All Things Bright and Beautiful...

I was born a few days before Christmas, and my second Christmas I received the rocking horse above as a gift from my parents. I was a little too small to play with him a whole lot that first year, but my older brother had fun with him until I grew enough to climb on Hoss's back. As I got a little bigger, two younger brothers rode Hoss to the wild, wild west of their imaginations and beyond. When he had been well-loved and worn to a frazzle, he was tucked up into the rafters in an outbuilding.

I didn't realize that Hoss had been saved and had moved with my parents to two other houses, but one year when my oldest daughter was a toddler (she is almost 19 now) my parents pulled this guy out of storage and refurbished him. My dad secured his joints, repainted, glossed him up. I think my Mom was responsible for his fluffy new rope tail. At Christmas time, about 25 years after I first met Hoss, he was presented to my daughter. Again, he has been ridden and climbed over by four more children over the course of the last two decades. He sits in the corner of my dining room, and five-year old Tanka rides him across the white linoleum "fields" every once in a while. Yesterday, my nine-year old son, Sijo, crowned him with this pilgrim hat. I smile every time I look at him.

I love this hymn and the lyrics, while always meaningful, are especially so at Thanksgiving. Wherever you are, whatever your plans for the day, I wish you a beautiful and bountiful day.

"All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,

Each little bird that sings,

He made their glowing colours,

He made their tiny wings.

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all

The purple-headed mountain,

The river running by,

The sunset and the morning,

That brightens up the sky;

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all

The cold wind in the winter,

The pleasant summer sun,

The ripe fruits in the garden,

He made them every one;

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all

The tall trees in the greenwood,

The meadows for our play,

The rushes by the water,

To gather every day

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all."

~ Cecil F. Alexander

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photo by Aisling, November 26, 2008