slow to change

the seasons are slow to change

this year, uncertain

samples of heat, retreat

as cool returns

two weeks into July

and summer has no foothold

this blood, thinned

by African years, shivers

I see the shrugs, hear

the snickers, loud

from those already awash

in sweat and complaints

leaves me wondering

will I ever be warm

will I ever be home

again

tease

summer teases, laughing

joyous colour riot

life explodes

then stills

cool winds fall

farmers fret

and I, unaccustomed

to such weather

drape a shawl

around aching bones

believing surely one day

soon, heat will come

extended light

the horizon cracks early

light splinters, spills

evenings extend long

as the sun tarries

unwilling to retire

I am misled

by years of the equality

of African days and nights

unable to read the hours

dinners are late

as we too,unwilling

to miss a moment

soak in the fullness of time

small but brave

the world keeps getting bigger

for a small kitten, brave

each day adventure waits

new scents, sounds

exploration calls strong

to discover what life holds

in long summer hours

 

shifted glory

leaves are loosing their green

transformed to browns

yellows, a blanket spreading 

wide across the yard

the glories of Summer

ceding to Autumn

and yet

the flowers refuse

to surrender

exploding wild with life

in hues of joyous praise

capturing the light

against the darkening days

 

hot days growing shorter

a large moon is rising as day's light begins to fade

earlier and earlier each day

the pattern speaks of Autumn

but temperatures sizzle 

finally announcing Summer

If I listen, I think I hear the corn plants

singing as their ears grow

they have waited long for this

as have I

so even as sweat drips

and heat prickles my skin

I will rejoice and not complain

soaking in the warmth

knowing the long dark months

are soon to come

 

on a breeze

see

in the deep

of a mid August night

summer has finally come on a breeze

after days and weeks far too cold delicate petals unfold

delicate petals unfold landscape ablaze bright colours bold

and tender pastels with whispering tease

let their fragrance delight

while we sleep

free

Today's Form For All was to write to a  mathematical series.  

I chose the challenge of Pascal's triangle

1,3,6,10,15

linking at the pub where mathematics doesn't scare us into silence
 

even in dying

zinnias are filling the front flower bed

tall stems with heads lifted to the sky

petals stretching wide

bold, bright signs of life

clipping carefully

I set them in a bud vase

bringing the light and colour 

into the house

in the strange environment

of indoor air

the blooms find a way to survive

thrive, delighting the passing eye

even as each moment brings an end

colour softening as it fades

muted glory

finding beauty afresh

even in dying

 

pain on the prairie

July will soon depart

prairie summer here and fleeting

we have faced an over abundance of rain,

mosquitoes, dangerous winds

the unpredictable weather

leaves my back weak, brittle

as pain takes my breath

yet there is much to be done

peas, beans, zucchini 

growing full, lush

berries turning dark, 

ripe with juices

I press on, stretch slow

inquire of and lean into my Lord

my petition simple, aching

remove this thorn

or pour out more grace

as You will

that I might best serve You

and the one you chose as my partner

pain, pain go away

don't come back another day

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NLT

 

walking with Emily and the broken yet redeemed

 

Unstoppable change

The summer days
children of a season abbreviated here
fade like the leaves
drying to dust
frost begins to coat the mornings
and even still I hold on
till nothing is left but the holding

There will be no more tomatoes
reaching ripe perfection on the vine
they wait instead for the blush of red
in dark, closed boxes
safe from the cold, true
but losing the flavor that makes them shine

The bright quilt of hot nights
shall be washed and stored
the bed now dressed in down duvet
soon lace coverings on windows
will be replaced with something more substantial

as the brilliant display of trees fallen glory
gives way to wide, wide fields of white.


Joining Lisa-Jo today writing wide

  

Winter to summer and back

Cederburg, Wisconsin

We have passed from winter to spring to summer then back in this most unusual year of season's change.

While we were away warming our bones in temperatures way above normal in the midwestern States we missed a wet and heavy snowfall.  Perhaps I need to rephrase that, for I did not "miss" the snow at all and was happy to see none of it remaining as we pulled into the yard late yesterday afternoon.

Rain and possible snow are forecast for our weekend, which is nothing extraordinary in this northern place.

It matters little to me as my heart and thoughts are turned toward the One Who made this the holiest of weeks.

May the passion that drove Him to the cross burn within me at a fever pitch, the intensity of His love etching deeply into my spirit.

I am happy to be home even as I realize more each day that home is truly not here, but wherever He Is.


 

Time flies and other flies...

These are the days when the sun begins to rise late and set early, unfolding colours that God seems to have created new for the occassion.  Summer days were long and lazy and felt like they would last forever.

Yet time flies.

In fact the days and weeks bleed into each other.  The blur leaves me a bit edgy, as if I've missed much, almost as if some sort of madness has crept in.

picture from Dr. Bug site http://www.drbug.ca/insects/cluster_flies.php

What has crept in for sure is a constant stream of cluster flies.  I never knew about them before, never wanted to know and truly wish I never needed to know. As annoying as these little demons are, I'm relieved to learn there are not a sign of an unclean home.  That helps chase away the sense of shame that was beginning to descend.

After vigorous swatting escapades that left me with streaked, slimed windows, we have taken to sucking them off the windows with a vacuum hose.  This is cleaner indeed!

I have been enjoying the warm and sunny days as Summer tries to linger, but perhaps I am ready for the colder temperatures to settle in, bringing an end, at least until Spring, to mosquitos, grasshoppers and these pesky flies.

Summer Farewell

Why do I mourn the fading of summer
the bright, the bold, the hard to miss
"in your face" colours?
I need not seek for beauty
it shouts out and finds me
creates a perfect laziness.

Autumn is softer
even its chill
edges lose their focus
more effort is required
I don't see until I look
but glory waits to be found.

So too, in riotous summers of my spirit
over-filled with His goodness
I tend to grow dull, taking Him for granted.
My words of repentence
crackle as the fallen leaves
calling out my mistake
as I more gladly now
bid farewell to Summer's ease
and step into the Autumn toil.

Yes, I will seek You.
With all my heart
with all my soul
with all my strength
and You will Be my all
as Winter comes.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near Isaiah 55:6 NIV

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might.  Deuteronomy 6:5 Amplified





Jamming with Bonnie about Autumn's Song

Joining Emily and the broken redeemed

Summer things

I'm singing praise and recounting His goodness in the things of summer over at The Everyday Testimony Project today.  Come join me here

Every day - Five Minute Friday

I'm finally taking a minute, actually five minutes, to join in the fun with The Gypsy Mama who invites us to "Indulge in five rich, delicious minutes of pure writing" each Friday.

This week the prompt was every day.

Every day I look to the forcast as if it were something magical, as if I could plan my day, every day.

Every day this week there have been little pictures of clouds covering even smaller pictures of the sun.

Every day the winds have blown strong and the heat I've been craving has been kept away, every day.

Every day the flowers wait to find their home, planted in rich prairie soil.  Instead they sit in small plastic pots and trays, ladies in waiting, wanting to thrive.

Every day I look to the skies.  Every day evening rolls in with much left to be done.

Every day I say a prayer for the farmers who also wait, every day, to put their future in ground that is too wet to work. 

Every day I say thanks to the One Who knows; when the clouds will break, when the sun will shine, when the chill in the air will be chased away by Summer's heat;  for He knows the secrets of yesterday, today and tomorrow, the promise of every day.




Come on over to Lisa Jo's and join the fun.

Pleasantly disturbed, random Thursday

Image via Wikipedia

Frost.. have you ever really noticed the layer of white that coats a chilly morning? Oh, I suppose most of you aren't even thinking about that yet, but it's already that cold up here.. yes, that cold.

Yet I chose this life here on the Canadian prairie, where Summer seems to be gone as quickly as it appears, and even in its harshness I find God's peace. When all is frozen and still I have no choice but to slow down, and there I can focus in on Him, the only thing of true importance.


Will it soon be time to plug in the vehicles? Yes, I said plug in, and no, we don't have electric automobiles. I remember being quite confused when Rick first mentioned that he had plugged in his car. Back home in Chicago, if someone was concerned about low temps they would remove the car battery and bring it inside to stay warm. Here, the cars are made with something called a block heater that keeps the oil warm enough to flow. That's what gets plugged in, and I am now quite used to seeing parking lots with little poles and outlets for each space. I'm sure it is hard for many of you to imagine, but when we have long spells of days hovering around 40 below it all begins to make sense.

But I'm running too far ahead of things. Yes, there was frost again this morning, but God may yet surprise us with a warm and sunny October. One year, that was our Summer, warmer then July and August. He does have a snarky sense of humour at times, must be where we got it from, eh?

Join Duane at Scribing the Journey to read more pleasant disturbedness...

Imperfect Prose - Unpreservable

It is time again

for the gathering in

vegetables frozen

or transformed

into salsas

jellies, jams

baked into sweet breads

and pies.

Try as we might

we cannot preserve

the days

the fleeting days

of Summer.

What we save

is memories

on pantry shelves

or words on crisp pages

of journals.

Branches grow bare

as leaves scatter

and gather

and scatter again.

Perhaps I'll pluck some

from the ground

before the snow

and use them to mark pages

in books

that speak

summer tales.

Join Emily at In the Hush of the Moon for more prose, however imperfect.

Window Views - Rain Sun Rain

No photos of today. A stiff and sore lower back has restricted movement so I have no digital capture.

The view from our windows has shifted from cloud to sun and back again. Trees dance in the wind scattering their leaves. The vegetable garden is stripped of all but carrots and potatoes, those safe and protected underground. The frost warning that came mid-week prompted Rick to harvest anything that might be lost to the cold.

But the flowers bloom on, pinks and purples vibrant against a sky grown grey.

Yesterday as I was journaling the Lord told me:

This, this is transformation, when in your yieldedness I can have My way - accomplishing My purposes - far beyond anything you've dreamed - more than you could ever do on your own.

Why? Yes, little one, yes - for the glory of My name.
Flowers bloom to the glory of the roots that feed them.

So too will your light and life and beauty be for My glory.

It is time to soak up the colours, store away memories much the same way we preserve our fruits and vegetables. Summer will indeed come again... but today, I feel the heart of winter in the wind.

Join Cassandra Frear at The Moonboat Cafe for more Window Views

Window Views - Harvest

Click on picture to enlarge view

Today as I gaze out my window, the skies alternate between sun and clouds, the view first hazy then sharp and clear. My ears settle on the rumble of heavy equipment. No matter the weather, it is time.

A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3:2 NLT

Harvest time is predictable in its coming, yet sudden as well. The fields are checked, rechecked. There is a sense in the air, something tangible. The urge to go like an itch you can't reach to scratch.

It is time to gather in what has been scattered; to rejoice in what God has done; to roll up our sleeves and toil, knowing Who sustains us.

It is time to think about the Kingdom that is yet to come and pray for the labourers.

"What a huge harvest!" he said to his disciples. "How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!" Matthew 9:37-38 The Message

This was written as part of Cassandra Frear's The Moonboat Cafe Window Views.