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.

Dark skies....

Ya, just a reminder....when you're facing those dark skies, day after day, week after week, it's good to be reminded that there is blue sky above them where the sun is shining.

We forget sometimes.

May the skies open up for each of you very soon, to let the sun shine on you again.

'Nite.....