Rain

World’s On Fire

The spruce trees sheltering my childhood camping outings burn up into plumes, wandering far from their roots.

Pine needles turn white. Ashes fall.

Landing lightly, the burned remnants smear black, dirty, and dark on parking lots full of cars with nowhere to go.

Hours later wind blows and temperatures drop. Snow falls. Wet, slushy sleet sent to sizzle the flames.

As skies turn from purple haze to a pre-mature, wintery, orange reflection of light, so does my anxious spirit waiting to be extinguished. The world seems aflame.

Embers and ice crystals.

Both exist.

Both forces can’t act alone. When one ember sparks into two, then four, then thousands, destruction magnifies. Same is true of heavy snow.

What will you spark? Will your power magnify to destroy or bring solace? Will you roar loudly or float, spit, or soak, calming and cooling our furious hearts? What can you extinguish to make the world a more beautiful place?

You have a choice. A beautiful thing.

If you believe in the pursuit of beautiful things, have ever come back from a set back in life, or hold firmly to the belief that we can all be kind to one another, invest in this on-going project.

If you like what you’ve read, please share the piece with a friend.

A Quick Little Ditty

In the corner of the martini bar I sat with them on cushy benches. Old friends from college who were celebrating their 10 (!) years together.  Wouldn’t let them leave until they gave me their list of ten beautiful things. We sipped, we shared conversation, and we sat in the blissful, comforting feeling only decades old friendship provides.

Thank you to the following contributors for a)being my friend and b) playing my game.

#342 I like my job
#343 my great girlfriend
#344 my truck is so cheap
#345 Aspen trees
#346 cute dogs
#347 opportunities for education
#350 fresh vegetables
#351 when you make a chard smoothie you can’t taste the chard
#352 I only have to drive through two stop lights on my way to work
#353 Tegan has good taste in clothes
#354 I’m reading good books. Man, Americanah is good

#342 – #354 Contributed by Nathan Savig

#355 Luna – my dog for those who don’t know
#356 Luna’s firecracker eyebrows
#357 Tess
#358 Friends new and old
#359 Fall Colors
#360 Hot showers
#361 Biking to work
#362 Mugs’ Big White Whale drink
#364 French fries at the Crown Pub
#365 Rootbeer milk

#355 – #365 Contributed by Corey Woodruff

#366 fall leaves
#367 the dog being excited when you get home
#368 roommates
#369 biking
#370 mowing your grass
#371 eating cheap, delicious, greasy pizza
#372 picking out Halloween costumes
#373 the promise of trick-or-treaters
#374 Neon Signs
#375 the smell of rain
#376 the sound of rain
#377 the feel of flannel sheets
#378 baking bread
#379 and Halloween costumes …. did I mention that?

#366 – #379 Contributed by Tess Stoops

They added to the list and you can too. When you’re ready, send me a list of 5 – 10 things going right in your world right now and I’ll share here.  More information on submission guidelines can be found here.

Ripple

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Photo taken by Kate Kosakowski

Who has heard of the author Shauna Neiquest? A phenomenal author with a focus on the real, in touch with the joy and the pain that we mingle with each day of the year, Shauna’s writing came into my life right after I graduated college. A friend of mine gave me her book “Cold Tangerines – Celebrating the Extraordinary nature of Everyday Life” and I could not set it down. I think I read the whole thing in two hours. I never read her second book, “Bittersweet”, but am drawn to her famous quote, “When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” I found myself tip toeing in between sweet and bitter this week. The sweet and beautiful involved the celebration that one of my friends from high school had her baby. She is a beautiful little girl that I can’t wait to meet. It is amazing to stop and ponder the potential that we all have the capability of creating human beings. It is awe inspiring to know that little beings enter the world in every second of every day. We get to participate in the loving and nurturing that comes with the responsibility of taking care of one another. The rain has continued this last week, and the clouds and the gray continued to taunt my fellow Coloradoan’s as we crave our depleted Vitamin D. This week, while standing in line for our coffee, I had a co-worker show me a picture she took of the ripples in a puddle.  I quietly stared at the photo, and felt blessed to be able to witness the simple beauty in a ring of water moving out in connection to other elements touching the surface of rough pavement. This image reminded me that our energies, our enthusiasms, our excitements, our sadness – they all impact one another if only you stop and look around. Trite, perhaps, to use the metaphor of a ripple of water, but this felt like a reclaiming of sorts. A mental mastery of the weather which I cannot control.

The bitter came in the news that we lost my uncle this past weekend. He was fifty five. He has six kids, four grandkids, and a wife. While their family lives in Texas, and I did not have the luxury of spending more than a few days a year with them, he was a member of my tribe. My heart aches for my cousins, for the years stolen away, and for the grieving process that lies ahead. I head out to the funeral in the morning. I was struck, this week, by how quickly life shifts with moments of the unexpected. How life and death can happen on the same day, and how both of these incidents create so much potential. The cries of a newborn baby, or a final breath of a loved one, have immense ripple effects in our hearts. If we let these every day moments move us as they move others, they create something beautiful. What is creating ripples in your own life? Are you saying thank you and celebrating, or saying thank you and growing? Biscotti: Cherry Chocolate Chip Essie: Material Girl