Parched....

When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.

When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of song.

When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from beyond, come to me, my

 [ God]  of silence, with thy peace and rest.

When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner, break open the door, my [ God], and come with the ceremony of [your love].

When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.” 

― Rabindranath Tagore

I stepped out this morning to let the dogs outside

  the hot air of summer heat hit my lungs bringing in the smell of

dryness through my nostrils and hitting my lungs.  "Gosh I do love some air conditioning.!"

I looked around and noticed that the 

ground itself was cracking open,

craving moist refreshment from the sky.

I couldn't help but get caught up in the metaphor of

parchness.

I've been there

with spirit so dried up,

so thirsty,

looking and hoping 

that 

SOMETHING

that 

thing that had always held me up

would 

step in and drench my spiritually broken heart 

with 

hope and peace and joy.

Lord Have Mercy,

just a bit of Mercy 

on 

the dryness of my soul.

I'm not so much there any more

feeling as dry

I've got a few drops in the bottom places deep down

that quinch my thirst...

but 

up until lately

I've been running on empty 

spiritual emptiness for some time.

Last week, off color daughter and I hiked 

up McAfee Knobb, one of most photographed spots on the Appalachian Trail--hiking on the AT was one of the items on my bucket list--and thanks to off color daughter it is now checked off.

Big Daddy dropped us off and

we spent the day hiking.

It was dry

and

hot

and sweat dripped off my face

and

rolled down my back.

It was 4.3 miles to the top and 4.3 miles back to the bottom.

We walked and walked 

and

periodically would stop to drink from our camelpacks.

Most of the hike was up hill

as we went up to 1700 feet elevation.

The steps through the lushness of the Virginia trail

reminded me of life.

Hidden in the midst of 

the ordinary green flora

were hidden treasures,

tiny little salamandars who watched our every move and

even scurried over the top of off-color daughters foot, 

red mushrooms growing out of the weirdess rocky places,

tiny orange flowers and spiders with huge tangled webs.

About a third of the way there, 

off -color daughter and I see a couple heading opposite of us.

Now we'd been bragging 

all the way up about how sexy hot we were looking,

how quickly we were climbing 

and how we'd probably make it up 

alot sooner than the book said.

I looked at the couple and said, "how much longer.'

The man said, "oh your about three miles out."

What the Hell!!!

He then said, "keep going...it is worth it."

We continued on,

over rock,

up mountain,

through steamy hot meadow

and

then up the steep climb covered in rock.

Somewhere along the trail, I snapped a picture of the sunflower that someone had left.

I wondered about the reason for it being there

and

whether it was in memory of someone special,

or 

marked the place for someone's new beginning.

Periodically, I'd see tiny yellow flowers 

broken and laid along the way

marking 

meaning places for someone who'd walked in front of me.

another offering left behind

Sweaty, Hungry and Ready to sit down

off color daughter and I 

stepped into the opening of the peak

and felt a

rush of wonder

as we stepped out on the rocky overlook

staring out on the mountains below,

sun behind the clouds casting shadows 

on the mountains in a way we'd never seen from below.

We both stood there taking it in

and sat down where we

consumed a spread of 

peanut butter and honey sandwiches and oranges

that we'd snagged from the Hotel Breakfast Bar.

I think they were 

the best sandwiches we'd eaten and I felt the wonder of sacredness

that wove around the two of us as we 

celebrated

"climbing almost to the top of the world".

Off Color Daughter was fearless,

actually sitting on the edge of the peak and putting her feet over the side.

I was afraid to get near the edge---but off color daughter pushed me---you'll be sorry later and will wished you were brave.

so I sat down and eased out and actually stuck my foot over tried to look all brave and all--but was really terrified inside.

I enjoyed my long journey with off-color daughter.

It was a long hard six hour hike

and we returned 

hot, 

stinky,

dirty

and

filled with the wonder of creation.

I suspect we all have times of parching

just like the ground,

we crack open,

dry up,

crave a bit of refreshment,

but 

if we just keep going,

keep putting our feet in front of the other,

push ourselves on up the mountain

we at 

some point

we realize

'it is all worth it'

life that is

the good

the bad

the ugly

the joy

the pain

the celebrations

the regrets...

yeah

parched or not

sexy hot or---sexy hot of course

IT IS ALL WORTH IT

as we realize IT...

mercy,grace,love,joy and peace

comes

in all kinds of ways...

just when we need it.

Today

remembering a wonderful hike

with a funny great daughter--who is off color---and sexy hot like her mom.

My time with you was sacred and worth it.

off color daughter being so very brave

sexy HOT mama not being as brave as she can...

The siamese twins---mini-sexy hot and sexy hot

a glance at the perspective of the scene...

Have a great Sunday

may the creator

bless you 

and rain down drops of grace on your parched places today.

HUGS

The Radical Rambler