It’s a newsy week. Lots going on:

• Some of it distressing and serious (Open Letter to my Methodists Friends),
• some deeply redemptive (Overcome Evil with Good),
• some lighthearted and fun (Sighting a Rare Birdie),
• and some as yet unwritten (Good Food and Better Friends).

Grateful for this Beautiful World #NorthCarolina

The serendipity I needed this week came along was when my friend George invited me to join him for eighteen holes around the rolling piedmont west of Wake Forest. Tuesday offered up one of those flawless, hope-filled, “promise-of-Spring” days. So we made our way to one of the local courses to breathe in the fresh air (in the 50’s all day long) and celebrate being friends by waving some sticks at a little white ball and cheering each other on to the occasional breakthrough into real golf.

Maybe it was the lack of pressure from expectation, but we both hit the ball fairly well. Mostly, though, we took great joy from the beauty of our surroundings. Even those unscheduled journeys into the woods paid off in daffodils.

I have expressed this before, but I find a rare and almost aching beauty in the stark contrasts of the winter landscapes here around Wake Forest. I hope my photographs communicate something of that gentle beatitude and touch you both with grace and grateful joy.

The only thing I’ll say about the scorecard is that the birdie on the 12th green may be typically unsighted in these parts, but is – happily – not yet extinct. Hopefully I’ll run into him again.

Peace and joy – DEREK