-
Event, after event, after event, after event, after…
Today is a beautiful day with the sun leaping down through the trees, one leaf at a time until it touches the grass. The temperature is moderate, a far cry from the heat and humidity we have had recently, and the sky is a gorgeous blue with white lambs wool sporadically wiping it clean. It is a good day for reflection about the many blessings that abound through the chaos… Does your family have a period out of the year where everything happens? Ours is right now! It started the 10th with a grandchild’s birthday, two anniversaries the next week…
-
Distractions
Here I sit amidst many distractions trying to wrench the right word out of air thickly laced with rock lyrics and confrontation. Images, words and music are flying around, encircling my consciousness with ridiculous rhetoric, making meaningful work nearly impossible. I thought I could get an article written while mechanics comb over Mom’s van, but I guess my ignoring-with-the-best-of-them skills are defunct. My waiting-room mate is watching Judge Allred, and songs like “White Wedding” fly through the air between the rhetoric of the radio DJ and energetic advertisements. How can I ignore them when a man who has 21 children…
-
Winged blessings
Sometimes I really wish I could just stay home to work in my garden and write. Then I get a customer who really appreciates my help and my knowledge of gardening, lawns and landscaping… I really like working in the garden center at Home Depot. One of the many blessings of my job, besides the great customers and co-workers, is the creatures that visit the gorgeous plants we have. When I water early in the day, the birds greet me with their morning song, and when I water in the evening, the hummingbird moths gather around the flowers, especially the…
-
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
By Grace Lin Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is an enchanting book for young readers, taking them on a journey with a young girl, named Minli, to find the Old Man of the Moon. Living in the Valley of Fruitless Mountain, Minli and her parents spend their days working hard in the rice fields and their nights listening to folk lore stories about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon told by her father. Her mother’s discontentment with their meager living comes out in angry sighs and critical comments about filling Minli’s head with fantasy. Filled…
-
Change
Moving into a new home brings with it many challenges in the yard. The previous owners did little to take care of the yard, though I could tell, the property was loved at one time. I have been gradually changing some of the landscape to meet me, instead of leaving it the way it was. Most of the time, I am content with just about everything, but having hostas in full sun doesn’t work for me. My garden bed along the south side of the house needed to be redone, and I decided this was the spring to begin the…
-
Live every moment
We had a death in the family last week. A suicide. Unexpected deaths are always difficult for those left behind, but suicide takes on a whole new dimension. It is not accidental, nor is it unavoidable. It is a conscious choice that is often a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I believe suicide is very selfish, not taking into account how it will affect others. Even when someone feels others would be better off without him, moving away rather than killing himself would be better. Suicide affects others forever. No one knows exactly why this person made the decision…
Copyright © 2026 Natures Canvas – Log in