wistful

Speak breeze, of autumn pleasures.Gentle leaves twisting this way and down.Full moon brilliant on the lawn;squirrels crashing through the dried leaves,summer love coming to a time together deprived end.Shorter days and deeper sleep.

The color of pumpkins is something that I see nowhere else in this startlingly clear air.And then the last rain will take the leaves away and remove any trace of warmth.

The falling leaves in Georgia do not in anyway compare with the brillance of the trees up North.I have gotten used to the more muted hues and a few years ago ,found the foliage in New York to be gaudy.But maybe I was just consoling myself because I miss there in this season.

I recall romances coming to an end after summer and missing the presence of special loves."The sunburned hands I used to hold...." There is a wistful tenor to this change that is coming;I can't say why. Who would want to stay in the heat for a second longer?For now I will just hear the sounds and feel the coolness.

angels in New York?

I finally emptied my summer purse this afternoon and a name and e-mail address fell out.With so many things going on lately,I had forgotten that an angel showed up on the New York Thruway this Summer.

On August 8,my husband and I left Long island in his ten year old Ram truck and headed for the Thruway and upstate New York.Traffic was brutal on every highway we took and my blood pressure was soaring.We had just taken a flight from Atlanta with standby passes and you know how stressful that can be.

It was pouring rain when we arrived at the Sloatsburg Travel Plaza for coffee.We started to relax because we had finally left the city.When we got back in the truck,it wouldn't start.Arghhh!!!!It had sat on Long island for a month and the battery had given all it's juice to the New York sky.What to do with this unexpected "gift"?

The space in front of our truck was empty and just then a young slender man with close cropped hair pulled in and I saw him glance our way.He looked away and then turned and came towards us.For more than a hour, he tried everything to start our truck.As his car was trying to charge our battery ,he went inside to get coffee,the only reason he had stopped.He finally suggested we call the HELP truck that services the thruway and went on his way home from work.That truck got us started and off we went only to stall at the next exit where we got off the thruway to get a new battery.

A huge tow truck came for us and the burly driver was just wonderful.He took me to a motel and my husband to a engine shop and the next day we finally left for the mountains.

My husband was curious about my calm demeanor through the whole ordeal.I guess that I am known to go off the deep end under stress.Mea culpa.I pondered his words and I realized that after the first wonderful offer of help ,I just rested in the thought that we were in "Good Hands".

So, to the two Steves,one with an Island accent who would accept no payment for his help and one with a Celtic cross tattoo on his leg,fluff your wings and take a bow.The Kingdom of God is made of people like you.

wisdom

"Keep a clear eye on life's end.Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God's creature.What you are in His sight is what you are and nothing more.Do not let worldly cares and anxieties ...blot out the divine life within you or the voice of God's Spirit guiding you in your great task of leading humanity to wholeness.If you open yourself to God and His plan printed deeply in your heart,God will open Himself to you."

Francis of Assisi