Abba's Art

Tag: Landscapes

  • Sanctuary

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    Fred D
    in

    As a child each summer was spent with my mother, siblings and grandparents at their cabin in Promised Land, PA . . . and indeed it was . . . my childhood sanctuary.  From sunup to sundown I delighted roaming its forests and streams . . . and a virtual little John Muir was born…

  • Feral Family Gathering

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    Fred D
    in

    One of the joys of living in the ‘wilds’ up on the mountain – down in the ‘holler’ – by the ‘crick’ in the Great Smokies is enjoying the impromptu, ‘Stop By Anytime’ visits from the interesting menagerie of our friendly feral neighbors. “All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all.“ We…

  • Volcanoes and Bucket Lists

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    Fred D
    in

    We’re in the midst of a several day Smoky Mountains liquid deluge. While grateful for the needed rainfall, it dampens my desire to go outside on wander woods wanders or splash around in the creek re-arranging boulders to create reflecting pools. It’s not cold enough to turn the landscape white and snap on a pair…

  • Frozen Wonder

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    Fred D
    in

    It’s been a tad ‘chilly’ here in the Smokies lately. Folks here aren’t accustomed to lotsa’ snowflakes and ‘black ice’, or even regular ice other than ice cubes when the thermometer bounces around zero . . . it’s definitely not Alaska Virginia 😊 The magnificent winter wonderland surrounding our home up here in the mountains…

  • Happy Place

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    Fred D
    in

    Each of us has our special ‘Happy Place’ where our soul is most at peace. For some it’s walking along a beach, feeling the warm sand beneath your feet, listening to the surf’s rhythmic beat. For others, it’s being immersed in a city’s bright lights, activities and cacophony of sounds . . . never quiet…

  • Masked Messenger

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    Fred D
    in

    “Parting is such sweet sorrow” . . . Juliet’s poignant words to Romeo from the balcony echo mine from the Greatland’s snow-capped cathedrals as we pack-up to board high speed aluminum tubing on Monday, soaring through the skies for the Great Smoky Mountains. Lord willing, however, as Arnold often touted . . .  “I’ll be…

  • Peace on High

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    Fred D
    in

    ‘Invigorating’, below freezing wake-up temps have dramatically increased our wood stove’s log appetite; added windshield ice scraping to the car’s start-up routine; and nixed shorts and T-shirts as hiking attire . . . welcome to the Last Frontier 😊 From my admittedly, rural biased perspective, Anchorage, like all urban areas, is peacefully appealing . .…

  • Last Frontier Dinner Date

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    Fred D
    in

    Sunday morning we awoke to an invigorating 30 degrees and the mountains coated with a fresh layer of termination dust. By afternoon temps had risen to a balmy 50 degrees and my permanent girlfriend and I headed up the road to Long Rifle. A rustic,  pure Alaskan restaurant, it’s perched on the mountainside overlooking the…

  • Oceanfront Splendor

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    Fred D
    in

    Like oceanfront property? Me too, and Alaska has 33,904 miles of it. Yesterday my son Grant and I were treated to a bird’s eye view of fall’s splendor adorning Turnagain Arm’s shoreline hiking the mountainsides south of Anchorage . . . God’s fingerprints imprinted the vistas we savored together. “He gathers the waters of the…

  • Glimpsing Eternity

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    Fred D
    in

    I’m often asked why Alaska is where my soul finds its Shalom. Watching in silent awe as my Abba sets the heavens ablaze at dawn is but one reason that overwhelms my senses in grateful wonder  . . . I glimpse Eternity “If I rise on the wings of dawn, if I settle on the…