Two Days Worth

My checklist was accomplished the other day. All except the virtual dinner date with my husband. Work took longer than anticipated for him so by 7 pm, I just thawed out a frozen meal and ate it. 

Highlights of my day on Thursday included a very healing call with my amazing friend Brooklyn who calmed me down in the midst of an emotional storm. That was followed by a 2 hour hike and meditation at my bench at Patricia Allyn Park. I spent significant time really just being present with my thoughts and the beauty around me again was very powerful. More later on the lessons learned in all that but for now here are recent photos of my days. 

Viewing into my Pines while sitting on my bench. The wind blowing throw the trees reminds me of being in the wilderness in Canada.

There was a Fall Beauty about seeing all these Horse Chestnuts. They were everywhere!

This ancient oak tree stopped me in my tracks. I played my Gratitude song here, raised my hands and worshipped God  with the tree!! I came to see trees differently this day. I realized that those massive branches extend out like arms reaching out to worship their Creator all the time. It was a special moment. Reminds me of the Bible verse, “Jesus responded, “Listen to me. If my followers were silenced, the very stones would break forth with praises!”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭19‬:‭40‬ ‭TPT‬‬

The Angel who built me my bench, Carl, suggested I lay down in my back and look up. So for about 30 minutes, I actually laid on my bench and looked up. The perspective is so unique. Except for the birds chirping, and the wind blowing, I heard nothing. I saw a pair of yellow finches hopping from branch to branch. I only worried a little when they were on the branch directly above my head! There was something majestic about seeing those large trees sway back-and-forth with the wind slowly and rhythmically. I love the shift in perspective when you get to do things differently. It really just takes time and a willingness to see things afresh!

This photo does not do the beauty of these honeysuckle berries justice. The sun shining was glowing through the leaves and the copious amount of berries made me wish they were edible! I could have made a pie!

One of my favorite trails is a brand new one that was recently cut this year. This enormous giant sits in the middle of the trail begging you to give it a hug, which I did. I’m sure this tree is at least 200 years old. I met an older gentleman named Patrick while walking this trail. We chatted for a few minutes and he asked me if I was “the lady who sits in the Pines?” Evidently he had run into my friend Jodie who knows about my bench and they got to talking about me. Patrick admitted that before seeing me walking on this trail, he actually went up and gave this tree a hug as well. He said he was hoping I didn’t notice him giving it a big hug because I might have thought he was strange. Instead, I understood him and admitted that I did the same just minutes before.

It is as if the cloud formation on the left is pointing directly to my bench inside the Pines inviting me to come and stay for a while, which I did.

I decided to go off the trail and hike into the woods and discovered this 150+ year old tree that had been felled long ago. I hopped up on it and sat down on its stump while reflecting on how many years and what happened during this tree’s lifetime! The sun was in my eyes, I heard a woodpecker close by and I sang Same God while thanking God that I could experience this alone with Him on this peace-filled Autumn day. 

It’s currently Saturday morning and I realized that I never posted in my blog yesterday so I’ll share a little more. 

This was my sunrise view that I got to share with a SWeet friend as we caught up and enjoyed talking about the goodness of God regardless of our circumstances. 

Thanks to my favorite human, Wendy, who shared her knowledge of sourdough alchemy, I am back to making another delicious loaf of bread. This boule was baked early Friday morning. 

Christmas shopping is not on my list of things I’ll have time to do this year, so for my few peeps that I’ll be giving gifts to, this year will be a very special homemade blend of an immune tea in honor of my grand daughter, soon to be brought into this world! I even found pink glass mason jars in her honor.

Ended my day with a nice bubbly soak, while reading a book gifted to me from my dear cousin, Bruce Parmenter. Ironically it’s titled: BEYOND DEATH-What the Bible Says About the Hereafter by Russell E Boatman. It’s heady but spiritually stimulating and stretches me to think and research. 

Thank you all for the gift of time. Thank you for any prayer you say on my behalf. Thank you for being along on my journey and for taking a seat in the front row of seeing what God is doing in one girl’s story.