The glow from the rising sun reflecting on the bright orange and yellow Maple leaves actually hurts my eyes in the mornings these days. It is kind of shocking but in a wonderful way. The walls opposite the windows have look as if they are painted a pale orange but they are just tan. One wouldn't think it possible but, honestly, the colors are so vibrant and the light so strong that it literally hurts my eyes to look at them! ...and yet I cannot stop myself from gazing at them. There are so many different colors ranging from plain old green to brick red with everything brilliant in between; lime green, mustard yellow, lemon yellow, melon, salmon, chartreuse, red, magenta...and more...so many more colors. My artistic mind wants a name for every blend of green/yellow, yellow/orange I don't have the color-vocabulary to define them. The contrast with the near-black branches adds to the beauty. It is breathtaking.

Suddenly it occurs to me that ..God is an artist! a creator of beauty for pure enjoyment, his and mine. He has given me this lovely creation outside my bedroom window. I start my autumn days knowing God is real and he is here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God painted last fall, too, but I didn't notice it 'til night. Sometimes it's not with my eyes that I see his creations. Does God give us these gifts of beauty because we need them or do we just notice them when we need them? Either way, I praise the God that created life and love and hope. amen.