Soul Inspiration --The Unexpected

Hi folks, this month I'm writing about what inspires my soul. Here is a listed of unexpected moments that have stayed with me and inspired me. I'm not even sure I can give these moments justice, but I will try. I hope this post makes you create your own list.

1. I stopped on the side of the road on Oahu to snorkel in a cove. I was suddenly engulfed by a school of white fish. Hundreds of them zipped around me.

2. My first time to Paradise on Mount Ranier, I thought I was looking down into an impossibly deep valley and realized that I was really looking at a lake that was reflecting the gorgeous mountain scenery like a mirror.

3. I was a young mom overwhelmed by the unending grind. I'd put my three children ages 2, 3 and 4 down for a nap, and I sank down in the hallway in tears. A minute later my youngest son's arms went around me and he whispered, "You're awesome."

4. I was driving past a lake on the way to Banff, Canada, and one half of it had a rainstorm, kicking up the waves, and the other half was calm, lit by sunshine. 

5. I was driving to the grocery store early one morning and saw a clown on a unicycle, juggling bowling pins.

6. The first time I looked through a telescope at Jupiter with four visible moons, I was shocked at the richness of colors in a sky I see in black and white. This can't be captured by a photograph.

7. A squirrel chattered at me every day I went outside for several days.  I would ask him what is wrong, and he would come up to my toes and chatter. One day I asked, "Should I follow you?" He nodded his head and scampered away. I followed the squirrel to the dead body of another squirrel on the side of the hill beside my house.  The body was full of bees.  I buried the dead squirrel, and the live squirrel never bothered me again.

8.  A boy working in the drive-through at McDonalds took my money, and I noticed he had George tattooed on his wrist.  I asked him why. The boy had tattooed his grandfather's name on his wrist to remind him of his grandfather's love.

9.  I'm always running into birds at strange times. A barn owl in father's driveway, a peacock in the middle of nowhere near Waco, an eagle in middle of road while driving my kids to school, a vulture on the corner of my very suburban street, a lone snowy egret on my porch, a flock of hundreds of starlings in my small backyard....

10.  Driving along Highway 1 on the way to Hearst Castle, we went around a wide curve and I saw a beach with thousands of people laying on it, and then I realized I was looking a sea lions. 

Keep your eyes opened for the unexpected.  I will be back next week with more soul inspiration.

Here is a doodle for you. I call this "Christmas Trees."

Here is a quote for your pocket.

Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me. Carl Sandburg.