Family

The feeling that family is standing on all sides.  Holding each other up.  Another anniversary of our finest family-hold-us-up moment. 

Destination  -  the coast.   A coastline that holds many special memories.  Many spring break vacations.  And there's no crying or nudity in baseball moments.  It's a place of serene loveliness that speaks to the soul as the waves crash against the rock outcroppings, filling the tide poles and spraying toward heaven.

So in family fashion we went.  The staggering of arrivals made for excitement as vehicles were unpacked and food and beverage located a home.  VRBO once again hit the mark with spacious, clean digs toting a million dollar view.  

It was a relaxing, don't worry about much weekend with the biggest noise coming from the crowd and buzzers of March madness.  The singing of the whistles and the local crowd noise was like a choir of angels as the games came and went.  It was almost as if it was okay to enjoy this long loved game.  It was a feeling of comfort as it was known that our boy would have been right in the middle of it all had he been there.

The activities were staggered with the best memory of Papa, overhearing of plans for a bonfire, gathered drift wood.  In Papa style he piled his family the desire of their heart.  Papa has a reputation of course...one of the finest wood cutters, gather, burner you'll ever meet.  When a local resident showed up, hoping to find some easy wood, this thankful family did what we could to let him know it was our pile. 

Epic ice cream runs and rock hunting on the beach filled the time.  Treasures collected. 

Time among the tallest trees around.  Majestic beyond measure.

The pictures of the bowling time would have been too dark but reside in my head.  The old and young, enjoying will be with me for a while.  The memories are etch'd and make me smile. 

Silent grieving.  As time ticks on and year five begins, your head tells you it's time to move on.  Time to let it rest.  Time to lay it down.  The heart.  That's another matter.  The beginning was just that.  But I'm pretty sure there is no end....at least not until we reach the heavenly places.   Until then, the best family on earth surrounds and rounds. 

Saving Time

The time change can either make you or break you.....at least temporarily. 

With a start, I awoke on Sunday morning.  What time was it?  I couldn't tell.  My "fine figure of a man" nailed it.  At least by "old time".    The morning felt long, old, in an odd sort of way.  Oh ya....we sprung forward, making it all different.

The long days speak to my soul.  The light of day pushing into the early evening hours goes a long way to the reality that vitamin D will soon soak the epidermis of this same old soul.  I can't remember if daylight savings time always comes right before the most stressful week of my life.  Is it just a coincidence or is it Godly timing.  Within the borders of darkness, comes light.  Must have been a plan.

A few weeks ago, as I "commuted" my ten minutes from work, I noticed a patch of sunshine.  As I looked East and prepared to turn West, the sunshine struck me because the day was cloudy, dark and rainy.  In quick assessment, I realized that even in darkness there is light and when that light shines, it is evident and can't go unnoticed.  I wanted to stop.  I wanted to take a picture of the patch of lightness that lifted my heart and gave me hope.  I liken it to the darkness that at times lives within my thoughts and how God is the light in my world and the lifter of my head.  The hope that He was speaking to me.  That God doesn't leave me to feel darkness for long. 

Sunday ended up being the wettest day I can remember in a long time.  The lane at Lewis Acres, invisible as the rain, undaunted, continued to fall late into the evening.

The contrast of time after we begin "saving" it, looks better.  Appears broader and gives a sneaky peak into the face of summer.  So the change that makes people grumble as they run their hand over their hair as if to say, "I overslept and didn't have time to be presentable", makes smile because the unfounded concern so quickly turns to delight when the newness of old sleep seeps away.

More light, more warmth.  It's change.  It's new.  Embracing isn't always easy, isn't always accepted with open arms.  But as the long nights are hedged out by longer days, there's hope for outdoor activity and the endorphins that are begging to escape. 

So here's to the "time change" and daffodils.  Here's to the light that will fill your life if you let it.