Category: Gratitude

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Night-Blooming Cereus

Several years ago, I was at the Saturday Market on the Square when I bumped into some friends selling a table full of plants. For ten dollars, I bought a well-established Night-Blooming Cereus, also called a Queen of the Night. It has long, waxy leaves and blooms only at night.

My husband reacted with humor and raised his eyebrows a little at me, wondering if I’d lost my mind. A flower that blooms at night? Who wants to stay up all night to wait for a flower to bloom in the dark?

Me. I want to see them bloom, that’s who. And more than a few times now, I have watched the petals unfurl in the dark, opening to reveal a miraculous work of natural art. After spending a day in the early part of retirement repotting all my plants that needed some TLC, I was amazed to step out onto the front porch to see that one plant (I’ve propagated the mother plant several times over the years) had six blooms. Six!

If I were curating a list of porch plants and taking all my friends plant shopping for the plants they never knew they needed until today, this plant would be at the top of the list. It never gets old watching these beauties bloom to take center stage in a world that rarely sees them.

Queen of the Night

a queen of the night

unfurls her beautiful soul

for all to admire

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Where I’m Not

I’m always thrilled when my writing community members send me poetry prompt resources. I could sip coffee and read the prompts all day long. Audrey Gidman (audreygidman@substack.com) provided a poem for this prompt for inspiration for today’s poem: Read “I Am Not I” by Juan Ramon Jimenez (tr. Robert Bly). Write a short poem about/for the “I” who is not you but is walking beside you. A version of yourself, perhaps, or a separate self. Special thanks to Denise Krebs for sharing Audrey’s August calendar with me.

Where I’m Not

I’m not there

I’m not at that desk

in that cubicle

in that office

I’m not in that email thread

in that chain of reply all

in that blind cc secrecy

I’m not in that document

in those tangled thought-weeds

in that kudzu-strangled chaos

I’m not in that calendar

in that life-choking schedule

in that insane-paced rat race

I’m not in that meeting

in that half-charged screen energy

in that work-awaiting timewarp

I’m not in that webinar

in that can you hear me???

I’m not in that workshop

in that pen and paper jungle

in that wrinkled, wadded wastebasket

I’m not in that task

in that tsk-tsk-tsk

in that Wednesday-Thursday-Friday!!??

I’m not in that agenda

in that checked box

in that never-finished-never-enough-always-more place

I’m not there.

I’m over here in Retirement !

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A Pitcher of Zinnias

a salt pottery

pitcher of home-grown zinnias

sister-in-law’s gift

These days of early retirement have been filled with such sweet wishes from others. My sister in law from across the farm called last night to ask if she could bring some of her zinnias over. She’s been growing them, and they are stunning. I placed them into one of my mother’s salt pottery pitchers and sat them on the childhood dinner table, and they feel like a smile from beyond – – my parents loved growing zinnias, too! There is nothing like fresh flowers to bring the warmth of love.

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The Big Texan Steakhouse – Amarillo, Texas

Another great stop on our Route 66 trip was The Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo, Texas. It’s one of those places where you can get a free meal if you can eat a ton of food in a certain amount of time. We didn’t attempt that, but I can testify to the delicious food and the western atmosphere of the place. Plus, their gift shop has some of the best Route 66 souvenirs we found between Chicago and Albuquerque!

The Big Texan

Big Texan Steakhouse

don’t overstuff yourself, though,

on a long car ride!

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Remembering Fitz

Fitz was a camping dog. I think he liked camping so much because the space was more confined, always keeping him closer to me. We had to say goodbye when CUPS disease and an enlarged liver got in the way of his quality of life, so I held him in my arms as he crossed the rainbow bridge. I held him in my arms every day we had together, and although he is gone from the physical realm, I still hold him in my heart. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss my Fitz.

Life hasn’t been the same since. I hope the good Lord has a space in heaven so I can see him again someday.

Missing Fitzie

I miss him so much

this Soul Schnoodle, my Fitzie

world’s lovingest dog!

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Priorities….or Polarities?

Today, I am writing from a prompt in the Writing Down the Bones Card Deck by Natalie Goldberg, shared with me by my friend Barb Edler of Iowa. This card asks us to make a list of our priorities – – what pulls us in different directions, and what is our strength and our weakness. And thenI reread it….wait, no, the card says polarities. I first read it as priorities. Let’s give a rhyming hashtag poem a whirl today!

Polarities

#firstthisway

#thenthat

#theydon’tneedme

#…..untiltheydo

#pusheast

#pullwest

#nottheleast

#notthebest

#shove left

#shuffleright

#workallday

#dreamallnight

…..and turn off the alarm and keep dreaming

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Traveling the Journey


Looking in the Mirror

I look in the mirror

see the gray hair

see the neck wrinkles

see the crow’s feet

see the lazy thyroid laying down on the job

and thank God I’m here to show the wear

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Saguaro Cactus

In February, we traveled out west to visit one of our daughters in Nevada. We saw beautiful deserts with sunset skies in violet purples, tangerine oranges, buttery and vibrant yellows, and deep rose reds. Many of the cactus plants looked as if they were singing praise to their maker. I painted a watercolor picture, but it did not turn out at all, so here is a photo I did not take that shows better what I had tried to capture in color.

Silhouette of a tall cactus with two arms in a desert at sunset with colorful clouds

Holy Hands

Saguaro Cactus

praising purple sunset skies

raising holy hands

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A Light Unto My Path

Today, I’m blessed to host the Spiritual Journey Thursday 2026 for the month of July. Our group was asked to reflect and meditate on this phrase: “a light unto my path.” I invite your reflections and blog posts today as we consider the light that guides our way.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105) serves as a reminder that divine wisdom and scripture act as daily, step-by-step guidance to help navigate the dark or uncertain moments of life.

when we travel deep

dark paths of uncertainty

His Word is the light

One of my favorite helpful resources for when I’m reading God’s Word has always been a concordance. Long before the many online versions of this resource emerged when internet use became more popular, I had a hard copy of a concordance and a study Bible with illuminated footnotes. No matter what popped up in my day or my season, I had a resource to guide me to just the right places in scripture to hear the words my heart needed. Today, there are even alphabetized lists for every topic imaginable, like this one.

In the happiest of times, it feels joyful to praise God for His many blessings. Life goes along without bumps, we go to work, cook dinner, take weekend trips, and meet friends for book club chats. We say morning prayers, “praying folks up” on the way to work like we are building prayer credit in Heaven to remain covering our loved ones even when God calls us home. Yes, I do that.

But in the darkest of times, even in the pit of a world up-ended when all the rubble is still falling, even when we can’t see five feet in front of us or think clearly, scripture and prayer are God’s guiding forces to help steer us through every cavern, every storm, every place of darkness – no matter how hopeless life can seem at times. He is our lantern and our guide. He shows us our blessings even in our struggles.

We pray without ceasing for God’s Word to light our paths forward – on days of joy, and on days of sadness, on days of peace and days of turmoil. He is there, lighting our path.

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Happy Independence Day!

Happy 250th Birthday, America! It’s a great day for watermelon, and a great day to be born. My son, his wife, and their children await the birth of a son and baby brother. Whatever we do today, it’s day to celebrate.

Watermelon Seeds

soon there will be six

in this growing family

he is due today!