I received this picture from S. Michael from his new cell phone. We tease him a lot about his cell phones…it’s a constant drama about dropping, losing, misplacing, replacing…but he’s got a new one now…and it takes great pictures. He and Davide were driving to pick up the new ovens the other night and he snapped this one just off Hwy. 71. I thought it was pretty spectacular and wanted you to get a view of it. It’s the kind of picture you can purchase and download from one of those sites that sell such images. I received it in a click from him. Thanks, son. You can all try meditating on it for a few moments and see what comes up for each of you.
So, last night, after a pretty busy day doing lots of things, and after the Shabbat candles were lit, dinner eaten and all quiet at the Ranch, Davide and I went out to the back covered porch to watch the sun set over Driftwood and Dripping Springs. It was a beautiful night. We brought ice tea and pie out with us. One of Davide’s colleagues had sent a delicious cherry crumb pie as a thank you gift. And we sat, sipping our tea, eating our pie and watching the spiders spin webs from the rafters of the porch. It had gotten quiet. My “brothers”, Chuck and Mort, had just finished doing the lawn work of our back fence neighbors, Barbie and Brad. They brought the movers and lawn equipment over to stow in our garage so they could come back and do our lawn sometime this weekend. We called them back to the porch, brought out lots of sweet tea and a couple of glassed. “I’d hug you,” Chuck smiled, “but I am really a mess…I’ll get you double next time!” Mort told us he was going to take “Mom” to the movies; Chuck talked about getting our friend Kurt over to put the ovens in. The guys went into the dining room to see the new ovens and came out smiling about “good stuffs a’comin’ once Davide gets her new ovens!” Everyone enjoys Davide’s “good stuffs”.
After the guys left and both Davide and I retired to our rooms to read I sat in my armchair and gazed out my back windows. I actually got up at one point, and opened up the door to the back porch and just stood there for a moment, taking in the smell of fresh mowed lawn and the night noises of the Ranch. I sighed in, deep and luxuriously. It was a neat and tidy end to a very busy, productive week and a beautiful beginning to a lovely Shabbat. There was the Ranch, my sanctuary; the children, my earthly reward; friends, one of life’s dividends and a feeling of Peace, the gift of Shabbat.
And there was the juxtaposition, in my mind, of S. Michael’s picture of a sunset and the real memory of the sunset I had just witnessed over the trees and hills heading west of the Ranch. My heart swelled with gratitude. I was truly HOME. The Shabbat meal we had eaten, mostly vegetables and fruits, was soul satisfying; in a way I would have never imagined it could be. A bowl of fresh snap peas steamed to a sweet perfection. A ripe, cold cantaloupe cut into wedges, just bursting with flavor as I put it into my mouth. Jicama, cucumber and spinach salad with a crunch one could actually hear. I am sure my parents would never have dreamed a Shabbat dinner like this…minus the soup, the matzo balls, the gefilte fish and the chicken. But it was all we wanted. It was all we needed.
And in the quiet after-glow, as I sat in my chair, close to the window and gazed out into the darkness, I felt a peace I had often dreamed of but hardly ever felt before. It was the peace of being at home in my home, at home in my body, at home in my soul.
Baruch Hashem. Shabbat Shalom.
With many blessings and very great love for all of us,
