Traveling skies at 600 mph holds a serene solitude foreign to those traveling highways at 60 mph 40,000 ft. below. Such was mine to embrace returning to the Last Frontier.
I M Blessed . . . May U B 2
Window View
Lunar Eclipse
Last night, for the first time since I hired on as a water boy in the construction of Machu Picchu, the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years occurred. Yep, I snoozed through it.
However, the adage, “You snooze, you lose” is totally valid . . . miss the moon, shoot for the s😊n . . . the next total solar eclipse, the only one of the year and the last total solar eclipse until 2023, is set to take place in a couple weeks on my birthday . . . I’m honored 😊
Unfortunately, it will only be fully visible from Antarctica, with folks in South Africa, Namibia, the southern tip of South America and some islands in the South Atlantic getting a partial show. Anyone wanna’ crowd-fund me a plane ticket? Antarctica would be my first choice, but if you can snag a better deal for Namibia, I’m OK with that 😊 . . . did someone just say, “Maybe, ONE WAY!”?
Anyway, last night I ventured out on the deck again in my bathrobe and slippers at -9 degrees to snap this ‘rare’ after-the-eclipse full-moon picture over the mountains . . . Yes . . . I did remember to leave the door unlocked 😊
“When I consider Your heavens,the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the Son of man that You visit Him? ”
Psalm 8:3-4
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Waters
Calm/Swift . . . Clear/Muddy . . . Turbulent/Tranquil . . . water is a metaphor of life.
Such were where my thoughts drifted on today’s wilderness wander pondering the day when, with those gone before me, I will forever contentedly wander beside the river of “pure . . . clear as crystal “ waters. – Revelation 22:1
1,000 Words
Let the pictures speak them
Single Moms
A couple of single moms with their kids have taken up residence here along with their kids in exchange for shrub pruning and weed control . . . a Win-Win situation 😊
Prince William Sound
Three days of rainy weather tends to dampen one’s spirits. Three days of rainy weather aboard a friend’s boat, rocked to sleep each night on gentle waves, encircled by the magnificent wonders of Prince William Sound’s lifts one’s spirits. Top it off with a stringer of sockeye salmon, and . . . Life is Good! These pictures are proof positive. I M Blessed . . . May U B 2
“Nature – the manuscripts of God”. – John Muir
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Sunshine, Rapids, Shoulders
The photograph was taken the on a wilderness-wander the other day portraying the ambivalence of life’s journey . . . there will always be sunshine above, and tumultuous rapids below. The picture depicts sunshine’s Hope.
A recent totally unexpected, upsetting event threatened capsizing in discouragement’s rapids, but Grace kept me upright. A quote came to mind reminding me not allow yesterday’s failures to destroy today’s joys;
“To live above with the folks we love, that will be glory. To live below with the folks we know, that’s another story.”
Years ago, lamenting to a pastor friend how my life’s foremost, self-imposed failure had affected others and Christianity’s name, he compassionately, but candidly told me,
“It’s not about you Fred. You’re not that important. God and others will survive your failure”.
His words uncovered the root of all sins I’ve struggled with throughout my life . . . ‘I’m important’ self-pride.
Watching the rising sun evaporate clouds off the mountains this morning, a subtle, Divine duality of pride stuck me . . . in my own and the world’s perspective, I’m truly “not that important”. But I . . . the one who wandered away . . . God has undeservedly and sacrificially deemed “most important”, leaving the 99 to carry me back to the flock on His shoulders.
While we proudly take pride celebrating our country’s precious independence and freedom this 4th of July, may we ever remember it’s Him who has been carrying our nation on His shoulders, and endeavor to continue let Him do so in His way, not ours.
Happy 4th of July!
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Trumpeter Swans
Homo sapiens or Cygnus buccinator, no matter the species newborns are universally considered cute and adorable . . . even I was cute once back when dinosaurs roamed the earth 😊.
This afternoon I was blessed paddling my canoe around Fish Lake photographing Mr. & Mrs. Trumpeter and their three new signets.
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come
An Afternoon in Nature
Spent part of the afternoon canoeing Fish Lake visiting a family with a new set of triplets; watching a guy in tuxedo attire putting on a display trying to impress an equally well-dressed gal; and, back on shore, listening to a mother calling her kids from a high-rise . . . ???
In Jungle Book Mogli lingo that translates into three Trumpeter Swan signets hatching out; a male loon strutting his stuff for his girlfriend; and a mother spruce grouse perched in a tree calling her scattered clutch back together 😊
Here’s a few pics of what mine was to savor watching His feathered creatures loving living life in the Last Frontier.
I M Blessed . . . May U B 2
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Glory!
This picture was why I stood, transfixed in total awe, out on our deck at 1 AM this morning . . . the majestic Land of the Midnight Sun.
I M Blessed . . . May U B 2
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Abba's Art 