Uncommon Handbound Books by Cindy Leaders


Summer Skies

Monday, June 22, 2009

My sister recently named her favorite thing in all the world as skies. When we're together, situating ourselves in a beautiful spot where we can watch the sun set, hopefully with a refreshing beverage in hand, is a Big Deal. She often notes that she doesn't get skies in Texas like we get here in Georgia. Sitting on my deck at dusk recently, I decided to take special note of the skies overhead. Here's what I saw:

  • many chimney swifts, chattering loudly, darting after one another, ravenously gobbling mosquitoes (I hope) at every breakneck turn;
  • quite a few bats, equally hungry, less gregarious and just the tiniest bit creepy;
  • several airliners (full of people going somewhere for as many reasons as there are people), climbing to altitude after leaving Atlanta, one catches the sun and shimmers brilliantly in the darkening gloom, contrail flowing behind;
  • a handful of quietly emerging stars and planets, reminding me how small I am and yet how blessed to share with the angels in enjoying the beauty of the universe;
  • one moon, the same one visible tonight in Dallas, Florida, England and Iraq, anywhere a person takes a moment to look up and observe.
I read some verses in the Bible that I think explain why the skies never cease to draw us and inspire us to awe and wonder:
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. Ps. 19:1-4.

They're telling us something that we all instinctively, whether we acknowledge it or not, want desperately to hear.

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Have Ants, Will Travel

I can't believe it's already the last full week of June. Next week, the year will be half over. It's way too hot here in Georgia for the end of June, so I'm dreaming of cooler places.

Carpenter Ant Awareness Week - June 25-28

I'm not exactly sure why we need to be aware of carpenter ants, but I'm doing my part to spread the word right here! It's not clear whether the ants on this leather journal by Kreativlink are carpenters or just your garden-variety, unskilled ants, but they're busy as ants should be.

Cool off in the Faucet


I remember how a faucet and hose transformed a hot summer day when I was a kid. Doesn't this book from Donnalda make you feel a little cooler? And the words are a perfect reminder of how to really chill all year round.

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