Little Joys

Shout with Joy!

Psalm 47:1

Clap your hands, all you people. Shout to God with joy.

Grandma Grace's Yard

Maria and I took her daughters and drove a few hours Friday to visit my Mom.  We had a wonderful visit and even spent the night. And guess what?! I took a lot of photos!  It just so happens that I have a lot of class work to do in the next several days for my online parish nursing course, so I'm going to take that opportunity to flood you with more photographs, less words.  Let's begin.

We were there only moments before the girls were outside in Mom's beautiful yard. Her artistic style shows even in her outdoor space and the girls love it. Even her little playhouse is tastefully decorated.

When I'm Gone

Yesterday we were at the funeral of a lady who was a friend and supporter of so many at our church and actually around the community. Mike officiated at the funeral and I know it was hard for him. However, he always seems to know just the right things to say to give a message of comfort and hope. 

This friend left us very unexpectedly. She had a day of doing things she enjoyed and when she went to bed that night I do not believe she knew her time here was over. What maybe seemed like an ordinary day, ended up being a date that will be written next to her date of birth on her tombstone. 

As I was pondering all this our daughter, Maria, told me of a Latin term she was researching, Memento Mori. It means "remember that you must die". Although it sounds rather ominous, it also seems quite simple. For some reason I found comfort in that. I'm not quite sure why it comforted me. Can you explain it? Maybe it is just because it makes us realize that death is normal. It is expected. 

At any rate, I've been thinking about our friend and the husband who now must travel that path of grief so many have traveled before him.  I am grateful for the faith we share, knowing our time of parting is only temporary.  It does not stop the pain of grief, but it sure gives us knowledge of a peace and joy yet to come.

Last night Mike & I were watching a few videos on YouTube and we came upon this one.  It seemed appropriate for this post. It may make you cry, but it is a song of hope and recovery.



Click on the blue words to read more about why Maria was researching Memento Mori.

The Marriage Tree

Recently Mike & I went on a day trip and while we were walking around we came upon this delightful and magnificent tree. Or is it trees?

Yes, we discovered that it was two individual trees that had grown together. They each had their own branches but at their core, they were intertwined and it was apparent they could no longer be separated. Besides the branches being wrapped protectively around each other, you could only imagine that the roots underground were tangled together for many feet down into the soil and for a large circumference around the place where we stood.

As I looked at it, I saw such beauty in the situation. I said, "And two shall become one..." That is when Miked called it The Marriage Tree. Doesn't it make a sweet visual for a strong marriage?

Just Stand

"Hey, girls, just stand right there for a second so I can take your photo."

"Ok, I think I got a good one."

Photo Dump

Some times I have photos that I just want to show so I'm dumping them out here now for you to see...

Two Years Later

Do you remember the big fire we had here, one we could see from our town? Actually, we've had two in the 10 years we've lived here but I'm referring to the one that was occurring two years ago this week. Click here to remind yourself about it.  Here's one of the photos I took right from town.

I just wanted to show you the photo I took Saturday from the back side of that mountain you see in the fire photo. You can see it is all burned. It will be years before there are any big trees there. The side of the mountain we can see from town is not as completely burned as is the backside. I hadn't realized how complete the burn had been on the that side until I saw this view. 

Bipolar Wyoming

This was our back yard about 6:30 this morning...

And this was our backyard this afternoon.

Notice the same little tree from the above photos is

also seen in this next photo.

Later in the afternoon, Cordelia asked that we have snacks out on our deck.

I asked what she was doing in this photo and she said she was putting

her hand as she would for the Pledge of Allegiance.

She may have the pledge a bit confused with prayer, 

but it was sweet anyway.

I'm Not Going To Talk About It

I realize the weather is what people talk about when they don't know what else to say. But really, sometimes the weather is just down right interesting. OK, so I won't talk about it. I'm just going to point out that we aren't yet halfway through September...