Mini Vacation of the Spirit

I took a mini vacation of the spirit this morning. It wasn't planned. It was a serendipitous gift I think. I took Alan to work at 5:30. On the way to the office we stopped to buy donuts and coffee. Then as we made our way down Nevada Avenue the sun began peeking its way through. With the mountains to the West side of us and open road ahead, it felt just like the beginning of all the vacations through my life before. My dad always insisted we leave on vacation early in the morning so vacations always began with the sun barely rising. Alan is the same.

I dropped Alan off and began my way back. It's a mere 8 miles from office to home, but oh what a glorious 8 miles this morning! The sun seemed to spotlight different views of the mountains and the bluffs just as I was driving by as if to say, "Hey! Look at this! Isn't it a beautiful world and a wonderful life?" The sun first spotlighted the burn area and the unburned areas around it. It may sound strange to say this, but there was a certain beauty and balance in the view. In the midst of the horrible remnants of the fire was a beautiful area of red rocks and trees not touched by the fire. A place of hope in the midst of devastation.

As I turned onto Austin Bluffs going back east, the sun began peeking over the bluffs in a misty, surrealistic way. It was quiet and still. No heavy traffic yet. Coffee by my side and Buddy in my lap. I felt my spirit breathe and refresh itself in the moment.

Although my mini vacation of the spirit only lasted 30 minutes, I know it will last all day. Maybe it will last all week, or longer. We live in a beautiful city. God's beauty surrounds us and is in the midst of us everywhere. We've been through a lot in the last month, but the beauty remains and cannot be banished or broken through devastations or natural disasters. That's rather like God in my life to me. I've been through devastations and heartaches in my life, but God remains. He cannot be banished and never leaves me. I thank Him for the mini vacation of spirit He gave as a blessing to me this morning.

We have a cat...

We have a cat named Missy.
Missy is a beautiful cat.
She knows this.

Missy doesn't demand much...
Food when she wants it.
An immaculate litter box.
24 hour access inside or
outside the house,
IMMEDIATELY
upon demand.

Oh, and total adoration,
but no hugs longer than
5 seconds, please!

Missy is odd.
She likes to sleep all day
inside,
and go
outside,
all night.

This is a real problem.
We have foxes in our
neighborhood.

Sometimes I give up
and leave her outside
at night, but I don't
sleep well.

Last night she was
inside,
I thought...

I arose briefly
at 3 AM
and heard a fox.
Foxes sound eerie.

I wasn't worried.
Missy was inside.

This morning...
no Missy.

I looked inside.
I looked outside.
I saw vultures circling
something in the area
beyond the alley.

I ran to look,
my old red pj's
flapping in the breeze.

No Missy.

I called outside.
I looked on the roof
(Missy's favorite spot.)
I looked all over the block,
still in my old red pj's.

I called inside again.
I started a room by
room inspection.

No Missy.

Then, just as
tears sprinkled
my cheeks...

Missy mews
and stretches.

She's hiding
behind the
box fans in
the basement.

Know that moment
when you want to hug
and kill your kids
at the same time?

I picked Missy up,
hugged her close,
buried my face
in her long white hair...

and bopped
her oh so lovely nose!

She yawned.
Missy is
a beautiful cat.

Beauty In Ashes

Isaiah 61:3

New International Version (NIV)

³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor. 

To me, this verse is so encouraging in light of the last week with the Waldo Canyon Fire here in Colorado Springs. We've had fear, fire, ashes, mourning, and despair. Yet, we also have a crown of beauty in sunrises, the oil of joy that all was not destroyed, a garment of praise that God was so merciful to so many people in so many small ways, and that we will recover and will return as oaks, a planting of the Lord.

I've had such a gamut of emotions over the last week that my heart almost short-circuited in the effort to keep up. I finally just let go and let the emotions come and go as they would, trusting God would lead me safely to the other side. How can a heart contain sorrow and mourning concurrently with relief, joy and praise? I don't know.

In the course of the last week I've had some surprise moments of beauty and joy that seemed like little notes of reassurance that all will be well for us all.  

The first surprise I had was while at a Habitat for Humanity Re-Sale store in Salida. We ran in out of the rain. Alan went straight to building supplies and I was delighted to find a whole section of the store with pretty things such as dishes, decorative items, afghans and shawls. I turned a corner and before me was an entire set of Mother's Desert Rose pattern dishes!   A sugar bowl and creamer sat on top like a gift just for me. I almost burst into tears right on the spot.

Sugar bowl & creamer in their new home.

(I'm a freakishly emotional person. There is no rhyme or reason to it.) The dishes seemed to bring to me my Mother's presence and comfort. It was a day when I needed Mother's comfort and reassurance. No matter how old I am, sometimes I need that. I bought those dishes. I rarely make impulse purchases, but I did then!  I also found a mini candy dish just like a bigger one that sat on Daddy and Mother's TV set and...I bought that too. It made me smile.

Smiles in a tiny dish...

In the mail on Saturday I received more yarn that I had ordered the week before the fire began. I'll show it later. I don't wish to overwhelm you with surprises. Besides that, I think if I'm not careful I'll be seen as one of those crazy yarn ladies with a huge stash and future projects lined up like planes on the runway at DIA. (That assumption about me would be correct, but that's beside the point!)

I don't collect things usually, except for yarn. I don't like clutter. I get claustrophobic. I love beautiful things, especially nature, but ordinarily I admire beauty where I see it and go home. Last week, however, my beautiful surprises brought joy and comfort in days fraught with fears and sorrows. These surprises made me stop and breathe a moment. I'll always cherish them as part of the mashup of memories and emotions of the Waldo Canyon Fire. Beauty in ashes....