"...I trusted in the Almighty… I knew I could only be killed once,
and I had to die sometime."
-Anne Bailey, 1823

Wednesday, August 31

September

"September

It rained in my sleep
And in the morning the fields were wet

 I dreamed of artillery
Of the thunder of horses

In the morning the fields were strewn
With twigs and leaves
As if after a battle
Or a sudden journey


I went to sleep in the summer
I dreamed of rain
In the morning the fields were wet
And it was autumn"


Poem by Linda Pastan, from Carnival Evening: New and Selected Poems 1968 -1991 ©W.W. Norton & Company, 2009

Friends, 
Thoughts of fine and shining times fill my mind on this eve of September, for not all which surrounds us is madness, war and the battle cry. There are moments of grace and beauty in the everyday if you but look to see.  Look dear ones! Look upon children at play, a simply set table, a soft and comfortable place to rest, a basket of fresh eggs, a letter from a dear friend. A garden fresh with life, a harvest of much needed meat. Oh, my friends you’ve only but to look!






Original Painting by Mark Selter
Look in the everyday, the mundane, the simple, t’is there we find the clarity we seek.  Glimpse my friends, at the many small and varied blessings which are bestowed upon us daily.  Butterflies upon flowers, nature in all her glory, or a cool mountain stream.  Look!  Truly look upon your surroundings for t’is the simplest of these which grant us the necessary strength to carry us into battle.  Is it not for these smallest treasures we fight?




The days shall surely soon grow colder, the savages shall surely make war upon us, and the nights will become long. But for this moment be well, be blessed, and please my dear ones, be thankful.


May all beings be happy and blessed.