Thursday, July 31, 2014

EASY LIVING

Lazy days.
Cool mornings.
Lingering outside.
It all sounds so good for summer.
But wait.
I need to:
                Pull weeds,
                Paint stressed wood,
                Repair broken places,
                Clean windows,
Squeeze in work and meetings and obligations.

When do I make time to linger through these lazy days?

Ahhhhh, it is so good to MAKE time to weed and paint and repair and clean.
That's what summer is all about.

Living seems easier when I can wear less, move freely inside and out and linger a little longer as the daylight allows.

Four extra hours each day allows me to squeeze in a few more fun moments.

So, I weed and read a good book.
I paint and pick my roses and herbs.
Repairs eventually get completed.

Cleaning windows is easier when I can open them fully and hang out a bit in spite of a bug or two
that might whiz past me.

It's summer, and the liven is so much easier without snow and cold and icicles and freezing temperatures.

Summer.
Sun.
Heat.
Bare feet.
T-shirt.
Shorts.
Flip flops!

Easy living is an attitude.

There will always be work and chores and never enough time . . . summer or winter.
But there is something about summer which enables my attitude to soar.
I don't whirl around getting things done.

I swirl more slowly . . . intentionally . . . sometimes even enjoying those pearls of moisture dripping from every pore.

I have an attitude of gratitude for the freedom to live easy this summer.
Nice.






Thursday, July 17, 2014

LEGOS IN A GARDEN

If this gardener can get rid of my weeds
I'll be glad to have him work in my garden.
We were walking through a Florida garden a few months ago and were amazed at the beauty surrounding us.

What was more surprising were the Lego sculptures nestled in the midst of tropical flora.

We let our minds wonder and our eyes wander as we linger in the midst of odd shapes within God's incredible creation.

Tiny bricks of plastic, an artistic eye and a lot of creativity enhance these surprises that seemed to pop up in the midst of green acres.

 Once in awhile the eye has a difficult time discerning which is real.

In fact, I did not take a photograph of a lawn mower that I thought should have been stored out of sight of visitors.
 Later I found out it was made of Legos!

We have seen soapstone sculptures, concrete art forms, and various odd garden containers but this was a new sight for our eyes.

Instead of lazily wandering about, we were on the 'hunt' for other amazing creations.

 When we came upon a few creations, we lingered a bit and wondered how the eye can adjust to these unique forms as if they were real.
Lego Boy was moved to a new spot each day.  We just 'happened' to
walk down a hidden path to discover this little gem.  Don't you
love those funky branch fence rails!
This latino art form, made of Legos, popped out at us as we came out
of a children's garden.  Fun.


Fox sneaking up on bunny.  The reality of the 'wild' was hidden in the
middle of beautiful vegetation.  



Who doesn't love butterflies.  This gigantic beauty reminded us that
God's art is hard to re-create by human hands.
Humans may mimic God-art but
nothing matches the real thing.


This rose seemed to overwhelm us as well as the
tiny wild rose bushes that surrounded it.
This is definitely Legos. 


Can you tell which ones are the REAL lily pads?
Some of those HUGE lili pads are real and some are made of Legos!
This was my favorite place to linger because the artist's creation blended so well with God's creation.
The giant lily pad to the far right has a little Lego-frog sitting on it.

These Lego creations remind me of our gift from God.
 God gave us the ability to create whatever we want but it will never be as authentic as God's original.

A butterfly moves through a cycle of ingesting mounds of food in order to laboriously weave a cocoon around itself.
Only by waiting patiently for the right time and working tirelessly, almost to death, to removed itself from it's tight quarters can it unfold into a specimen of exquisite beauty and have the strength to fly away.

An artist moves through a cycle of digesting lessons and techniques in order to laboriously create an image of beauty, perhaps as a gift from the heart to God.
Learning, planning, patience and hard work lead to an image for the world to enjoy.
Tedious hours given to build one brick at a time bursts forth with new life in a medium that our creative God created us to create.

Whether made of plastic or bronze or stone, God enables us to linger awhile in a place of beauty in order to soak in all that our imagination can possibly embrace.

It's nice to linger in the midst of legos if our imagination is able to unfold new experiences in the midst of the exquisite beauty that surrounds us.

What fun we had in the garden of Legos.