Yesterday on the radio: an interview with a police officer who said, “They don’t pay us enough to be in the midst of shootouts every day.”

I reflect on times when I’ve said, “They don’t pay me enough…” and wonder just exactly how much IS enough pay for something like that?

A loving person lives in a loving world.  A hostile person lives in a hostile world.  Everyone we meet is our mirror.
Ken Keyes, Jr.

Today I choose a loving world.  With gentle spirit, I watch for an opportunity to do something good.

Are you watching, observing?  Are we embracing every opportunity to do something good as it presents itself  in each moment?

Tell me – who are you?

As words begin to flow from my fingertips with gentle abandon, I wonder who will be reading them?

What are you like? Are you enjoying this site? What do you really think of it?

What makes your heart dance and your soul sing? What book(s) adorn your favourites list? Do you love your life? What do you wish for? Long for? Hope for?

I am curious…

Laying on the couch, fire dancing in the woodstove, a chill in the night air of late fall. A clatter on the back deck picques my curiousity, but I’m too comfortable under my blankie to get up. The clatter ceases.

Some time later, the clatter again – louder. My imagination soars. A bear seeing fit to rearrange things on the deck? Wouldn’t be the first time one had come to visit.

I rise from my warm cocoon and flip a switch on the wall. The warm glow of a lamp in the loft casts a misty light across the deck, and there before me stands a most beautiful, majestic four-point buck. He stands at alert for a moment, then hooves make the familiar clatter as he makes his way into the security of the dark night.

We’ve seen him with a doe and fawn often, nesting by the pond at the edge of the woods just outside the front door. He’s looking for a warmer nest for the winter, and our deck, nestled inside the south-facing courtyard of our U-shaped home, provides warmth and protection.

I am pleased to see him again, and marvel that he’d feel safe enough to come right up to our home. Heart smiles.

A couple of days later, repeat performance but in mid-afternoon. This time I am working upstairs in the loft when the clatter begins. I make my way down the stairs and come face to face with the buck through sliding glass doors.

Breathtakingly beautiful lines in his face, colours in his fur. A moment of peaceful gratitude in my day.

He’s in no hurry to leave. Meanders off, only after he’s investigated the scent of apples in the crate just outside the door.

I am thankful for the visit – a reminder to stop now and again and be peaceful.