Cold snap

It was 17 degrees when Dave got up, 16 when I asked the temperature, and 15 by the time I sat down to eat breakfast.

The birds feeding on our deck this morning look much fatter than usual as they hunker down with fluffed feathers covering their feet.

Outside my office window, there's a thin sheen of white on the ground under the eave, which isn't snow, but a patch of ice from yesterday's sleet.

Yesterday's clouds are skudding south before a stiff wind and the northern sky is piercingly blue.

Weather.com tells me that today's high is projected to be only 22 degrees and that it's now 14 degrees, but the windchill makes it feel like -1 (that's Farenheidt for all you Canadian readers).

Hard to believe that it was in the 60s just a couple of days ago.

The Moon Waxes and Wanes

The moon was a silver crescent, lying just above the treetops, this morning when I woke.

It wasn’t that long ago that it was a full orange globe, rising from the horizon, like a pale pumpkin ready to burst.

I am always amazed at how quickly the moon changes phases. I’m beginning to think that’s part of God’s plan to remind us how quickly life changes. What seems like a dark time in the shadow of the new moon will soon turn into a bright time with a luminous full moon ready to burst with blessings on our heads.

God truly does move in mysterious ways. Our job is trust him, when the night is dark as well as when the moon is bright enough to cast shadows behind us.

Day will dawn, and we will enter the eternal city whose light is the Lord.

Pachebel's Canon

My favorite piece of classical music is Canon in D by Pachelbel. I have several different recordings of it, including one of it being played by the Canadian Brass, but my favorite arrangements are those for violin.

My talented nephew, Jonathan, played it for me during my last visit. It literally brought tears to my eyes. He is not particularly fond of playing it, preferring "The Orange Blossom Special," which he also performed at the time.

I recorded "The Orange Blossom Special" as a digital movie, but I was so overcome with emotion during Pachelbel's Canon that I didn't want to take a moment away from the experience to mess with the camera. Now I wish I had so that I could still enjoy it.

While I'm writing, I usually don't listen to music. It's easier for me to concentrate on my work without any distractions. But sometimes, when I'm doing some monotonous project, I'll put on one of my recordings of Pachelbel's Canon in D and allow myself to become involved with the slow, deliberate pace that increases and brings me to the heights of emotion.