The Bible says "in the midst of life you are in death." No doubt, but our OT prophets didn't mention, or maybe they did, obliquely or in some passage I haven't seen, that in the midst of death you are in life - that seems like the lesson for today - the most beautiful winter Saturday we have had these last punishing months.
Strange that bright winter days are for me more, what's the word? "alive" than the most smiling, blooming day in June. I think that's why I love to get out into the woods around here, especially in January and February. Once we have passed the shortest days and the sun shines in the woods, even though everything is still locked in snow there is this sense of life invisible informing every atom of the air. I know what Gerard Manley Hopkins meant when he wrote, "there lives the dearest freshness deep down things."
On a less exalted note, my 43rd year commenced yesterday. I worked for most of the day but left early because I was feeling not well. Some virus has been contending with my white blood cells for days and the conflict has not yet been resolved with a clear winner. Mom sent me a turtleneck, that I am now wearing. She and my sister called. Last weekend, in NY, Dad and Stepmom got me a birthday cake. Woolfoot Husband brought another one from the great bakery in Mansonville, Quebec last night. Kids sang happy birthday to me in the morning, unbidden. Not bad overall.
I am attaching a couple of pictures I took about 10 minutes ago to give you some idea of what I am talking about.
Here's a link (I hope it works) to Manley's famous poem. "God's Grandeur." http://www.bartleby.com/122/7.html
