ORIGINAL ART & POETRY BY PAUL T. & KATHY BOECHER©

We’re halfway through August and thoughts of back-to-school purchases have been added to the ever-growing family budget. Days get shorter as seen in the later sunrises and earlier sunsets. It’s time to soak it all up and enjoy these final days of our shortest season here in Minnesota. My husband, the artist, loved nature in every season of the year. His “happy place” was the woods. He painted many landscapes while in those elements. This painting depicts a mama moose nibbling on the remaining green grasses and bounty of nourishment that God provides. She will need to bump up her weight for those long winter days to come. Like her, I prepare for the next season, unsure of what lays ahead, but ready for a long winter’s nap.

Bathed in a buttery softness of golden light,

Caressed ever so lightly by God’s own breath,

A powerful animal pads across the horizon,

Her bulk is evidenced through her growing waistline,

Exhalation visible in the early morning mist,

Soon her ravenous body will have to scrounge to sustain,

Through the coming cold and icy winter,

But today,

She roams,

She lolls,

She rests,

She lifts her majestic head to heaven,

And basks in the summer sun,

Enjoying every last second,

Of the last days of summer.

THANK YOU, JESUS, FOR ANOTHER DAY!