Posts from the ‘Front Porch Musings’ category

Looking toward Christmas

The season of Advent: Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for the second coming of Christ.

I love this time of year – the waiting and expectation of Christmas, of snow and real Winter. There is excitement in all of it – remembering childhood Christmases so full of anticipation and then the growing of faith and the wondering of all that Christmas means to me now.

I like to savor every moment of this “time before” – the knowing of this celebration as our Heavenly Father wanting to enter our world and our lives.

On this quiet morning, I sat enjoying. The light from my little indoor tree softly lit small treasures from childhood, first years on my own and more recent finds that speak to me of the joy and wonder of this time of year. I sat…looking toward Christmas.

The 11th hour of the 11th day

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month – Armistice – a celebration of Peace.

Today and all days, thank you to all of the men and women who have served and are serving – to keep that peace.

A special thought for the veteran dearest to me: Stephen Lee Douglas, U.S.M.C. (above).

For my Grandfather: Paul Biddle, my Father: Merle Summers

Reamus, Buck, Buckskins Rule, Barco, Glenn, Bill and Bob B are From the Front Porch readers who I know have served.

Reflected sunlight

Karl and I walk down the driveway first thing in the morning and last thing at night. From late September through early March, these walks are in the dark…in the woods.

This week our walks have been by moonlight. This morning, a warm, rainy front is moving in with blustery winds ahead of it. The temperature was a warm feeling 46F and the wind through the pines felt dry and fresh.

It struck me this morning that I have never felt fear walking in the woods, in the dark. I’ve walked out to the eastern edge to look at the mountains in the night and down the driveway often. I am familiar with all of the creepy fairy tales, but for whatever reason they did not leave me with any fear.

These words of Brennan Manning are often near me and even more so this morning.

Let go in reckless confidence all that shackles you to yesterday, imprisons you in your own small self today and frightens you with the uncertainty of tomorrow.

I find it easy to walk in the dark, in the woods, in reckless confidence. I live much of my life with a spirit of reckless confidence and I’m grateful for that. As I thought about that, there was that flash of insight about at least part of my life where I have allowed fear to imprison me.

Moonlight is reflected sunlight. To photograph the moon, you need to understand that and set the camera accordingly, counterintuitve to typical nighttime settings.

To negotiate life’s scary parts, to go forward with reckless confidence – counterintuitive to past experience and failures – maybe my focus should be set on reflected Son Light.

Photos taken 11/6/2009 shortly after 6:00 a.m.

Moonbeam

The nights and mornings of this November’s waxing-full-waning moon week have been mostly clear and the moon shines in and casts a warm glow of moonlight through the house.

This morning, I started the coffee by moonlight then sat in my sunroom chair and let the peace and serenity of the morning and the moonlight center my thoughts.

Outside with Karl, in the frosty moonlight, to the tune of two owls and a few coyote yips, I got lost in the beauty and stillness.

“This is the day the Lord hath made. Rejoice and be glad in it!” Psalm 118:24

Regrets

Fridays are extremely busy these days at BearDog Consulting. The mega-project involves a lot of meetings and Friday has a standing one. We – the programming team – usually find ourselves coding madly up until the last minute, then the meeting and then we laugh, make our notes for the coming week and wish each other well for the week end.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. I am blessed to work with two other people who are both professional and personable, good humored, decent, caring, family people who I feel priviledged to both know and work with. They work as many or more hours as I and have spouses and 4 children each. We are located in Los Angeles, Kalispell and Nashville – hoo rah 21st Century.

Today, we finished at just after 5:00 p.m. my time which is 4:00 in Los Angeles and 6:00 in Nashville. We started early this morning. And Los Angeles has twins, who turned 11 today AND have THE flu.

It poured rain all afternoon. As often happens during times of intense work periods, I was not really aware and also not aware that the temperature in the house had dropped. I finished the work day a bit chilled. Karl had been inside most of the day. We both needed to be outside. Starting a fire in the woodstove and collapsing in front of it sounded like the best idea, but instead I donned raingear and then convinced Karl to get out and into the Jeep. Off we went to Wayfarer’s by the lake for a walk.

And I didn’t take the camera. It was pouring and gray… But as I drove down “the Road Home” – there was light to the West. I should have gone back for the camera… Despite the rain and gloom – the larch, the dying leaves of Aspen, Birch and Cottonwood – all of the colors of Fall – they were there. And there was a beautiful, western light.

It is a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but today, not taking the camera, regrets.

Above – Flathead Lake – from my phone.