Hello, God. It's me, Mara.

You know, Lord, it's great to come across something so neat about rain - how it often begins with a sharp patter, but when snow comes, it usually comes very softly. Can't we all just see the picture: the wind brushing up the clouds, the brook held down by ice, and then the sudden coming of the "white bees of the moon?" Just sharing a poem about all that written by Joseph Auslander:

"The clouds were all brushed up and back The wrong way by the wind; The trees were attitudes on black; The brooks were disciplined.

"Then soft as spider on a shelf, Or satin mouse at birth. Or as a pigeon lends itself Reluctantly to earth -

"No louder than the silken sound Of the web's silver wheel, Spraying the darkness all around With spokes of silken steel -

"As soft and softer than all these Parted the sky at noon; and the air stood up league-deep in bees, The white bees of the moon."

Then a poem, "Brittle World," by Lew Sarett:

"Brittle the snow on the gables, The sleet-hung pines, the night Sprinkled with stars that quiver Over the waste of white.

"Fragile the earth in the moonlight, The glassy sheet of lade; If i tapped it with a hammer, The brittle world would break."

With days shortening, we know we're in autumn or fall, of course; and as the nights grow longer, it's fun to watch clouds, stars and the moon again. Oh, what a transformation. Sometimes we see wonderful colors, gold, green, or vermilion! Some sunsets are just plain but some are totally beautiful. We can almost imagine flying mares dashing over, around and through the clouds, right?

Thank You, Lord, for Your awesome creation and that You made us to be a part of it all and to enjoy the sizes, shapes and colors of night time.

Love, Mara