This morning before work I took Annie out and we walked around the yard. I had a cup of hot Yerba Mate tea with milk and honey. The morning walks with Annie are quickly becoming a favorite part of my day.
This is what I see when I look up these days. A gray winter sky and bare tree limbs. Only a couple of our deciduous trees have any leaves remaining. Thank goodness for the cedars.
And thank goodness for the rosemary and some other herbs and shrubs that are hardy no matter what the weather. I love that the rosemary blooms this time of year. This morning as I walked around I thought of so many things. I thought about gratitude and wondered if I practice what I preach to my children. Be thankful for what you have.
We have had an abundance of rain over the last few days, which has been a nice coincidence since we’ve been studying The Gullywasher by Joyce Rossi. It was nice to enjoy that every birdbath was full without my having to exert any effort to fill them. Thank you rain.
At the back of a web filled with raindrops sits a spider, waiting. My little garden creatures are harder and harder to find. They are going into hiding for the winter. I notice that a lot of beauty goes into hiding in the winter. Or is it that the leafless barren presentation of winter reveals what is ugly?
Ugly revealed. It’s a thought that runs through my mind over and over as I walk. This time of year is overwhelming for many people. Winter sets in, taking the light with it. Gray days evoke gray moods. The holiday season rings in tones of melancholy for many people. (My dad was one of them.) Heating bills rise, money seems scarce. And all of a sudden the clutter and unfinished projects that didn’t seem so unsightly in the shadow of a lush summer are now embarrasingly apparent.
My life feels like that sometimes. In the midst of co-ops, craft projects, working, personal interests, and keeping house, little failures and large “incompletes” don’t seem very threatening. Then, sometimes, in the still of a cold evening alone or while (foolishly) thinking about a person who seems to get everything just right, a little failure seems monumental. It is at those moments when I have to look deep in my heart and find memories of flowers and garden creatures and warm soil, and remind myself that a life is made day by day and effort by effort. I remind myself to take joy.
A little failure or an incomplete project is only monumental if we give it the power to be so. I have found that it takes just as much effort (if not more) to mourn something that didn’t turn out like I wanted it to as it does to do something positive. So why waste the time and energy going down the wrong road?
My walk did finally end and Annie and I went inside so I could work today. Winter might reveal some ugliness here and there, even in my own yard, maybe especially in my own yard, but I find that I need this season of winter to think about where I’m going.
Lynn
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
lovely post
Dear Lynn,
Tell me that spider isn’t as big as it looks!
Such words to ponder~This time of year can be rough, that is for certain. May we each learn to just live one day at a time, and trust that we will be given all that we need.
Love,
Marqueta
Hi Lynn!
I haven’t posted commented since I changed my blogspot- and that explains my different ‘website’ address.
Oh the seasonal blues and how they can creep up on one so quickly. Speaking of the amount of energy and time it takes to focus on the “ugly”, it is a time that is exhausting. It is true, it can be a fight to keep the heart’s focus on “beauty” during these times. So why not go to bed at night exhausted because of the fight to focus on “beauty” rather than exhausted because of suffering down wrong road?
(Hope I made sense, lol- and believe me, I speak to myself here! thanks for letting me write it our here
I have always used this correlation when it came to choosing anger vs. peace because we all know how exhausting it can be to keep up anger.
Thanks for painting this little truth in a new light for me.
Just today I had to ask the Lord to help me take hold of His joy because I was ‘down’ thinking I could not find any and this is what He gave me:
“… be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Praise be to the Lord!
Blessings, Deanna @
Lavenderandpinkrosepetals.blogspot.com
Beautiful post friend and a great reminder. I know I struggle some of late at looking at the gray skies – and you are right that staying busy does help, but choosing is a good thing.
Missed you on Sat friend!
Love
Leslie
Thank you Kate.
Marqueta, those spiders aren’t so big. Every year the boxwoods fill up with spiders just like that, so the boxwoods are covered in diamond-filled webs every morning. Neat.
Deanna, thank you for your kind comment. It’s amazing that one of the things about human nature is how we tend sometimes to choose the hard road (discontent) rather than the easy road (contentment). It’s something I must constantly work on.
Leslie, I missed you guys too! Looks like you had an awesome day! I was grateful you had clear skies, even though they started out gray you ended up with some sun I believe!
Lynn
I love your post, it’s beautiful! I recently wrote down this quote: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’a about learning to dance in the rain!”
So true! We all need to learn to enjoy life’s journey–wherever it takes us!
If you think you might want to try yerba mate that is more sweet, Wisdom Natural Brands, the parent company of Wisdom of the Ancients has yerba mate with SweetLeaf stevia in it!
Thanks so much for the post!
Thanks, Yoda, for stopping by! I have seen a Yerba Mate that had stevia in it and I almost got it, but the brand I saw had another herb in it as well and I was a bit afraid to take it on in the face of all else I’m dealing with with my thyroid. I’ll look out for the brand you mentioned.
Lynn
Lynn.. this is a real treasure of a post. I’ve reread it several times, and liked it better with each reading. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts….♥