Serenity

Today was one of those days.  You know the one.  It’s the one that at the end of it every thing just feels right.

It wasn’t a day of vacation.  It was a normal work day for me doing the normal bookkeeping stuff, visiting with customers, answering phone calls and cleaning up cars.  It wasn’t extraordinary in any particular way but it felt right.

After work I took the top off the Corvette and drove a half hour through beautiful countryside to meet friends for dinner.  Wires must have been crossed because when I got there no one was there that I was supposed to meet but it was okay because it was a beautiful evening for a ride.

When I got home I stood outside taking clothes in off the clothesline and just listened.  In the distance I could hear the kids singing from the local bible camp across the road, loons calling in the distance, and an occasional fish jumping in the water.

I watched the changing colors across the lake as the sun was setting and a bat swooping down to the surface collecting bugs for its dinner.

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to appreciate all that surrounds me.  It’s beautiful and serene.

Advertisement

 

Life goes on and on…..

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything here.  Life has been busy since last year when I spent a month in the hospital after a ruptured brain aneurysm.

Life is good.  All the headaches are gone after the surgery to place the two stents and two coils last November.  I recently went back to Milwaukee for my one year checkup and they threw in an angiogram just for fun.  After the angiogram I met with the surgeon and he told me see you in five years.  I was expected it to be an annual event.  God is so good!

I’m back working full-time for the past 9 months.  My oldest daughter got married and bought a home in October.  My youngest daughter will graduate from college on December 21.  We made our final college tuition payment the first week in November.  Twelve years of tuition payments were at times difficult to do but well worth getting all four of our kids through college with minimal debt.

Looking ahead my husband Dean and I will be taking a 8 day mission trip to Jamaica in July.  I can hardly wait for the trip.  It was something we’ve wanted to do for some time but college tuition made it impossible until now.

In Minnesota the weather is changing from cool to downright cold.  The lake was busy making ice last night and this morning.

Hope to be posting occasionally and catch up with all my favorite blogging buddies!

 

Ice Out on Pine Lake

Spring has been a long time coming in Minnesota this year.  Finally on Mother’s Day the last of the ice landed on our shore and then melted as the day progressed.  We have lived here since 1992 and it is the latest ice out I remember.

It’s hard to keep a positive outlook when you don’t like winter to begin with and it stretches out into May.  Last evening I went for a walk near our home and it was great to hear the birds singing.  As I left the yard two loons flew overhead with their familiar calls.  I love sleeping with the windows open and listening to them as I go to sleep.

The frog chorus has begun in the nearby swamp and the pussy willows have come and gone already.  One of the hard parts about a late spring is the things that usually last for at least a few days are hurried by a quick warm-up in temperatures.  It seemed like the pussy willows lasted only for a day and then they were gone.

Tomorrow morning I will begin my annual search for the wild flowers in bloom.  ‘A friend said last evening that she saw cow slips and bloodroot blooming, two of my favorites.

Have a blessed day!  I know I will as we will experience our first over 80 degree day today. 🙂

 

 

Ice Bubble Snowman

This afternoon I ventured out on the newly formed ice. While I was out walking I noticed ice bubbles had formed in the ice. This is the picture of some of the bubbles with the floor of the lake below. The  three bubbles are different layers.

.

The second photo shows the bubbles at the different levels but still looks like a snowman to me.

The last photo shows the bubbles stacked above each other. As I look at all three photos they each are unique but all make me think of some far off galaxy. The first photo makes me want to get out a marker and draw the missing face and stick arms on the snowman in a folk art style.

So far no snow on the ground here which makes it seem like Christmas couldn’t possible be only two weeks away.  Snow is only forecast one day in the next week. Still hoping for a White Christmas. If I have to have the cold at least there should be some snow to decorate the brown earth for Christmas.

 

Ballet Shoes

As a child I remember wanting to take dance lessons. My best friend had dance lessons every Saturday morning. Some Saturdays I would go with and watch while she and the other girls danced. I attended their recitals and watched as the danced in their pretty costumes to the music.

My parents bought a piano and I learned how to play it, not well but I can pick up a not too complicated piece of music and it will sound recognizable to the untrained ear. I find playing the piano relaxing at times when I need a break from bookkeeping or other mundane tasks. I think that my parents made the wiser choice given the fact that I have an overall dislike of physical exercise. Playing the piano is more of a life skill for me. One that I can put down and pick up over time.

This morning I took my camera down to the lake to capture a pink sunrise. The sky had a pink glow to it and I thought it might lend itself well to some interesting pictures.

Saturday evening the winds blew so strong out of the north that the windows were making noises and we could hear the tree branches all night long. When we woke up Sunday morning the ice that had starting forming around the edges of the lake were gone because of the strong winds.

This morning I found branches along the shore of the lake with icicles hanging from them but my favorite find was the above picture that looks like ballet shoes. I love how the icicles formed evenly to look like a pair of shoes hanging from ribbons.

Sometimes when you are searching for one thing, like a beautiful sunrise, you find something better.

It pays to look a little closer.

 

So Still

This morning I was sitting in my living chair and noticed how still the lake was this morning. I decided to walk down to the lake and take a picture of the reflection of the fall colors on the lake. As I was standing focusing my camera this bird came into the photo. It circled and then landed on the lake. It was a beautiful way to begin the day.

This week promises to bring out of season temperatures here with 80-85 degree highs over the next few days. I’ll take the warm weather for sure. CNN reported this morning that somewhere in Pennsylvania received their first snow. I’m glad it was there and not here.

 

Frosty Fall Morning

This morning we woke up to the first frost of the fall. Last evening my neighbors were all busy covering their gardens to protect their produce. It was a chilly morning only 30 degrees with some areas including our area with temperatures below freezing over night. It warmed up to a chilly but 55 degree sunny day.

This is what Pine Lake looked like this morning from the shore in front of our home. Steam rising from its surface in waves from one end of the lake to the other. I watched its ever changing shapes for about ten minutes before my cold feet told me it was time to move on.

I headed up the hill to our house and then out to the field behind our home to see what the field looked like frosted. I’m not a fan of colder weather but I love to the frost on the plants. It gives them a whole new look and of course something new to photograph.

One of my favorite finds this morning was this frosted clover in the roadside ditch along our driveway.

I also loved how this grass looked in the early morning light.

It’s hard to think that soon the ground will be covered with snow once again and the lake frozen solid in just a couple of months. Until then I will just have to enjoy the daily beauty in the few remaining flowers blooming and the soon to arrive fall colors.

I still have a few Hydrangeas blooming. Most of them have changed to a soft mauve color but I still have a few that are white colored.

I love this spider web that graced my porch in the morning light.

Enjoy your surroundings where you live and try to find some beauty each day.

 

The Old and the Young: Eagles

Earlier this summer while out on the boat I spotted a  eagle next to a nest. This past weekend I went in search of the same eagle hoping to catch another glimpse while we were out on the boat. I was not disappointed.

The adult eagle that I saw was not next to the nest where I saw it earlier but in a tree just to the north of the location I first saw it. I’m assuming it’s the same eagle but not sure.

As we went a little further south in our boat, just a few feet, to the location of the nest and this is what I saw.

This young eagle was sitting in the location where I first spotted the adult earlier this spring. I was reading another blog this morning, one of my favorites Naturally Curious with Mary Holland http://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/bald-eagle-nest-update/

and learned that it can take up to four years for the young eagle to gain its white head and white on its tail. The young eagle was sitting and flapping its wings.

When we were travelling home just two days ago near the Mississippi River I saw an eagle soaring in the sky. Such a beautiful sight. I haven’t seen the eagle on our lake soaring overhead but I guess they have been busy tending to their young ones.

 

The Eagle Has Landed on Pine Lake

Yesterday afternoon my husband and I took a break from cleaning out the garden shed and hopped in our boat for a spin around the lake.

It was a beautiful blue sky day. The day could only be described as perfect in the weather department. While we were out on the boat we met some new neighbors who were out on their dock and checked the local bay area for signs of some water flowers to photograph. There were none yet. I think this is because the weather stayed so cold for so long this spring and the lake’s water level is the highest it has been since we moved here in 1992.

As we were headed back for our shore we were passing along the east side of the lake and I mentioned to my husband “I wonder if there are any eagles on the lake this year?” When I was more active many years ago in our local lake association we had a guy named Dan who would report each year on the eagle activity on the east side of the lake. It was always very interesting.

Yesterday as we passed by Dan’s lakeshore I looked up as I wondered about the eagles and happened to catch what I thought was a silhouette of an eagle against the blue sky. I had my husband circle the boat around for another look. I was so excited to get his picture of the eagle. I love watching them soar above the lake but to see one perched so majestically next to a nest was awesome.

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, .

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)