APPRECIATION FOR THIS MILD NOVEMBER NIGHT ...

l stood outside awhile in the mild air of this November night.

I heard an owl ... I saw Jupiter's brightness in the eastern sky ... I smelled smoke from someone's chimney, and it made me think of burning autumn leaves when that was legal; and suddenly I felt a deep nostalgia ...

Good night from this fine valley in which I live. I find it beautiful, even in the darkness.

 This night was crystal-clear; so strongly bathed in moonlight; every ripple in the waters of the creek was sharply visible, and every leaf on every tree ... There was no cloud or rising mist to veil any sharp detail ... I couldn't sleep; I couldn't flip a switch to mute the brightness ...

And I couldn't bear to close the drapes against the beauty ...

SUMMER IN A TREE ...

 "A favorite memory of summer from my 

childhood is climbing up into a spread-armed

 maple tree where none could see me hidden

 in the thickness of the leaves.

 And in that coolness, privacy and peace, I 

would read.

An August never passes but what that 

memory revisits me." ~~Rose Moore

HOT JULY MORNING, 2020...

    Good morning! A joyful little wren sits on one of my wind chimes singing his heart out. It's incredibly blue in the sky, with not a bit of cloud or breeze...

    After watering my gardens and doing a bit of work with the hoe, I'm relaxing on the porch with my first morning coffee, enjoying it all before this muggy Monday reaches its prediction for un-breathable air and white-hot temps.

    And that, my friends, will be a good time for an AIR-CONDITIONED SIESTA!

MY BEAUTIFUL JULY OHIO ...

Despite the need for rain, these recent days have loveliness...

Blue skies rise along horizons lined with all the drama of a multiplicity of stacked white clouds that bear the look of mesas, buttes and western rock formations...

Freshening breezes gently sway the trees against the sky, like lazy brooms...
 
Birds of local species soar and sing along our rolling hills and valleys...

Flowers make our homestead gardens festive, and wildflowers add their sturdy colors to the roadsides ant the open pastures...

That and more! My northeast Ohio at its best!

WHEN MY SPIRIT NEEDS RESTORING, I TAKE A LITTLE RIDE THROUGH SUMMERTIME OHIO!

THE CREEK CAN BRING PEACE ...

   Oh the peace of June mornings. I sometimes step onto the broad path at the edge of the woods that lead down to the barn. 
   Here the woodland is greatly softened by a lush understory of greenery, and I can sit on a bench or stand and admire the thickness of tree trunks that rise like dark Druids around me. 
   It's quiet here too at the end of the day, and I remember how my Bob used to like sitting then on a small concrete bench, watching the sunset reflect its colors into the upstream waters of the creek. 
   Nothing brought more peace to his spirit then sitting there for awhile, he would tell me, and I share that feeling.   

    After quiet time at the creek, I stroll back to the house, more than ready for the easy sleep that will prepare me for tomorrow. 
     And so, goodnight to all; I will be rising at dawn, as I usually do, to greet the new day.