Mosaic of Life

On the first morning of my annual pilgrimage into the Smoky Mountains for a mental reset and some great hiking, I was greeted with the scene below.

A gentle breeze took away any coverings of an inspiring morning.  Morning’s light, full of hope and new beginnings, faded in and out from behind a thin sheer of clouds off to my right, above a high ridge line. After a while the sun lit up the side of my face and felt like a warm cloth. The trees were bare, leaving a mosaic of the winding road below, and the hills beyond.

The road below; it was there before me and will likely be there long after I am gone. Beauty is carved out through time, following natural terrain. Nature’s flow. A beautiful life should follow that pattern with the natural mountains and valleys (our belief systems) carving out a boundary for when we step out too far. But not too rigid. It’s okay to have the hairpin turns to slow us down from imminent disaster, and we can go around a mountain when it serves no purpose to climb it.

The view can be spectacular along this twisted journey, but we can’t see too far ahead with the upcoming turn. Be spontaneous, enjoy your road trip, stop along the way, and soak in a good dose of life.

Surreal World

A surreal world, simplicity at first glance, even keel, but marvelously complex when you look closely. You have to look away from the wide angle view and zero in to the intricacies that make up the big picture.

Each raindrop fans out and ripples until it is no more. Sometimes it crosses paths with another and changes, like people do along their journey. This pattern is continuous, even as nighttime descends and no one is there to watch. Decades of habits leave deep scars that can't be locked away forever, unless they're of the heart.

The rain settles down and the magic comes to an end. For now.

Visitor

Sunday morning in the Tennessee Mountains, and the sky is blue and full of freshness. I sit on the back porch sipping coffee, and I look beyond the porch railing and spot a cardinal, its red colors standing out like a lit ornament. He’s set against an opaque backdrop that is easily discernible through the thick debris, without the foliage of summer. Nothing to capture it with but words; my camera is inside.

 Some things are best captured with prose, without the leading and distractions of imagery. A picture can lead its audience in a direction that misses the point entirely. Sometimes the point is one a lonely soul needs. 

He drops out of site for a moment, probably getting me used to him being away. “I am still here,” he says, “watching over you.” I can hear his sweet song.  Not a warning call, but a calming tune that will comfort me the remainder of the day.

I am reminded that my birthday passed by a few days back. No recovering my lost day in the woods. My back issues are not yet healed. I look forward to a yearly hike on my birthday, in the stillness and quiet of the forest. Another is on the way, still in the distance, barely a seedling at this point. With hours of preparation in between. His message is to prepare now for what awaits later; don’t miss an opportunity. 

My cardinal is such a beauty. Earlier this morning I heard his call of warnings when I stepped outside. Didn’t see any visible signs but words can do the job. Why warnings before the calm? Now he basks in peace and beauty.

He steps away for a moment, and now an unexpected breeze flows, out of character with the still morning. It rattles leaves and stirs the air.

The cardinal made me think of a friend’s mom. The friend’s comment a week back, that a visit from a red cardinal signifies a visit from a loved one from heaven. Her wonderful mother passed away recently, after a life full of treasures placed upon those she knew. She couldn’t linger forever in person, and it would not have been fair of her to do so. We must step up and make our own memorial.

Some people leave their indelible touch on us, with a reminder of them everywhere we look. A lift of the spirit, of our faith. Memories. Talking about them is time well spent, for it renews lessons that are worth reliving. It helps to unlock their secrets that were in front of us all along.

A tree is now fallen on a steeply pitched hill below the deck I stand on; I visualize a family of squirrels darting in and out, it being the shelter when raising their young. Now it’s nourishment for the ground it fed, yet it serves as a reminder when I look at the rotting tree, now in pieces on the ground, and host to a nice array of greens, reds, and yellows that cling to its shell. I envision the images I captured of this tree with my camera almost ten years back. The next generation won’t see this tree as more than what once was; something of the past with nothing left to offer. This puts such a burden on me to leave an indelible mark for others to visualize what I see.

Where do these thoughts of goodness that flow through me come from? How many generations back of planting good seed? 

A reminder was sent to me today by a messenger. Unknowing to the cardinal? I don’t think so. He knows how to look at me, what to say and how to Say it, and to remind me of what is good. Perhaps it comes as instinct, for animals do as they are programmed, unlike many people. Their purpose is set, and while they are free to enjoy many things while on the earth, they don’t take more than they give.

I long to walk in the woods on my birthday.

Without a Catch

At some point in our lives we all experience change. That mind altering shock, the moment everything we thought within reason goes out the window.


Things we thought were etched in stone are blown away in an instant, like a dandelion hit by a gale force wind. Nothing was as it seemed, and you figure nothing will ever be as it should be. We're on the wheel of fortune, and where it stops nobody knows. You look from side to side frantically, looking for something familiar to grab hold of, something that you can call home.


Do you define a true friend as someone who agrees with you regardless? Someone who slobbers over your ideals to make you happy? What if they disagree?



Ever stop and think about what a true, lifelong friend means? For me, “Without a Catch” creates an image of that elusive person. One whose friendship doesn’t waver with life’s changes of direction, differences of opinion, and lifestyle changes, at least up to a point.


Acquaintances come and go, floating in and out of our lives with the changing winds. A disagreement on this or that, befriending someone who doesn’t meet their criteria, or a number of other life events can turn what we thought to be a close friend into someone we despise, and it can happen overnight. One phone call can do it. And they can turn on you with such a vengeance it’s tough to trust again. It’s just the way some people are, they’re looking for a band of followers or a gaggle of people to agree with everything they believe. They expect it, and won’t accept anything less. Their way or no way. Cross their road on the wrong side and see what happens.


People have a natural tendency, especially kids, to gang up on the dissident. It happens in the animal world; their version is called survival of the fittest. In this case I don’t mean someone who resists authority and paves a new road to travel on, but I’m talking about the one who is singled out, vulnerable, and easy pickings for a group. Riding this wave of popularity isn’t fulfilling; they’ll turn on you at some point too. It seems so cruel looking from afar, but it’s human nature at work.
Games are laid out with a simple pattern for children to understand, but the game playing doesn’t stop with our youth; the results simply become more scornful and vicious as we supposedly mature into adults. The games we played in school had the same basic rules as the ones later on, but with different paths to follow and different lines drawn in the sand. Divisions are created over family wealth, color, background, what school we attended, etc.


We all have parameters we want to stay within. Who we surround ourselves with will have a big effect on how we talk, think, and exist. One bad influence can turn our children into something we never though could happen, and it can be difficult to pull them back. I remember something my grandmother said to my parents years ago, when I wasn’t being the best of kids. She said if you put good things in them, it will come out in the end. I agree that if it’s put in at the critical influential years it will always be there to either guide or condemn us; it’s our choice which path is followed.


Despite this, a true friend stays a friend through good and bad. Love doesn’t come and go like the flip of a light switch, it’s something that saturates our whole being, once it’s there. A true friend may not agree with us or even hang around when we’re bad; we probably cross the boundaries of their convictions and they can’t let us pull them into our pit of despair. Our families need our protection, and this shield may be from the words and influence of a long time friend that has gone astray because of their decisions, changing convictions, or simply a life event that creates a divide. However, the deep seeded love and caring is there, no matter what. And a true friend will be there to help pick us up after our failures. It may be a phone call or a visit away, but he/she will be there to do what can be done, and you know it’s with a caring heart.


A true friend is that special person you would contact if your life was at a crossroads, with dire consequences hanging in the balance; the one you know would offer the best hope and advice, based solely on your well being. And, that doesn’t mean always hearing what you want to hear. Often it won’t be. When we’re under duress we can’t always make rational decisions, but someone who loves us can offer the tough advice that’s needed.


Other times we need a shoulder to lean on, someone who cares enough to be there when we hurt. Someone who cares deeply about our well being, and we know they care, without having to wonder.


We like people because, and love them although.Sort of like comparing acquaintances and true friends.


And, a true friend can keep your secrets. They can’t help you if you’re afraid to reveal to them your vulnerabilities. They can look at you without a blink and you know they know, but it’s okay .And you want them to know things no one else knows. A true friend can learn how we think, if they’re around us enough. And they can sometimes finish a sentence we start, and don’t know how to finish it ourselves. Our words and thoughts need to be created, and put in their proper place. It’s in us, but a true friend can bring it out. They get you, when others don’t.


A true, lifelong friend can often times say a few words and make your heart feel warm, and help put life’s perspectives back in their proper place. And you look forward to hearing their voice, even when you don’t really like what they’re saying. But you still listen.

Rites of Spring

Springtime means renewal. Our new hopes haven’t been dashed yet, and reality hasn’t had time to hammer our new found expectancy into its proper place. The ones we design through our thoughts and acquaintances, plus a few failures along the way. Okay, sounds a bit negative I know, and sometimes our planting in the spring, with proper care and watering turns into a great harvest in the fall. As long as we kill the weeds during the Summer, lest they take over.

This Spring marks the second straight year a mama bird has picked an outdoor light fixture as her safeguard against the elements and prey. The nest is just outside our bedroom window, which is on the second floor. As the photo shows, we don’t use the light; the bulb would cause harm to the babes, and it might even be a fire hazard with the bulb’s heat against all of the nesting material.

It’s a nice Spring ritual; everything new and coming alive, the serenade of hungry chicks when Mom brings another mouthful of nourishment, lush greenery and beautiful spring flowers filling out overnight, it seems. On Saturday mornings for a few weeks I hear the frequent sounds during a feeding frenzy. Today they are no doubt ready to go out on their own, exploring the big, new world with no self-imposed limitations on what they can do.

Check out the one on the left. Seems to be the ringleader. I figure this will be the first one out, the one that has the most fun, and the most likely candidate to get eaten by a cat. If only they can survive those teenage years…..

We’ll look out in a few days and they’ll all be gone, with an empty nest to remind us of the beauty and miracle of birth, the nurturing, and yet another cycle of life we’ve had the pleasure of experiencing.

I absolutely love Spring. If for no other reason, because life is renewing, if only for a season. It’s something to look forward to even in a trying time. Despite extreme hardships, there is hope, as reflected in Alexander Pope’s quote:

Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be Blest.