Life Lessons From the Window Seat

S is for Seven. After today that's how many letters remain in the April A-Z Blog Challenge. It's been fun and it's been a challenge. Blogging with a houseful of people requires a bit of finagling. Onward...

S is for Sunrise 

'the apparent rising of the sun above the horizon; 

also: the accompanying atmospheric effects'

If you've been reading here for a while then you know I have a small obsession with the sunrise. We have prime viewing out of any window on the backside of our house, but my favorite place to watch it happen is from the upper deck. 

And I like to snap a photo while I'm there. 

Or ten photos. 

Or possibly 365. 

Hubs teases and asks me why I take the same picture every morning but I assure him I do not. One sunrise is not like any other and my pictures are the proof. 

Recently Joanne (Slices of Life) shared some of her favorite sunrises and sunsets and it got me thinking about why it is I'm so drawn to the early morning skies. Why all the sunrises? And why now? 

One of the reasons I'm more tuned in to the sunrise in this house is because it's hard to miss. I step quietly out of my bedroom in the early hours of the morning and there it is. Sometimes soft and dreamy brushstrokes in a pastel painted sky...

...sometimes awash with all the colors of the rainbow. 

It can, quite literally, take my breath away. There are things about the sunrise that speak to me in this season that feel almost sacred. 

The sunrise tells me it's a new day, with no mistakes in it yet. A fresh start. Blank slate. No regrets. 

The sunrise fills me with hope. Anything is possible at the start of a brand new day. 

The sunrise says slow down. Breathe. Be present. 

It also tells me time moves fast. If you're not paying attention you'll miss it. Life is like that too. 

The sun rising fills me with awe for the One who made it, for the staggering beauty of this world, and the power so evident in nature.

 

The sunrise reminds me of the value of stillness and quiet, things I'm always looking for in this too noisy world.

The sunrise reminds me of the faithfulness of God. Every single day the sun rises. He never fails. 

My favorite verse, which is in my blog header but worth posting twice...

'The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; 

they are new every morning." Lamentations 3:22-23

Weekend Ramblings

Good Monday morning. It's time for the weekly weekend recap, hosted every Monday by Holly (Pink Lady) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books). 

Does anyone else need their phone to remember what they did two days ago? 

We had a nice, low-key weekend here. On Friday hubs spent some time helping the boys with a little outdoor project. We may not have a fairy garden but we do have our own version of a GI Joe Navy Seal Training Facility lol. 

There was even a hammock for Joe to get some r & r...

Friday night friends invited us to meet them at a local Italian place for dinner, and that's always fun. The 'kids' had gone to the college baseball game followed by pizza out, so all dinners were accounted for. 

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. Beautiful!! Blue skies, springtime temps, a gentle breeze. We loaded up in two cars since we were bringing the pup, and headed to the woods. 

We had a hike planned to a local waterfall which hubs and I both love, and it's one we thought the littles could manage without too much trouble. The hike in is all downhill, but there’s truth in the saying...what goes down must come up. 

Something like that? 

To get to the falls you turn off the main road for a slow mile long trek down a gravel/dirt road before parking. Then you hike about a mile and a half through the woods to reach the falls and the pretty sandy beach beside them. 

My daughter had little miss on her back in the carrier and the boys walked~scrambled~noticed things. The little brown dog ran ahead, but kept circling back to be sure hubs  his person was still right there. 

The falls here are only 12-feet high, but! they're 100 feet wide and so so pretty. They were rushing too as we've had rain recently. 

I read there was once a gristmill on the site, but now it's strictly a beautiful piece of nature with the falls dropping into a natural pool beside the beach, and then the river continuing on its way through the forest. 

We had the beach mostly to ourselves. A couple of people hiked in and looked around, but for the most part it was just us. We got there on the early side and passed more people coming in as we were leaving. We'd packed a picnic lunch and the kids had a ball wading in the icy waters...

...getting their clothes only a teensy bit damp, skipping stones, and hunting for shiny rocks and arrowheads. Hubs is still on a mission to find one, but that didn't happen Saturday. 

This guy who turns ten years old this week was living his best life romping through the woods, chasing sticks thrown into the river, and swimming to his heart's content. 

We were home mid-afternoon and my daughter and her family changed clothes then loaded back up in the car for a ride over to their other grandparent's home for dinner. My son-in-law's dad was celebrating his birthday so a full fun day for them.  After they left I put together a little snack to take to the neighbor's house later in the evening-

A sweet and salty drizzled popcorn (you pour melted white chocolate over popped corn), which is so easy and so yummy. 

Our neighbors invited us over to play cards with another couple, but first we all went out for Mexican food. We went to a nearby spot that started as a food truck, but has morphed into an 'almost' full fledged dining establishment. 

After dinner we went back to the neighbors house and stayed up too late playing our favorite card game- Swoop. We weren't thinking about the time change. We do agree we all have spring fever here and are so ready for float parties, dock sitting, and watching the sunset from the back of the boat. 

Sunday I turned the fireplace on for a while because it was gray and chilly. Not northern USA chilly, but SC chilly. Hubs and I slept in and then met the kids for brunch. They were up early of course (parents of young children rarely sleep in) so they made it to church first. I spent the afternoon finishing a book, hubs grilled steaks for everyone for dinner, and that was the weekend. 

So what were you up to this weekend? 

Days Gone By

It was sixty degrees here yesterday so hubs and I (and the little brown dog of course) took advantage of the warm weather and hiked out to a nearby waterfall. We hadn't been on this particular path since Hurricane Helene hit, but she definitely left her mark. 

The rangers and crew have done a good job clearing the trail of most of the enormous fallen trees and they've made work arounds where needed.  

I do some of my best thinking while on a walk in the woods. I don't know if it's the quiet or the beauty or the freedom from distraction but I feel God especially near when I'm out in nature.  

As we walked yesterday I found myself thinking about this next new year getting ready to roll in...what I'm hoping for...what I need to do-untangle-notice-cherish. 

What will this new year bring? 

No clue, right? I mean we all hope for lots of goodness, but know most years are a mixture of both sorrow and joy. Every year is filled with the comfort of familiar, yet the unexpected will be woven in there too. 

There will likely be some muck along the way.

So much beauty too. 

There will be things to work out and things to enjoy. 

Time to play. 

And time to pray. 

A walk in the woods reminds me I don't have to think too deeply about the year I'm leaving behind. That it's okay to just let it quietly roll away and instead turn my gaze forward. 

To let my heart fill with gratitude for the way God goes before me into each new year. Each new day in fact. 

To rest in His unfailing love, knowing He'll show me the path I should walk. 

Creation reminds me to keep looking up. 

'The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." Psalm 28:7

In the words of my grandson, 'Happy new you!'

Weekending

Good Monday morning friends. Joining Holly and Sarah today for their regular Monday morning catch up. Hope you had a nice weekend. Here's how ours looked-

Thursday. Our first full day home from vacation. I was up early and out the door to the volunteer slot I work every Thursday. I stopped for gas before remembering my usual spot that takes my grocery points is cash only due to Helene. 

This is our lake and those are the Blue Ridge Mountains. So much staggering beauty. So much pain and heartache. 

I know the scope and geography are hard for people unfamiliar with the area to understand, but you should know this is not a case of people being told to evacuate, and instead deciding to ignore the instruction and ride out a hurricane, hoping for the best. That isn't what happened here. These are people who have been overwhelmed by flash flooding, rain, wind, and a literal mountain of water. 

If you're looking for a way to help consider a donation to Samaritan's Purse. They are a trustworthy organization with boots on the ground in the most devastated areas. 

Life is never all one thing, although there are times it certainly feels that way. It's awkward to write about the mundane when we're on the edge of this disaster and know so many directly impacted by it. I'm going to continue with my regular posts but will likely mention the storm fallout from time to time for the next little while. 

The weekend. 

We had our monthly wine dinner Thursday evening and yes we did indeed attend a five course wine dinner our first day back from a two-week holiday. I admit I was tired and not all that excited to go, but it was super delicious and we sat with people we didn't know prior,  so it ended up being a lot of fun. One couple at our table were getting ready to go on an African safari which is something we've talked about. The Mrs. did say there are six different bush flights on their trip, so I'm gonna have to think really hard about whether their itinerary is one I'd want to follow. 

I didn't capture every course in pictures (I blame jet lag), but I got a few. This baked brie appetizer was sooo good. 

Friday I went to the grocery store for real. The stores are a bit hit and miss right now, particularly meat and dairy, and one of our main stores is still cash only so a long way to go. My frig was pretty empty when we left town, but anything I did leave was lost. Besides food for the week I needed to start restocking the basics...mustard, mayonnaise, salad dressing, that sort of thing. 

I had to throw away all the food in my chest freezer, which should have been fine but the gfi tripped and it didn't reset when the power returned so ugh, what a mess. We had to empty the freezer then pull it out of the garage and drain the icky liquid inside, then scrub it clean before we could get it going again. Fortunately I had a Good Ranchers order arriving over the weekend so we're pretty well re-stocked for meat. 

Friday night friends invited us to their house for dinner and cards. Our next door neighbors came too and we had a wonderful meal and lots of fun playing a card game called Swoop. Somehow when we looked at the clock it was 1 am and I cannot tell you the last time I was up at 1 am. I blame jet lag. 

Also I made an apple crisp to take for dessert and here's proof-

I forgot to take a picture when I pulled it out of the oven but trust me, it was yummy. I followed this recipe-The Best Ever Apple Crisp-and will definitely make it again. 

The Friday night sunset from their dock was a beauty. 

Saturday morning hubs and I took our coffee out to the new patio space beside the waterfall. We don't have any furniture there yet but the weather was beautiful and the light golden. 

We pulled a couple of chairs from the dock over to the patio space and sipped our coffee with a waterfall soundtrack. I love it. 

We're still waiting on a guy to come back and install the griddle and connect the water to the sink in the BBQ bar before we break it in. These projects are a little bit 'if you give a mouse a cookie he's gonna need new patio furniture to go with it' if you know what I mean. 

We'll make do with our current stuff until we figure out what we want for the new outdoor dining space. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be and my current outdoor table looks dinky in there. Plus the plan going forward is to cook big breakfasts and dinners out there when our grands are here and there's a lot of them lol. We need a bigger table.  

We also need an electrician to come out so we can hang a fan and get some twinkle lights in, and like I said...that mouse needs at least ten somethings to go with his cookie. 

Saturday night we went to a party at our neighborhood clubhouse-a low country boil. Yes three nights home, three nights out. We hit the post-vacation ground running! I forgot to take a picture (it's the jet lag I'm sure) but for those who don't know a low country boil is usually shrimp-corn-sausage and red potatoes boiled in a big pot with seasonings. It originated in the Carolinas and it's delicious. Friday was a gorgeous day, the temps still feel summery here although it's supposed to cool off later this week, and we had a great time catching up with some of the neighbors we haven't seen in a while. 

We didn't stay late because the Vols were playing Arkansas Saturday night, and we needed to be home for that. Our hometown team also had a big game happening at the same time so there was some channel flip flopping. Yay for the hometown team who pulled off a win. The Vols were not so lucky. 

Sunday afternoon we went for a boat ride. Officially autumn but still 80 degrees so why not? The lake is so pretty this time of year. 

We putted around the neighborhood to see if there was any visible damage and saw a few huge trees down in several places. Overall we're very lucky here. There weren't a lot of boaters out and we flew down to the far end of the lake for fuel. Our usual closer marina had only gotten their power back on Friday and they were without gas anyway. 

After buying gas we flew back down (up?) the lake to my daughter1's in-law's dock. They were home so we tied up and went inside to visit for a few minutes, and of course we never leave there empty handed.

 

Hubs grilled some flat iron steaks for dinner and we ate on the screened porch which has a birds eye view of the new waterfall. It was a lovely way to end the day. 

I'm off to the dentist this morning which is not my favorite thing, but I'm determined not to whine about it. Life is so hard for so many right now, and I feel fortunate to be able to get in my car with a full tank of gas and do something as ordinary as go to the dentist. 

Have a nice Monday everyone!