This good land…

Had to head into the city to do business this past weekend…

I love this bridge and its many happy associations from bygone days when our family was just coming into being.  We lived (temporarily, with Jim’s folks) on one side. The doctor and  hospital on the other.  And right beside the bridge was our favorite park for stopping after the doctor visit  to feed the ducks.  If you were lucky you could entice a wild black squirrel to scamper up your pant leg for a peanut too… Those were sweet days…
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And then there was the Quay in walking distance from the house…
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… and always the tugs…P1050165

There was another special park not far away with the lovely name of Ambleside.  It conjures pictures in my mind to this day of being great with child, our firstborn, and stopping there in the chill fall air, in my great wool Indian sweater and forever baggy sweats to amble a bit…

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We took a stroll there, just the two of us again, this weekend…crisp biting breeze, gorgeous view of the Inlet, with the sun sinking in the west silhouetting the handsome freighters bound for distant lands…

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We headed home the following day…

P1050175A hungry gull spied us on deck munching our cold roast beef.  Almost looked like he’d eat out of my hand…but that bill just doesn’t look too friendly!  I tossed his tidbit to the wind…
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Home again, we’ve had some brilliant sunny days of chill below-zero weather.  Perfect for walks that make your cheeks glow  (and your nose run!)

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…while little birds twitter in the foliage and every ordinary thing seems more beautiful against the white of snow…
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May your days too hold such beauty and such peace.
–LS
“…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” Is.1:18,19

–2011 in Review–

This was the year to round out my half a century on the planet…and the first year in as long as I can remember that I haven’t (at least not yet)  composed a year-end letter…So I’ve been flipping back through old photos to jog my memories…

Another year of many trails and travels—with destinations as close as Scout Mountain and the Ragged Islands and as far away as Alaska and Las Vegas…

January–

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We gained a beautiful granddaughter this year.  Which has of course necessitated more travels to visit…

February–

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And as always, I’ve been out and about capturing the seasons in nature…

March–

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April

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May

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…walking and praying…

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June

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…and watching for seeds planted to begin to grow…

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…and wonders to appear…

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It was a year for a family reunion to celebrate an 80th birthday…

July–

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…and the year for losing my most faithful hiking companion of the four-legged variety, reducing markedly the amount of hiking I’ve done since…

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Instead, I became an A-1 stoker for my life companion!  Oh the miles we did ride and the sweat and smiles we did share…

August–

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September ended in Alaska, giving my mom a hand in making plans for my dad…He’s now in a private care facility in the city, far from home and mom most of the time…waiting to go Home.

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By October the little tykes had grown so much they needed another visit!

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And the rest of the year has found me out and about enjoying the scenery closer to home…

November–

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…continually grateful and amazed at this world God has let us inhabit for another year…

 

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Which brings us ‘round to December again…treasuring family near at hand, carrying on with all the family traditions, for who knows if this will be the last year they are home under this one roof… (gulp)

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Our present to ourselves this year was a (near)new Tandem to replace our homemade and not-as-strong-as-it-should-be relic…We are stoked to start putting on the miles together!

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And that is a smattering of our year here.

Here’s wishing you and yours a God-Blessed New Year!

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–LS, for the Skelton crew…

Parade of Lights

We have this lovely tradition here called the Parade of Lights, in which any boat owner that wills decorates his boat and joins the procession on the given night.  My favorite yachtsman invested time and energy to create this bright spot on the water…

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Now, don’t laugh.  It’s not so easy to take pictures in the pitch dark of night—challenge enough to find the wee spot of light in the inky dark of the camera’s field of view…

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Being a fair-weather sailor I opted to be the spectator for the parade (how else would we have these fabulous pictures anyway? ha,ha! )  And as our “Chase Me” sailed by and the strains of Celtic Christmas music and the laughter of hardier-friends-than-I carried across the water, I snapped some pics…

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Here, behold the winner in the “Best Religious Theme” category.  Fun.  A category was found for each of the six entrants and all were winners!  Now we shall have a free night in a local hotel to celebrate our upcoming 28th anniversary—thanks to the work of my brilliant skipper!

–LS

and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Mt.1:23