A brisk awakening to nature's healing embrace

[Bertha Venation]

A brisk awakening to nature's healing embrace
The Washington Post
Friday, November 27, 2009

. . . . It was cold, and there was a bracing breeze that took my breath away as I carried sodden clothes up the rickety stairs to the bleached, blanched deck.

My eyes filled with tears, my chest burned, my arms ached as my stiff fingers struggled to fasten, with splintered wooden pins, just a few of the dripping wet dresses and flowered nightgowns to the tattered cord. I felt the familiar flare of anger like a match struck hard against my heart. Why did everything have to be so difficult for me?

I threw my head back to clear the tears. Above me, the world whirled; I was so dizzy I could barely keep myself from falling. But, oh, I could not believe the deep throbbing hue of the break-your-heart blue in the autumn sky. I stood stock-still, realizing I had not been outside for so long. When did the Earth go gold, glow scarlet, I wondered? Below me, the land fell away to field edged in flaming forest. The trees were on fire.

I found myself kneeling abruptly because my legs would no longer hold me. There were blue jays flying overhead, wearing a bit of heaven on their wings. On the rim of the cup I had placed on the bench, a glossy black wasp was poised to dip into my coffee. And when the white dog came to sit with me, her hair was decorated with a dozen ladybugs. Looking up at the side of the house, I was amazed at the dazzling, pulsating ruby-red mass of them gathered there under the eaves, seeking sanctuary for winter hibernation. . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/26/AR2009112602328_pf.html

[Jamastiene]

1. Having a home is something I am eternally grateful for.

It's the little pleasures in life that matter.