The Second Character Is Introduced

I took a break from working in the yard and sat down on the back porch. The back porch is the best place to be in the afternoon. It's shady. The sound of water falling out of the waterfall in the pool is soothing.

The glass of tea I made was beginning to sweat. It was warm and the air was full of flying insects looking for something to pollinate.

I love it in the country. It is so easy to see the presence of God everywhere. The play of the wind across the trees making the leaves rustle and the wind chimes tinkle. Birds singing to each other, and the butterflies - lots of butterflies - diving in and out of the grass.

This quiet time is my sanctuary. My time with God. My time to feel whole again and ease that emptiness I carried with me.

God is my refuge. Even in the silence of the afternoon there is a knowing, a sense of being, that comes only from the peace given freely and willingly from Him.

Hank, my old German Shepard, came panting up onto the porch and threw himself down on the cool cement. The cats began to find me, too. I have six - not by my choice, but theirs. Each one turned up on their own. Maybe they sense the peace here.

I love watching the cats and dog interact. It's like a little animal sit com. And they are always so quiet. They don't want to break the peace either, I guess, the harmony of each of us living together in this place.

That sense of being is like magic. It fills the air. If I sit still long enough, it's almost as if I can reach out and grab it. I can feel it moving around me, like a bunch of gigantic bubbles slowly bumping into each other, morphing around me into fat shapes, skinny shapes.

It's God's magic, if "magic" is the right word. Some might call it the "mysteries". Our ancestors certainly knew it was there, and knew it had power.

The afternoon sun sliced through the trees at such an angle that I noticed the colors looked different, muted maybe?, next to the ground.

My mind was wandering, not focusing on any thought, and it was then that I noticed it.

I caught my breath and blinked. My conscious thought flew back, and when I looked again, the color change was gone. It could have been my imagination, but I don't think so.

I like a world with magic. It's a world with possibility. God's little secret he is willing to share with those with the faith and patience to look and find.

I've got the patience, and the time. My daughter, Delilah Rose, a junior at Southwestern University. Following her just this year, her younger brother, Rob. I had the place to myself, or so I like to tell myself.