Mountains and bumble bees....

Looking way up and far beyond.
Town of Canmore from a vast birds-eye view.

Enormous sheer rock faces.

Big bumble bee on tiny mountain flower.

Funny how everything is relative. Looking at those mountains, we see enormity, greatness, vastness and majesty. But the bumble bee is also huge..barely fits on that little flower.

Two very large chunks of creation..one relative to the sky...the other to the tiny flower.

I sometimes wonder how God sees me, as a human being, relative to the infinitness of the universe. I would tend to think he would see me as a speck of dust in comparison to all of creation.....and yet, I know he sees me as something much more precious than dust.....precious enough that he would become one of us with flesh and blood and show me how love should be....by giving everything up that was his, giving it all away, his very life, for the sake of love....love for me. What kind of love is that? What do we have that compares to it?

Nothing.

There is no love quite like that.......I think to myself.

And yet, I am called by God to act out that kind of love, too. The very same kind of love he offered to me, I am called to offer to others. That kind of love should be a bi-product of who I am because of who He is and what he gave to me.

Totally selfless, uninhibited, unrestrained love.....as immense as a mountain.....or a bumble bee.

Devil in disguise.....

You look like an angel

Walk like an angel

Talk like an angel

But I got wise

You're the devil in disguise

Oh yes you are

The devil in disguise......

I do believe Elvis was singing about Crean Lake!!

She looks so calm and inviting. She lures unsuspecting folks to her furthest bays to cast their hooks into her deep waters.

She can look like crystal with nary a ripple.....but she has cast her lot with the north wind.

So many times before she has given up her Northern Pike and Pickerel into your net....to get you coming back.

I don't trust her.

I won't turn my back on her.

I won't laze too long in her midst.

She will turn on you with a vengeance and send you heading for the nearest shore.

The day I took these pictures she was an angel of a lake. Hooks could have melted in her mouth.

A week before this she caught us unawares.

Back in the bay we sat...casting our hooks, enjoying the calm. The bay began to move with ripples....then waves....then white caps. Before we could say "Jack Fish", we knew we'd be in for a rough ride home. Up with the anchor. Away with the tackle box. Start up the motor.

We were off and out of the white capped bay and into the vastness of an angel-turned-devil....Crean Lake. Further out we drove our 115 hp Merc. He was up for the trial ahead. Bang! Thump! Crash! Our little 16ft. fibre glass boat was in for a beating but she was brave.

"Slow down", says I to the captain. "We don't want her to split in two!!"

"Right", says he.....(or words to that effect).

As we entered open waters the swells easily were five and six feet. The captain navigated as close to shore as he dared and we took those swells at right angles.

From the time we left the bay, to the time we reached the Heart Lakes Channel, my white knuckles were fixed tightly on either side of the console.

A fisherman's prayer was uttered as we swirled our way towards safety...but not a thought was given to taking some pictures of the dreaded, angry sea that encompassed us. NOT ONE THOUGHT. Dang. There could have been some really good ones too.....

As the ranger's cabin came into sight, we did notice a boat out in the middle of the lake...seeming to be just sitting there. It was a fairly large boat, so we really didn't think too much about it.

In yesterday's Star Phoenix a story appeared about a boat, caught up in the treachery of the devil lake....Crean.....around the same time we figured we were there. Could that boat have been these poor folks in the article, who had run out of gas, and were desperately trying to change over tanks but found the water was coming in too fast, who ended up on some shore, having had to walk back several miles to their vehicle.......and who were in their middle 80's, no less????

We wondered about that. We figured the possibility was quite high.

So, ya. She's a devil in disguise alright.

Every year we say we won't be enticed into her waters......and every year she wins out.

Zany.......

Ya, that's how I've been feeling since my lovely visit to the dentist yesterday....like I could fall over at every step and colors appear so vivid....psychedelic even. If I'd been wearing bell bottoms and had a flower in my hair I'd have been reliving those '60's! (not that I ever took drugs!!) THEN.......yesterday was a 60's day.

Tried to sleep it all off but that far away feeling is still with me. I'd better get back into my body because I'll be taking it to work with me tomorrow.

Peace out.......

The calm before the storm....

Got boat at Waskesiu and stopped at Prospect Point

Off to Sandy Lake for the day.

All was calm....all was bright.....
Another good day to reflect...

Greebes were plentiful...

Loons seem to enjoy having their picture taken.

Barely a ripple....on a beautiful morning.

This little guy looked as if he had mange....

The scenery was awesome.

As I type this I am groggy and not quite "with it"...shall we say. Please excuse any and all errors. After a lovely day with husband up at Sandy Lake attempting to catch some fish yesterday, I came back to work today and received a call to get to the dreaded root canal as there was a cancellation. I went.

Let's preface it all by saying I'm extremely claustrophobic....ie. NO hands tied together, NO covering head with anything, no caves, no blackness, no elevators (if possible), NO covering mouth, NO lying me upside down. Now I know the dear dentist loves to have my upper tooth so he can work at it full force and have it right where he needs it to be to get a good canal expulsion and I have done this before.....but today....oh man, before he could get my head way lower than the rest of my body, I was up like a bullet. No. No. No. I COULD NOT HAVE MY HEAD LOWER THAN THE REST OF ME. PERIOD. How about some narcotics. Sure. At least makes for a bit of fun. Took those babies and I could have stood on my head and yanked out those canals all by myself with a yelp of satisfaction, to boot. Ya, could have....but didn't. But I didn't give him any more trouble....poor fellow. Came home and fell asleep....where I should be right now as my eyelids are not really open and my fingers are not functioning in their full effortless manner. Kind of like doing something really stupid when you're drunk only to find out exactly how stupid you were the night before when ou wake up. Who knows. Maybe nothing I've said here will make any sense at all in the morning.....if I will even be able to GET out of bed. I'll see.

Soo yesterday's fishing was terrible but we had the entire lake to ourselves. The silence was beautiful, the lake was calm and the sun shone all day. A beauty.

And today my mouth is swollen and sore and I'm drugged to my eyeballs.

Well, I know I'll have a good sleep..........hope you do too.............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Color....

Just a few pictures of our yard this summer. Nothing spectacular. Simply some colorful blooms and the oh, so green grass and trees. Plus a shot of some great clouds that were above us a couple of days ago.....have I mentioned that I do love clouds....:-) These were awesome!!!

And so goes summer 2009. I know it officially doesn't end until September 20 (or is it the 21st), but as far as I'm concerned, it feels like it's over the week school begins.

Summer has been restful for me. It was gentle and kind to me. It gave me space to breathe.

I think time spent with my family was the most precious part. We HAD to live all together under one small roof and we somehow made it! We played together and laughed. We took walks and fished. We read and talked.....got frustrated a time or two and shared meals together. I think most folks at times feel that THEIR family is the most dysfunctional family there is on the planet, and our family is certainly no exception. We may have even given meaning to the word dysfunctional. But be that or not, we seem to be progressing favorably in the right direction.

So, color is not always expressed in blossoms and rainbows, it is also expressed in our personalities....sometimes red, often blue and even black. But we are who we are and in our maturing and growing together as a family, we are learning the fine art of expression without being cruel, and the art of loving without being judgmental.

It all takes time....just like the flowering plants. They begin as a small sprig of green and as they grow and mature, turn into a mass of beauty.....but not without weeding and pinching off the dead blooms. We're like that, aren't we? We need a lot of cultivating too, to keep relationship blooming.

Enjoy the color you have in your life around you today.......winter cometh!!

Growing up.....

OK. So I'm a big baby. When people leave me.....I cry. Moving away for a few months, or years. Moving on after they leave this earth. It's a severing of a relationship for a time...... or forever.

I really should be used to folks leaving by now. Really. And I know I've said this before, probably more than once. But you build this relationship, sometimes for a lifetime. You nurture it. You encourage it. You give it all you possibly can give. Sometimes you even fail at it. But it's all a part of that relationship....the good, the bad, and the ugly that makes me who I am and who they are.

Then, all of a sudden....WHAM!!! That thunderbolt of loss hits you and knocks you "ass over tea kettle", as the saying goes. People get up and leave.

Friends of ours left P.A. a few days ago. For great reasons, but they are no longer close enough to give hugs to and to speak with face-to-face. Last year our pastor and family left. Over a year ago, a good friend of mine moved from P.A. to live at a nearby lake. These folks were a part of me but now they are gone......well, not G O N E.....but you know what I mean.

Our daughter and her family moved from P.A. too, a few years ago. It was such a feeling of loss to me. And son moved to Winnipeg a few years back. Yuk!! We managed to see one another a few times a year, so I suppose that's better than some folks experience.

Today was saying good bye to our son....for many months. India is just too far to pack up the old jalopy and go visit for a weekend. So the last few days were spent talking and just being in each other's presence. It was a time for some things to be said, words of love and forgiveness and encouragement. A time to hear his heart and see his life in action. I like what I see. I like seeing the kind of man he has become and how his thinking is challenging me in my thinking too. I like his gentleness and goodness. I like his courage and his ability to see good coming out of the difficult circumstances of his life.

Of course, I could say that about our daughter too. She has resilience and determination. She's straight forward and to the point. She knows no boundaries in her fierce love for those she cares for.

God has blessed us with good children. I (we) are so thankful.

But tonight, I say good bye to Matt with bitter sweet tears. Tears of love for my son whom I will miss and tears of love for how God is taking him into unknown waters to do the work He has ahead for him to do.........on the other side of the earth, no less.

Good byes, as I have experienced, are mostly always for the good of those moving on to new experiences in life. It makes me happy.

It's just this interim time of temporary grief........

Some day I may grow up...

Fitting it all in.....

Trying to fit everything I want to say to son into a couple of days....things from my heart.

It's difficult.....

Wonders....

Here are some pics son Matt took when he went "mountain climbing" in Canmore, Alberta last week. He's been doing much traveling this month and once again arrived in our home in the wee hours of this morning.....the last time he'll be home for a good while.

He reached the peak....and made it back down. 7 hours.

The scary story involves such words as 'wrong turn', 'boulder too large to climb over', 'jumping', 'scaling', 'thirty foot drop', 'ravene' and even the dredded 'afraid' at one point.

I think there may be some stories mothers simply shouldn't hear...this being one of them.

On the other hand, when he gets to India, he could probably give those Himalayas in Nepal a run for their money....well, the foothills anyway.:-)

It's kind of nice to be able to post pictures that don't involve anything flat. It would be great to get to the mountains one day, but dare I say, I won't be posting pictures like these ones with MY camera. I wasn't born a prairie girl for nothing. I enjoy flat.

'Nite all. Enjoy the weekend which is upon us.....the last hurrah before fall.

Preparing....

I'm preparing to say farewell to our son this weekend. He's off to India in a few short weeks, if all goes according to plan.

I like the thought of him making himself available to others in need, helping them, loving them and being a part of their existence. I like the thought of him learning new things and having his life changed, I'm sure, to some degree.

I don't like the thought of him being so very far away....for many months. But that's just me, his mom, being selfish I guess. I don't like saying good bye to folks....especially my children.

But I will. I will do things I don't like doing because I know in the end, it will be for the best.

May God watch over his heart and his mind, and his spirit and his soul......and mine too......

A look at PA National Park....

"Quack...quack....quack." (Let's look at some pictures......)

The marina.

Matt learning the filleting art.

An unusually calm day on Crean Lake.

Reflections on a hot day.

"Bottom's up!"

The "Lost Lake" (no motors)

Sun and water.

The elite drive Jags....

God gives good gifts....

I love black and white things....

Pink blossoms...

Funny where one meets co-workers!! "The Doc!"

Evening shadows...

Looking towards the Narrows...

Wild flower.....

Camping spot E1 for first 3 weeks.

Waskesiu River

The lone pine....or whatever it is.....:)

Birch Bay

Overlooking Lakeview Drive

Brittney going out on the town.

Shade for a hot day.

Father and Son.

Matt reflecting....

The Bacchi game.....(or however you spell it)

Narrows Eaglet in nest.

Buck #1 (making eyes at the girls)

Buck #2 (making coffee for the girls)

Shadows of a rodent.

Our girls being outrageous!

Log rolling.....dragonfly wins.

"OK, what happened to you Reggie!!??"

A rainbow to end your day....

Hope you enjoyed the thunderstorm a while back. I did.

Just a few more pictures of our National Park. Not too sure what happened to that dark- feathered gull in the second last picture...perhaps a different color phase but those other gulls noticed he was different. They didn't get too close to him but they did allow him into the group. Funny, we act quite the same way at times, don't we! Anyone different and we'd rather observe from a distance...

Enjoy your evening....well, the rest of it....and sleep well, my friends.