A FATHER'S CONTENTMENT

 

Of all the emotions I’ve felt as a father throughout my life

from those I’ve kept to myself to those I’ve freely expressed

from laughter, excitement, joy and love….

I think contentment is the best.

Which is why whenever our family gets together…

at times you will find me sitting quietly in my place

watching what is happening…with a contented smile on my face.

Enjoying those fleeting seconds…with members of my family near

capturing those moments of contentment…before they disappear.

Dinner with our son and his wife talking about pets and life and family.

Exchanging stories, joy and laughter…and memories of NC

Singing a Face Time Happy birthday to our daughter. 

Hearing how this birthday she’ll be celebrating.

Happy with the friends she’s made…and the life she is creating.

Sitting in our son’s home…thrilled at the life he has been making

Smiling as he talks about the next adventure…to Key West….he is taking.

Dinner with our son, grandson, his wife and our great-granddaughter…

Generations around the table talking about our futures and our past

another reminder…that life is beautiful…and…goes by so fast.

These are but a few moments of contentment I collected recently.

separate moments of contentment…in the arms of my family.

But every moment of contentment we are blessed to hear and see…

does not last forever…and eventually becomes a memory.

Which is why from the moment I became a father…it has always been my plan

to catch as many of these moments of contentment that I can

Because as I say…

All the emotions I’ve had as a father…

those I’ve kept to myself…and those I’ve freely expressed…

all lead me to one conclusion…

contentment…is the best.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY.

DAILY GRATITUDE THE BIRDS THAT SING

 

I am grateful for the birds 

who sing me awake in the morning

as their songs finds a way

to remind me how blessed I am…

to live another day.

LESSON FROM THE BIRDS

 

In this deeply divided country

where we treat one another with disdain…

where we use the most damaging and hurtful words…

may we take a page out of nature…

and learn a lesson from the birds

For we will never achieve a peaceful and balanced flight…

when the right wing hates the left

and the left wing hates the right…

For every bird knows..

when it looks up to the sky….

the left wing needs the right wing

and the right wing needs the left

If it’s is ever going to fly.

FOR THE BIRDS

 

When I was younger and a little more cavalier….

I would secretly ridicule people who were out there watching birds

I would chuckle at their obsession …I called them all bird nerds.

While they were observing birds through their binoculars

I was observing their bird watching…

If anyone asked what I was doing…

I’l laugh and say….nerd watching

But as the years have passed…enjoying a bit of humble pie

I’ve had to eat my words…

because along the way I started enjoying

watching and listening to the birds. 

Mornings in the mountains are a great place for this endeavor:

I awake before the sun off the mountain tops is glistening

I sit on our porch and do a little bird watching

but mostly I’m just listening.

I’ve come to know some of the birds I see

their behaviors I am now able to read

The ones who leave the safety of their trees

and visit our feeders for breakfast seeds.

And I’ve come to know some of the birds I hear

who never leave the safety of their trees

The ones whose morning songs drift in upon the breeze.

Every morning in the mountains…you will find me on the porch

Eyes wide open…

welcoming to our feeders a few of these wonderful birds I am blessed to see

or sitting with my eyes closed…listening to their mountain harmony…

For I have happily and unabashedly joined the group

I once ridiculed as nerds….

and have found my mornings in the mountains

to be truly…for the birds.

DAILY GRATITUDE HISTORY

 

I am grateful for having studied history..

all of our history…the good and the bad 

for there is bound to be both

in a history so vast…

Because if we don’t study all our history

It will be easy to repeat

the mistakes we’ve made in the past.

DAILY GRATITUDE HISTORY

 

I am grateful for having studied history..

all of our history…the good and the bad 

for there is bound to be both

in a history so vast…

Because if we don’t study all our history

It will be easy to repeat

the mistakes we’ve made in the past.

MAYA ANGELOU U. S. HISTORY

 

May we be blessed to do 

whatever we have to do

to create a world…just like the world

dreamed of by Maya Angelou….

A world where

Black history

and Native American history

and Jewish history

Is taught from on book…

The book of U. S. History

MAYA ANGELOU U. S. HISTORY

 

May we be blessed to do 

whatever we have to do

to create a world…just like the world

dreamed of by Maya Angelou….

A world where

Black history

and Native American history

and Jewish history

Is taught from on book…

The book of U. S. History

JUNETEENTH 2026 LISTEN TO YOUR HEART

 

With some of our history being ignored and rewritten

which many of us find upsetting

June 19th (Juneteenth) is a date to commemorate

one, among many, we must never be forgetting.

It’s a date to not only learn what happened…but how our country played a part

A time to heed the teachings of our souls…and listen to our hearts.

Listen to our heart…it will tell us something we have known all along…

that any kind of slavery…always was…always is…and always will be wrong

It will tell us human rights should never have to be won… 

They should be universal and apply to each and every one

It will tell us how every person…no matter who or what or where

deserves the same education, same compassion, same acceptance…

same health care.

It will remind us how discrimination tries to break a person’ spirit

tries to crush their soul…their pride.

It will not allow us to forget those who have suffered

at the hands of prejudice…all those who so needlessly have died.

It won’t allow us to accept people whose minds have become twisted…

who act as if slavery was a good thing…or say it never existed.

Yes, it’s time to listen…to our hearts

our souls…our very essence too..

on Juneteenth and every day

and let them guide us on what is right and wrong

and show us what to do.

DAILY GRATITUDE WISDOM

 

The older I grow…when I look around…

I feel this more and more

It is those who know the difference 

between knowledge and wisdom I am grateful for…

People who are proud of all the knowledge they have earned…

yet wise enough to be humbled

Knowing there is so much more to learn.

KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM

 

May we be blessed to understand

The difference between knowledge and wisdom….

Here’s one easy way to portray it: 

Knowledge is knowing what to say…

Wisdom…knowing when to say it.

Knowledge is all about receiving

Wisdom is more about giving 

because Knowledge comes from learning

while wisdom comes from living