Sierra, the Bride

I took down our old hammock today, put up its replacement, then stood there for several minutes and just looked.

The trees in this old yard are huge. The trees we planted for the girls when they were babies now tower above the house and the limbs have to be cut back every few summer weeks because they brush against the roof. The other trees that my own father planted are all over 50 years old now and there's too much shade. The grass doesn't grow and flowers don't grow and the house is dark. But it stays cool all day long without air conditioning.

The wind always moves in the trees here. Our elevation is high enough for a breeze to stir almost constantly. When you lay on the hammock, it never stops moving. The breeze lifts you like a gentle, soothing hand.

It's never quiet here. The wind chimes move. There is wind in the leaves. There are locust in the heat of the day; frogs and crickets at night.

It's always quiet here. The wind chimes move and there is wind in the leaves and the singing of locust and frogs and crickets.

And so it's how we look at our life.

Our baby Sierra, my youngest niece (I only have two) and the youngest of the four (my two girls and my sister's two daughters), will marry next Saturday and change will come. Such is how life is lived.

All in all, though the days are filled with racket and worry, when the days become years, we find it's made for a quiet life of enduring meaning.

God's blessings on our little baby Sierra. We are so happy for you. What a beautiful bride you will be.

Love and more love to our Princess Sierra,

Princess Aunt Donna