My Morning....

Beautiful Silver Icicles Adorn Our Roof

I am up early.  The house is still and cold.  I turn up the thermostat and very quickly the heat warms my soul.  The coffee pot beckons.  I make enough strong java for Cindy and me.  She will soon be out of bed, but for now she is putting off getting up to a cold environment.

My E-Mails are answered.  Then I read the news.  By now the sun is casting a golden glow on the baby blue skies of north Texas.  I look out our den windows at the patio and pool. 

The Pool Is An Ugly, Wintry Mix Of Water, Ice and Leaves

Ice covers the pool, and I pray my pool pump will be in working condition when the thaw begins tomorrow.

Our Proud Little Snowman Endures!

Our little snowman still stands guard near our back door, his blueberry buttons having fallen off his proud breast, and his herbal smile now crooked and his poor little dyed boots now having faded and bled into his torso.  But he is so cute, and we love him.

Big icicles hang from the roof.  Patches of snow remain on the bushes and roof. 

Our Neighbor's Tree Seems to Never Run Out of Leaves, Most of Which Find Their Way Into Our Pool

The pool is an ugly mixture of water, ice and leaves  from our neighbor's tree....a tree that seemingly has an inexhaustible supply of leaves that it spews into our pool from November to February.  It certainly keeps me busy trying to clean the pool daily.

Cindy Cooks the Bacon For Our Breakfast BLTs



I smell bacon sizzling in the kitchen.  Cindy is up and has decided we will be eating BLTs for breakfast.  Sounds good to me!  God is in His heaven and all is right with the world!

Our Morning Walk....

Every morning, Cindy and I arise between 5:00 and 6:00 to embark on our morning walk.  Upon awakening, our first impulse is to roll over and go back to sleep.  But, we have become disciplined enough that we "make" ourselves get up and start moving.  In the summer, the Texas heat is oppressive, even at that early hour.  And the winters can be bone-chilling, with high, piercing winds that slice through to my soul.  But still, we go on.  And, even though our walk is only 2 miles (40 minutes), it is enough to really get our blood circulating for the day.

In the darkness and stillness, we depart our home from our back patio, and briskly walk down the alley to Quarry Chase, the main road of our subdivision.  Today, the sky was perfectly clear.  A sliver of a crescent moon gazed eerily down at us, and the constellation Orion, the mighty hunter, stood guard as we ramped up our pace.

The sidewalks here in Plano, Texas are in good condition, and we know every crack and bump for the two miles of our trek.  Sprinkler systems are active at that early hour, so we must be careful to avoid the shocking spray of cold water that occurs when we are surprised by their sudden attack.

Rabbits are present in biblical numbers at dawn, and we see them scurrying away from us as we pass.  Birds call to one another.
We cross the creek at Legacy and Independence Boulevards.  An egret is stalking minnows in the shallows.  The dark, oval outline of a large snapping turtle lurks on the bottom. 

At the Kroger shopping center, few cars are present at that early hour, so we walk through the lot searching for lost coins.  Today we found a penny.  One day we found a $10 bill.

We look inside the Einstein bagel shop, and we see the regulars there, reading the morning news as they munch on their bagels and sip dark coffee.
We exit the shopping center on Independence Boulevard, and pound the pavement northward to Micarta, where we turn back into our neighborhood from the west.
We now begin to encounter other walkers and runners, and dog-walkers who like to get out early with their pets, before daybreak, so that they won't be seen leaving the dog droppings on the sidewalk.  Sorry we have so many folks like that, who care so little for the beauty of our living space.
We pass many people who will not return our simple, cheery "Good Morning!"  Sourpusses!  Ugh.
We glide by the Bethany elementary school, and a few hundred more meters brings us full circle to our alleyway and home, our bodies warmed from the exercise, our spirits lifted by the rising sun and the golden glow on the eastern horizon.

Our coffee is waiting for us.  God is in His world and all is well!