Frigid Beauty

Slick

Smooth

Stunning

 Crystal  

Calm

Clear

C O L D

Held By His Hand

I am watching big sloppy rain/snow drops/flakes come down right now. You know what I'm talking about, don't you.

It's more than just raining right now, but not quite solidly snow yet. It is, however, very wet outside. It is messy.

Life is messy!

Right now, our back yard kind of represents life. There is a lot of beauty there but there is a lot of mess as well. Sometimes the storms keep coming, even before you've healed from the last one... kind of like our poor tree in the background. It is rather scarred and battered right now, but it is still out there, still accepting moisture from the ground. Still reaching toward the sky.

This morning I am thinking about the messiness of life. We can make plans and aim for goals, but stuff comes up, storms come along that change everything. I know of a lot of friends and acquaintances going through some difficult times. Their lives maybe have taken some unexpected turns. Sometimes it is overwhelming. Maybe they are wondering if God is paying attention to their lives.

While thinking about the uncertainties we all face, both hopeful and worrisome, I stumbled upon a great verse this morning. I think I need to memorize it. I just felt like maybe some of my blog readers would find peace in this verse today as well.




Psalm 37:23-24  The LORD directs the steps of the
 godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. 
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the 
LORD holds them by the hand.

Talking About the Weather

On my post a few days ago Elizabeth said we were lucky because our weather was more Spring-like than her's. Well, those photos were taken late Sunday afternoon. Below are some photos from Monday. I think even the weatherman was taken by surprise!

Wyoming has a saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes and it will change." Actually, I've heard this saying in several of the states where we've lived. It was true in Montana and Minnesota... not quite so much in New Mexico. 

When we lived in the Seattle area I saw a slogan that was so true it made me laugh...

"Seattle Rain Festival - Jan 1 through Dec 31"

Do you have any funny and/or true weather sayings where you live? 

What a Difference a Day Makes

This photo was taken in our backyard Tuesday afternoon...

And these photos were Wednesday...

I was happy about the snow, actually.  My arms were about to fall off from all the leaf-raking!

What kind of weather are you having?

Slip-Slidin' Away

Do you like how I ended with a cliff-hanger yesterday?  Have you been worried?

Well, let me start off by saying no one was hurt.  Now, here's the rest of the story.

We knew there was snow forecast for Friday night so we were not surprised to wake up to a white world.  We'd stayed at a hotel in Northglenn, CO which is just North of Denver.  Because the weather was to improve as the morning wore on, we took our time.  We had breakfast and just relaxed for awhile.  We could see the interstate from our window so we knew traffic was moving well by mid-morning.  While I checked us out Mike went to scrape windows and warm up the vehicle.

When I exited the hotel I could see Mike in the parking lot below.  I was carrying my purse, my little duffel bag and my crochet bag.  I was wearing hiking boots and walking on several inches of snow.  Unfortunately, snow was just the cover over solid ice.  You guessed it!  Down I went.  It wasn't pretty and I and my bags were pretty snowy, but I was not hurt.  I looked down toward Mike and was kind of relieved to see that he hadn't noticed.  It looked like he had just finished scraping and was getting into the vehicle.

As I continued on down the hill, glad I had no broken parts, I noticed a small pick-up coming around the corner intending to come up the hill down which I was sliding/walking.  He was not moving fast but he went into a slide right toward Mike!  Mike was unaware.  The slide was very slow and he missed Mike but gently slid sideways into the little blue car right next to our's!  It was so quiet, I heard nothing.  When I got to Mike, he was surprised to know what had just happened.

Mike got out to see if he could help.  It was a young California man who didn't know what to do to get going again.  He'd not damaged the other car, just knocked the snow off of it.  Mike was able to help him get pushed away but he couldn't keep going. The hotel staff said that the maintenance man was going to bring some sand or something but he wasn't even at the hotel yet.  As the three of us stood there, another car came from the opposite direction, spun and came to a stop with the nose of that car just inches from another parked car. 

I went back into the hotel and they sent out a couple of guys with a bag of gravelly stuff.  About then a third vehicle came around the corner and spun sideways into that first little pick-up! We all ran out of the way when we saw it coming so we were fine.  Again, the slide was so slow it didn't seem too dramatic, although there may have been some very minor damage.

About then, I remembered I had a camera!

The gravelly stuff worked and everyone got pushed out of the predicament.  We were sure glad to get out of that parking lot!

The highway was sloppy wet but otherwise fine.  Our windshield wiper fluid must have frozen because we couldn't get it to work.  That turned out to be an annoying problem as vehicles kept splashing slop on us.  Several times we had to get off the highway to wash our windshield with snow.  Other than that, though, the rest of the trip was pretty easy. For that I am grateful!