Everyone should have a place to go for contemplation and
meditation or prayer. For me there are a number of them not far from where I
live, but my favorite is right behind my library. There I visit usually in the
autumn: when the humidity is lessening and the days are filled with warm sunshine
and beautiful crisp breezes that caress your face and sooth your soul. There
are flowers still blooming, and trees and bushes of every kind, with nametags
to tell you what they are. As you walk the manicured paths, it is, a meandering
walkway filled with surprises at each turn, it is my church away from church.
No collections, rituals or homilies, just God’s beautiful creation, and I know
then why I truly believe in Him.
I usually take a sketchpad and sit along the walkways on a
bench in the shade, and study the rays of light the sun so freely sends through
the trees, and I can’t help but feel good. Little children are at play, usually
little girls as their mothers watch, and as the moms’ sit on the park benches, the
children draw on the pavement, creating super works of art in colorful chalks.
On the best day of the whole year in July no less, I had the
time to go and make an early visit. It is funny how your brain can surrender to
nature, once it has your full attention. It is good to be quiet, and think
about all that is good in your life. Watching the little girls as they drew and
giggled, called out and shouted with glee, it reminded me of something
beautiful, my little granddaughter, Darby Shea, La Principessa. Soon she will be just like them,
giggling, drawing and being sweet and playful, and her grandpa will love it.
Recently I lost my mother, and with a lot of whirlwind and
unnecessary strife, it was good to sit and just talk to her, and to even have a
conversation with my dad and son, as they sit up there and wait.
The rest of this year will be filled with new things, now
places and new traditions, as I am breaking away from the past and living for
the future. The kids are out of the house, Mom and Dad are gone and there is a
new child in our lives to celebrate, and so I will. I will remember yesterday,
dream for tomorrow today.
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