Sky Gazing

Why is the sky a subject of study only when I'm at leisure? 

If I'm kicked back in my Kentucky beach chair with nothing to do, 

 I'll tilt my face upward  

and check out whatever artwork God left way up there. 

When I'm not at leisure, I'll scan the sky for rain or storms--snow? 

A jet streaks across the horizon, and I wonder 

what the passengers will enjoy upon arrival. 

Hawks wheel above, and their grating call draws my eye 

upward, but only for a moment.

It seems my time viewing the sky decreases 

even as stress levels increase.

Does it seem that way to you, too?

If I'm zipping to the grocery, the nursing facility, or to school, 

I don't stop and take time to sky gaze. 

But I know I should. 

Taking time to look up inoculates the nonsense with

 a necessary dose of perspective. 

I might log a two-thousand-word day, 

prepare a kidlit lesson, and work 

my way through a mountain of laundry--

but I need to pause every now and then to

 look up and remember these truths. 

 

Settling into Garnet

The Japanese maples on our acre are always among the first to 

celebrate spring. Trunk and branches store and 

stoke their calling-card color all winter, and in the spring ... 

... it bursts from every stem tip—scarlet flags against a

new-blue, spring canopy.

Now the fanfare is over, and they've settled into a more sedate 

summer color, something along the lines of garnet. 

As many of you know, I signed a contract to publish a children's book with Familius Publishing. I'm thrilled to join this company and add "Debut Author" to my list of life titles. I'd like to give updates here on what the journey to publication has been like for me, and let you know what's coming up next. 

Here's a question I've answered before:

How did you make connections in the writing industry?

In fall, 2013, my youngest son finished eighth grade at the Simpson Home Academy and entered public high school. I cautiously tiptoed into the writing world, staying safely on the edges. My investigations led me to Word Weavers International. Through this organization and its generous leaders, I began to step out of the shadows, meet other writers, and learn about the #writinglife. 

I'd love to answer questions about what's involved in a publication journey, which is unique to every writer. Ask your question or share your own experience in the comments.

A few facts for now: 

* The working title of my book is "Family Dog." It's highly unlikely that the title will stay the same. 

* The book will be in the Spring 2021 Familius catalog but will be available a few months sooner than that. 

* I haven't met the illustrator or the editor of the book yet. 

* I paid for high-resolution photos (headshots) at Portrait Innovations. It was a painfully awkward experience, but the talented young photographer managed to get a few photos that I'm happy to have for a back-cover blurb. 

More details soon! 

Susan

When Your Umbrella Flaps

When you're on a hot beach and the noontime sun is beating down, this is not what you want 

to see above your head. But that's exactly what happened on our tiny patch of Florida beach this year. 

We were happily gawking beach scenery—parents corralling sandy littles, sun-darkened seniors 

knee-slapping, and shark tooth seekers bent double, surf scanning—when

WHOOF! 

Our umbrella lost its battle with the wind. 

For a while, we let it flap, too lazy to get up and wrestle it back into a proper form. 

I took a few photos of its free-form, flappy beauty—some of my favorites of the week.

Next time things go wrong on your patch of sand, instead of rushing to repair, 

take a breath ... can you see it? 

Beauty often shines in unexpected, less-than-ideal circumstances.

Mile High

Mile-high summer sky.

Impossible blue too good to be true.

Swing-low cumulus glide over us.

Rush away before the day

fades to gray.

-shs

*Photo from Lake Cumberland vacation 2016.

Desperate

Look! It's my birthday ... weed. 

Let's face facts - not much is blooming in mid-August, 

except ironweed.  

Just before my birthday and just before school started, 

we took a desperate-to-hold-on-to-summer outing to Lake Cumberland. 

The boats were all rented when we arrived, so 

we took in the sights at the fish hatchery, 

where only a certain sort of person is admitted.

(But I got in anyway!)

The next day, we rented  the tiniest, fastest  little pontoon available; the weather 

was perfect for boating, floating, and sky-gawking. 

Not so much for fishing ... 

Is it wrong to pray fervently for fish to bite?

Look at my handsome husband out there, waiting for me with a float built for two.

He thinks I'm still able to dive in with hardly a splash. 

Such a funny guy! 

Purple Blue

Who doesn't need a big dose of blue? 

For me, it's the most startling color in the garden. 

The color of the heavens so close to the dust of the earth—pretty incredible.

Uh-oh. 

Are you saying to yourself—"Wait. That's not blue; it's purple!"

Oh, friends! Toe-may-toe ... toe-mah-toe!

Haven't you ever seen a sky so lusciously deep blue that it leaned toward purple? 

Of course you have. I'll bet you've even seen what my father-in-law calls  

"sky-blue pink" on the horizon, but you probably didn't know to call it that.

We learn something new everyday. 

This is the delicious purple-blue of Georgia Blue Speedwell.

It's widely available, and if you live nearby, I'm happy to share mine.

It's been a while since I gave you a Story Snapshot. Here's a quick one: 

 Fall Into the Blue

     Her nerves still thrummed with the energy of the concert. Joyce hated to leave the arena and return to her everyday life, but return she must. Following close behind Evan, navigating the crowded aisles was easy and she let her eyes wander over the other departing audience members. But soon the press of the crowd lifted them along with more urgency toward the doors. Joyce clung to the bend in her husband's arm, then moved to hold hands, and when the inevitable separation came, she did not allow panic to take hold. "I'll meet you outside, at the clock on the corner!" she called over her shoulder. 

     "I'll be right behind you," he assured, his voice raised but calm.

     In the crisp air outside the arena, Joyce slowed her pace as people surged past. Where's Evan? At the clock on the corner. The illuminated clock face stood tall and peaceful over departing fans. Joyce lowered her head and began to make her way across. "Excuse me. Pardon me. Just coming through..." 

   

  He sat on the sidewalk, right in the middle of the swirling throng, holding a sign: "Navy Vet. Down and Out. Need Help." Determined to reach the clock, she didn't see him in time to swirl past like the rest of the human tide. In awkward wedge heels, she tilted toward him, away from him, to the side, then inevitably, back in his direction. Joyce landed on both knees directly in front of the man, her hand on the shoulder of his heavy coat the only thing that kept her from rolling into his lap. 

     Of course time slowed to lengthen the excruciating embarrassment. The man's can of collected change rattled and threatened to spill. He lunged for it as she got one knee under herself. Then Joyce felt one of Evan's hands at her elbow and the other around her waist, his familiar cologne identifying him as her rescuer. 

    "I'm so sorry!" Joyce brushed dust from the knees of her slacks, glanced into the sitting man's face ... and gasped. His eyes! Startled and large, they pierced her through. His gaze, a dreadfully familiar vivid blue, locked on hers. 

     His voice croaked, "Joycie ... ?"                                            

Use Your Workbook

Do you mark in your Bible? 

Many years ago, someone taught me that our Bibles are not intended to be 

decorative pieces, merely part of a holier-than-thou tablescape. He said our 

Bibles should be WORKBOOKS. Well, you know every teacher can appreciate 

a good workbook, so that's how I've used mine over the years of my walk with Christ.

So mine is a well-marked workbook, showing where I've struggled and where I've 
found joy. It's easy to locate the verses that have called me back again and again.
Sky verses are special to me, so I mark them in my Bible with 

a very lightly-drawn, completely reverent, puffy cloud. 
Whenever I come across one of these in the 

margin, I know I've met an old friend.

Apparently, King David was also moved by a beautiful stretched canvas of sky - 
Psalm 8:3-4, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 36:5, Psalm 57:11, Psalm 108:4

Side Note:

When I'm writing, it's usually completely quiet in the house. I need the quiet, or my thoughts skitter and scatter like the shyest birds-never to be captured. But lately, I've needed some background music to help me along. This is perfect accompaniment for working, but this song has stayed on my mind, and on my lips, these past few weeks, to remind me of my truest purpose. 

Flying

One week ago, I was above the clouds. 

Maybe because I don't get to do it very often, flying is still an 

amazing adventure for me. But this was the first time I've gone into the 

blue yonder on my own. I was alone in a crowd, and I can't say it was awful.

Security was so minimal - I didn't even have to take off my shoes. 

All that hubbub about zipper bags and 3 ounce bottles of whatever - 

there wasn't any. 

My seat was easy to find, both ways, and my seat mates were ideal

both times : thin, athletic women who wore headphones. 
I gladly gave up the armrest.

Since no one was paying any attention to me, I felt free to snap photos
 like it  was my first time in the air. 

SIDE NOTE:

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of flying with my dad in his small airplane. I loved the whole process - the flight check, communications with the tower - mysterious, invisible air traffic controllers, and the takeoff! The takeoff  never got old. All that crazy speed, faster and faster along the black and yellow tarmac then suddenly ... peace. The bumps and jumps of the wheels were finally silenced with one smooth dip-jump into the air; we were up, and the show really began! Dad was happy to take me on a kind of 'air tour', pointing out the sights not so far below. Everyday destinations seen from above appeared to be icons on a storybook treasure map.

Ominous

This was the sky a few nights ago. 

At least it was OUR sky from OUR backyard. We all have a personal patchwork corner of the sky, don't we? Don't you? When dealing with an outbreak of illness, I have even laid claim to a tiny bit of the sky as seen, by day and by night, from the window closest to my bed. It has often occurred to me what a harsh deprivation it would be to have no access to the sky.

 From his spot on the couch, one of my guys called attention to it - "Look at that, Mom!" We all piled out to the back porch to stand in the middle of our acre and gawk at the balefully-colored, rolling clouds. In silence, we considered the meaning of a sky like this one. My youngest finally spoke his unease aloud -  "What's going to happen?"  Every one of us felt small and helpless standing under a sky like this one.  

And I think that's an important reality check for adults and teenagers alike. 

We ARE small!

 We ARE helpless!

That night, God reminded us of our actual  state of being, and with ultimate efficiency, reminded us who He is. 

He is BIG. 

He is POWERFUL.

*** How miraculous to be invited to rest in the safety of One so capable! ***

“It is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. 

God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself.”
— John Piper

Head in the Clouds

We did a LOT of driving in June, trekking to the Smoky Mountains and 

Virginia Beach. On our last day of vacation, instead of dozing with head 

lolling for the entertainment of the all, I was snapping these.

Does anyone see the elephant in these clouds?

A scary clown???

In the home stretch, there was a heated ABC Game*, with a unsolvable snarl 

around letter 'X'.  I ended up on the losing team.

So glad to be home and back in familiar routines!

SIDE NOTE:

*The ABC Game - Our Version - This can be played as an all car game or as a competition between teams, persons, rows, etc.  I prefer the competition since I want to be the winner, of course. Work your way through the alphabet, in order, finding words on signs, buildings, trucks, other cars, license plates - anything. 

- Yell out your word and tack on irritating celebration phrases like, "Take that, Sucka!" (I'm sharing the most polite examples here.) If you have a wicked laugh, throw that in too.

- No abbreviated words or acronyms allowed: KOA does not count for letter 'K'. 

Especially since the 'K' in that word stands for 'Kampgrounds', one of those nasty intentional misspellings. 

- No reusing exactly the same word by multiple teams/players:

 " 'C' - Cracker!" 

"Oh! 'C' for us too - Cracker!"

Nope. No way, no how. Find your own C.

Same word found on different signs - that's (reluctantly) allowed.

- Special allowances are made for Q and X and maybe Z, if you get that far. Any word CONTAINING one of these can count.  

- Placing a friendly bet can keep things interesting. Some examples: 

Winner gets to choose the radio station for 50 miles.

Loser carries the winner's luggage.

Winner gets first bed choice. 

Winner gets to order first at the next restaurant.

Loser cleans the garbage out of the car at the next stop.

Winner gets to choose a treat at the next gas station.

Loser may not speak for an hour ... (a personal favorite)

Rich

I love Friday nights at our house.

The work week is finished, and the weekend is brand new.

Oh, the wealthy feeling of standing at the beginning of a brand new weekend!

Burgers on the grill with a slab of pepper jack cheese.

(2 lb ground beef + 1 package of Fresh Take Cheddar Jack and Bacon = slobbering and thankful men)

Enjoying the patio scenery while waiting for the burgers to be finished...

After dinner, a trip to the local park for some running, walking, biking, gawking.

The dog got to come with us this time - that doesn't usually happen. 

And look at those clouds that lined up over the ball field - 

is that amazing or what?

Don't you just love the sky show the Lord puts on every single day?

And us. 

I'm glad to be glad to be with my best friend on a Friday night.

Wide Awake

Falling asleep in the car - does anyone else love this?

Or is it only me?

What could be more cozy than drifting in and out of a doze while a game drones away on the radio, and your Dear Love whistles the miles by, while patting or squeezing your leg occasionally? 

Not much.

But if the clouds look like THIS, well then, I'm going to stay wide awake. There was a stunning sky-show of epic proportions all the way to Indiana on our last get-away.

These (Mario) clouds were floating over fields of tall corn. 

Intermittent stands of trees or beautiful farms with shiny, tall silos dotted the fields every now and then. 

(How cool are those silos?)

I can't imagine what it would be like to live under all that uninterrupted sky. I think I'd certainly spend less time dozing off...

Moon Conversations

I happily admit to being a sky-gawker. 

Just ask any belt-gripping kid who's taken a drive with me during a glorious sunset.

Or when there are remarkable puffy cloud shapes in the blueblue sky.

Or during a lightning storm!

The ride can quickly become a little more (ahem) exciting. 

I want my guys to remember that their mom loved the sky. 

Maybe it's weird to type that ... is my love of the tragic is hanging out a little too much?

BUT MORE THAN THAT, I want their hearts to turn God-ward when they see something beautiful overhead.

We've moved on from the simple teaching conversations that satisfied them when they were young:

(me) "Look at that! Isn't that beautiful!"

"What is it?" 

"The moon - God made it."

"How did it get up there?" 

"God made it and put it up there during the first week of the world."

"Is it really made of cheese?" 

"Yes!"*

Now as grown and semi-grown people, they don't ask a million questions, and we are rarely outside together. So I have to watch and wait for opportunities to point their attention to the sky. And I try to remember that the word-stream that is actually going to HEARD is usually a short one, so the words have to  really count. So I go straight for scripture.

"Look at that! 

The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of His hands."

 "Do you see that full moon?!

The love of the Lord reaches to the heavens, 

and His faithfulness to the skies!"

 "Check out the moon nestled in those gauzy clouds! 

The Lord created the earth and spread out the heavens with His right hand.

When He calls out the stars, they all appear in order.

Is that amazing or what!"

I hope I'm creating a path in their memories that will assist the Spirit as He makes His pathway in their hearts.

For myself, aside from just the raw and wild beauty on display in the sky, 

and the fact that it's speaking day and night of the Creator, 

the heavens put me in my place. 

small

very, very small

They bring into sharp focus how BIG He is.

SO HUGELY, AWESOMELY MASSIVE

I like to be reminded of that.

We all need to be reminded of that.

*   ;0)

Airborne

My Youngest went airborne this week!  

My Dad flies this plane, sort of a wonderful hobby ...

... and he offered to take this guy up. My Middle Son wanted nothing at all to do with this sort of nonsense - "No, Thanks!" But this one, he couldn't wait.  

However, on the way, he made some last minute arrangements for the distribution of his 

Christmas gifts in case anything should happen to him. 

And he considered the benefits of  fasting.

I think he might have a love of sky, like I do.  

 He certainly got some great shots up there. 

The amazing sunset seemed to be just for him.

First time in flight - do you remember how the night lights looked to you the first time you saw them from that high up?  I guess I'm assuming everyone has been flying. It does seem that there are very few people now who've never been in a plane.

I know some who fly but won't look out the window, 

though, and what sights they're missing! 

I guess not looking is better than making use of that little paper bag.

Yes, and the rest of us do appreciate that. So much!