On the way to school this morning...

we admired the beauty of the watercycle taking place right in front of us. The clouds stood erect on the surface of the water. They look like little straws all in a row. The first frost was on everything else. The grass was frozen stiff. My butterfly bush had the petals shivering for the cold. This might be the coldest day that I have been out in, down here in NC. I love old man winter! I love the fact that he comes quietly but definitively to call upon us and stops by us for just a little time, on his way to visit everybody else. He must not like North Carolina, so he came to visit, just to cheer me up and cure my homesickness.
I'm cured!

I wonder if there are some new baby birds

in that nest in the courtyard. It is too high for me to see up there. I can't even tell what type of bird built it. It is a very beautiful nest and I just can't wait to make the acquaintance of the birds who did.
It nearly tripped me, looking that high to see the nest.

The rose bushes heard me talking about the peonies

and decided to put on a dance for me today. I walk past them everyday and usually they stand very erect and pompous. They leave the dancing to the less glorified ordinarily. They noticed that they weren't getting any press, so today they danced around almost wildly but none the less in syncapation with eachother. David danced before the Lord and these royal bushes put down their regality today and praised God with all their might!

Cow manure and peonies

New sets of flowers means playing in the dirt and smelling the odors of cow manure. I love it. The colors of fall include new flowers the trees redressing in their Halloween costumes and the birds hiding out for the chilly weather.
I just can't wait for the peonies to do their fall dance for me. They are practiced and ready for the fall flower festival. The dance will bring out the best in the courtyard and will delight all of the onlookers. Those who can see their dance, those who participate in their dance and those who imitate their dance in their own way. We are not only dust in the wind. We have the delights of all of these sights and smells and thoughts and sounds and feelings to imbibe on this journey through this terrestrial scene. We usually perseverate, or overuse one or more of the senses and neglect some of the other, just as useful ones, to our own loss and sometimes deterioration.
High on cow manure and peonies is far better than high on sugar and guar gum and chocolate.

"I looked and behold there was a great multitude which no man can number..." Rev. 5:11

Our eyes will be engaged in the thrills that are prepared for us in heaven. Let us enjoy the beauty and lessons of the sights on earth and enjoy the beautiful gifts that God has prepared on earth for us richly to enjoy. I see that the bluejays do.

Tiny birds used the spider webs on the bushes

for trampolenes. They started at the left side of the bush and hopped from web to web til they got to the end. After a while they were having so much fun that momma and poppa bird jumped in. It made me wish I were a finch to watch them. Mrs Finch is far more strict with her birdlings, even than Mrs. Robin. They have to be, because they are so tiny. One mistake can cost a life. Their bedtime is while it is still light and don't let those little ones peak over the nest. I saw momma finch peck the baby so firmly and the little one went right back under the covers and went to sleep. I'd better get some of that discipline into me.

I made the acquaintance of the finch family yesterday

There was a beautiful little family of finches putting their children to bed in the tree outside my job yesterday. I just loved watching them. They acted like they didn't see me and hid under the leaves and went to sleep.

Purple Mountains Majesty

If you don't find me one day, I went rolling down a perfectly delicious hill at work. It is the perfect hill to roll down. It is just the kind that you could roll and roll and not come back from.
Mrs. Robin introduced me to it and ever since I have admired it from a distance. It is impudent, as well as immature for a 46 year old to roll down the hill at work. I guess that is why people ski. It is the thought of rolling down the hill on your feet. I couldn't think about going skiing but I would lay right down and roll down that perfectly manicured hill and thank humanity for letting me do so.
Decorum aside, of course; then, if I lived to tell about it, I would write about the feeling of rolling down that hill. I would imagine it is like the mountains at Rochdale which I was never brave enough or immature enough to roll down like everyone else. Life is too short to be too grown too soon.