Dancing Leaves...

“For you will go out (on the trail) with joy and be led forth with peace (yes it was); the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees will clap their hands…(and I even saw them dance!)”
The Book of Isaiah, chapter 55, verse 12


I just spent two hours walking along the trail that encircles all of Lake Arrowhead. Twas beautiful and each of my senses came alive! The smell of fresh air with hints of pine, the creaking of the docks that increased in tempo when a boat passed, the feel of the soft earth, littered with needles and bark on the wooded path beneath my feet. And the COLORS! Let me just say that I finally found “fall” in California. The noon hour revealed an amazing display and I was able to capture some of it with my camera, playing a bit with the sun as it cast its magic on my subjects.

One special memory I’ll cherish occurred along a piece of trail about half way around the lake from where I began. It was a narrow passage surrounded by an overhang of translucent, bright yellow leaves, contrasted by very dark branches. The sun poured through the leaves as though they were stained glass! As I stood beneath and stared up into the canopy to admire them, a gentle breeze blew through and the leaves each began to dance. No really, they danced! - and then with each other - just for me. And the music they made! - more beautiful and delicate than the finest wind chime…

I was in awe of such a sacred performance, orchestrated by God,
for an audience of one…





journal entry - day 2 of quiet retreat