Retrospective

A weeping willow mirrored in the face of a calm pool of water, the sun shining through puffy white clouds seen on the surface of a quiet lake.  These reflections have a beauty all their own but they are bound by time, showing only what is in the present. 
A year has past since my life was radically turned in a different direction.  A year ago I could only reflect, just as  mirror does, seeing only what was happening that day.  But, now I find my reflections are no longer limited but encompass a year of discovery and the gifts that has brought.  It has been a sensory year: a year that has delighted all of my senses filling them to the overflowing.

I've felt the touch of hot, dry wind as I stood enveloped in the deep of silence present in the sacred desert places of Monument Valley.

I've tasted the rich sweetness of just picked summer blueberries proudly displayed by farmers at the Eugene Saturday Market.

I've heard the pounding of  waves as they crashed with unbelievable force against the Oregon Coast, slowly chiseling shapes like a Michelangelo as he revealed the David he found hiding in a block of stone.

I've felt the bone- numbing Pacific waters  while wading  through the lowered to  examine starfish and anemones clinging to the sides of sea boulders near Brookings. 

And I've seen snow-capped mountains framed by a cloudless summer sky reflected in the rich turquoise of a crater lake that filled a long silent volcano. 













And today? Well today I reside in my native state, uncovering my roots as I search records for lost relations; gaining new perspective on my country and its people as I delve into the nooks and crannies of one of the  13 Colonies. 
So many sights and sounds have filled this past year and have become a part of me. And now as I reflect on them all, unbound by the constraints of time and space, I can  gratefully  exclaim,  "What Satan meant for evil, God has turned to good!"