~He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.... In winter the stars seem to have rekindled their fires, the moon achieves a fuller triumph, and the heavens wear a look of a more exalted simplicity. ~John Burroughs, "The Snow-Walkers," 1866
The setting sun and cold winter evening begins... I never tire of my surroundings here on the farmstead. Just recently my Face Book friend Carol posted a picture of the winter sunset in her backyard...then the next morning she posted a photo of the sunrise.
Each just as gloriously beautiful as the other.
I never tire of my surroundings. Especially in the very early morning and the setting of the evening sun.
Still, still, still... three words describe the setting of the sun last night. As I drove myself to town to work the evening shift, there was not a turn of the road that did not shed a myriad of breathtaking beauty. The setting sun had painted the opposing hills in spectacular shades of oranges, reds, and pinks mingled with the haze of misty grays. Each hill wore their coat of color differently. The whiteness of the snow blankets appeared as a fuzzy patchwork quilts upon a mounded goose feather tick. I was thankful I had the road to myself as I crossed the Wisconsin River. There too I could see the unique beauty this season boasts. True, none of us likes the bitter cold nor the blustery winds that seem to cough up yet more snow, but the river held such glittering movement at that moment I quite forgot the extreme cold. Shards of ice floated and gleamed in the setting sun. The hills rose above the river as if to say "Look at me and how I reach to the sky". It would have been a very disgruntled driver behind me had I not had the road to myself because, right there in the middle of the bridge, I came to a complete stop to behold the winter touching the river of ice.
What a lovely sight it was, but my shift was to begin soon so I was not able to finish watching the completion of the sunset panorama.
Each just as gloriously beautiful as the other.
I never tire of my surroundings. Especially in the very early morning and the setting of the evening sun.
Still, still, still... three words describe the setting of the sun last night. As I drove myself to town to work the evening shift, there was not a turn of the road that did not shed a myriad of breathtaking beauty. The setting sun had painted the opposing hills in spectacular shades of oranges, reds, and pinks mingled with the haze of misty grays. Each hill wore their coat of color differently. The whiteness of the snow blankets appeared as a fuzzy patchwork quilts upon a mounded goose feather tick. I was thankful I had the road to myself as I crossed the Wisconsin River. There too I could see the unique beauty this season boasts. True, none of us likes the bitter cold nor the blustery winds that seem to cough up yet more snow, but the river held such glittering movement at that moment I quite forgot the extreme cold. Shards of ice floated and gleamed in the setting sun. The hills rose above the river as if to say "Look at me and how I reach to the sky". It would have been a very disgruntled driver behind me had I not had the road to myself because, right there in the middle of the bridge, I came to a complete stop to behold the winter touching the river of ice.
What a lovely sight it was, but my shift was to begin soon so I was not able to finish watching the completion of the sunset panorama.
The sunrise on the other hand is just as beautiful as I take in my surroundings. Only the sunrise does not offer the three words a sunset gives. For you see in the morning no matter how cold it is there is no such thing as still, still, still!
Perhaps it is because there are no leaves on the bare and quiet trees, or maybe because there is an afghan of glistening snow upon the ground that the sound of the bird seem to resound in such a vibrancy.
Just as the sun begins to rise I put on my warmest work clothes to perform the routine morning chores. After the bitter close of a long night everything from wood stoves to horses needs to be fed. At first the cold takes my breath away; I tuck my face deeper into the scarf wrapped around my face. Once my body adjusts to the onslaught of single digit temperatures I take my hat off to listen. A chorus of song tickles my ears. The winter birds sing "good morning" as the sun breaks the horizon. A muffled nicker from the horses mingles with the variety of singing birds as I walk to the wood stove to feed it the morning meal. Snow squeaks against my boots and reminds me I should have put warmer socks on. Hearty wood smoke coats my sense of smell as I toss logs upon the hot coals and once again I look around me, and take in the morning sun painting the driftless hills.
Still, I never tire of my surroundings...
Perhaps it is because there are no leaves on the bare and quiet trees, or maybe because there is an afghan of glistening snow upon the ground that the sound of the bird seem to resound in such a vibrancy.
Just as the sun begins to rise I put on my warmest work clothes to perform the routine morning chores. After the bitter close of a long night everything from wood stoves to horses needs to be fed. At first the cold takes my breath away; I tuck my face deeper into the scarf wrapped around my face. Once my body adjusts to the onslaught of single digit temperatures I take my hat off to listen. A chorus of song tickles my ears. The winter birds sing "good morning" as the sun breaks the horizon. A muffled nicker from the horses mingles with the variety of singing birds as I walk to the wood stove to feed it the morning meal. Snow squeaks against my boots and reminds me I should have put warmer socks on. Hearty wood smoke coats my sense of smell as I toss logs upon the hot coals and once again I look around me, and take in the morning sun painting the driftless hills.
Still, I never tire of my surroundings...
MY CHRISTMAS RANT
by: Dawn
This month being the "Christmas" season, so many folks are focused on the materialistic chasm of parties, gift giving, and obligations.
Maybe it's just me but sometimes I feel like skipping all the seasonal -must do- activities and I feel like focusing more on the surroundings. I think generally speaking we loose ourselves in the conventional way of "holiday" thinking, and we forget to focus on what is truly important... thus causing undue stress and disheveled schedules.
Maybe it is the tsunami of red and green santa's that hit the store shelves before we are even done with handing out candy to costumed kids, but I find I tire of the holidays as soon as October rolls around.
Today it seems as though it is easy to forget that the reason we even celebrate Christmas, or the "holidays" as some put it, is because a certain person was born to redeem us and set us free.
There are those that will find any way possible to refuse the idea of Jesus Christ (unless using the name as a cuss word which blows my mind, why don't we say Dali Lhama, or Buddah sakes as cuss words?) or that we even have the "holiday" season because HE was born. I find it interesting that so many refuse to believe He existed when countless historical accounts, not just the Bible, record His birth and life.
Why do we even have "Christ"mas? We don't have "mother earth"mas, "buddah"mas or "confucius"mas. What caused us as a people to decide to celebrate this particular month with silver bells and brightly wrapped gifts? Historically speaking...why did our ancestors even bother to begin such ~Christmas~ traditions if there was nothing to base such celebrations upon? Some will claim the dull regime of 'religion' or 'church' requirements, but if thus is the case, where did the 'religion' or 'church' base their requirements upon?
Take the many toys and gifts into consideration one will give or receive (all of which were probably made in China). What causes us as a society to overspend on said gifts in the "holiday spirit"?
No one can deny that a tricycle for example was created for a child's enjoyment. Did mom and dad put all the parts and pieces into a box and BAM! shake it around and slam it into creation? Impossible. Someone had to intricately put that tricycle together for little Bobby or Suzy. Piece by piece it was created and assembled for the child lovingly. Yet some say the world "BAM!", was magically in existence by itself. Ludicrous. It was created.
Lovingly our surroundings were perfectly created for us to enjoy and occupy while we are here. We were created to inhabit this land; too often we scurry about focusing on such unearthly details, and we forget we are to enjoy this time we have here.
Still...still...still...how is it that each and every snowflake (trillions upon trillions of them) is spectacularly created individually to not replicate another. How is it that a child can be born knowing how to magically take in its first breath after submersion within the womb? How is it that our very earth spins upon its axis without falling or exploding into bits? (Yet those tout it exploded into being?)
Nay-Sayers will puff up their chests and clear their throats in annoyance at my written words which in essence will cause them to ponder, but I celebrate the Christmas season because God was born as a man known as Jesus Christ and walked this earth. Then He was crucified and rose again. No confusing nuts and bolts about it. The reason the sun "appears" to rise and set is His doing. The reason the birds sing and the hills rise to meet the sky is because He created the splendor of the earth and all it contains.
by: Dawn
This month being the "Christmas" season, so many folks are focused on the materialistic chasm of parties, gift giving, and obligations.
Maybe it's just me but sometimes I feel like skipping all the seasonal -must do- activities and I feel like focusing more on the surroundings. I think generally speaking we loose ourselves in the conventional way of "holiday" thinking, and we forget to focus on what is truly important... thus causing undue stress and disheveled schedules.
Maybe it is the tsunami of red and green santa's that hit the store shelves before we are even done with handing out candy to costumed kids, but I find I tire of the holidays as soon as October rolls around.
Today it seems as though it is easy to forget that the reason we even celebrate Christmas, or the "holidays" as some put it, is because a certain person was born to redeem us and set us free.
There are those that will find any way possible to refuse the idea of Jesus Christ (unless using the name as a cuss word which blows my mind, why don't we say Dali Lhama, or Buddah sakes as cuss words?) or that we even have the "holiday" season because HE was born. I find it interesting that so many refuse to believe He existed when countless historical accounts, not just the Bible, record His birth and life.
Why do we even have "Christ"mas? We don't have "mother earth"mas, "buddah"mas or "confucius"mas. What caused us as a people to decide to celebrate this particular month with silver bells and brightly wrapped gifts? Historically speaking...why did our ancestors even bother to begin such ~Christmas~ traditions if there was nothing to base such celebrations upon? Some will claim the dull regime of 'religion' or 'church' requirements, but if thus is the case, where did the 'religion' or 'church' base their requirements upon?
Take the many toys and gifts into consideration one will give or receive (all of which were probably made in China). What causes us as a society to overspend on said gifts in the "holiday spirit"?
No one can deny that a tricycle for example was created for a child's enjoyment. Did mom and dad put all the parts and pieces into a box and BAM! shake it around and slam it into creation? Impossible. Someone had to intricately put that tricycle together for little Bobby or Suzy. Piece by piece it was created and assembled for the child lovingly. Yet some say the world "BAM!", was magically in existence by itself. Ludicrous. It was created.
Lovingly our surroundings were perfectly created for us to enjoy and occupy while we are here. We were created to inhabit this land; too often we scurry about focusing on such unearthly details, and we forget we are to enjoy this time we have here.
Still...still...still...how is it that each and every snowflake (trillions upon trillions of them) is spectacularly created individually to not replicate another. How is it that a child can be born knowing how to magically take in its first breath after submersion within the womb? How is it that our very earth spins upon its axis without falling or exploding into bits? (Yet those tout it exploded into being?)
Nay-Sayers will puff up their chests and clear their throats in annoyance at my written words which in essence will cause them to ponder, but I celebrate the Christmas season because God was born as a man known as Jesus Christ and walked this earth. Then He was crucified and rose again. No confusing nuts and bolts about it. The reason the sun "appears" to rise and set is His doing. The reason the birds sing and the hills rise to meet the sky is because He created the splendor of the earth and all it contains.
It is not hard to look around you and see each season holds some special charm or beauty. I know there are difficult times in life I can identify having been through so many losses and trials. I find what truly gives me peace and redemption, or maybe relief and joy, is to simply forget the conventional patter of the holiday season. Instead I reflect on the birth of the Holy Child in a stable not that much different than my old hay-filled barn, and what was created around me from the little kitten biting my toes to the completion of the sunrise.
"Gloria in excelsis Deo" Latin for "Glory to God in the Highest"...this is my winter song as I celebrate the Christmas season in my own reflective way. Instead of gifts and twinkling $3.00 multicolored lights on a gnarly jack pine, I am choosing to consider my blessings of family and friends. I am focusing on my surroundings; on the sunrises and the sunsets. I am looking ahead to the future with silver bells of optimistic goals and gifts of multiple blessings.
Take it or leave but in scripture it says, " And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" Hebrews 9:27
Think about it. Just like the winter appears to cause the appearance of a silent and still death we know that still nature lives. We all must approach the same stillness yet we can still live. We shall be judged and either He will know us or He will say "I never knew thee...be gone from my presence". That is a scary thought if you ask me.
I have not a worry.
What do you choose?
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