Brrrr! Baby it is cold outside! The beauty of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains has a down side. How blessed this old bird is to fly south! I am trading these ice-bound mountains and bare grey branches in for the rainbow landscape with low mountains covered in green velvet found only in Arizona. I’m leaving snow and wind behind me as I head for a hideaway in the Valley of the Sun. In The Valley, I’m sure to find the warmth I need to melt my pain and the bright colors I adore to lighten my mind. Arizona is paradise for people like me who love to study how colors harmonize and collide. It is a place designed for the grey-haired set, looking for a place to celebrate the stage of life referred to as golden. It is a refuge for me and as I pack my bags, my heart sings, “He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, in the midst of a dry thirsty land, and covers it there with his hand.” This old desert-dweller belongs to Jesus and my Father so faithfully, works all things to my good.
There is a time to gather and a time to let go. I’m standing at the end of my gathering time and with sorrow, I must let go of people and things important to me. Endings are a time of mourning but beginnings are a time of joy. As I prepare to leave my familiar life behind, there are tears as I gaze backward; but then, I look the other way toward my future that is beginning, as tears of sorrow evaporate in joy. Some would say that I am at the beginning of the big END-ing but I belong to Jesus and my future is eternal in Him. As I travel toward a land where the sun shines warm in winter, I contemplate the big BEGIN-ing that waits at the end of my golden years. Today, I am joyfully, leaving the cold and my pain behind, heading for the perpetually, warm green desert that blooms and offers healing time for my sadness. On a someday that may come any day, I will joyfully, fly away to that “Rock that is so much higher than I” and leave all the cold, pain, and sorrow of the world behind. In Jesus, even when I lose I win, and with everything I must let go of, He restores and multiplies.
With songs of joy in my heart, I hit the road to follow the sun to the land where the Bougainvillea always blooms and winter is only, a word. I am a vagabond, a time-traveler, a tourista’ on a perpetual holiday and the road stretches endlessly, ahead!
joyindestructible 
Is this a winter leave or a permanent leave? Safe travels either way and God Bless.
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Winter, indefinite. It’s good to be away. Thank you for your blessing.
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Wow honey! Is this a permanent move? I am proud of you- this will be great- soak up the sun. And guess what you’ll be even closer to me!! 😊💙💗💗 love you sister.
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Thank you. My husband’s work is slow and it’s a good place for me to be in winter. People I love are moving away because the economy is sour…so yes, I’m happier away. I hope you are feeling happier too.
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This is good-I am glad you are happy-that is the key. Yes I am feeling happier too-all in due time right my sweet friend ;))
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Knowing that increases my joy. God bless and keep you, sweetheart.:0)
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Yay! Mine too :)) And all kinds of blessings to you too xxx
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You snow-bird, you.
I challenge you to MAN UP and spend the winter in New England.
(ha ha just kidding. I recall that you are actually a woman.)
New England winter is the reason we are so neurotic here in the Northeast.
I lived in AZ for 4 blessed years. I tell fellow New Englanders that being DEPRESSED in Arizona is like being HAPPY in New England. I love how the puddles barely freeze over in AZ (except up on the Rim…) and the freaking trees start blooming in March !!
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Yes, I am a woman, an Iguana woman…I have a rare autoimmune blood disorder that makes warm temperature as necessary for life as food and water. So…Arizona is a God-send for me in winter.:0) My husband came to NM because of those winters you have back there. Even back then, he was nicknamed Pedro so, it was predestined.:0) Some things bloom year-round and I love it when the Saguaro don their flowered crowns. This is an enchanting place.
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You are blessed to go from NM to AZ – it’s like going from good to better.
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Blessings on your move to sunny skies. I look forward to Heaven where I hope to enjoy the beauties of snow and frost minus the cold and pain.
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Now that’s a thought, Claire! Thank you and God bless.
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What a cool and thoughtful post! I’m a four-seasons gal myself, love my winter, but my gardens love the summer! Thank you for the encouragement to face the future with a definite hope that is sure and infallible.
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Hi Dawn, Thank you and you enjoy all that cold, drippy, icy, high heat bills stuff and I’ll soak up the sun by the pool.:0) To each their own! God bless.
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Ohhh, I’m feeling a touch of envy! But mostly I’m glad you are blessed to go where the climate is more healthful for you!
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Thank you, Jael. What better present could I receive than sunshine? God bless.
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Indeed, both kinds–sonshine and sunshine!
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Safe travels. Our New Mexico is enchanting, but Arizona is awesome.
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Thank you, Linda. Two beautiful sisters full of comfort like sisters in the Lord.:0)
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