A Wandering Mind

Sometimes you just need to sit down and write. You have no idea what about. You don't want to ramble on about just anything. But sometimes you have to write even when you're mind blank and at a loss for words. All seems to have left you and you're left lost, wondering. Wondering what in the world to write about. But you overcome your phobia of wasting paper and ink and start to write. About what? Anything that comes to you. But the only thing that you can focus on is how you can't focus or think of something to say. So you rattle away, about nothing, knowing nobody will want to read it. But maybe by just putting your blank thoughts onto paper and out of your mind, something important will replace them. Instead, you just keep going in circles. How you need to write and can't believe you're wasting paper. How you want to go dirt biking so bad. And listening to someone out their on their's has made you loose it and you've been so restless this evening. For no apparent reason. You dream, reliving the memories from the past two weeks. Well the past two weeks, one week ago. But that's how you'll always refer to it. The past two weeks. And a weekend in Paradise. You can't help but smile. The sun has fallen below the horizon now and daylight fades like a rosebud drying up. What a weird illustration. Each day flies by, seconds pass in a heartbeat. Seconds and heartbeats you'll never get back or relive. Seconds you better have made the most of, because when you look back you do want to smile on them. Did you make somebody else smile in that second, or did you let the moment slip by without telling them for much they're cherished and appreciated?

A Wonderful Day in Paradise

There's something about a weekend in the great outdoors of beautiful Big Sky Montana spent dirt biking with awesome friends. There's something about it that connects your heart to their's and is bound by nature. The aroma of a campfire lingers on everybody and the gentle breeze ruffles your hair. You all throw helmets on and rev up the engines. Soon you're blasting down the road, eager to find a decently treacherous trail. 80.9 MPH doesn't cut it, but as for safety it's fast enough. There aren't any foot pegs for you on the back, so you hold on tightly and strain your calve muscles. The trees whiz by at the speed of lightning. The sky is a vibrant azure with speckles of white cotton scattered here and there across the horizon. It's almost too much to take in all at once. The Clark Fork River rushes by to your left and a railroad bridge crosses over the span. The biking trail is just up ahead and you gain a stronger grip. The road is fairly smooth, until you create your own path, which is the best part of all. One very steep hill is nearing quickly and you hang on so hard, for fear of slipping backwards. We stop for a break and witness this real-to-life dream. Not a detail is missing. At the top is a breath-taking panoramic view! The sky is the brightest you've ever seen and clear as glass. The tall, vivid green pines in the gorgeous valley and below and that surround you reach beyond the heavens and dewy grass and sparkling yellow and lavender flowers cover the hillside. On the mountains in the distance are snow-capped peaks. For though it is late April and sunny with a high of 75 the beauty of winter still lumes above. Every image is crystal sharp. Everything about the moment is spectacular and perfect! Perfect is the best word, but yet it doesn't even scratch the surface of our amazing thoughts that describe the scenery and our time together. The brilliant rays of sunshine illuminate everything more as time passes. And it seems as if a blink of an eye it's time to head back to base. But before departing you gingerly carve your names into the soft bark of a tree. You take one more mental picture and hop on the back of the bike, gently wrapping your arms around their waist and think of the symbol you just made to remain for eternity of a wonderful day in Paradise.

To the Moon

Right off Kit Carson Rd. rests a quiet and humble Inn, the El Monte Lodge. I check it at the office and take the gravel driveway. On the left are six units, individual adobe style duplexes. It is very homey looking. My room for the night is uniquely decorated and the artwork isn't even nailed to the walls. There is a keva fireplace in the corner that looks inviting and cozy. As I walk out of the doorway, before me is a lush grassy yard. Huge cottonwood trees loom around the perimeter. Between two limbs hang two swings – one wooden on twice, the other a modern child's basket swing. A grandfather walks along, holding the hand of his toddler granddaughter. A dog comes trotting to the scene when he whistles. They reach the swings and he tenderly places her within the care of her swing. He pushes the swing gently and then higher. “To the moon,” he shouts! “Higher” she cries between giggles. “To Venus!” he declares. She has a big, toothy grin and the cutest dimples. “To Mars” You can just see the love between the two of them.

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By light of a kerosene lantern a dim and soft shadow is cast upon the wall. It is still except for the hand that moves across a paper. A young girl of eighteen sits to document the days events and imagine upon the olden days. She has lit the lantern for nostalgia's sake. Its scent is an unusual encounter in the year 2010. Though somehow it's different sitting on a Tempur-pedic bed with the convenience of a light switch two feet away. So much has changed since her childhood, let alone since that of generations' before her. Within the last few years has come the invention of person laptops, DVDs and BlueRay, cell phones, mp3 players, and electronic storage devices of all kinds and minute sizes. Just to name a few items. Let alone the attitude of kids' these days or the fast-paced American rat race. Times are unreal. How they have advanced. But is progress good or bad? Sometimes she wonders what it would be like to grow up in the 1920s when life was “hard,” yet simple. People seemed to be so much happier. To put in a full day's work of manual labor and then come home to a hand made meal and sit before a blazing fire to darn socks. To see far away pictures only in expensive books or museums and dream of traveling. What would it be like? Children of today will never know. That past generation is fading and it is up to us to preserve what knowledge of it is left. It is up to you and me to learn for ourselves and teach future generations. Once it's gone there is no turning back to recover it. Let's do our part. Let's be the best people of character that we can and change the future for good.

Home

Home is where the heart is, but she just couldn't wait to get out of this God forsaken land. Jane's husband was a building contractor and this around they were in the desolate New Mexico desert. Sure, they had a nice house, but you couldn't enjoy it with the wind constantly blowing. Dirt devils were all too common and you could rarely find a day to open the windows and let fresh air in. But every day, just as the sun crept low in the sky all would still, long enough for you to grab a rocker on the back porch and watch the sunset. That was the one thing she admired about the desert, the beautiful colors caused by the dirt particles in the air. It looked as if God took his paint brush and smeared soft streaks around. The subsiding winds rested long enough to honor the dying light and then the temperatures would drop so drastically that you'd best find shelter and warmth. Even in the summer the desert became an icebox at night. For miles, as far as the eye could see, nothing dotted the horizon; the land was barren and no vegetation existed. They were blessed to have a well that had a mysteriously abundant supply of pure water. (.M.Ja.18.10.) Until they could return to the wonderful and green Northwest, she settled to be satisfied and grow where she was planted. Idaho was where they had left behind their hearts and dear precious friends and loved ones. How could one not desire for a land where color is abundant and natural lakes are plentiful. You could actually enjoy being out of doors and breathe air without fear of choking to death. It was a glorious land that Jane missed tremendously. But she daily chose to be happy and a pleasant person, rather than bitter. Shouldn't we all decide to be a joyous person, whom is the sunlight in a cloudy and gloomy world.
Through Christ I can do all things.

Commitment

New Year's Resolution. I contemplate upon the past year just before the clock strikes midnight. I contemplate upon what the coming year and decade will hold? So many unknowns in life, so many changes just around the bend. I pray to God and commit my life into His hands. For He knows me best and what I can withstand. I choose to let Him lead me every step of the way

Joy

Joy in the Journey. Patience is having tolerance while expressing joy. Joy unspeakable.