It's a beautiful morning

This morning, I awoke after a pleasant respite, ready to relax for a few hours - to enjoy the morning.


A friend recently game me this 6-cup expresso stove top coffee maker. She brought it back from the Dominican Republic. I put the coffee and water into the coffee maker and placed it onto the stove with the burner on high. In a few minutes, as the coffee maker began to percolate, the aroma began to waft through the kitchen - eventually permeating the room with the delicious smell of coffee. The aroma intermingled with the acrid odor of smoke - from last night's fire - still clinging to my skin and hair.


I grabbed a mug and filled it half-way with warmed milk. When steam ceased to emanate from the coffee maker, I filled the remainder of the mug with expresso - the white and black blending into a pleasant, chocolate-brown color - and proceeded to the front porch. As I sat down with my coffee and book, I was overwhelmed by the radiance of the sun beaming down on me - warming me even as the cool breeze grazed my bare arms and legs. The leaves rustled in the trees. Perhaps, wrestled is a better description as they frolicked in the wind - their friendly banter flooding my ears.


I sipped my coffee and read. I thought about life - actions, consequences, friends, foes, work, community, fears, failures, love, God, the past, and the future.


I felt a stirring of my soul.

Last night's fire