Contemplation

This is my spot.  I sit here in the sunny corner of my porch and look out over the nearby hills and let my mind wander.  Sometimes I pray.  Sometimes I sing.  Sometimes I just sit.

I remember a story that was in one of the reading books that I taught from long ago.  The story was about a little boy who lived in an apartment with his parents and several brothers and sisters.  He didn't have any place to go where he could be alone.  His mother wisely showed him a corner of one of the rooms that had a window in it.  She invited him to make that corner his own.  And he did.  He sat there at his little table and drew pictures, wrote stories, read books.  But sometimes he just sat there.  His brothers and sisters knew to leave him alone when he was there in his own corner.  

I guess this little story reminds me of my situation.  I am not a solitary person.  I love being around people.  But sometimes I enjoy a little solitude.  So I have my very own little corner.

It is amazing the things that I can accomplish just sitting there in my chair for a half hour or so.  I usually don't bring my computer or book or sewing with me.  It is a time when I can reflect and plan and dream of what I want to do in the next hour, day, or year.  But mainly I try to switch off my brain and just soak up the beauty I see right there before me.  It is hard to put into words.  Mainly because there are no words that fit this kind of reverie.

When we planned our house we didn't know we were going to have a porch that went all the way around four sides.  Something in my being spoke to me and told me that I would need that space to really enjoy life up here on the hill.

And so I made my very own little corner, where I can be alone.  With the world stretched out before me.  Wouldn't trade it for anything.