Seasons – Sunshine Lane

Joy

My eyes view beauty through tears.

Yet my heart is joyful.

Golden leaves peek through.

D. Elaine Wood-Lane 9/11/16

My past week has been full of everything you can imagine. In the midst of it, I attended the memorial service for a very young poet friend who was so talented it blew me away. At the service, the same words were repeated so often about this young man: “Blake was so calm, quiet, and wise.” The memorial service itself was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever attended. Family and friends spoke about him and most of them read one of his poems after they spoke. It was a gathering of love, sorrow and even joy for having known such a remarkable young man. As I walked out of Shove Chapel at Colorado College, my eyes full of tears and my heart aching with loss, I looked up at this view and it took my breath away. It’s a perfect visual representation of what lay in my heart. Yes, there is darkness, sometimes seemingly overwhelming in our lives, yet if we have God with us, we also have glimpses of golden joy. Underneath the photo below is a daily devotional from a daily meditation book I read. It so perfectly expresses my underlying joy that I had to share it. The book in question is called, “Be Still And Know,” and was compiled and edited by Michelle Winger.

Do no grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10 NIV

Joy is not necessarily happiness. Happiness is dependent on circumstances; joy is not. Happiness is fleeting; joy is constant. Happiness disappears when trials come; joy grows through troubles. Good times bring happiness and laughter; difficulties bring sorrow and grief, but joy resides beneath.

Joy is not an emotion that can be fabricated or faked. It is a deep-seated sense that all things are well because God is in charge. Joy is expressed in praise, song, laughter, a peaceful countenance, a light in the eyes, or a serenity that belies any adversity. It is the substance of the soul that holds us together as we trust in God, who does all things well. Jesus wants our joy to be full!

Thank you, Jesus, for the joy that gives me strength. I choose today to fill my mind with truth, to think about those things that are praiseworthy, and to trust you fully. With a thankful heart, I choose joy!

Hot Air

Sun shines down so hot,
Cotton field dirt burns bare feet,
The hot air shimmers.

Summer days of old,
Cousins playing on the farm,
Hot dirt, hot air…joy!

Huddled inside now,
Cool air, carpet, dimness here,
Where is hot air joy?

I recall a time in my childhood, when Mother’s family would gather at Aunt Mary and Uncle Dolf’s farm. We cousins would go outside to play in the 106 degree heat and we loved it! We played outside, walking through fields in our bare feet, finding magical objects in the dirt like arrow heads and pretty rocks and we were in our glory. Those are some of my favorite childhood memories.

Shuu rin – Autumn Rain (A Haibun for dVerse)

Driving to work in the heavy autumn rains, it felt like the sun had escaped our view forever. Where the sun shines 330 days a year, when the clouds come and darken our world, we freak out a bit and depression and edginess spreads over the town like the plague. Nonetheless, after a soggy, cool weekend, I had dropped my boys off at school and was headed to work at the Dermatology Clinic at the Medical School. I got halfway there, talking and begging my old white Audi, Blanche, to hang in there until I made it to work. Suddenly she sputtered and coughed. I patted the dashboard lovingly, speaking gently and encouragingly to her. That’s when all the lights flashed on my dashboard and I felt Blanche die and start floating in the rushing river of water that Brownfield highway had somehow become. Yikes! I was really floating! Just like those people on the news in other places! I willed Blanche to coast right, twisting her steering wheel hard to the right, hoping it would help. I felt her tires hit pavement and steered even harder. She stopped, right in the middle of the busiest traffic in town. I was stuck in the middle lane of a three lane highway and cars were whizzing by like SST’s. What was I going to do? Suddenly a huge truck pulled up and stopped in front of me while simultaneously its emergency flashers started blinking. A huge, young cowboy climbed out of the truck and made his way back to me. I opened my door to talk to him. “Ma’am, has she died completely? I’ll pull her over to the side if you’d like me to do so. My truck can take her easily.” As I looked into the man’s deep blue eyes, I had an inappropriate thought that he could take me easily too. I didn’t say that out loud, though, thank goodness! I didn’t want to be a stereotypical divorcee, embarrassingly lonely and obvious. “If you could do that, I’d really appreciate it! I’m afraid I’m going to cause a stack up if I don’t pull her over. What do I need to do?” “Not a thing! Just sit tight and I’ll hook her up! Then when I signal, put her in neutral and guide her to the parking lot over there.” Sitting in the car and being pulled over to the side, I had to smile. West Texans might be a lot of things, but unhelpful they were not. As my car coasted into the parking lot and I put her in park, the young man jumped out of his truck and came back, leaned in over the open door. “Do you need a ride to work? I’m headed over to the main campus.” My day, even in the heavy fall rain, suddenly had sunlight.

Heavy, bruising rain,
Ice cold and relentlessly dull,
Making new rivers.

The Haibun prompt from dVerse Poets (https://dversepoets.com) was to use one of the Japanese words for rain as the title and to describe the type of rain being written about. A Haibun consists of a non-fiction paragraph followed by a haiku to summarize and deconstruct the main point of the prose paragraph. This is my offering today as a memory came to me of a heavy rainy day when a kind stranger towed my car to the side of the road.

https://dversepoets.com/2016/06/20/haibun-monday-50-shades-of-rain/

Waking Up at 4:49 AM (dVerse Haibun Monday)

Monday at dVerse Poet’s Pub, they were writing Haibun to the theme of an ordinary day–one paragraph and a Haiku that includes reference to nature and a season. I’m two days late and a dollar short, but hopefully I’m not too late to participate.

Each morning I feel a stirring by my side and then hear a fake cough or sneeze from my 12 pound bundle of Chihuahua mix joy known as Buddy. This is his first signal of telling me it’s time to get up. I keep my eyes closed until I hear him fake cough a couple more times and comes up to touch my face with his nose. I open my eyes and say, “Right on time, aren’t you Buddy? Give me just a minute.” He immediately goes to perch on the end of the bed, waiting for me to sit up, put on my glasses, and then grab his collar. I stand up and Buddy stretches his neck out, tilting his head to make it easy to slip the collar onto his neck. I pick him up with one hand under his belly and lower him to the floor where he immediately scampers to the back door in the kitchen. I open it to let him out to nature’s call, feeling the cool moist spring air rush in and seeing the fingers of dawn peeking over the horizon. Time for coffee!

Cool moist air wafts by.

Fingers of dawn peek over.

Spring time has broken.

D. Elaine Wood-Lane

6/8/16

Every Rose Has Its Thorn, A Haiku

Sweet pink rose scent rises.
Every rose has its thorn.
No joy without pain.

Chaaaaanges!

Everything changes: people, places, seasons, addresses, and sometimes even names, phone numbers, and hair color!

I like change. I like to keep things new, fresh, and exciting. I like to learn, be inspired, grow, and share what I’ve learned and been inspired by so others can maybe learn, be inspired, and grow too. So, I’ve made some changes on my blog to reflect the changes I’ve made over the last year. I changed the design and I imported another blog of mine into this one, too, for simplicity. Finally, today I changed the name of the blog from Pocket Full of Words to Pocket Full of Sun because I use more than words to try and inspire others.

I use art, photos, and crafts to inspire and encourage others. I have a fully voluntary life coaching ministry where I listen to, encourage, and pray for others.

I know that many times people assume that the older we get, the less we like change. Not every “older” person hates change or resists it. Some of us embrace it! I hope that the many changes I’ve made don’t scare you, the reader, away. Keep coming back! My favorite part of having a blog is all of the people I’ve “met” from all over the world. I hope I don’t lose touch with any of you!

SAMSUNG DIGIMAX A503

Soft and Heavy/NaPoWriMo Day 19

Soft as downy feathers,
the world covered in snow,
like a winter wonderland,
though it be spring.

The snow was heavy,
and the weight of a breeze,
a moment of sunshine,
and the snow started falling,
off of the trees.

Soft as downy feathers,
and as pure as white snow,
I rocked my sweet babies,
in truly my spring.

My babies grew heavy,
and the weight of breath’s breeze,
a moment of sunshine,
and the babes began growing,
as tall as the trees.

Soft and heavy,
we all are,
in the cycle of life,
as we grow up,
and as we grow old.

Pretty Yellow Crocus/NaPoWriMo Day 8

I see you little flowers,
peeking out
of dead leaves!

I’m so glad to see you,
I laugh and smile
with glee.

You are so very brave,
as you stretch
your tiny heads,
weeks before
the other flowers
awake from the dead.

You, my little lovelies,
are the harbinger of spring,
of hope–
for warmer, longer days ahead,
for sunshine, clear skies,
for life!

Haiku Mood|NaPoWriMo Day 16

Fibromyalgia Fun and Pain, A Haiku

Yesterday was fun.
Physical therapy fun.
This morning, great pain.

Colorado Spring, A Haiku

*This is me and Daddy in the Spring of my life. I was 8 months old. He was 48 years old.*

Sun was shining bright.
Flowers and trees bloom.
Now, wind blows in cold and snow.

Family Tree Changing, A Haiku

Old limbs fell in wind.
We are old limbs now.
Are we strong enough to love?

Grief Brings Wisdom, A Haiku

Elders teach us life.
While young, we won’t hear.
Grief brings wise enlightenment.

Pleasure of Love, A Haiku

Lips touch, passion born.
Love comes, pleasure blooms.
Age gives us warm simple love.

This is Milo, my first grandchild, who is about 8 weeks old in this picture. I’m 53. I so look forward to watching this little guy grow up and see what his generation will be like!

I awoke very early this morning (3:00 AM) in significant physical pain and with some grief as well. Mother’s last sibling died over the weekend so the “older” generation of my family are all gone now and it dawned on me that now I am in a member of the new “older” generation. This generated lots of thoughts and feelings regarding the seasons, both in nature and in human maturity. I feel I’m in my Autumn season. It’s a shocking revelation. Anyway, I was in the mood to write simple, brief haikus about all this. I love haikus. They pare my many words down to what I really want to say. Peace and love to all of you today, Elaine