I’m scanning old film from when we lived in Europe – and I’m so very glad I took so many pictures! I do so love pictures of castles! It brings me right back to how it felt to stand on the top of tower and look out over miles of green countryside. Or maybe look through a broken archway and wonder what life was like in that very spot 500 years before.
I am so blessed that I got to visit so many beautiful places.
Today it was like someone flipped a switch after our hot week, and the weather turned glorious. I got to spend four hours today out on my balcony reading. And while I read, the birds sang. I love feeling like I’m in the treetops among the birds. It was lovely!
I had such a nice birthday, I posted about it on Sonderjourneys.
I’ll mention it here, too. With the aspect that I got to spend the day however I wanted to. This is a privilege that has not been true all of my life and will not be true all of my life. May I enjoy it!
And I had a lovely, blessed day.
At least one great blue heron likes to frequent my lake. When I first moved here, rather new at being divorced, a friend urged me to look up the “spirit meaning” of herons. Supposedly they represent self-reliance, balance, navigating life’s difficulties with grace. Sounds good!
This month something happened that got me feeling down and alone.
And then I started seeing lots of great blue herons.
On my trip to Chincoteague and Assateague, I hoped to see ponies (and eventually did) – but saw great blue herons each day:
After I got home, when it stopped raining, the first time I took a walk around my lake, there was a heron again.
Then three out of four days this week, when I looked out my window at breakfast, there was a heron. I didn’t even have breakfast at the same time each day.
And finally, I went for another walk around my lake today and saw another one.
I decided I don’t have to feel alone. I can focus on self-reliance and balance. And whatever comes next, I’m going to be able to navigate it with grace.
And besides, it’s really fun to see so many of these beautiful birds!
I took a reading retreat in Chincoteague. I was a little disappointed to only see ponies from a distance. I admit, I prayed and asked to have a closer encounter. I didn’t expect to have one actually pass me on a narrow path on the beach! I then walked for a long way following the pony or parallel to the pony.
It was awesome.
I do love going hiking. My kids know that, and agreed to go hiking with me, but I don’t know if they know that part of the reason I love to go hiking is that when I was a kid, the only time I got to do it was when we were on vacation going to Oregon. And often we would go to Silver Falls State Park to do it.
Growing up in the Los Angeles area, the idea that I can walk out of my house and walk in the woods still blows me away.
But it was extra nice to hike at Silver Falls State Park on this vacation. And I really believe that I remember South Falls – and going behind the falls – from a much shorter perspective.
Anyway, it was a lovely day for walking in the woods with my kids. And they didn’t even complain when we got caught in a rainstorm at the end!
The weather was beautiful today! Lovely cool breezes blowing and a blue sky with white puffy clouds. Glimpses of the great blue heron when I went for a walk. Bird song when I sat out on my balcony. Just so nice.
Yes, I got to travel to South Carolina and stay with a friend – and I got to see the Total Solar Eclipse today!
Now, I got to see one in 1999 in Germany – but clouds covered the sun a few *seconds* before it went total. That time, we got to see darkness, and we got to see the partial eclipse leading up to totality. But we didn’t actually get to see the moon covering the sun.
This time, I did – and it was incredible! Awe-inspiring and wonderful.
Mind you, there was a cloud right next to the sun just before it went total – and I was SO afraid it would happen again! But no! I really got to see it! The sun’s corona around the moon was amazing.
I’m so thankful I got to see it!
I checked out one of the Nature Backpacks from Fairfax County Public Library – which included a free pass to any Virginia State Park.
The two closest state parks are Sky Meadows and Mason Neck. I checked weather, and Sky Meadows was 5 degrees cooler today. Unfortunately, I failed to realize that at Mason Neck, I probably wouldn’t have hiked up a mountainside in direct sunlight. But anyway, I had a lovely time, got a major workout, did not get heatstroke, and lost a lot of weight in the form of sweat!
But – it was a beautiful time! I hope to return – in Autumn or Spring or maybe even Winter.
I live on the edge of the DC suburbs. One of my friends from church lives almost an hour further out – totally in the countryside.
Yesterday, I went out and spent a few hours at her place. And my soul was fed. (Deer and birds were fed, too!)
