All better now.

The heavens declare the glory of God, 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

night after night they reveal knowledge. 

--Psalm 19:1-2

I have had one of those days. Not a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. More like a mediocre, lackluster, when-will-the-tides-ever-turn day. It started early, and was long in letting up.

My wonderful cat Maizie was going through her entire repertoire of annoying things designed to make me get up and feed her. Sitting on my chest. Bumping her teeth on the gooseneck lamp and making a really lovely sound. Licking the plastic bag in the bathroom trash can. Gah! A mom can only take so much.

Megan's cats joined in. Feeding them all (yes, there are now four for a couple more weeks) is a circus, anyway. This morning-- ack! I couldn't get it down fast enough, and there was yowling and prowling and rolling around on the floor. (The cats, not me.)

And "somebody" apparently was unsure she would get her fair share, so she ate really really fast-- and promptly upchucked on the window sill. Ugh!

I tried to psych myself up to take a walk. I really needed it. I decided for a change to drive down to the Metroparks and walk along the river. It should be interesting, I thought, in light of all the rains we have had.

I suppose it was fine. But there were lots of speeding bicyclists and road crews making noise. And my twisted ankle from a few weeks ago started barking again. Instead of three or four miles, I barely made it one-and-a-half. Grr.

Oh, and speaking of noise-- the neighbors continued with the power-washing and power-mowing and power-tooling. So many grinding, grating noises to make me want to close the windows-- but then I would lose the cool breezes. 

Sheesh.

So it went, for a good deal of the day. I just felt-- cranky. Off kilter.

Then tonight I was out running an evening errand, just before sundown. And suddenly, all the junk just washed away.

There were mare's tails and mackerel scales, contrails and puffy clouds, all tinged in various shades of gold and purple and pink and even mauve. Divine brush strokes highlighting the western sky.

No, wait-- that's not right. It wasn't just the western sky; it was the entire contour of the heavenly realm. Every direction, every corner tinged with color and light-- and of course, all just for me. 

All I had to do was open my eyes to see.

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. (Julian of Norwich)

I didn't need a rainbow to see the promise of God. There it was, laid out before me, brilliant and perfect in the evening light.

Thank God for happy endings.