Here I am on vacation - sitting in my brother's, girlfriend's house. Everyone else went to the amusement park. I can't go. I am sitting here with my feet so swollen I can hardly walk.
Don't feel sorry for me - I am making the best of it. It's hot, but not humid, so I am able to sit on the back porch and enjoy the view of the mountains. BEAUTIFUL!!! And believe it or not, even though everything here is a shade of brown (to match the desert floor), I also enjoy looking at the different houses going up and down the hills in Leslie's neighborhood. Some have flat roofs, some are peaked. Some have adobe fences with cute little spanish gates going into their gardens, some have brick and wrought iron fences. Some have glass blocks, placed sporadically along the sides of the homes.
It's also super quiet here - you can actually hear yourself think.
I have taken a couple of short walks (about a block at a time) around her neighborhood - I had forgotten that there are quite a few desert plants that I think are absolutely gorgeous. The desert willow is my favorite, it is a lot like a crape myrtle in that you can leave it to grow as a bush or you can trim the suckers around the trunk and it's a beautiful tree. And the blooms smell absolutely delicious! My preference are the ones that are trimmed to be trees. I also like the thin leaved Yuccas with the salmon colored flowers. Just because there isn't grass and all the yards are different color rocks - I still find beauty in this majestic area.
I plan on driving into the mountains with my niece tonight. I am afraid of heights, but I do okay if I drive instead of ride.
God is so wonderful and amazing - there is beauty every single place on this earth - you just have to open your eyes. I thank Jesus that I wake up everyday and that I can see beautiful things and smell wonderful scents, I can hear my grandchildren laughing and I can actually hear "quiet", I can feel all the textures around me. I am alive and I can praise Him.
Sick or healthy, happy or sad, tired or rejuvenated - Thank you Lord for each and every day that you give me.