Rise and Shine, Old Sol

It's good to see the sun.

The air is cool and damp this morning as I sip coffee on my back porch. The warm pick-me-up feels pleasant as its heat brushes my mustache and rolls up my face to the brim of my cowboy hat. It is a good morning...as every waking morning is. It's a particularly welcome day because the rain has abated, and Old Sol is doing his best to thrust shimmering blades of golden warmth through breaks in the stubborn white and violet clouds. It's good to feel the suns drying effect after the constant deluge of recent weeks. It is a good thing to watch the light overtake darkness.

I'm not the only one happy to see the rain move on. Old Woodrow, the rooster, has a little more of a robust crow today I think. The bright red cardinals are singing away... along with a myriad of other birds that seem to flit and warble with more enthusiasm now that it's sunlight that caresses their feathers, and not water droplets. I'm glad this day is brighter for us here at the Chicken Ranch. I realize it's not as bright for some.

A life-long friend in Kentucky has lost his battle with cancer. I know his lovely widow and their children are viewing this new morn with a gratitude to God for their own life and health; but the new day is also dimmed by the dark clouds of sadness that accompanies the loss of someone, who is so much a part of you, that their leaving produces an earthquake to your emotional security and sense of well-being. Some losses sever the soul. While the wound of separation can be salved by pleasant memories and healed by the passing of time, a part of who and what you are is so utterly and painfully lost. We wish our dear friends comfort and peace in their time of rain and pain. We wish them love.

There is much to do today here. All of what we do will be in the wetness and mud, but life moves us on, and living requires actions to propel us forward. Animals need fed, and there's mowing to do. Repairs need to made and the vegetable and flower gardens need tending (as much as can be done until it dries). So, we will work this day. And in the light of a clearing sky.

The sun rises higher and bids me to get away from my writing, and on to make up for lost time due to the storms. It looks and feels good, this giant orb of warmth and light. Its rising reminds me again that it always fulfills a promise. I am glad for it in many ways.

It does not matter the length or the intensity that the tempest presents.  No matter how dark the days or stormy the nights, it may be obscured, but the sun is there, high above us and holding promise.

 Some day the comfort and peace will come. The storms will pass and the rains will cease. The water will replenish the earth, and new life will emerge from the storm in some way.

Yes, it's sure.  Some day, in all its glory, the sun is gonna shine.