Countless, Worthless, Priceless Treasures

I have the good fortune to be married to a woman who understand the intrinsic value of things. She sees the beauty and wonder that God scatters upon the path in front of her, and takes the time to stop and enjoy it, living so much more in the moment than me. One of her favorite pastimes is looking for sea glass and shells when we’re walking on the beach. To her, a piece of polished sea glass is a precious stone. Precious is, after all, in the eye of the beholder. Consequently, we have quite a collection of various detritus from a host of favorite shorelines. That’s just fine with me, because she gets more joy from a rare and perfect piece of sea glass than many other people seem to derive from diamonds or emeralds. I’m not saying that she doesn’t deserve those as well, yet her perspective provides a commentary on how we assign value to the other things in our lives. The richest people aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest jewels. Rather, they are the ones with beautiful memories and various keepsakes that remind them of those memories. That’s what sea glass is to us. Not so much precious stones as touch stones. This also begs the question of what we fill our lives with … and why? In the meantime, I’ll keep hauling home the pockets full of sandy treasure that my beloved finds joy in collecting. After all, it’s not just about the glass. I think she’s actually collecting joy … and that is a treasure indeed.   

 Countless, Worthless, Priceless Treasures

Wherever the water kisses

The sand, you’ll find her there

Wandering happily down the shore

Wet feet and windblown hair

Oblivious to tide and time

As the lazy hours pass

She scours the shore for shiny stones

And odd pieces of sea glass

Tucking the treasures in her pocket

Whenever they appear

And wandering down the sunlit shore

As she has throughout the years

So we have a vast collection

Of such trinkets from the shore

Countless, worthless, priceless treasures

That she collects and she adores

And why not, we know so many folks

Who pay a fortune for the things

That they think will make them happy

Yet no greater pleasure bring

Perhaps the wisest of us all

Is she who wanders happily

And finds her joy in simple treasures

From the Great Lakes and the sea

          By Frank Carpenter ©

Sharing the Road of Life

Out on the road enjoying some long overdue time away with my bride of 31 years. I write about a lot of other people and subjects, but today I wanted to take a little time out to post of couple of poems to honor the person I’m so happy to share my life with. I’ll let the poems and photos speak for themselves this time. Stay tuned for more updates.

Indian Summer

The wind is growing colder

But only very recerntly

The warmth of summer stayed with us

This year, unseasonably

We have clung to it as well

Though autumn's getting on a ways

Enamored of its winsome spell

In these bright and sunny days

We know that winter looms ahead

Yet we ignore it blissfully

In this Indian summer of the heart

Which warms both you and me

By Frank Carpenter ©

Shores

How many beaches have we wandered

In our thirty-something years

How many sunsets have we watched

In the life that’s brought us here

How much laughter, how much joy

Have we been fortunate to know

Since that first beach we tarried on

So very many years ago

How much happiness has been our lot

How many blessings has God sent

As walked those countless beaches

While the decades came and went

How many happy memories

Do we still have in store

I can’t wait to make them with you

As we wander future shores

                By Frank Carpenter©