The Piano

PIANO MOMENTS

IF there's one thing I can mention that I missed during the coronavirus lockdown, it's the PIANO. Even before the coronavirus I hadn't played for a couple of months but now when there was time at last to practice, no piano to be found anywhere. So I was delighted when almost six months later I finally had access to a piano. I was at a Bible study and adjacent to the room where we had our study was a piano all covered up. After our study I asked if I could play and the answer was "YES."

Oh, how good it felt to run my fingers across the keyboard and play all my favorite music on the piano. I even had a small audience. Now, whenever I'm yearning to practice the piano, my friends at the church tell me I can practice anytime and that's exactly what I do. Now that's an answer to a prayer!

Is there something you yearn to do when you have plenty of moments in your life?

Pizza, Seagulls, and Me

Upon returning from beautiful Empire which is part of the "Sleeping Dunes National Lakeshore," I was hungry. A peanut butter and jam sandwich and a small brownie were filing at the beginning of the day but not at 4:45 pm when the sun was burning on my skin and there was still another 9 miles of bicycling ahead of me. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on eating so I settled for a $5.00 small cheese pizza. that was hot and ready. When I opened the box I knew I couldn't eat all that pizza. There was enough pizza there for three people to enjoy. I found a place to sit outdoors and ate a few slices of pizza. What was I to do with the leftovers? I had no place to put the slices of pizza and the pizza box was too big to carry on a bicycle.

I had an idea. I could feed the seagulls that were flying up above me.  I grabbed a pizza slice and lifted it over my head to show the seagulls that I had food for them. I cut the pizza slices into small pieces and placed them on a ledge for the seagulls to reach. Within seconds one seagull appeared, than another, and another. Soon there were about ten seagulls eagerly waiting their turn for a taste of the pizza. I was thrilled, my pizza didn't go to waste. It went into the stomachs of adorable hungry seagulls who deserved to be fed.

NO ACT OF KINDNESS, GOES UNRECOGNIZED, THANK GOODNESS FOR SEAGULLS!

Birthdays come once a year!

JUNE BIRTHDAY

I woke up this morning, realizing it was my Birthday. It's always hard to be a year older, unless you're turning 21. The one thing I'll be doing today is showing gratitude for what I do have; I'm grateful for the air I breathe, for my senses, for shelter, food, and water, for nature, friends, and my Mother. It doesn't take long to grow a list of things to be thankful for. Cake, that's another thing to be thankful for. A piece of delicious cake on a warm Spring day. Birthday's come but once a year so I think I'll celebrate my day today and savor all the moments of another day of life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THOSE OF YOU BORN IN JUNE!

When life brings you lemons, have a picnic

With all the negative things happening in the world right now every human being is probably pessimistic. Life does brings us lemons but it's also good to stay hopeful and positive through bad times so that the light at the end of the tunnel will finally appear.

I myself feel much better when I'm in nature. This morning I was up early and sitting near the water reading "The Game of Life and How to Play It" and "Keep Calm and Trust God." In those few minutes of serenity, I came across birds, ducks, and seagulls. Their love of nature and appreciating what they have really brightened my soul. These creatures seem to be content despite obstacles.

I happened to bring along a small basket of food for a morning picnic. As I enjoyed my sandwich, I took some extra bread I had brought along to share with my friends (birds, and ducks) They were grateful and I was grateful, and I realized how something as simple as a small picnic can make all the difference in the world. 

So when life brings you lemons, have a picnic.