June 2016 – Skelton Sketches

Even Solomon in all his glory…

Posted on June 25, 2016April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

The wedding was beautiful. My niece was lovely. Her bridesmaids were radiant…

Then everyone went home and I was left with time to browse through the rose garden at Colonial Park with my aunt…

……and the next day to wander alone down the historic Delaware/Raritan Canal tow path in the land of my childhood.

It was splendid!

Ginormous snapping turtles lounged on logs all along the way defying my efforts to capture their likeness…Lush growth of poison ivy kept me from getting too close….

All the while the heady sweet scent of honeysuckle accompanied me.

When I reached Bound Brook I found the grand building that was once my grade school,

and the old library where I sat in the Children’s Department one Saturday forty-some years ago and learned to crochet!

For lunch I found an old sub shop on Main Street, that’s been there forever, and got myself an authentic Italian Sub before having a quiet meander through the ancient cemetery beside the library……reading old gravestones with their stately fonts and quaint orthography…

”The Church We Say hath Suffurd
Dere Frind By your Deceace.
The Crown is Won theres no more …
For you But Endless Peace.
As you are now So once was I…
Helth and Strenth though here [I lie]…
and as I am now So you must Be.
Prepare for Death and Follow me.”

“Here lies what is mortal of James Harris who died Aug.1,1813 in the 59 year of his age.
Confined by death to shade of night,
He lies conceal’d from mortal sight.
Till Jesus from the lofty skies,
Shall bid his slumb’ring dust arise.”

“To the memory of John Runyon son of Peter and Phebe Runyon who died Sept.11th 1822 aged 6 years and 2 months. His fond parents has erected this humble monument.”

Earlier in the week I walked with my mom through the graveyard where my own kin and those of my friends are buried—all these saints who have gone before us to what is truly glory. It sits beside the old church building we called ‘The Assembly Hall’ where I prayed at the altar to ask Jesus to be my Saviour when I was just 10 or so…

Lindy Lake lies just beyond. Here I skated in winter and counted goslings in summer, had school picnics, picked strawberries and passed by endlessly walking home from school or just taking a lovely walk…But alas, not a decent picture have I. It’s best in the mind’s eye I suppose.

Well… it was a wonderful and nostalgic trip ‘home’ to Zarephath, NJ, the perfect occasion to see cousins I haven’t seen in a dozen years—seems to take a wedding (or a funeral) to gather us from hither and yon! I will spare you all the pictures of kith and kin, except for these three…

of siblings (and Mom!),

of COUSINS!

and of my favorite sister!!

I end on this curious note—I love this little vent sitting quietly and unnoticed over the decades looking like a mushroom. I wonder if anyone has thought to take a picture of it before now…

‘Tis all for now–

–LS

A Little of this and a little of that…

Posted on June 19, 2016April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

I Have been wondering where the sweet scent in the air lately is coming from—couldn’t see any flowering bushes, just a lot of silvery leaves, but then I took a closer look. They may be tiny but there are profusions of tiny yellow bells dangling under the leaves and they give off a strong musky, sweet scent.

It’s called a “Wolf Willow”, and produces a mealy berry, thus the alternate name, ‘Silver Berry’. Apparently it produces beautiful seeds that have traditionally been used to make necklaces! I’d better keep an eye on these bushes. No doubt the bears and elk will be too!

Well since last post we’ve done a bit of riding on the tandem—climbed Mount Norquay in Banff in hopes of a fast descent, only to be foiled by a strong headwind. Ski runs always look strange without the snow…

And we had a bit of company this week and did a bit of hiking…

We got to see an owl’s nest with its bumbling fluffy young hopping about on a cliff face. But the pictures left everything to the imagination… so it was fun to find a close-up nest along the trail down, even if these aren’t owls!

We’ve done a lot of settling into our own nest this past week—the best part is getting to unpack the kiddie books and toys for the grandkids… and cluttering the fridge with memories of when ours were young…

I couldn’t get through spring without a few plants,

so now there are flowers at the door and a fig tree on the mantle..

. ahhh…that’s better!

And we’ve had spectacularly warm weather, my favorite kind– though they say it won’t last…

And I’ve found a play/work space and have been dabbling in color.

God does this too–

And that’s the latest from our nest.

–LS

Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men… Col.3:23

Where We Live…

Posted on June 1, 2016April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

A bit of history and a lot of scenery is what we’ve got here…

We live in what was once coal-mining territory, but one could hardly guess it. Apart from some black shiny rocks that still appear on the surface and some mysterious fenced off areas that protect us from plummeting to our deaths down some ventilation hole to mine shafts miles below…(Well, I think that’s what they’re for anyway!) Apart from these this area has been reclaimed very nicely for tourism and golf courses (where building is prohibited because of mine shafts below!) and great swaths of scenery ( :

These photos are from the paved bike trail that connects our home to Jim’s job in town. He gets to pedal along here every morning. I join him on the very odd occasion for lunch in town, thus the pictures…

These are the Three Sisters peaks which stand behind our home…

And here is a wee bit of modern history…

I was just wondering aloud this week where the town got its name, as we will definitely be canning less, not more, here as we no longer have fruit trees or a garden… Here’s the scoop.

Tis all for today. No hikes this week.

-LS

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Ps.145:3 ESV