KENTUCKY VELVET

Night-time in the place I love

When thinking of the velvet that is late spring in the Ohio River Valley part of Kentucky, my thoughts rush through the sunshine and zero in on the deep and lush night that I find  laden with inky mystery. Drawn by the desire of a subtle excitement, in the dusk I spread a hundred year old quilt upon the violets and flowering blue vinca that fill my back yard, and I wait. 

Soon, black, thick, and fragrant, the night settles down around me; the sky is within arms reach. I flick a star to another part of the Milky Way and watch as a million fireflies quickly fill its spot. I nestle my face in the pillow of silken breezes; breathe in the atmosphere of sultry Ohio River mist. With arms outstretched to the far edge of the neatly hemmed pallet, I let my fingers play in the dewy blades of grass, and then I hang on for the night is here. 

Black velvet breezes caress my cheek with one hand and toss a bouquet of moonbeams with the other. The midnight sky of Kentucky is the velvet of soft reverie, the essence of yet uncreated memories, twinkling with the promise of daylight to come, reminding me and filling me with the joy of secrets held close and shared only by my Maker. 

The essence of the deep night air in the Valley's spring has the sweetness of a new baby's breath, the softness of her skin, and the chuckle of an old man as he kicks the covers to the floor and dares the night to capture his dreams before he does.

The pile of this velvet is deep, intriguing, and full of the movement of nocturnal life and so the infusion of sleep is delayed as God captures my prayers whispered into His night sky and adds them to the joy of all uplifted praises.

Not fully awake in this prelude to summer I rise and fold up my treasure, as tiny ants fall to earth in a hurry to find their queen hidden in her world. Softly a voice glides through the velvety darkness and beckons me to interior worlds, for a time of restoring rest. So now, I leave this night world of Kentucky velvet in the hands of my Heavenly Father who with His word crafted it for me as an expression of His love and creativity.