Mr. FixIt and I record CBS Sunday Morning every week. Then, when we have time, we like to sit down and watch. There are only a couple of shows we watch together. We love old Andy Griffith reruns. We watch the evening news at 6:30 then as soon as it’s done, we might catch a couple episodes of Big Bang Theory. Rarely I’ll sit down and watch an episode of 48 Hours or 20/20. And that’s about it. I really don’t care for television as a whole.
CBS Sunday Morning has some of the most beautifully produced stories and yesterday’s episode was remarkable. A segment on Tiffany’s was beautiful. There was a recurring theme of homes and architecture and design throughout the show. One segment was about Marrakesh and its artistic riads. These are ornate courtyards within the confines of the house. Even though these homes were in the midst of a busy city, standing in the courtyard with a water feature is an oasis of calm and peace for the occupants. The narrator said, this is the owner’s “piece of the sky.”
That really spoke to me. When I think of our five acres out at Marshmallow Ranch, I don’t always look at it as our piece of ground. I see it as our piece of the sky. A bigger piece than that of a small courtyard, to be sure. But just as peaceful and soothing as any oasis anywhere. When Big was here with her mom and Little, she didn’t like our sky. She felt smothered by the canopy of trees that close in from all sides. She’s not the only person I’ve heard who describes it as smothering. When we were in Colorado this summer, I was gobsmacked by the immensity of open sky out there. Even though I lived there for forty years, I’d forgotten just how spacious it is.
We mowed this weekend and trimmed back a lot of the forsythia along the fenced pool enclosure. I hadn’t really thought of it, but we were cutting the overgrowth back so we could see more of the sky. And, so that things would stay somewhat drier. With global warming, we’ve been getting hotter and hotter and more and more severe weather. The ground is almost always wet. Having access to our piece of the sky is a godsend. The sky at the farm is getting smaller and smaller as the trees encroach into the little holler behind the house.
This will be another very hot week with highs in the nineties. This is why we wanted to get the mowing done over the weekend. We have several things coming up that will take us to town a few times. And I need to clean the family room and put some things away. There’s always something to be done. If you are in the path of the storms…do take care.
?
“Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.”
Isaiah 40:26 NLT
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
