Red Sky in Morning

The sun is low and red on the horizon this morning as September rolls into view. The last holiday weekend of the summer marks a shift, and we now are looking to the promise of Fall. I noticed a couple of leaves fluttering down to the drive yesterday. We are surrounded by large, stately deciduous trees and remembered our maiden voyage into fall. Oh, but the leaves!

We witnessed a PowWow on Sunday with the bunnies and ground squirrels: a bunny had the floor and the ground squirrels were intently listening. They're probably discussing the best way to divvy up the land for residential use. The last flare-shaped poison that was dropped in the holes was found days later rolled back out and waiting for the trash. I can't help but admire their fortitude but we are still seeking a compromise.

It was a cooking weekend after a stressful August. The house up north is on the market, and our agent began getting calls a week or so ago responding to an ad for rent. It quickly became apparent that a hacker had taken the info off the MLS and advertised it as his own home and hoping to gather up rental deposits and run off with it. That took a lot of the week to unravel, working with the PD and Homeowner's Association, posting signs on the house and talking to the neighbors. The renters who sent in money feel entitled to occupy, and we are hearing stories of those who find a way in, believing they are entitled to be there, which causes a great big headache for the police and the property owners to get them out. Fortunately for us, the fraud was discovered when a victim did not have the code for the gated community. I'm sure there are others, and it is disappointing to know that.

The renters are settled into the house down south, and hopefully happy for many years to come. It was a chore and half getting the house ready, after a promise left unfulfilled by the exiting tenant. But all is done now, thank goodness, which is doubly why it was fun to watch August slip away.

I was praying this morning for a couple of friends handling more than their share of challenges, and thought about the sun on the lawn, and how most of my prayer is in the form of thanksgiving when life is going well. Gratitude. Appreciation for life's bounty. I shy away from praying for myself, other than a desire for a deeper well of knowledge and a largeness of heart to forgive and forget.

I have lost many things and failed miserably at others, but I have been given more courage and humanity because of it. When I am judged and ridiculed and ignored, I can look into the faces of those badly dressed and see faces whose smiles are waiting for you to acknowledge them. I can tell you the name of the badly burned homeless man at the corner of Howe and Alta Arden, and his story. I pray gratefully for peace and faith during hard, painful times, and for God's grace eventually resolve them. May it always be that way, hard and rewarding and a life full of astonishment when life resolves itself.

It is not the easy road, but it's the road that has been chosen for me. May I never forget to be grateful.