I walked down the narrow path. Thunder rolled in the distance. The sky above me was blue and the sun boldly lit up the treeline. I could feel the darkness even before I could really see it through the trees. When I crested the hill, out of the trees, I looked across to see the mountains shrouded in dark clouds. It was wildly beautiful. It reflected something deep inside my soul.

These days are filled - school, garden maintenance, the everyday stuff of life and currently we are entertaining a nasty virus. There is so much goodness and I spend entirely too much time marveling at the bounty of that goodness. The ripening tomatoes, the wildflower gardens which have volunteered to fill my life with blossoms and happy bees, the afternoon monsoon skies, the shared life, the (almost) daily wanderings through the forests, the living room pillow fights that my boys are entirely too old to still be doing, morning tea time, the mini chickens who greet me every morning outside my front door, the rain that isn't trying to kill us, the dried flowers (from my hill last year) which clutter my desk...

These boys... We just celebrated 15 years of Declan's life and that's simply impossible to believe. To say time flies is a profound injustice; time evaporates. I watch, I learn, I laugh, I cry, I am overwhelmed by their capacity to love, and I am so grateful to share life with each of them. I am rich.

So, life hurdles it's worst, and yet there is profound beauty to be found even on the stormiest days The challenges with Lochlan never go away, they just multiply into more creative expressions. There are things in life I cannot change and the resigning of my will to those things is often brutal. Sometimes, I'm so tired... but tomorrow has a new morning.

This night was filled with painted skies as the sun gave way to darkness. Another nugget of joy.