Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies

Oh beautiful for spacious skies

For amber waves of grain

For purple mountains majesties

Above the fruited plain

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee…

 

I found myself humming these words nearly everyday while driving through spacious skies and amber waves of grain. Our country is so beautiful and I found that when I took the time to truly look at it the words to this song suddenly had a much deeper meaning to me than they had ever had before. It has become a favorite for me now and evokes beautiful memories each time I hum it.

When we left, the fires in California had just begun. We had missed the smokey air with its ash and soot filled skies. We did not forget about these tragic fires but did seem to forget that this was life outside our world. For us, we were surrounded by an abundance of blue skies, billowy clouds and the stars every night. We could see the road ahead of us for miles on end and never grew tired of this view.

 

One of the most rewarding things about this kind of travel is the scenery right outside your window. Even when we had hundreds of miles to travel we were captivated by the view all around us. And, when it rained, this was a whole new kind of beauty. The wind would pick up and then lightening would dart across the sky. This would be followed by the roar of thunder and soon ice cube size hail would plummet the earth as it fell from the heavens. To say it was a spectacular experience would be an understatement.

Photos never do sunrises and sunsets any justice. Nothing is ever as good as the real thing. One evening as we were sitting out on the deck a flock of geese flew by. When they passed by the setting sun it was a perfect moment in time. While my photos of it will never capture what I saw in that moment, it is forever etched upon my heart. And, I have to admit, I never grew tired of watching the hues of the sun change the color of the land and water. I could watch forever and never tire of these daily events.

Blue skies always makes me happy and we had an abundance of them. Sometimes the blue would be so brillant I would need to shield my eyes for a moment as they acclimated to my surroundings. Believe me, I am not complaining. In fact, I know it is a gift from our Creator.

Thankful for the moments in which I am able to see the works of His hands and grasp the fullness and beauty that is around me.

Carpe Diem!