I have been so excited about posting this week and have had some technical difficulties to deal with online. Just as I was thinking that I would have to start a new blog, suddenly everything works again. So, I guess the Internet gremlins have finally left me be and I'm free to share my thoughts with my readers once again. Thank goodness!
I had a rather odd but relaxing 4Th of July this year. Odd because it was lacking a group gathering or traditional picnic our family always had in the past. Relaxing because we worked in our wonderful veggie garden as a family, digging in the dirt, setting up hot wire to keep out bunnies, woodchucks and deer. As a reward for working so hard, we then went across the road to the Crow River to fish as a family. I guess it really was a celebration of sorts, just different.
It was relaxing to watch the hypnotic river current pass by while watching an occasional carp leap out of the water in front of us. Gosh does that ever get your heart racing!
We saw leopard frogs sitting on the bank below and Hunter was feeding them bits of night-crawlers. It was actually quite entertaining wondering which frog would get the their favorite food first. It was a simple day and it was so relaxing. A moment in time where all cares and worries ebbed away from each of us and were replaced with smiles, cheers and an occasional song.
The cheers happened when I caught the first and second catch of the day! I barely landed the second one by myself.
It was simply a wonderful day. It was a celebration of freedom from monotony and stress. It was also a celebration of our most precious family.
We are truly blessed as a family, to live in this free country where we can worship and love and play without fear. Though recently the family has been under attack and it concerns me deeply. Having raised four wonderful sons, I know how important it is to have a mother and father figure in their lives. I do realize that is not always possible in some families. But they must do their best in these trying times we live in.
Recently our church who remains aloof when it comes to politics, has made a statement concerning same sex marriage. The process by which our constitution is upheld, has come into question by four judges in the state of California is about to effect all Americans across the board.
Below is a link to what the first presidency of the LDS church is now telling our members and the world. We have joined with many other churches to stand up for the Constitution. I pray you will too. Become aware of what is going on in our beloved free country. Remember what our ancestors fought and died for. Study, search , ponder and pray about what to vote for when you go to the polls this year. Uphold our constitution and our rights and our right to preserve the votes that pass what the people want, not what a handful of men have interpreted to be the law.
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/california-and-same-sex
I am so glad I took the time to enjoy the 4Th of July with my family. It was the most restful day I've had in a long time. What a beautiful place we live in--what a blessing this country is!
Showing posts with label River. Show all posts
Showing posts with label River. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
What I'd Been Missing
This week has been such a mixed bag. We had our cars break down. Then later fixed by my dear husband and a wonderful family friend. They worked on it until 3am Monday night. I'm so pleased to have a vehicle once again!
I was also able to visit with my mother in law who was in town for the day. Ryan and I had such a nice time with her. She is Catholic and taught us more about her understanding of St. Patrick. I found it very interesting and clarified things for us. It would be nice to look into it more in depth and separate what the man was really about instead of wearing green and drinking green beer. Ugh, beer! Thank goodness we don't drink!
She did teach us that the shamrock was symbolic of the Catholic belief in the Trinity. In my own belief system we know that the Godhead consists of three distinct and separate personages Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost-- separate and distinct, but one in purpose.
When she left we packed up our fishing gear and hit the road. It's awesome to have a van again!
I'm grateful today for a fishing trip my son Ryan and I took yesterday. It was a beautiful, fun day! He had to hold me up because I'd worn tennis shoes and had no traction on the boat ramp covered with snow. He had his fishing waders on and had grippers on his shoes.
Once we got down to the bank and stopped laughing, we got down to business. We had three fishing poles and he had hundreds of lures and jigs for us to try out. It gave me a sense of freedom to try out my new fishing pole he'd made me buy last week. It was on sale and it really was lighter than the boys rods were.
As I looked around and breathed deeply the fresh crisp air I was filled with such a sense of well being and peace. This part of the upper Mississippi was open water all winter. The nuclear power plant in Monticello was a gift to many water fowl who wintered over this year and in years past.
I couldn't believe how many different species of geese I could see. They were flying low by the time they passed us--sometimes even turning their heads to look at us below. Then the most breathtaking scene unfolded before our eyes. An entire flock of swans glided down to meet us and land in the water not too far away! It was like a dream! Their calls filled the air and left me holding my breathe. What a gift! It got even better when I looked across the river to watch the ducks that were paired off and doing their mating dance and looked up to watch a bald eagle land in the top of craggy oak tree. It's calls joined in whistling it's warning. In those moments I was so grateful Ryan had insisted I come along.
I'm reminded today that taking time find balance in our lives is so important. How often do we forget to behold the beauty God has given us to enjoy? The gift of life is all around us and yet sometimes we're too busy to breathe in deeply what God has given us. The smell of freshly turned earth in the spring, the fragrant flowers soon to bloom-- that add a blanket of color to the whites and browns of winter, are long awaited.
Each of us can find beauty in the place in which we dwell. If you live in an apartment you still have birds you can feed and attract to your window sill. My friend in Russia hangs feeders from her balcony. It brings the song birds to her and she can enjoy them up close. She has sent pictures of the flowering trees in a nearby park she walks to.
We can each find nature in the towns and cities in which we dwell. We just have to be willing to look and listen and take the time to breathe in deeply what we've been given. I'm grateful for my son ,who reminded his mom the writer, what she'd been missing. I plan on taking a break more often to enjoy and appreciate the world around me more from now on.
I was also able to visit with my mother in law who was in town for the day. Ryan and I had such a nice time with her. She is Catholic and taught us more about her understanding of St. Patrick. I found it very interesting and clarified things for us. It would be nice to look into it more in depth and separate what the man was really about instead of wearing green and drinking green beer. Ugh, beer! Thank goodness we don't drink!
She did teach us that the shamrock was symbolic of the Catholic belief in the Trinity. In my own belief system we know that the Godhead consists of three distinct and separate personages Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost-- separate and distinct, but one in purpose.
When she left we packed up our fishing gear and hit the road. It's awesome to have a van again!
I'm grateful today for a fishing trip my son Ryan and I took yesterday. It was a beautiful, fun day! He had to hold me up because I'd worn tennis shoes and had no traction on the boat ramp covered with snow. He had his fishing waders on and had grippers on his shoes.
Once we got down to the bank and stopped laughing, we got down to business. We had three fishing poles and he had hundreds of lures and jigs for us to try out. It gave me a sense of freedom to try out my new fishing pole he'd made me buy last week. It was on sale and it really was lighter than the boys rods were.
As I looked around and breathed deeply the fresh crisp air I was filled with such a sense of well being and peace. This part of the upper Mississippi was open water all winter. The nuclear power plant in Monticello was a gift to many water fowl who wintered over this year and in years past.
I couldn't believe how many different species of geese I could see. They were flying low by the time they passed us--sometimes even turning their heads to look at us below. Then the most breathtaking scene unfolded before our eyes. An entire flock of swans glided down to meet us and land in the water not too far away! It was like a dream! Their calls filled the air and left me holding my breathe. What a gift! It got even better when I looked across the river to watch the ducks that were paired off and doing their mating dance and looked up to watch a bald eagle land in the top of craggy oak tree. It's calls joined in whistling it's warning. In those moments I was so grateful Ryan had insisted I come along.
I'm reminded today that taking time find balance in our lives is so important. How often do we forget to behold the beauty God has given us to enjoy? The gift of life is all around us and yet sometimes we're too busy to breathe in deeply what God has given us. The smell of freshly turned earth in the spring, the fragrant flowers soon to bloom-- that add a blanket of color to the whites and browns of winter, are long awaited.
Each of us can find beauty in the place in which we dwell. If you live in an apartment you still have birds you can feed and attract to your window sill. My friend in Russia hangs feeders from her balcony. It brings the song birds to her and she can enjoy them up close. She has sent pictures of the flowering trees in a nearby park she walks to.
We can each find nature in the towns and cities in which we dwell. We just have to be willing to look and listen and take the time to breathe in deeply what we've been given. I'm grateful for my son ,who reminded his mom the writer, what she'd been missing. I plan on taking a break more often to enjoy and appreciate the world around me more from now on.
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