Watching cloud formations

The air this morning is brisk and cold but the sky is a deep clear blue with wisps of clouds being blown across it in fragmented, ever-changing shapes. The day never warms and heavier clouds, fog-like in density, take over the sky, I am grateful for the break from shoveling snow, for the friends who gave me a ride to the post office and for the brief company.

As I stand outside on my deck I watching area of clouds swirl like a whirlpool and I am so mesmerized I feel almost sucked in by its pull, then the sun peeks out and lights up the whole area, touching the tips of the trees as well as the clouds. It is too cold today to snow but saw but perfect to freeze. It eats into your bones through the many layers of clothes and it seems to even slow the blood.

The mountains are patterns of shadow and light and texture. The white roofs below me are like signatures of the inhabitants around me and I never feel alone are lonely but truly blessed to live in surroundings that are so alive. The Blue Jay perches atop my tallest pine tree like an angel topper at Christmas only more befitting rural atmosphere.

What I feel most is at peace and in awe, connected to all that is, linked with the universe. I feel as the tree reaching heavenward and yet rooted deep in my beliefs. I feel as fresh as the snow covering all that I encounter and having the power to change what I can. I am as the clouds taking different form, being in motion, sometimes light as a feather and other times fuller, deeper, ready to share all that I have with others. Nothing in life is separate but part of a greater whole.

As evening comes the clouds again recede and the slip of the moon takes its place in the sky. Icicles hang like lace decorating my windows on two sides. I see new sprouts of pines peeking out from the snow in my forested backyard. It is the neighborhood of oaks leading down steeply with huge boulders growing up from the earth, at random, beneath them. Piles of twigs stand like a fortress built to house small animals against the cold winter brings here. The suet has been well nibbled and the new feeder is almost empty of sunflower seeds. My yard is a banquet for the hungry that come daily for their portion of the daily fare. Another day closes and tomorrow is yet another new beginning.

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