thankful thursday - wind chimes

Wind chimes are something you either really like... or absolutely don't like. There aren't many people in the "take 'em or leave 'em" camp.

As a child, I loved to listen to the wind chimes on our patio. They often lulled me to sleep as I listened to their sweet, ever-changing melody. As an adult, I still enjoy listening to them when the windows are open. Or we're sitting on the patio or swimming in the pool. And even now their calming tones relax my mind as I fall asleep.

Over the years I have acquired a small collection of them. We received our first one as a wedding gift from the parents of a friend of ours. It is really more decorative than musical but is loved because it marks the beginning of our married life together.

This beauty has hung on the patios of each of the three homes we've owned.

Others play beautiful music together, the tempo depending on the speed of the wind. Their "voices" blend together creating beautiful melodies.

Each of these wind chimes has its own story about how they came to be ours. The one on the left was my Mother's Day gift from our daughters and their families several years ago. The middle one was regifted to me from the person I gave it to - long story! And the left one was given to me as sort of a gag gift - but I love it!

I have two handcrafted wind chimes made just for me. Their melodies are much more muted, but their sentiment sings loudly! And I love that they are examples of up-cycling.

The wind chime on the left was made for me by my North Carolina sweethearts. It hangs in my kitchen and I smile every time I look at it. The one on the right was made by my North Carolina son-in-law. I wondered why we were saving bottle caps every time I visited - but now I smile and remember sweet memories from my visits when I hear or see it on my patio!

I think the reason I like wind chimes so much is that they remind me of unseen things. I can't see the wind but I can see and hear the effect of wind. Similarly, I can't see the Holy Spirit but I can see His work in my life and the lives of others. Watching the pieces sway in the wind and listening to the soothing sounds reminds me of the people in our lives who are no longer with us. 

Some day I would like to visit the world's largest wind chime in Casey, Illinois. It's over 50 feet tall with the longest chime measuring 42 feet!  But for now, I am content with enjoying mine.

thankful thursday - paper road maps

A few weeks ago I went to AAA to get the maps I need to plan our summer vacation. With great expectation I walked into the building and approached the counter with my list in my hand. The woman efficiently put together the maps I requested and I returned to my car with a bag full of large paper maps. I was almost giddy with excitement as I drove home, thinking about all the possible routes we could take, places we could visit and things we could see.

I know there are apps for my phone that plot your route, give you hotel suggestions and points of interest nearby. They will even tell you if there is construction somewhere or road closures. They give you traffic updates. Navigation will give you audible, step-by-step directions to your destination. You can find gas stations with the cheapest gas.

They say there is an app for everything.

But you can't feel the crisp folds in the map or spread them open all over the floor to get "the big picture" with a map app. You can't smell the ink and paper on your phone. You don't sharpen your mental math skills adding up mileage between towns in your head. You don't learn to navigate, to go from point A to point B using nothing but your map and your brain.

It's not that I have anything against "progress." Although, just because something might be easier doesn't necessarily mean it's progress - but that's a blog post for another day.  I really just like the challenge of planning a trip myself, using a paper map and a highlighter. I'm thankful AAA still prints paper maps and hope they continue to do so for many years to come. I like the adventure of not knowing if there's road construction or a detour before I get there. It's what makes the great American road trip great!

thankful thursday - rest & refuge

Sometimes I get tired. Not just sleepy or tired from working hard. It goes beyond physically fatigued to emotionally tired... and spiritually tired. Does that happen to you? I think it happens to all of us once in awhile.

I was feeling that way a couple of weeks ago right before my sweet hubby and I were scheduled for a long weekend away. Just the two of us. In the middle of nowhere. Well, technically in the middle of the Mohave Desert. What perfect timing! In fact, you might say it was God-timing!

We have driven past the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP) at lightening speed on our way to California at least 75 times and never stopped, always thinking we'd do it another time. We finally made it our destination for our long weekend away. Now I wonder what we were waiting for!

JTNP is one of the lesser crowded national parks with roughly 2 million visitors annually (compared to over 5 million visitors at Grand Canyon National Park!). Located in southern California where the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts meet, it is hot during the summer and cold during the winter making spring and fall the ideal times to visit. Since we went in the spring, I was expecting crowds. There were lots of people - but the park is a big place. There were two times we were in the midst of a lot of people - at Skull Rock (Thankful Thursday - Traveling Humor) and on a trail that started in a campground. Otherwise, we were on our own.

It was a beautiful spring weekend when we visited - not too warm with a slight breeze. It's the kind of weather that makes you want to be outside. We walked along vista points, turnouts on the road (although, to be honest, there aren't many of either) and in fields alongside the road. There was so much to see!

Every turn in the road revealed a different field - some were fields of cholla and yucca, some were fields of rocks, and some were fields of flowers (Thankful Thursday - Spring). Everywhere we looked. there was something new to see! It was quiet and calm. 

We hiked along a trail that led back to a palm canyon. It was mind-boggling to walk from the sunny, brown desert back into a lush, green, shady niche in just a few steps! There were birds chirping and we saw a bunny. It was peaceful and soothing.

After spending a day and a half exploring the park - being outside alone with our thoughts, spending time together and recharging our batteries - we noticed we were more rested physically and emotionally. It is impossible to be immersed in nature and not see the majestic hand of God - His infinite power and artistic flair and, yes, even His sense of humor.

I am thankful for periods of rest and places of refuge and that God restores, renews and recharges me.

thankful thursday - traveling humor

We enjoy traveling - seeing new sights or revisiting old favorites, meeting new people or reconnecting with friends, learning new things, geocaching in new locations, and eating local food. It's an adventure and we love it!

One of our favorite things while traveling is to discover "humor sightings." It might be a funny sign in a rural town or a tree covered in shoes. Sometimes it's a cloud shaped like something whimsical. If you keep your eyes peeled, you can find lots of things that make you laugh.

On a recent trip to Joshua Tree National Park, we found several treasures that tickled our funny bones. Some are completely natural...

This is Skull Rock. Although we didn't name it, we thought it was amusing to have a skull made out of rock in the desert - it goes along with the other skulls you find traipsing around the hot, arid desert - only bigger!

Others are natural with a side of human help...

I was amused that someone(s) threw little rocks on top of this huge boulder. I imagine it was a game of sorts. Something like who could toss the most rocks on the boulder without knocking any off. Or how close to the edge could you throw your rock. What I do know is that the average person couldn't just climb up the boulder and put them there without some climbing gear. I wonder how many people pass by without looking up and noticing the little rocks. 

And some are completely man-made...

This "yard art" was in the "backyard" of an art gallery out in the middle of the Mojave Desert just north of Joshua Tree National Park. I thought it was a funny place for an art gallery to begin with but as we explored (read: looked for a geocache) we found quite a few examples of interesting yard art. This one made us laugh!

I am thankful for the gift of laughter - it does a body good!

thankful thursday - spring

Spring is a love/hate time of year for many people. We love the warmer, sunnier days and the beautiful flowers that bloom. But we hate the pollen... and drippy noses, itching eyes and scratchy throats... that come with the flowers.

I admit that allergies can brutal and that some years are worse for allergy-sufferers than others. I am thankful that spring pollen is generally not troublesome for me - and when it is, Claritin works great. That leaves me free to walk through the desert, immersing myself in the artistry of the desert wildflowers.

One thing the desert has plenty of is cactus. It has taken me decades to appreciate their beauty despite their beastly appearance. In times of less water, their shrunken appearance accentuates the sharpness of their spines (aka needles or thorns). Some desert plants, like yuccas, agave and ocotillo, are often mistaken for cactus but are not. True cactus has spines instead of leaves, has a protective wax-like skin to keep moisture from evaporating, and its skin is green to promote photosynthesis since it has no leaves. Different species bloom at different times so the desert is colorful from March through July.

The only cactus here is beaver tail in the lower left corner. The top two are soaptree yucca and the bottom right is an ocotillo.

Warmer temperatures and a little rain makes the desert blossom in color. Sometimes you have to look carefully as the plants are small and very close to the ground. Others carpet the desert floor in a sea of color. 

Flowers of every color adorn the desert!

I think the desert Southwest is beautiful all the time but its beauty is more delicate, more intricate and more fragrant in the springtime. As I walk along the paths I am reminded of the words of the psalmist in Psalm 111:2-4 - "Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate."

thankful thursday - order

It seems like chaos is the norm is our lives.  The media, especially social media, is bombarding us with more information - fact and opinion - than we can process. There's the national election cycle  with who's in, who's out, and who said what. Much of the commentary is filled with name-calling, hatred and rhetoric aimed to escalate emotional responses.  Then come world events - terrorist attacks, financial crisis, sports news. Add in life - family, work, school, social obligations, health issues, financial burdens,... - and we have a perfect storm for chaos.

Living in a state of chaos can be fun, even exciting, for a little while. But pretty soon it turns from fun to frenzy as we become increasingly stressed. And we all know stress is not a good thing for us.

So what's the opposite of chaos? Order!

Order is defined as "a condition in which each thing is properly disposed with reference to other things and to its purpose; methodical." I like order. I like my things in their place where they belong, not strewn haphazardly around the house. I make lists so I can get things done efficiently and in the right order. I alphabetize my dvd's in genres.

Earlier this week I was feeling the chaos of the world as election hype dominated Facebook and the news. As I walked down to our mailbox, I was thinking about chaos and order.

And then it struck me! There is order all around me! The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Every. Single. Day. The seasons follow one after the other. The planets orbit the sun in their determined paths. The stars are in their place in the heavens. Plants grow in a particular pattern and order unique to their specie creating beauty.

In high school I learned about a man named Leonardo of Pisa (called Fibonacci) who "discovered" a number sequence - 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55,... - where the last two numbers are added together to get the next number.  Squares whose side lengths are the Fibonacci numbers can be arranged in an ever-increasing spiral, a unique shape commonly found in nature. The seeds in a sunflower are arranged in this spiral formation. Pinecones and pineapples have a double set of spirals going in opposite directions. Petals and leaves of numerous plants are arranged in this pattern.

Although the bottom end of this shell is broken off, you can still see the spiral.

This isn't just order, it's mathematical order - precise and predictable!

I am thankful that God created our world in an orderly and precise manner.  And that creation mirrors that order. In the midst of chaos, there is order. 

thankful thursday - what a lovely thing a rose is!

I think one of the great mysteries in life is growing a rose bush. I have written about it several times - a rose by any other name  is the story of acquiring my first rose bush.

My personal gardener (aka my sweet hubby) prunes my rose bush in mid-February cutting it way back, sometimes to sticks. By mid-March it leafs out and is covered in blooms, both large and small. Why?

The rest of the year I pretty much leave it alone with the occasional treat of coffee grounds mixed into the soil around it or a dose of fertilizer. It continues to bloom until the weather gets really frosty, usually in late December or January.

I would think it would bloom even more with more TLC but that has not been my experience. For some mysterious reason she's just low maintenance.

Most girls like to get flowers. The roses on my rose bush are flowers from God - they are His creation and I am thankful. I enjoy their beauty and their sweet scent. Arthur Conan Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) was absolutely correct when he wrote, "What a lovely thing a rose is!"