Walking in LA

Most mornings at our house usually start like this...

Handsome gets up, turns off the fan (anybody else a white-noise junkie?), opens the drapes to the new day, and announces whether the sky is blue or gray ... while I blindly feel around the nightstand for my glasses. He often hands them to me.

It's funny the habits old married couples fall into together.

And every morning, even while still in my half-sleeping state, I'm already hoping that he will announce that the sky is gray and overcast ... or that it's raining cats and dogs ... or that it's snowing ... or something - anything that would mean a slight break in the warm California sunshine. At the risk of sounding too much like Mortisha Adams, what I really wish, especially in NOVEMBER, is that it would stop being eighty degrees and sunny for two minutes put together.

I like sweaters and mittens.

When I was in the first grade, my teacher had us start every day by singing a little song. It went something like this:

This is the day,
(echo) This is the day,
That the Lord has made,
(echo) That the Lord has made.
I will rejoice,
(echo) I will rejoice,
and be glad in it
(echo) and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made,
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day,
this is the day
that the Lord has made!

Anybody else know that one?

I really wonder where that teacher is now. I wonder if that song encouraged her to get through days filled to the brim with seven-year-olds? I also wonder if she had any idea how God would use her song to impact a little girl's life? A little girl who daily has contentment issues. Issues so ridiculous as to complain about perfect weather.

And so, the sun shone again today - just exactly has God meant for it to do, and remembering that little tune, I reached for some sunscreen, my keys, the camera, and took a walk in what turned out to be a very lovely day.

I just have to share some of what I saw with you.

My gracious! Why was I so surprised at the beauty of it all?

 

I felt like I was walking through a tropical wonderland - could this be LA? Creation is so happy in all the sunshine.

 Walking in LA. Nobody walks in LA (hiccough/screech). Yah, for a while my sweet, first-grade song got muddled up with this one.

Walking in LA. Nobody walks in LA...

Well, they should. There are so many pretty things that need to be seen and appreciated. I wonder who drew this here? And were they barefoot?

 I tried to find flowers and things that were particularly orange and red for the season, and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of what I found.

This is called Bristle something or another. Bristle Brush? Maybe? I wish I could remember for sure, but it really seems to fit, don't you think?

And then there was this ... just sitting in the back of a pick-up in the middle of the city.

I was almost startled to see it - the pumpkin, I mean. I had forgotten that I was in a big pout over not getting what I thought was due out of a typical November - pumpkins and hay bails and wind chills and gray days included.

I still really like all those things, but today, I'm so thankful that the Lord gives us even beyond what we can imagine too.

Buyer's Remorse

Welcome November!

I thought it would be fun to just make this month's posts about Thankfulness. A bit too prosaic? Maybe, but come on, it'll be fun!

So, what are you thankful for?

God is so good and we have been given so much it's difficult to know where to begin, isn't it?

If you're like me, there are so many answers to that question that they are all crowding around in your mind, squeezing each other out, and making it difficult to know where to begin. You think, "Things I'm thankful for ... big things, little things, important things, silly, wonderful and beautiful things. So many things!" So, let me just dumb it all down right away and start by saying, I am thankful for Return Policies.

What? Return Policies? Yep, good ol' "take it out, give it a spin, if you are not satisfied, bring it back for a full refund" sorts of Return Policies.

Why?

This is why...

Sometimes, when shopping, I sorta loose my mind and begin to believe that I'm somebody else. Someone who wears 4 inch heels.

I loved these shoes. I had an idea that with their help, I would live on a great estate in England, wear tweeds, and drink tea every afternoon at 4 in a huge library filled with leather-bound first editions. These shoes were going to transform me into an Anthropologie model - you know what I'm talking about, right?

Unfortunately, that did not happen.

This is what happened.

I tried to wear them - just once - to church where I sat most of the time, not standing and not walking too much. To the pew and then back to the car - that's it. You know the drill, right? And yet, the pain! OH! The searing pain! I actually tried to use the pain to help me focus on the sermon, but beyond weeping and the gnashing of teeth, I heard nothing. On the way back to the car, Handsome once tried to take my hand, and I might have barked, "For crying out loud! Stop dragging me around! Not so fast! I'm trying to walk here!"

Not Lovely. I am not proud.

I realized after tearing the shoes off in a blind panic that they were not for me. Nor me for them. 

Besides, when wearing those shoes, I cannot deceive myself, I probably channeled a bit more late-60s pimp and less Lady Oxfordshire anyhoo. 

Hmmm...

 Yep, I am extremely thankful for stores with forgiving return policies. 

And now, if you ever see me on the street wearing something other than flip-flops or tennis-shoes, you will know that I am just pretending. Please feel free to give me a good shake to snap me out of it -- no matter the month, I will have to write a post about being thankful for kind acts of friendship.

Anyone out there feel my pain?