We thought we were done with ferries. Not so.
But this ferry to nowhere was free…
And it was the gateway to a beautiful bit of trail 
with a lot of quiet at the end…
and a lighthouse!
On the return trip
I stood alone on the end of the deck,
imagining a far-away Strait to a familiar place we once called home…
–LS
“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you…”Gen.26:3
I will sojourn in thy tent for ever; I will take refuge in the covert of thy wings. Selah. Ps.61:4DBY
I for beauty, they for food, we both ended up in the garden, the chickadees and I, in this little patch above the stone wall where burgundy bush beans and basil shared their bed all summer with a trio of sunflowers, a row of marigolds and some aphid-ridden calendula.
The joy of distraction was the story of my morning—there at my newly appointed writing desk I sat looking out the window alternately with writing. A glorious bough of oak leaves translucent with morning sun hangs just above my head,
letting loose every so often, a leaf to catch my eye in its sashaying descent.
Have you ever caught a picture of a falling leaf?
Me either. But I’ve been wanting to! Perhaps today? But no, must…sit…still…and…write…
Then came the chickadee.
The rest of the morning is history, spent with the warm sun at my back, my camera poised, chickadee calls in my ears…taking pictures, lots of pictures…of distant blobs barely detectable as birds, of dead sunflowers, of dead airspace where once there was a bird (or a falling leaf), of green and gold backdrops and drooping sunflowers…of the blur of wingbeats…
and finally of actual chickadees, who let me approach to within a couple arm lengths 
and who turned out to be quite the saucy posers, as curious of me as I of them.
We both went about our business in the end.
They got my seeds, I their pictures.
A morning well spent ( :
(I even caught some leaves in free-fall!)
So glad am I for the digital age where literally hundreds of shots can be taken and discarded in pursuit of the one that captures what the eye sees…For I am no photographer, only a poser who persists out of hunger to capture the beauty…
And I’m so glad I planted sunflowers! ( :
–LS
This chorale piece seems fitting…
We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend with a quick trip out to the prairies
to connect with a multitude of Skelton offspring. 
Here are four generations of Skelton men…
The progenitor of them all came along with us! What a treat, to see the towns along the way through his eyes, including the church where he was married some 60 years ago!
The weather was idyllic for travel and the mountains are festive with their gold trimmings. 
Larch trees are new to us. They are deciduous conifers, meaning they resemble a standard evergreen with needles and cones, but they turn yellow and lose all their needles in the fall. In the process whole monochromatic mountainsides are dramatically transformed.
And of course the other deciduous trees do their part,
bringing glory to even this pine-beetle ravaged swath of mountainside.
For fall color and for family I am grateful, and not to be taken for granted is safe travel. We made a short detour to take in beautiful Lake Louise
and were reminded of our visit here last November. This was our final sight-seeing stop before the crash that jolted us into some very big life changes. It is as though Lake Louise bookmarks in my mind the end of a chapter in our lives. 
So much has changed for us in a year’s time.
And though we don’t know what this next chapter will bring, we are thankful for all the way the Lord has led and kept us, and for the family he has blessed us with!
–LS
Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His Name, make known HIs deeds among the peoples…Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Is.12:4,5