For the first time in weeks I find a moment to sit and savor the quiet of an early summer morning. It's peaceful. The low harmonic tones of the wind chimes whisper softly in the breeze.
A bird sits chirping in the branches of the maple tree. I look for movement but it is deeply hidden in the green leaves. Perhaps it's talking to its mate or perhaps it's just giving its own thanks for a beautiful day.
The sun sparkles on the ripples of the lake in the distance. The clouds form a swirling backdrop to the mountain peak. The trees have grown up over the years, and we don't see the mountains or lake as well as we used to, but the knowledge of their presence is still with us.
What joy to be able to embrace the stillness of a summer morning, to reflect on God's love and blessings from the past few weeks and to hold close to my heart his graciousness towards me.
I am taking a break from my busy kitchen where food preparation is happening for the big Thanksgiving Feast that will be taking place tomorrow. My crust is cooling on the counter for my lemon layer dessert. My future DIL is in the midst of putting together pies and baking corn bread for the dressing. When she is done I will get the dinner rolls baked. We are looking forward to tasting all our family favorites made with recipes that have been enjoyed over and over again through the years, as well as some new ones that are being introduced through new family members. Isn't that one of the many joys and blessings of the holiday season?
We were reminded as a family just how much we take for granted when a huge and tempestuous wind storm barreled through here almost three weeks ago. The winds toppled hundreds of trees as well as power poles all over the Puget Sound, leaving over 230,000 homes and businesses without power. We get wind storms every Fall but this was one of the fiercest storms I can remember. We were without power for four days for a total of 91 hours! Two of the three roads to our property were closed due to fallen trees and live wires across the pavement. Fortunately for us, we had worked to "debranch" most of our tall trees last year and they all made it through.
Even though the trees were still standing there was plenty of cleanup to be done.
We were more fortunate than many others to have a generator to keep our food cold. Also, our wood burning stove has a small cook top where we were able to prepare some simple food for the family and water to boil for cleaning up. Our outdoor camp stove was very helpful as well.
Between our fireplace and our emergency lanterns we were actually quite cozy.
We were one of the last areas to get connected back to civilization. This was our third night. We could see lights across the lake but the only light in the darkness on our side was coming from the the full moon overhead.
What a sigh of relief and genuine gratitude we shared once our power was finally restored. I was reminded of this wonderful video by Brother David Steindl-Rast on gratefulness. I may have shared it before. It's such a beautiful testimony of how blessed we truly are in our everyday lives when we take the time to stop and look around. I really hope it will go through, as I sometimes have trouble with videos.
It was 2 weeks yesterday when we returned to the modern world and with all the cleaning up, preparing for Thanksgiving, planning a 90th birthday luncheon for my mom for next week, and preparing for Christmas before my daughter's family arrives in mid December for two weeks, I have been peddling as fast as I can to get myself caught up again. All are joyful things to look forward to but stressful none the less. Still trying to take the time to stop and take in all God's daily gifts.
I am wishing each of you here in the States a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. May it be filled with many blessings shared with loved ones.
Oh! And I bought a new hat! You know how I love hats! It's the little things, right?
“The root of joy is gratefulness...It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”
It's been a number of years since I have written a Thankful Thursday Post. However with this being Thanksgiving Day, it seemed a good time to stop and think about all the little things that have made this such a lovely autumn.
1. I am in recovery from a heart ablation that was performed last week after spending some time in the emergency room for afib a few weeks earlier. Still a little weak-kneed but getting stronger everyday. All my family is out of town celebrating Thanksgiving in other places this year which has made it possible for me to just relax and recover. Good health is always something to be thankful for.
2. The heavenly scent of fresh flowers, a gift of color and beauty from a friend.
3. A brisk fall morning in the park.
4. A bowl of delicious home-made soup to warm up the heart on a chilly afternoon.
5. Precious time spent celebrating with grandchildren. It's possible some of my children may be moving out of state in the next few months so I will take every moment I can get.
6. The joy of sharing a Thanksgiving Day feast with special life long friends.
For each treasured moment imprinted on my heart I give thanks to you Lord/!
Yesterday after meeting a friend for breakfast I decided to take a little drive around the lake. We have a new craft shop in town so I stopped there first to see what new things were on display. I was expecting autumn decor but low and behold it's now Christmas! No! No! No! It's way too soon! Remember when the Christmas decorations didn't go up until after Thanksgiving? Needless to say, I am not ready for that, so I quickly left.
Next, I drove down to the local park. The air was brisk and clean and I had the place to myself. I took my very first walk by myself without a cane! Yay!! It was just a short one but that's OK. Thank you Lord for your blessings!
A little group of ducks came to greet me. No doubt checking to see if I had a treat for them. Sorry guys.
I was able to walk out to the end of the dock and back. The view from there is beautiful. I am really missing my good camera!
We brought our granddaughter to this park area to play a couple of times over the summer. My mother just lives around the corner from here.
I didn't stay too long as there was a storm coming in. The wind had already blown many of the leaves down to the ground. I loved being outside all bundled up, but I still couldn't have moved quickly enough to stay dry if it suddenly started to rain, so I slowly headed back to my car.
Once I was back in my car, I drove on around the lake until I arrived at our little village. Here I stopped and again walked a short distance to the boat dock. In the summer, this spot is hopping with little boats busily arriving and leaving the water, but now all was quiet. It was a good spot to watch the clouds roll in.
Looking across the lake from here my house would be up a hill behind the tall trees in the center of this photo. I used to walk from there around the lake and to this spot at least once a week. Lord willing I will again, but right now I am so happy to be able to do what I can now.
The sky was getting darker so it was time to head for home. Autumn color is still vivid in my back yard.
even in the wind,
And inside too,
I finished my front entryway display. A few little pumpkins and a couple of pine cones filled in the spaces and made it complete. I think I like it and will enjoy having it greet me throughout the rest of the autumn season as I come into the house
Thank you for stopping by. May the Lord bless and keep you. Adieu!
