Twenty-seven Degrees

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Twenty-seven degrees.
A cardinal is caroling,
bright as a holiday ornament
in the bare branches of the elm tree.
Robins gather in a circle
around the heated birdbath.
I bundle up to go to the grocery store.
I feel rather chipmunkish in my habits,
scurrying out to get food,
hurrying home to halfway hibernate.
I have bought yeast
and flour and eggs and butter.
I have all the cozy ingredients
to bake bread.
And I do.
Fresh baked bread is comfort food,
gives the air a buttery warm smell.
I hold my cold hands
over the open oven door
where the rising heat drifts up and out
like the breath of a hot summer breeze.
Outside, the chilly joy of twenty-seven degrees.
Inside, the warm joy of an open oven door.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

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Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

Sharing a Shadow

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

I used to hold your hand as we walked,
shortening my stride to match
your preschool pace,
pausing to point out the double shadow,
one long, one short,
stretching out before us.
We waved at our shadow selves.
How could we not? I love shadows,
those soft, always-shifting shapes,
and these two were our ever-present friends.
You grew into a frustrated, hurry-up child
complaining, “You always have to stop
and take a picture of shadows.”
And, yes, I always did.
I always made you wait,
for shadows are my friends.
I suspect they might be yours, too.
Today, hanging decorations and
tall enough to reach the upper branches
of the Christmas tree,
you called, “Come and look.”
I stepped close, leaned in.
“See? There’s a shadow.” You pointed
to a birdhouse ornament
shadowed with feathery pine needles.
“I know you like shadows,” you said.
It was as close to saying “I love you”
as you may ever venture.
Such a small thing—
a tiny birdhouse,
a tiny shadow,
a brief comment,
a moment of pausing,
a moment of sharing a shadow,
but it filled my heart with wonder,
with gratitude,
with love.
So I guess
it was not such a small thing after all,
for it meant the world to me.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

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The Gathering Season

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Carolina wren with up-tipped tail
is gathering seeds, her daily energy.
Squirrels with hurry-up focus
scramble through the yard
gathering and stashing Nature’s bounty—
berries from bushes,
nuts dangling precariously from tree limbs,
and tasty autumn delicacies
hidden under piles of crisp brown leaves.
At the farmer’s market down the street,
neighbors browse bins of squashes,
pumpkins, apples, pecans,
for this is the season of gathering.
It’s our instinct—
like that of wrens and squirrels,
chipmunks and bears—
to gather when the sun circles south,
days shorten,
and frosts begin.
It’s our nature to huddle with family and friends,
to bring what we’ve gathered
into our spaces of welcome and warmth,
of light and love.
May we give ourselves to
gathering the gifts of this season—
the rest found in darkness,
the warmth found in firelight,
the sparkle of joy in the eyes of a child.
Delight at the first bite of dinner.
Bask in the glow of grace and giving.
Gather smiles and laughter.
For this is the season of
gathering goodness.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

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Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

I Want You to Know

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

I want you to know things can change.
I want to show you joy and peace.
I want to show you the goodness of life,
how an easy smile feels,
how letting go makes way
for the freedom of dancing,
how rain is refreshment
and thunder is a wonder.
I want to knock your fear on the head
and say back off!
I want you to taste apples and grapes
and all tangs of cheeses,
to smell jasmine
and pungent green onions
and fully inhale both.
I want to share with you
the peace of a pause,
the huge-hearted hug of hope,
the delight of simply being.
I want you to know things can change.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.
Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

Singing Into the Wind

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Sitting here in my sunroom,
I watch the storm move in.
Daylight dims.
The sunroom becomes a room of shadows
as a vanguard of wind shushes the world,
scatters the leaves of hackberry and elm,
rocks the pines,
sways the autumn-bright marigolds
and the delicate, thin-stemmed coral bells,
which chime, I imagine, as they sway,
sweetly singing to ears keener than mine.
Soon they will settle into a quiet sleep,
for this storm brings our first bite of winter.
Already the wind carries a cold edge,
its tide rushing in, easing back,
rushing in again.
My cat creeps to the window,
peers out into the gusty gray,
ears pricked,
catching the chatter of birds,
the rumor of rain.
A cardinal’s steady chip-chip-chip
calmly tells us all is well,
this storm is simply the bluster of nature,
a power surge that will blow itself out,
leaving behind drips, drops, puddles,
and nippy whispers of winter.
Holy is this moment
on the charged edge of change.
I think of stepping out into the cooling air,
opening my arms wide,
looking to the sky,
and singing my own song into the wind,
into the wild
to ride its currents over the rooftops,
over the fields,
to the next town,
the next county,
the next mountain range,
on and on and out to sea,
birdsong, coral bell song, my song,
rippling out to the whole wide world.
The storm, the storm
is coming.
The storm, the storm
will blow itself out,
and we will be here,
singing our song into the sky.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.
Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

Time and Love

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Somewhere,
long ago,
I read that the greatest gift we can give
is our time—
our listening ears,
our attentive eyes,
our working,
walking,
watching,
waiting
beside each other.
It seems to me that this is
love,
for love and time touch and tune,
one to the other,
twinned and twined in an eternal dance
to the vibrations of every voice,
chord,
rhythm,
and wingbeat,
every raindrop,
whisper of breeze
and gust of wind,
all measuring time,
all coming,
going,
circling back again and again,
the heartbeat of life,
the hum that is you and me.
If we could see the colors of this interplay,
this pulsing swirl of time and love,
we would see that love
is the stronger stream,
the more vibrant,
filling and freshening our hearts
with the wonder of
beyond,
where love transforms time
so that it’s no longer the measure
of what’s passing
but the majesty
of what always is.
Love folds time into itself and becomes
forever,
forever,
forever.
And isn’t this the greatest gift
we can give to anyone?
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:
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Autumn on Tiptoe

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Autumn is tiptoeing in
like a child peeking out from backstage,
wondering, Is it time yet?
Is it my turn?
She is halfway here, halfway hidden.
Most leaves are still on the trees,
still green, but tinted gold
as the billowy canopy thins
a drift of leaves here,
a handful tossed there,
skittering and scattering in the whispery breeze.
The Virginia creeper glows in the setting sun
like brilliant orange-red stained glass.
Seed heads in artsy shapes crown lanky stems—
mounds of prickles on coneflowers,
pagodas of basil,
drupes of berries gathering on the crape myrtle.
But the petunias are still happily blooming,
and the impatiens are being prettily patient.
The early-blooming clematis vine
had decided to bloom again
even as its spent blossoms long ago
turned to fuzzy-headed seed pods
fit for a page in a Dr. Seuss book.
Bright yellow marigolds sway like windflowers
atop thin, overlong stems.
They are always ready to replant themselves
from plump cupped, papery pods
brittle and bursting with seeds.
So hello, Autumn.
Welcome.
The stage is set, and it is indeed your turn,
so dance across, full and free.
And take your time before your final bow.
Make Winter wait.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

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When Life Calls You Back In Time

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Hello, fellow time traveler.
Where do you go in your thoughts,
in your heart
when life calls you back in time?
Skip past the sadnesses,
the frights, and the wounds.
Where is the glad,
the restful,
the peaceful place,
the day that light filled you,
the day of smiles and laughter,
the curious discovery,
the gasp of awe,
the place of purpose?
These are the pure gold,
the charms to collect,
to string together into a necklace
or a clutch of prayer beads.
Hold onto these, fellow time traveler.
Polish them with gratitude
until they gleam and glow,
for they will light the way
down the path ahead.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

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Autumn Sunrise

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

I rose early on this chilly morning,
and the autumn sun rose late.
Perfect timing, our rising together.
Since we have crossed paths,
the sun and I,
I have paused (for she will not),
and I’m watching her paint the world.
Fiery and free,
ancient and newborn,
fresh and faithful,
this delicious, joy-filled,
silent laughter of first light
warms the world with color.
Morning’s smile
splashes the tops of the turning trees,
sparking their leaves
into flaming reds and yellows.
Liquid light trickles down tree trunks,
flows like a gentle incoming tide
across lawns and down streets,
streams through windows,
floods the floor,
leaves puddles of molten gold.
Dawn’s light is a gracious gift,
generous bright bounty of the universe,
the new day’s silent hum
whispering to the heart
with wordless wisdom,
Here, here,
here’s a new day for you.
Good,
good,
good
morning.
You’re awake,
our paths have crossed,
now it’s your turn
to paint the world with goodness,
with light.
It’s your turn
to step out and
shine!
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

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Tiny Green Dragons

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

All summer, a line of tiny green dragons
has been slowly creeping
up the outer wall of my neighbor’s house.
Each dragon, from wing tip to wing tip,
is the width of my outspread hand
and is made of a collection of leaves.
Like a disciplined line of determined ants,
these small, leafy dragons
follow one after the other,
evenly spaced along a tightrope stem.
My mind traces their path
as if my fingers were drawing it—
the angles,
the curves,
the negative spaces,
the quiet climb,
the gentle stretch,
the touch of tendril to red brick
that heats in the sun
and chills in the cool night,
the cling that holds the vine tight
in wind and lashing rain.
A vine is persistently persistent,
tenaciously tenacious,
grasping at the next available surface,
in this case, iron bars of a spiral staircase.
The vine curls around the first bar,
the second,
the third,
follows its shape spiraling upward
to the second floor landing.
There it stops and celebrates this feat
by blooming into orange trumpets
all along the dragon-leaf path,
giving itself to butterflies
and hummingbirds
and me.
A gust of wind
and a scattering of leaves swirl down.
The vine simply shivers
and clings and blooms.
It will soon turn brown and brittle.
The little dragons will let go
and fly away with the wind.
I will witness this wonder,
keep a winter watch,
and wait for spring
when once again,
a line of tiny green dragons
will start their warm-weather journey
up the wall of my neighbor’s house.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, an carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

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