HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Whereas I don't normally enjoy getting stuck in traffic backups, I was very thankful for this one. It gave me a chance to take a couple of quick shots through the car window of some Canada geese swimming in a pond. 

So often I see something while on the road that I'd love to capture but can't pull over to do it, and trying to take pictures while driving seems too big of a risk. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

P.S. This upbeat little song--You Keep On Blessing Me--has been running through my mind ever since I first heard it a few days ago. Hope it blesses you as much as it has me.

Enjoy!

CHANGING SEASONS

What a difference a couple of days can make.

The leaves on the beautiful red tree I posted a picture of just days ago have now mostly blown off and turned into a thick red carpet with a few flecks of gold from the one tree next to it that has hardly lost any of its leaves at all. 

RESULTS

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--RESULTS

Five minutes to free write about it 

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This week's prompt reminded me that we reap what we sow, and my current frustrations are the result of the many poor choices I made in my younger years. 

Sadly, I can't turn back the clock. 

Some of the poor choices, however, resulted in unexpected blessings, such as my salvation experience and my relocating to this beautiful area I live in now. I would rather focus on those things that give me cause to rejoice instead.

Many of my blog and FB friends dedicate the month of November to writing about their blessings and post one thing they are thankful for each day. I wish I had remembered to do the same, but November 1st came and went, and I forgot. Now we are already past the middle of the month and five minutes is not long enough to start listing them all, but I will give you three.

The picture at the top of the page is of a beautiful maple tree outside our library that caught my attention. Maple trees line many of the streets in my neck of the woods and are a spectacular sight to behold. Usually by now the winds will have blown the leaves off of them, but that did not happen this year. The temperature has been unseasonably warm as well, which is blessing number three.

MAINTAIN

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--MAINTAIN

Five minutes to free write about it 

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"Things that are well-maintained last longer" is a truth I've seen proved in my 23-year-old car and the original appliances (except for a dishwasher that had to be replaced a few years ago) that are still in top working form in the apartment I've lived in for almost 20 years now.

Sadly the opposite is also true. 

Though I've always been careful to maintain things like my car, I have not done the same for my body and am now reaping the consequences of that very poor choice.

I am not an exercise person, but I did love ballroom dancing and that managed to keep my back relatively straight despite the long hours I spent hunched over my word processor. When I became a Christian, however, I was under the misguided notion that I had to give it up, so I did.

Now I have kyphosis and other back issues due to compressed nerves and have been going for physical therapy for what seems like forever. I know the kyphosis cannot be reversed, but had high hopes the other issues could be, so I've been diligently doing all my stretches and exercises even when I didn't feel like it. 

Though there has been some improvement it's looking more and more as though all I'm doing is maintaining it rather than continuing to move forward, and my motivation to keep spending so much time each day on my routine is starting to wane. But then came this week's very timely FMF prompt and our hostess Kate's post, which ended with this thought that encouraged me to keep on keeping on--"sometimes I have high hopes and unreasonable expectations, but I'm learning that the opportunity to maintain is no small thing" (Kate Motaung).

CHANGING SEASONS

This post was written for Five Minute Friday 

Word prompt--SEASON

Five minutes to free write about it 

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Interesting the timing of this week's prompt as I have been giving much thought lately to changing seasons--especially the many seasons I have seen come and go during the course of my life. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 sums it up well (BSB):

1To everything there is a season,

and a time for every purpose under heaven:

2a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to break down and a time to build,

4a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6a time to search and a time to count as lost,

a time to keep and a time to discard,

7a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

The prompt also nudges me to post some pictures of the view from my window. The spectacular colors are what make fall my favorite season, and I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy them without even having to leave my apartment to do so.

But alas, when I went down to my car this morning, the unexpected icicles on the windshield were a reminder that the seasons are about to change, and my least favorite one is on its way.