjoyed all of the books to date. 

While I liked this one a lot, I thought the first three were better. This one wraps up a personal story line that's been running throughout, and while that was satisfying I missed the way he incorporated other cases into the previous books alongside the personal tale. 

I gave the first three in the series four stars, but this fourth book just three. Still a good read and I will happily read the last two in the series. 

4.  Speak To Me Of Home by Jeanine Cummins

Did you read American Dirt? I really liked it, and this book is by the same author. Enjoyed it a lot, but probably not quite as much as American Dirt. 

Speak To Me Of Home is the story of mothers and daughters, of three generations of Puerto Rican women whose family secrets are revealed as the story unfolds. Rafaela is the matriarch who left Puerto Rico for the midwest and the promise of a new life in the 1970's. We also meet Rafaela's daughter Ruth and Ruth's daughter Daisy, whose accident brings the three women together in Puerto Rico where those secrets come to light.  Themes of displacement, identity, prejudice, and the need to belong are all addressed in this touching story. 

I gave it four stars. There are multiple timelines happening, or maybe multiple multiple multiple timelines would be a more accurate description, and I did find that confusing at times. Hence the four stars as opposed to five. 

I missed the link up in June, but you can see what others read last month by visiting the host blogs listed here-

And for more weekend recap fun visit Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) to see what others have been up to. 

Have a great week everyone! 

Zeroing In On The Hodgepodge

Hitting Volume 600 of The Wednesday Hodgepodge today on this last day in the month of April. Thank you for adding your thoughts, your creativity, and your bright ideas to this little link up each week. I've been inspired, entertained, and encouraged by your words.  

If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. If you're here for the final A-Z post in this year's challenge you'll find that in my random thought at the end of the Hodgepodge. Here we go-

1. My very first edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge was published on November 10, 2010 (linked here if you're curious). Tell us something about your life from that era. 

When I hear someone say 2010 it doesn't sound like all that long ago. Then I think about all the life lived since then and it feels like forever. Is fifteen years a long time? 

I don't know why some of these pics wouldn't cooperate in size, but fifteen years in and I'm still technology challenged. 

2010... I had short hair-

...one daughter still in college in South Carolina and one recent (May) college graduate, also living and working in South Carolina. 

Hubs and I were living in the NJ suburbs, a rural corner of the state that was beautiful, expensive, full of wildlife, and a short car ride away from Manhattan. 

We had a Gordon Setter who would have been 8 years old then, and we did lots of hikes in the nearby countryside with her.  Quite a few city walks too. 

Hubs was traveling the globe and I was managing the home front. I did some volunteering, a lot of road trips to both South Carolina (my girls) and South Jersey (my family), and took some fun trips with the hubs too. I learned to blog. I participated in a Women's Bible Study, a book club, a women's club, and Bunco. 

And I went to boot camp at 6 AM five days a week. We had a lot of snow. 

2. What's a song you love that relates to time in some way? 

There are quite a few songs that came to mind when I sat and thought about this, but I feel like I have to say Time In A Bottle by Jim Croce because its perfect. So poignant, so poetic, and so beautifully written. It's timeless. Such a talented songwriter who sadly died young. 

3. May is nearly upon us. When did you last need to yell 'MAY DAY-MAY DAY!!'? 

I haven't had any near disasters that required actual shouting, but I've definitely asked for help recently. This is where I am right now...the most recent call for help was asking hubs to see if he could get the lego hair off a lego head because my grandson wanted to put a helmet on the figure instead. 

These lego heads are the size of my fingernail, maybe smaller, and it was not budging. Hubs had to get some little tool out to make it happen but he succeeded. Whew. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about don't let it keep you up at night lol. 

4. How do you feel about food trucks? Is this a dining experience you enjoy?  Do you have a favorite What's something you've ordered from a food truck? 

I think this might be an unpopular opinion but I'm not a huge fan. I like a table when I eat. I don't care if the food is from a taco truck as long as there's a seat nearby. 

There are a couple of Mexican 'restaurants' here that started as food trucks but have expanded so that they feel more like very casual restaurants now. Still operating out of their truck but the truck stays parked and the owners have added covered patios with tables, along with restrooms and landscaping. One of these 'trucks' we particularly enjoy and visit often. 

5. We're bidding farewell to April...what are three adjectives you might use to describe the month you're leaving behind. 

Busy, yellow, hopeful. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It's the end of the alphabet today in the April A-Z Blog Challenge. I've enjoyed the push to write and my theme has allowed me to reflect on some of the life lessons I've learned. Today's post will likely not be one that lands in deep water because Z? Hmmm...

Z is for Zigzag

'one of a series of short sharp turns, angles, or alterations in a course'

Like all the years of A-Z-ing here on the blog I'm going to keep this last letter pretty simple. Everyone's happy to be at the finish line and no heavy lifting is needed. Just wrap it up. Today's Hodgepodge actually inspired me to look back at my blog, and looking back at my blog means looking back at my life. 

It's been much more of a zig zag than a straight line. Writing about it is like that too. 

When I started blogging I wrote primarily about life in England and our transition back to the US after several years of living away. There were kids in college, a husband traveling, and a new house in a new town. There was figuring out life in an almost empty nest, navigating family grief, and a lot of praying for the young adults we had raised. 

As time moved forward we celebrated graduations, weddings, retirement, and a new home build in yet another new town. The married kids moved too, started families of their own, and made us grandparents which is a whole 'nother zig in the zag of life. One of the best I'm going to say. 

I got older too. I'm not the mom of college kids I was when I started writing here and I'm glad my blog has come along for the ride. It's a tangible reminder of all the life we've lived and how God has gone before us to every new city, neighborhood, house and circumstance. He's walked beside us as we've zig zagged through decades of marriage, parenting, moving, adjusting, changing, growing and living. 

In the missteps and on the mountaintops He's been there. 

He is faithful. 

'Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, 

for he who promised is faithful.' Hebrews 10:23 

The A-Z Yadda Yadda Yadda...

Hanging on by my fingernails but I can see the finish line...  

Y is for Yesteryear 

'time gone by'

Two days left in the challenge and I've reached the point where I'm literally surveying my family for a word. I even pressed the 5-year old who suggested 'you' and 'yellow', which just might be my words because it's 9:15 PM and I got nothin. 

My daughter sang out yodelayheehoo and we all laughed. I'm not saying no to that one either. 

Actually yodelayheehoo makes me think of The Sound of Music and how my girls loved to sing along, how we all loved to sing along, and how my hubs can (and occasionally will) bust out the line, 'There's a family in Salzburg' sounding exactly like Mother Superior. How it makes us all laugh and is just one of those family things that nobody but your own family gets or finds funny.  

There's a name for this and it's called familects. It just means one family's way of speaking, and can be anything from expressions to nicknames to stories told. Experts say familects not only help forge connections within a family, but they also have the power to draw us back together over and over again. 

Every family has their thing. Their own language and shared humor. It's one of my favorite things actually, that invisible thread that pulls us all in tight when a funny (to us) word or phrase is used, or a reference is made to some nearly forgotten long ago moment in time. 

The way something small or silly or sentimental reminds us we belong to each other. 

'There's a family in Salzburg...'

Monday's X Factor

Normally Monday blogging means a weekend recap, but we're riding the tail winds of the A-Z Blog Challenge this week so I'm going to do a bit of both here today. It's a little bit long but that's pretty much how I roll. 

We had a fairly quiet weekend. I guess? Towards the end of last week this happened-

They have been begging to get in the water since they arrived mid-January, and this week we finally said yes. It was a warm (relatively speaking) sunny day with lake temps a balmy 70 degrees, but kids do not care. 

I asked hubs if he was going to put on his swim suit and he said no. If they needed help he'd jump in in his clothes. Our lake will be 80 by sometime in May so we'll wait thank you very much. It will be like bath water as the days get longer. 

This was a short swim, but a happy one. Summer is almost here-whoohoo! 

And now for the weekend recap with Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books)-

Friday the 'kids' closed on their new home. So exciting! I had the grands that morning while mom and dad went to sign papers and make it all official. Hubs went too because he was their realtor. My daughter had arranged to have the upstairs carpet cleaned right after the closing (the lower level has wood floors), so she and the hubs (mine, not hers-hers had to get back to work) went straight to the house and I brought the kids over right after. 

They had so much fun exploring every nook and cranny and running around the backyard. Their furniture has been in storage since before they moved to England and won't be delivered until later this week, but they're on the home stretch now.

My son-in-law's dad brought his truck to our house so we could load up a sofa the kids are taking. They wanted it cleaned along with the rugs, and of course by 'we' I mean I held the door and hubs and my daughter's father-in-law did the heavy lifting.  My son-in-law was conveniently back at work by this time lol. I had all the kids in my daughter's van, plus two additional chairs they're also taking from us.

Nothing about moving is easy. 

We dropped the furniture then hubs had to drop off some of the close paperwork at his office. Before he left we took the kids to Firehouse Subs for lunch and to get them out of the empty house and away from the carpet cleaning. 

The boys had baseball that evening followed by a movie night at their church so once my son-in-law was home he managed that. Daughter1 and little Miss stayed here for bath and bedtime and hubs and I took ourselves to our favorite wine bar to relax. Whew. We ordered a charcuterie for dinner and ran into some friends there which is always fun. 

No pictures of any of it but that's just how the weekend went. 

Saturday hubs was 'working' the boat show. He and another realtor had a booth at the local show so that was his day. The kids were at baseball because every day is baseball, then my son-in-law's sister, along with his parents, went to see the new house. His dad had seen it that morning when he was moving the couch, but his mom hadn't been inside. They all went back to the in-law's lake house for dinner. 

Here's the thing...you think one day you'll be done moving furniture for your kids, but I'm here to tell you that's not necessarily so. Carry on. 

I had my whole house and the entire afternoon to myself. I cannot remember the last time that happened, but it's been a very long while. I was out running errands all morning, but spent the afternoon catching up on my blog and some HGTV and maybe a short nap. I feel like I should have been doing something productive, but we're all pooped here.  

Wait. I did six loads of laundry. That's not nothing. 

Saturday night hubs and I shared a frozen pizza and watched a movie we'd seen before, but not in a long long time-Begin Again with Keira Knightly and Mark Ruffalo. It's cute. 

On Sunday hubs was back at the marina for another day at the boat show, and I went to church with the kids, then out to breakfast/lunch with them right after, then a quick grocery run, then home to an iced coffee on the porch. The pollen is mostly under control now so I put the cushions out on the upper deck and sat outside all afternoon. 

This is pretty much where you'll find me every Sunday afternoon from now until Christmas. Sunday nights too...

Now, about that A-Z challenge and today's letter-X.  Always a tough one, but let's see what we can come up with...

X is for Xerox

'to copy on a a xerographic copier' 

The first word that popped into my head was xerox. As in xerox machine. Does anyone still use this phrasing? I mean other than people who work for the company with that same name? I think now we use the word copy, but there was a time when xerox was the preferred term. These days we print, right? 

Anyway, it got me thinking about some of the things from 'my day' that were common, but are not so common anymore. 

Film developing. I think amongst professional photographers this is still a thing, but most people now are snapping pictures on their phone. Which is great, but definitely lacks the excitement of waiting two whole weeks to get your pictures back from the developer, only to discover you had your thumb on the corner of the lens. That's how you learned-ha! 

Banking. I don't know about you, but I avoid going in to the bank if I can possibly help it. When I was growing up you had to physically take your check to the bank to cash it. No such thing as an ATM or mobile deposit. No mobile phones for one thing, but I'm not going down that rabbit hole right now. 

I loved going to the local bank with my momma. It seemed like a place I'd enjoy working. It was quiet and tastefully decorated and it felt important. If you didn't get to the bank by Friday afternoon you were not going to have any cash to spend over the weekend, so banks were a happening place. 

Encyclopedias. We had a whole set on a bookshelf in our den, and we really did look things up in them.  Kind of like the Internet before the Internet. We liked just reading them too because you learned things. At the end of every year the encyclopedia publisher sent out a yearbook with highlights of events from the year that was ending. 

Sometimes you would have a school assignment requiring research and you would have to go to the library and look in a different encyclopedia to see if it added anything yours missed. I'm not sure which set we had but I want to say Encyclopedia Americana. I imagine my parents bought them from someone selling them door-to-door, which was not unusual at all in the 1970's. 

Memorizing phone numbers. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of glad I don't have to do this one anymore. 

Busy signals. Speaking of phones...this one I do sort of miss. You'd call a friend on the house phone (because that was the only phone game in town) and if they were on the phone talking to someone else you would get a busy signal. 

It was super annoying to get a busy signal just fyi. 

If you got a busy signal, you'd hang up and then immediately redial the number. If it was still busy you'd call again. And again and again and then you'd wonder who in the world they could be talking to and you might just give up and talk to them at school in person the next day. 

I don't think we appreciated being unavailable until we entered the era of being available 24/7 365 days of the year. 

Smoking sections. It sounds crazy to us now, but everywhere you went had a smoking section. Airports, airplanes! restaurants, and my high school, although I'm not sure that one was official. Seriously though, we used to get on an airplane and be seated in row 12 and the smoking section might start at row 13 so yeah. Not great if you were a non-smoker. 

In my high school C-wing was where everyone smoked. And the lavatories too. Do we still use that word? If you weren't a smoker you avoided C-wing. I know some high schools had parents sign a permission slip allowing their kid to smoke but I don't remember that being the case at my school. I've never been a smoker. 

The corner mailbox. We had one about a block and a half from our house and we loved being sent to the mailbox to mail a letter. Speaking of uncommon things...letters. Do you still write them? 

Postcards. It was fun to travel and mail a postcard back home or to a friend or your grandparents, and it was fun to be on the receiving end too. Of course there are still postcards available, but most people text a picture or message instead of bothering to buy a postcard, buy a stamp, and find a place to mail one when they're away from home. 

Communal viewing. We never watched anything alone. Most families had one television set, wall phones in the communal spaces in their homes, and no computers. We chose a program everyone could watch and then we all settled in to watch it together. Family togetherness. It was nice. 

"I remember, I remember 

The house where I was born, 

The little window where the sun

Came peeping in at morn..."

Thomas Hood, from I Remember, I Remember

Day 23-WOW

I'm going with my usual Saturday list of little things I love, all relating to the letter of the day in our A-Z Blog Challenge. 

 

W is for Whimsical

'lightly fanciful'

I've had fun coming up with these lists each week, and they do feel a little whimsical in nature, so the word fits. Here in no particular order is my W list of 20-

worries unrealized

wisteria in bloom

wittiness 

a water view

Sunday worship

wisdom gained

no weeds

warmhearted people

a sense of wonder 

watermelon

willpower 

freshly washed windows

homemade blueberry waffles

the Carolina wren 

weddings 

winning a mahjong hand

a walk in the woods

a warning heeded 

sushi with a side of wasabi 

water lilies in bloom 

Monthly mUsings

Onward in the A-Z Blog Challenge with today's letter. Today's post will also be linked with Holly and Patty's Monthly Musings party, and somehow I'm going to make it work. 

U is for Understanding

As in understanding and knowing your strengths, your limitations, your capabilities, 

and your healthy boundaries; self-awareness 

I know I should write something deep and introspective here, but instead I'm going to say I've nearly reached my limit in the A-Z Blog Challenge. And because I know myself I'm going to give myself some grace and participate in a fun monthly link up hosted by Holly and Patty (Monthly Musings) instead.

And that's okay. 

Blogging is fun for me, it serves as a stress-reliever, and a place to work things out on paper which often helps to bring clarity of mind. There's an awful lot going on here this week and because I know my limits and my capabilities,  I'm opting for something a little lighter today. 

Monthly Musings with Holly and Patty talking all things spring. Here we go...

  

1. Easter, Passover, or another holiday in the Spring? 

Easter. My favorite day of the year. We had a lovely one this year which I wrote about on Monday (The Weekend Replay).

2. Do you plant a garden? Any tips for those of us without a green thumb? 

Hubs has a green thumb, but we don't plant a garden. We have grown a few vegetables in pots, peppers mostly, but our property is wooded, pine straw-ed, and gently sloped to the lake. We don't have a nice sunny flat spot for planting a garden. 

Plus we're on the go a lot, and I feel like gardens require more daily attention in the summer months than we can give. Fortunately my daughter1's in-laws keep us supplied with fresh produce from their huge garden all summer long. 

3. How do you decorate for Spring? 

I wouldn't say I really decorate for Spring. I put out one or two things for Easter, add springtime hand towels to the bathrooms, and will usually have fresh flowers of some kind on my kitchen island. We haven't done any of our outdoor patio pots yet, but that will happen soon. Flowers on the porch say spring to me. 

We are all about the out of doors here and when you're inside your gaze naturally travels in that direction, so I'm careful not to compete. I don't add a lot of seasonal decor anytime other than Christmas. 

4. Desserts that just say spring to you? 

I think anything lemon makes a nice springtime dessert. 

I made mini carrot cakes for Easter and that felt appropriate for spring. 

A fruit tart or crumble of some kind is another favorite springtime dessert. 

5. Favorite spring flowers? 

Lilacs. But also tulips, pansies, and iris. 

6. Best tips for hosting spring events? 

I love a good theme so choosing to host around a springtime event like Easter, The Derby, Cinco de Mayo, or Mother's Day gives you a direction to run. 

I like outdoor gatherings whenever possible, but you need to plan for the weather and have both sun and shade options. And an indoor backup just in case. 

People want your company more than they want an exhausted distracted host, so let people bring something if they offer. Food doesn't have to be complicated. Light and fresh is the way to go in spring.

You can't go wrong with fresh flowers. 

7. Favorite beverage or cocktail that makes you think of Spring? 

I made my first pitcher of the sweet tea season on Easter Sunday. I live in the south and sweet tea is available everywhere here year round, but I typically don't make it at home until Easter. I'll keep a pitcher in the frig from now until probably Thanksgiving. 

Besides iced tea a glass of Rosé or Prosecco sipped on a sunny patio would be another springtime favorite. 

8. Vegetable garden, flower garden, both or neither? 

As in my own, or what do I enjoy? I love beautiful gardens and a day trip to a garden in bloom is one of my favorite kind of outings. I love to visit gardens when we travel somewhere new. I saw more than a few gardens when we lived in the UK, but there are many beautiful blooms here in the US too-

Tulip Town, Skagit Valley, Washington, 2017

9. Favorite Easter candy? 

Finally an easy one...jellybeans of course. They're my kryptonite. Been working my way through this jar for the past month. 

I won't say how many times I've topped it up. 

10. Marshmallow peeps? Gross or yes please? 

I'm somewhere in the middle on these. I like the way they look better than the way they taste, but I wouldn't say they're gross. 

I love the colors of spring, along with the flavors and scents of spring, but the pollen not so much. It makes me love spring just a little bit less than I would if we didn't have to deal with all that yellow dust. Thankfully the pollen season is nearing an end, and it's pouring rain as I type this which will help a lot. 

Happy Spring y'all! 

Life Lessons From the Window Seat

S is for Seven. After today that's how many letters remain in the April A-Z Blog Challenge. It's been fun and it's been a challenge. Blogging with a houseful of people requires a bit of finagling. Onward...

S is for Sunrise 

'the apparent rising of the sun above the horizon; 

also: the accompanying atmospheric effects'

If you've been reading here for a while then you know I have a small obsession with the sunrise. We have prime viewing out of any window on the backside of our house, but my favorite place to watch it happen is from the upper deck. 

And I like to snap a photo while I'm there. 

Or ten photos. 

Or possibly 365. 

Hubs teases and asks me why I take the same picture every morning but I assure him I do not. One sunrise is not like any other and my pictures are the proof. 

Recently Joanne (Slices of Life) shared some of her favorite sunrises and sunsets and it got me thinking about why it is I'm so drawn to the early morning skies. Why all the sunrises? And why now? 

One of the reasons I'm more tuned in to the sunrise in this house is because it's hard to miss. I step quietly out of my bedroom in the early hours of the morning and there it is. Sometimes soft and dreamy brushstrokes in a pastel painted sky...

...sometimes awash with all the colors of the rainbow. 

It can, quite literally, take my breath away. There are things about the sunrise that speak to me in this season that feel almost sacred. 

The sunrise tells me it's a new day, with no mistakes in it yet. A fresh start. Blank slate. No regrets. 

The sunrise fills me with hope. Anything is possible at the start of a brand new day. 

The sunrise says slow down. Breathe. Be present. 

It also tells me time moves fast. If you're not paying attention you'll miss it. Life is like that too. 

The sun rising fills me with awe for the One who made it, for the staggering beauty of this world, and the power so evident in nature.

 

The sunrise reminds me of the value of stillness and quiet, things I'm always looking for in this too noisy world.

The sunrise reminds me of the faithfulness of God. Every single day the sun rises. He never fails. 

My favorite verse, which is in my blog header but worth posting twice...

'The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; 

they are new every morning." Lamentations 3:22-23