All the best for the Holiday Season!

To readers and writers everywhere,

           May each of you find beauty in your lives every single day!

           My gift to you is my annual solstice poem, because no matter where you live, or what you celebrate at this time of year you will all have a Solstice...

           I write one poem a year to celebrate with all of you.


  Walk in Beauty

Beauty lies in cardinals flying in a cascade of early snow
   And an elderly arthritic tabby easing painfully up on my desk
      Who suddenly moves with fluid grace
In family sharing Sunday dinner and a Dolphin football triumph!

Beauty lies in a son who keeps a serene promise every day
    A daughter who stands at the doorway to new and better things
        And in blessed news about a biopsy,
Oh, the joy of living in a country town on the banks of Hudson Creek.

Beauty lies within a warm, open heart,
     The sharp scent of a fresh pine wreath garnished with carnations
         In the joy of a life filled with service to others
We’re blessed in her love for every living creature.   

Beauty lies in the sweet smile of my husband,
    In warm sunshine that glows through a frosted window
       In candle flames that burn behind stained glass
And in a son’s casual offer, “Give us a shout, if you need anything.”
      
“Walk in Beauty,” is an old Navajo Blessing...
     May each of you find beauty in every day,
         Love and joy in every moment, pleasure in every breath
And life’s satisfaction, in even the small things.

The trick is to look past illness and threats of more...
      past aches and pains and petty, day-to-day annoyance,
         And see life, like that ancient, cat who creeps slowly into my lap
Cuddles soft and warm beneath my chin, and starts to purr....   
                    — Arline Chase
                         Winter Solstice 2013

We will be closed until next week, although we will have a new free book on Friday.