2.24.2016

Frowzy


This is the time of year when the Annabelle blooms 
I dried and displayed in the fall start to get all ...
frowzy
Covered with a thin sheen of dust and quite faded, 
there's just no way to fix these problems. 
Soon they'll be decorating the garbage can. 

New blooms are just around the corner, though ...
More on Annabelles here, here and here

*****
Is it strange that those hydrangea heads inspired a 
story snapshot? 

Frowzy
     Doris flipped the visor mirror of her 1995 Toyota Camry back into place. She gripped the steering wheel and pressed her forehead into her knuckles. Behind the front door of her home, shrill terrier yips beat a methodical cadence loud enough to reach inside her driveway-parked car. She had to face it: this wasn't going to get any better.
    The unfamiliar feeling of cool air against her neck surprised her againjust as  it had when she left the hair salon this afternoon. Stepping out of her car, she shook her head, scattering waves of chemical fragrance, then shut the car door and locked it. Her Saturday trip to the Anita Cut Salon on 2nd Street for a "new leaf" transformation turned out to be a lesson on the danger of spontaneity. She'd felt the warning twitch in her right eyelid but gave it no heed as Jack-Qua-Lyn rushed her toward a chartreuse plastic chair. Five hours later and fifty dollars poorer, a wiser Doris climbed the steps to her front door.
     Twinkie's nose brushed her foot when she stepped inside; her husband's dog was always glad to see her. Doris pocketed her car keys and bent to greet the suddenly silent pet. Confusion twisted Twinkie's wiry brow, and he backed away instead of jumping into her arms for kisses. With loud whimpers, he turned tail and fled to his favorite hiding place under the dining room table. 
      Doris stood under the bewildered gaze of her husband. "Well? What do you think of my hair?" 
     His eyebrows floated toward his hairline. "Ummmm ... " He blinked hard once, no, twicetherethree times. "Well ... do you like it?" He swallowed and blinked again. "I mean, is that what you ... wanted?" Twinkie slunk forward to cautiously re-investigate her shoe and identify this frowzy impostor. 
     "Yes," she squeaked in a voice that even she didn't recognize. Giving her now-damp foot a sharp flick, she choked, "It's exactly what I wanted."

2.18.2016

Perched


Arms draped with plastic-bagged groceries, I was almost to the front door when I saw it: 
Spring green moss growing right next to a pile of snow.
Are you kidding me? 
I dropped the bags and took phone photos.
I'm glad the neighbors weren't out to see me on the down-low, 
hovering over tiny patches of green. 
That's February in Kentucky! 
We're perched right on the edge of spring, with one foot buried in a snow bank 
and the other stretched toward a soft patch of new grass. 

It must be time to start some seeds ...



2.08.2016

Can We Talk?


Come now, 
and let us reason together, saith the Lord
though your sins be as scarlet

they shall be as white as snow..." Isaiah 1:18
more here 


And a story snapshot:
     Janine dusted the snow from the iron patio chair and took a seat on the very edge to peer upward into her son's face. Something was wrong. She knew it, just as she knew how the house keys had been misplaced. The weekday rush caught her out this morning. Her keys perched inside, on the hook by the back door, and she was locked outside with her almost-a-man son. His brother would be home soon, with keys, and they would all troop inside—the opportunity for conversation lost. Focusing her gaze on his face, the set of his brow, and the cast of his mouth, Janine determined to do her best to invite his confidence. "I think something's bothering you. Would you like to talk about it...?"

2.03.2016

Transformation Miracles


I am confident of this very thing, that ...

He who began a good work in you ...

will perfect it until ...
the day of Christ Jesus.


"Don’t lose heart. Don’t give up. Don’t doubt the passion and ability of God 
to fulfill the plans of God for you and for the world."  
Marshall Segal, desiringGod.org
(click here for a short devotional on this profound topic)

*Photos of the stunning amaryllis show taking place 
in my kitchen windowsill right now. Watching the transformation 
is a constant reminder of this powerful verse. 
That an ugly brown lump of a bulb can produce these 
is a miracle of nature. One which hints at the 
mighty transformation miracle he does in His children.