A Blustery Afternoon in May

This afternoon the wind is blowing, up and over the hundred acre woods behind our house, in great gusts. Our neighbor's horses are feisty, neighing and prancing around the corral. Suddenly, as of one mind, they break out in a run, around and around the barn, a cloud of rising dust, their hoof beats thundering. My dog Barkley loves it when this happens. Loves, loves, loves it.

He stands: noble and serious. His ears and fluffy golden tail held high, the wind ruffling through his beautiful fur, his eyes wide and alert. Off he goes! He runs back and forth along our fence line, running with the horses, running his heart out, a picture of pure dog joy.

Then just as suddenly the horses, grow quiet, like children who have played a little too hard and are now tired of their game. The wind dies down, the sun peaks through the clouds, the horses nibble at each other's necks or stroll leisurely back to their hay bale. Barkley barks and barks as they turn and one by one walk away, calling, as if to say: "Hey fella's don't stop now, we just started having fun!"

I sit on the grass and motion to him to come to me with my arms outstretched. He runs over and plops down next to me, panting, smiling his sweet golden smile.

I smile back and pet his soft head and tell him that he is a "good boy" and a "beautiful boy". The wind roars once again over the woods and through the back meadow. It rattles the pinecones and bends back the thin branches of the sapling trees. The air is now filled with the musical sounds of our neighbor's wind chimes, thin bell like rings and the hollow clatter of bamboo. Three giant red tailed hawks sweep down from the woods and begin to circle above our heads.

I rise up to my feet and start toward the house. "Come on Bubba!" I call and Barkley follows me to the door. He pauses as I open the screen, taking one last longing look back at the horses.

"Don't you want to have some candy!" I ask temptingly. All thoughts of the horses are banished from his mind in an instance as he happily trots to the refrigerator. Now it is time for another of our favorite afternoon games: catch the green beans. (He thinks they are candy...shhhh... don't tell him.)

Time for a nap... to sleep...to sleep, perchance to dream...to dream of running with the horses...

As Barkley naps and dreams his little dog dreams here are a few pictures which make Spring swell with joy in my heart:

1. Little White Woolies:

2. Babies and Unconditional Love:

3.  Fresh Laundered Aprons:

4.  Sweet William and Alysium:

5.  Peppermint Petunias

6.  Butterfly Surprises:

"Let Us Go A Maying And Gathering Violets"

"Oh! that we two were Maying

Down the stream of the 

soft spring breeze;

Like children with

violets playing

in the shade of 

the whispering trees"

--Charles Kingsley 

My gift to each of you today is a pretend, imaginary, cut-crystal bowl, filled to the brim with violets.  My favorite deep purple spring violets, the ones that fill the whole room with their clean, fragrant perfume.  There...don't they smell wonderful?  I wish they could be real, but sometime an imaginary gift can be just as fun.  They can ignite a forgotten memory and our senses can suddenly and delightfully be filled to the brim.  Have a lovely spring morning sweet friends!  

                                         With Love,

                                           Delisa ;)

"The Thankful Heart..."

"The unthankful heart... 

discovers no mercies; 

but let the thankful heart 

sweep through the day 

and, as the magnet 

finds the iron, so it will find, 

in every hour, some

heavenly blessings!" 

 ~Henry Ward Beecher

"There are two kinds of gratitude:
the sudden kind we feel

for what we take; 

the larger kind we feel

for what we give."  

~Edwin Arlington Robinson

Sancho The Wandering Turtle

*Hello everyone!  I saw some turtles sunning themselves by the pond today and it reminded me of a little post I wrote a couple of years ago.  So here is a "blast from the past" from my April 2011 blog.  I hope you enjoy reading it.

With Love, Delisa :)

"An animal's eyes have the power

to speak a great language."

---Martin Burber

It was a beautiful day, mild and breezy.  One of those days when it feels good to feel the sun on your face. I looked out at our pond this afternoon, and saw that the turtles had the same idea. They were lined up luxuriously sunning themselves on the banks. It was so still and peaceful.

I love all the wildlife that share our little piece of ground and try to keep my camera ready to record their visits. This picture is of "Sancho" the wandering turtle.

I know Sancho is an odd name for a turtle, but that is what he said it was. :)  I was out one day in the back meadow when he walked by, big as you please. Stopping for just a moment to be neighborly, he allowed me to take his picture and then went on his merry way.

"Those who dwell among the

beauties and mysteries of the earth

are never alone or weary of life."

~Rachel Carson

"Beautiful People..."

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."

-- Elizabeth Kubler Ross

Spring Cleaning, Creativity, And Fresh Starts

"The problem is never how to get new,

innovative thoughts into your mind,

but how to get old ones out.

Every mind is a building filled with

archaic furniture. Clean out a

corner of your mind and

creativity will instantly fill it.

-- Dee Hock

I love this quotation and find it to be so true.  Spring cleaning has a lot more to do than just sprucing up our homes and gardens.  How refreshing it is to clear from our thoughts and minds, all the dust balls and cobwebs that have built up over the year.  

To pile them all into stacks, those we want to keep, trash or perhaps pass along to others.  Time to look at life with fresh eyes.  There is nothing that feels better in the whole world than having fresh, hopeful thoughts blow through our minds like a clean, brisk April breeze. 

Spring has always been about fresh clean starts.  Where growth is promised and strength renewed.  

  

Spring time is a time to look upon God's creation with wonder.  

This world can get us moving so fast, or so fearfully that we may not even be able to remember the last time we looked up into the night's sky or studied a blue speckled robin's egg, or blew the flowers loose from a dandelion.   

What did you see today, that was beautiful, fresh, green and growing? 

"The April Rain..."

"The April rain, the April rain,

Comes slanting down 

in fitful showers.

Then from the furrow 

shoots the grain,

and banks are fledged with

nesting flowers;

And in grey shawl

and woodland bowers,

the birds through April rain,

Sing once again."

Mathilde Blind

"Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon

Your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.

The rain makes running pools in the gutter.

The rain plays little melodies on 

Our roof at night...

And I love the rain."

  Langston Hughes