A tidal wave

Ebbs and flows

Soothing

Steady

Peacefully

Lulling me to sleep

Thanks for the memories that continue to grow

Thanks for the love that continues to flow

Thanks for tradition as we continue to sew...a tapestry of family since time long ago

Thanks for the harvest, a king's ransom, Pharaoh

That turns into winter, the sleet and the snow

To spring and then summer with sun all aglow

This thing that is life pushing us to and fro

Thank you to God who's hand guides us so

Through all of life's troubles, the high and the low

And thanks for this pumpkin pie with a good old cup of Joe

I am sitting on a deck chair in the tan sand with the gentle breeze off the Pacific rustling the palm tree beside me. My bride is dozing next to me, basking in the golden sun.

I'm watching my 3 daughters, skin darkened by the Hawaiian sun, float on the pool like water. Their snorkel gear allowing them to see a world that they have never seen before, alive with creatures that are foreign to them. The air around me is 80 degrees but the drink in my hand is frosty cold with the tiniest umbrella punctuating the island nature of it. Thoughts of staying here and not returning to the cold, dark and rainy winter of the Pacific Northwest play on my mind.

I dismiss it.

But maybe someday.