Tag: The Circle of Life

March

The question always is will March come in like a lamb or a lion? Of course, the questions refers to the weather…

A mama robin, has perched on the tree outside our living room window the last few mornings.

For me, either way, March comes in with mixed emotions. There are several significant anniversaries for me in the month of March:

March 7, my father died in 1974
March 9, my mother died in 2009
March 16, our first grandson was born 2016
March 19, our second grandson was born in 2020
March 20, I was born in 1953
March 25, Gary and I were married in 1978

My mother died on this date in 2009. I created an album with items from her funeral and her last days.

My mother, Ruby. Photo from the 1940’s.

Then, during the next 10+ years, I kept stuffing bits and pieces into the album as a safe place to put something significant related to her. It needed to be re-organized, so I took the album off the shelf to work on it during a recent snowstorm. I enjoyed going through the journal entries, the funeral program, and looking at the pictures. The hymns sung at her funeral were printed out, and included On Eagle’s Wings, an uplifting song (no pun intended!). 

Chorus:
And He will raise you up on eagles' wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand

We recently took a day trip to the National Eagle Center, in Wabasha.

Angel, a permanent resident eagle at the National Eagle Center.

Columbia and Angel are resident eagles there, because of injuries. Both are female, and both in their “20’s”. Such majesty, beauty, power.

Columbia, also a current resident at the eagle center.

We tallied 14 eagle sightings en route to Wabahsa, on that pleasant March day. They are a magnificent sight. But I digress…

Back to momentous March dates…

My father, Herb. Photos from the 1940’s.

My father passed away on March 7, 1974. He was only 55 years old. I have accumulated pictures and written history information from our recent trip to Norway with intentions to compile them in an album. I plan to do so during the upcoming predicted snowstorm this week. Another 2-3 inches…downgraded from 7-8 inches.

March 25, 1978

Then, on to warmer spring days, and happier celebrations of births and marriage. 

Ah, the circle of life…

Summertime

Enjoy the Summer Solstice… today… June 21, 2019.

“On this day the length of time with sunlight is the longest.”*

Sunrise over Lake Superior, 2016.

Here are some excerpts from, A Summer Blessing, from the book entitled The Circle of Life.* 

Blessed are you, summer,
season of long days and short nights,
you pour forth light from your golden orb,
energizing the earth and calling forth growth.
 
Blessed are you, summer,
with your generous gift of heat.
Your warm breath animates creation,
encouraging all growing things to stretch towards the sun.
 
Blessed are you, summer,
you call us into playfulness,
encouraging us to pause from work.
You renew our spirits.
 
Blessed are you, sacrament of summer, 
natures’ green season, sweet echo of spring.
You speak to us in living color as you renew the earth 
with symbols of life for our bodies and souls.
 
Blessed are you, summer,
with your firefly evenings
you minister to the child in us.
You feed our hunger for beauty.

* The Circle of Life by Joyce Rupp & Macrina Wiederkehr