Grace for the journey…

All packed up and on her way—our sunbeam, fourth of five children to fly the nest…

And within hours we are more lightly packed and heading in the opposite direction…

Accompanied by two daughters, torrential rain, a rainbow spanning the horizon, dense fog and much beauty…we journeyed the 700 miles to memorialize a Mom who has forever changed our worlds…

…and to catch up with eight  weeks of growth that has taken place without us…

The memorial service was precious, and memorable.  The much family gathered—all five children, four spouses, 12 of the nineteen grandchildren and 10 of the fourteen great grandchildren--a tribute to God’s incredible and continuing faithfulness …

 

Even in the stark chill of winter there is beauty, because of grace.

 

Thank God for the love of mothers, so like His own. 

--LS

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Prov.31:28

The Sound of Fall

Fingers stiff with the damp cold of morning, I’ve just returned from roving about gumbooted in the yard taking pictures of morning…

…the sun lazily rising through cloud making all the cool wetness shimmer…

There seems not much to be seen this morning, not much worth leaving my hot cup of tea for and wandering about in this damp coldness…

The early risers among the crows are back to their nut fest. All day long while the walnuts last they will be about their aerial stunts, flying high, nut in beak, only to drop it and spiral down in swift pursuit to snatch it as it hits the pavement and extract the nut meats. These early birds are lucky, very little competition.  But they decline having their stunts photographed…They work for live only audiences.  And such was I one lazy afternoon this week.

Meanwhile the last crab apples hang onto their cheery hue…

Out back, the willow tree is busy laying down leaves to ensure we stay active as fall settles in…

The lilac lingers golden…ho, hum.

But the clothespins are transfixed with morning dew, every drop a lens!

These last hardy blooms bedecked with dew brighten a forgotten corner of the garden, but is there nothing else of note?

Then I hear it overhead, the migrating squadron of what I at first take to be geese… But listen:

Trumpet call overhead…

Now that was worth braving the morning chill for ( ;

And as I type I hear the real mcCoy—passing geese, making a ruckus as they get into formation for the day’s flight…This, and the croak of crows, is the sound of Fall…

The sound of Fall

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power….
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

--LS

Tulips in October

The steady greens are fading now, what lies beneath is showing through…

Don’t you find it to be so with life as you age? 

A friend puts it this way:
“…we are in a new season of life. We're in Autumn, when youth, like chlorophyll pulls back, drains out, revealing the profound pigments of wisdom and experience.” 

The yellows and oranges rise to prominence as the energy-making greens are put to rest.

 

But there’s something more going on when it comes to the brilliant reds and purples.  These are actually created in the fall.  Trapped glucose responds to colder nights and shorter days to produce red pigment.  The drier and brighter the fall, the deeper the reds.   

Let me be such a brilliant display of His glory in the fall season of my life!

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison" II Cor 4:17

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. Rom.8:19

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,

even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Rom.8:23-25

--LS

A Savary Saturday

We seized the sunny Saturday, and stowing our golden oldie tandem on the deck, motored away across calm shining waters to Savary Island for the day…

It’s a happy 4-1/2 mile pedal down (and up!) an old dirt road to reach the farthest tip of the island—Indian Point, where we rendezvoused with friends for lunch and a stroll...

… on this fine (Canadian)Thanksgiving  weekend…

  We have much to be thankful for!

 

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Ps.103:1

--LS

Heralding October

 

In all the recorded history of our town never has there been a September so rain-free as the one just past! And now October has come with a token rainfall and the sun lingering yet…

We had our first frost this week and our first fire in the woodstove.  I’ve dug out my turtlenecks and my new woolie socks…

We’ve commenced our fall birthday season with strawberry chiffon and black forest cakes and a whole quart of whipping cream consumed between the both of them!

But for this morning I’ve come out to savor the brisk brightness of autumn and see what’s smiling in my garden…

I find honeybees harvesting last pollen and nectar from summer’s merry-golds…

Pole Beans hang on the vine fattening seed for spring planting.

 

Other more exotic seed pods do likewise.  Here’s ‘love in a mist’…

I stumble upon my fall crocus nearly spent from its blooming, its beauty almost overlooked.  And I am glad I came out to see the morning…

Nasturtiums ramble brightly still, holding their faces to morning’s cold dew for a few more days.

Jim’s homegrown Christmas trees, backlit by morning sun, await their season of celebration…

While this year’s lone duet of wee pumpkins herald October.

The neighbor’s grapes are plump and tart as ever.  Rachel tries her hand at jelly. We’re surprised to see the color green grapes produce!

The firewood’s all dried and split, gathered in to clear the chopping lot  for next year’s logs.  

 

And I sit out back in the Adirondack, cherishing the gentled chill of this fine October morning… Whoops, roosting crows in the willow branches straight overhead are intent on making a mess of my meditations…must move on.

--LS

 “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Gen.8:22