Give Thanks...O Beautiful, For Spacious Skies

 

At choir practice this morning, we rehearsed an awesome version of Katharine Lee Bates's patriotic classic, America the Beautiful. Great rehearsal for the first time the choir saw the music. Of course, it's a song we've all known basically since birth. The practice ended, I climbed into my car and started for home.

I had a tough time keeping my eyes on the road...the sky was mesmerizing.

Basically, I witnessed the first line of the song..."Oh beautiful for spacious skies."

This afternoon, we decided to bring to life our fire pit after several months buried under literal feet of snow. I started the fire an hour or two before we ate. Once the fire was lit and started to grow, I just sat in a chair and stared at the sky. The blues, the whites. It was incredible. I snapped a few pictures, but it can in no way capture the scene before me. 

We moved a few years ago, moved from an established community where our neighborhood was established about a century ago with large trees planted decades ago reaching for the sky. We moved to a mountain where the oldest tree (man planted) is maybe twenty years old. And on our street, the homes are less than five years old. After we were here a year or so, I asked my kids what they missed most from where we used to live. My son said, the trees.

I miss the trees, too, but I have to say, the lack of trees opens up the sky, and because we moved from a highly populated area to one that's quite the opposite, there's not as much pollution in the air making what you see even more spectacular.

I'm grateful for the beauty of the skies. I'm grateful I can see it, enjoy it, appreciate it. It's an honor to be able to enjoy such art. Oh, how beautiful are those spacious skies.