For the beauty of the earth
For the beauty of the skies
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies

Gracious God, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise – John Rutter

Tuesday morning, early to beat the heat, my friend Jerry and I rolled into Cotton Valley for a little golf. I say”little” because the golf was incidental. The real draw was hanging out with a friend and taking a few hours to refocus.

The skies moved from light to stormy and back again, the morning alternating between pleasantly breezy and a lean toward heat and humidity that reminded me, uncomfortably, of Florida.

This is our second summer since moving here to Eastern North Carolina and I am beginning to appreciate the unique beauty of this place. The sky, Carolina Blue, wide open and – today at least – always up to something. The amazing variety of greens in the grass and the shrubs and the trees. The brilliance of the wildflowers. The gentle undulations in the topography – not so flat as I used to think it while driving through at 70-mph.

Then of course the joy found in the occasional shot hit well enough to at least look like I know what I am doing.

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night
Hill and vale, and tree and flower
Sun and moon and stars of light

Gracious God, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise – John Rutter

Mostly, though, it is the being here – being anywhere for that matter – and being grateful – DEREK