Monday, December 31, 2012

Morning Meditation


I am loved.
I am Love.
From this, all else springs.
                                 
                                    -- MEW 12/31/12

Sunday, December 30, 2012

A Young Visitor

After a quick check for goodies in the compost pile...


Maybe there's something delicious closer to the house... (This is right at the foot of my front stairs!)


Yum!  Is someone watching me?


Time to head home.


How awesome to live right in the midst of the wild!  I am grateful.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Sun!



Even if only for a few minutes... In winter?  In Michigan?  I am most grateful!

Full Cold Moon

The Winter sky has been lit up each night since Christmas with this slowly approaching full moon.


It has illuminated the snow with an eery blue glow each night as well.


Thursday evening, on the horizon, the moon appeared as a large, translucent peach-colored disk. A wonder to see!  Though I couldn't catch a picture myself, this one is from the vicinity.

James C Veen Observatory in Lowell, MI
The full moon draws me into wakeful nights and a pensive mood.  I am so grateful.  I bask in the blue night glow silence and "pray."

"To pray is to take notice of the wonder, to regain a sense of the mystery that animates all beings, the divine margin in all attainments. Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living."

--From Quest for God by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Heading Home

So hard to leave...


So lots of good-byes this Monday morning.  Katelyn, Karen, and Todd took off for work and school, and I jammed the last of my stuff in my suitcase, made a lunch to take, and headed for the 75 bus to Northgate.  Then to the 41 express to Westgate and the LINK light rail.


Oops, the payment enforcer was not pleased.  I thought I could tap my pass on board.  Nope, I was supposed to do it on some yellow box in the station.  Oh, well.  She said, "First warning!"  I'm not too worried since I won't be back for a while.

Check in.  Next a walk to the shuttle train... to gate N.


And time to wait for my Alaska Airlines flight.  I saw these planes when I came here and said to myself, "Who the heck is on the tail?"  Looks like Muammar al-Gaddafi to me at least from this side!  That makes no sense! 


Abe Lincoln if I look at the other side of the tail?  No, not quite...


It is an Alaskan Eskimo named "Charley" according to Alaska Airlines, but many people on the net wondered about the two I came up with as well as Johnny Cash, a guy with an Afro, or the cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz!


Onward to Minneapolis!  We had a 125 mph tail wind!  Pilot said we would land 1/2 hour early because of the push.  A break in the clouds...Montana, maybe???


Sunset over South Dakota...

 and Minnesota...

The lights of Minneapolis and St. Paul...


Too dark to see anything more from Minneapolis to Grand Rapids.  A windy, bumpy ride; especially the decent!  Kit and Connie were right there when I landed.  Julie called me soon after I was on the ground and prepared and had left me loving gifts of lights, heat, walnuts, and an orange for when I arrived after midnight.  LeRoy gave me a wet welcome after two weeks of Seattle rain.


Happy kitty...Mom is home!  Time for bed.


I am so grateful to everyone who made this wonderful trip possible for me.  Thank you again everyone!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Farmers' Market in December

We slept in this morning, then headed out after a good breakfast to the Ballard Farmers' Market.  I was curious what we'd see at a December farmers' market.  But Seattle is not Michigan, to be sure!


Even though it was cold, windy, and rainy with snitches of sun occasionally, it was a grand market!


Pumpkins, cabbage, beets, and squash...


Every color and type of kale...


Swiss chard...


Carrots (all colors)...



Leeks and spring mix lettuces...


Brussels sprouts,


Jerusalem artichokes,


All types of garlic,


Every color potatoes...


And apples, pears, plums, and more!  All in December!  All local and fresh!


There were hat and mitten vendors, doughnut vendors, vendors of chocolates and soaps...



honey vendors, meat vendors, and vendors of spicy, dill asparagus, too!


We ate cooked mixed veggies and tamales for lunch, with a side of wood-fired pizza, all prepared right at the market...


and were serenaded the whole while.





Now that might seem like a day-full of activity, but after lunch we went to many open houses in the Magnolia neighborhood.

While I've been here I've noticed how many of these I've seen each day...


Today I counted eight!  This must be the the Westphalia home.  I think of you every time I see one, Elise.

Tomorrow morning I jump on the bus for the last time for this visit and wind my way to the airport to head home to Michigan.  Hard to leave...

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Adventure Day

This morning Katelyn asked, "School Day?"  "No, Adventure Day!"

First swimming...

Then playtime with a friend...



On to Snoqualmie Falls.





And into the Cascade Mountains.






And last, but not least, the train museum!




And home again to play with trains before sleep time.


Tomorrow, sleeping in (hopefully) and house hunting.  I'm so grateful to be with family and see the mountains close up.