Scenes from the Slow Moving Train

I haven't poured me out here in a very long time.

Been still.

Focused on my health a LOT. 

Especially since a new health side trip , left me with some more eating restrictions. 

And now I just found out that those new "keep my kidney healthy" eating guidelines, have led to needs for additional other foods to offset the shortages or vitamins and minerals. Such a fine line to follow. 

But --- the blockages are gone - the new eating guidelines are working and I'll take the next turn on this journey with the attitude I've taken the others with. 

Still - each day I search for beauty. 

Like those brilliant pink blooms in the photo above. 

April will find me paring down my craft "stash" --- I hope to make a dent in that project as I continue to USE, DONATE, TRASH, SELL items from the stash. The sketchbook is full, only time remains the one short ingredient. 

But the orange blaze in the evening sky will call me. And even if time is in short supply, I will pause and savor those moments. 

Love the silhouetted branches against that sky. 

As I am "not even"  a morning person, honoring the commitment to PRAISE GOD FOR EACH NEW DAY, continues to draw me from bed early. Seeking the beauty of the sun as she creeps into the day. 

Many mornings it is just me and birds and a few cattle grazing as she slowly fills the sky with colors. 

And I am quite alright with that. This is alone time --- not the loneliest of times. 

There is time for makes as well. 

Things to celebrate the coming of little ones. 

The adding of a bride or groom to families. 

And since I am now pretty much in charge of the decorating for all of the "shower events" at church, I am creating and using and packing up in an organized fashion, of all the stuff I have gathered over these years. 

The blanket above was deemed "mommy's blanket" even though I made for a new baby about to join us. 

In the midst of a failed sunrise morning, I took this. 

Makes me think of my mama.

She loves the trees, bare of leaves, against an unmarked sky. 

Then there was this day.

Five trailer loads of wood. Cut, split, loaded, unloaded, stacked. 

Firewood warms you several times.

But we got it done all in one day. 

Four men - one me - hard work - no griping by me - can't say that about one of the guys. 

But let me tell you ----- I slept great that night. 

I found love in the sunrise as well. 

A happy little discovery.

I was taking those Silhouette images that I adore so much, reviewing them on the screen, the little heart was just THERE.

And this image just makes my heart sing.

It too was a happy accident. 

The camera focused on the tiny tendrils caught in the barbed wire. 

Such contrast - the hard detail of the fence wire - the delicate vine tendrils - and the softness of the background.  

Just a cool image.

And serenity. 

I am finding that I don't mind time spent truly ALONE.

What I do mind is feeling ALONE and LONELY when there is a person or people around me. 

The image above is an image from a Saturday morning walk. 

Humid mist hanging low to the ground. 

It's a calm and refreshing image to me. 

I can hear the birdsong and a distant woodpecker as I see this again. 

This one from another morning.

I park the car.

Get out and stroll the area - looking for the framing of the photo that seems to fit me. 

I don't mind the dampness.

The cold.

Even rain.

or Sweat. 

I am focused on the view. 

And the story it is telling me. 

Then there is that moment

The one that makes you remember

Remember to be thankful.

Remember that you still have value.

Remember that you are worthy of HIS love and grace. 

And I ALWAYS softly speak gratitude aloud in those moments. 

I had read (on Facebook) so you know it had to be true. 

That the pines display the cross near Easter (you can read a story about this here .)

Well, I had never known this, and I love a great, passed down story) 

I have been searching and watching and hoping I would see this phenomena for myself.

Saturday was drizzly, icky, and I was driving home when I spotted the first one. 

Easter weekend - mind you. 

And there they were --- the Easter crosses in the pine trees.

so of course there was the whole 

turn car around

go back

find a place to park

wander across the field

(yes - trespassing - but I justified it by saying I was praising God) 

and getting soaked as I took photos of those crosses. 

the pines really do know it is Easter. 

There are few photos of me on this sight. 

Funny, for a blog that is really kind of intimate in how I reveal my thoughts, I don't show very many pictures of me. 

But here is one from Easter Sunday. 

After our Easter Cantata performance. 

The very first Easter with neither of my girls there.

A hard day. 

But this guy was there. 

Singing behind me in the choir. 

And his Daughter and most of her family. 

Thank you, Laurie for taking this picture. 

And so many friends who have helped me along this journey. 

Those who are still helping me along this journey. 

I am blessed --- I am blessed --- I am blessed.