TODAY IS PRETTY...

Pretty: Attractive in a graceful or delicate way
Today is pretty. You can't really define a pretty day in words or pictures, it is more of a feel. I felt the prettiness of this day as soon as my eyes fluttered open from sleep. There was a certain air about the arriving day that made it feel like something special, extraordinary even. My heart did a little flipping lift as I tossed back the blankets dipping my toe into a new day.No testing the waters, just plunging right in with both feet connecting with the carpet, creeping with anticipation towards the curtain drawn window. Black out blinds and heavy lined panels obscuring what kind of day lay beyond their shelter. Reaching up to grasp them, I wondered if it would be a pretty day filled with sunshine and warmth or more clouds and rain. I was rewarded with sunshine, but only the barest hints as clouds moved to the forefront obscuring the warm rays.I hurriedly completed my morning routine wanting to cast away the night by flooding the house with light. I moved through each room of my home sliding up blinds and securing them in place while drinking in each living scene like a thirsty traveler, quenching my craving for the lightness of the day.
Back where I began my days journey I reached to smooth the rumpled covers into place, hand stilled in midair, eyes riveted on the scene outside my window. How long had it been since I looked, really looked, at what was beyond these window panes I wondered. I halted, positioning myself in the middle of the window frame and looked long and deep and hard. I moved from room to room following the changing views, my windows becoming picture frames with budding scenes of movement, light, play of shadow, depth, detail, and perspective that no artist brush could ever fully capture - living landscapes teaming with life.Today is pretty. Not because the weather is perfect, it is cold, damp, and partly cloudy here. Today is pretty. Not because the earth is giving birth to spring and little dollops of color are appearing here and there among the barren landscape. Today is pretty. Not because there is a special event or occasion marked on the calendar to celebrate although there should be. Today is pretty. Because I noticed it. Today is pretty. Because I anticipated its arrival. Today is pretty. Because I arose to greet it. Today is pretty. Because it is a gift, wrapped in the most attractive package of life, graceful, delicate, and fragile.
Carpe diem!

Seize the day, seize whatever you can
Cause life slips away just like hourglass sand
Seize the day, pray for grace from God's hand
Then nothing will stand in your way
Seize the day!

-Carolyn Arends-
(View video and listen to song)

Praying your day is pretty too!