Home Again by Susan L.

  Except for rain the first night, the weather was perfect for camping. Unseasonable but not unbearable warm temperatures meant for comfortable hiking, wading along the beach and sleeping.  There was much laughter, many celebrations of faith, and a lot of wonderful heart to heart conversations around the fire.
  The heat wave had pretty much killed off the bloodthirsty insects like mosquitoes, deer and horse flies. The birds were mostly silent, the season for singing long past.  A loon and an owl graced us for a few moments with their haunting songs. Chipmunks chipped and swore at each other throughout the day. There was much fighting and squabbling as they scurried about frantically gathering stores for the upcoming winter. The thunk of acorns hitting the ground punctuated the silence of the night.
  Georgian Bay is beyond beautiful with its boulder strewn beaches. Some rocks are as large as houses and invite climbing. Smaller ones provide a place to sit with toes in the water. The rush of waves slows your breathing down. The vast expanse water makes you feel like you are at the ends of the earth.
  There's a timelessness about the place yet at the same time, there is an awareness of the vastness of time. Colourful boulders broken off of the immense Canadian Shield by the last ice age are worn down to stones then polished down to pebbles and finally ground down to sand of a thousand shades. The waves and the weather will continue their work long after I am gone.

  These pebbles washed up at my feet as I sat contemplating nothing much, merely delighting in the feel of the sand and water. I couldn't resist picking them up. It was like having life in the palm of my hand. The white one is translucent, my pink palm visible through it. The black one has flecks of sparkling beauty and reminded me that even the darkest of days have moments of brightness. The others spoke of other days, of sunrises and sunsets; those that are past and those that are yet to come. All of them spoke of memories worn down by the love of God, their harsh edges smoothed by grace.
  The feather was found on the walk back to the car from the beach. My heart did a little dance of delight because when all is said and done, everything rests under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty.
  "Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler." Ps 91:3-4