Nelson, BC – Skelton Sketches

Ready for spring?

Posted on March 9, 2016April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

The quiet of snow…

of gliding across landscapes chockfull of it…

is coming to an end.

The mountains are full up with an eight foot base of snow,

but spring is coming…

Snowy stillness is giving way to the sound of water rushing, gurgling, dripping as it dissolves winter’s icy grip.

Birds sing again. First robins. Chickadees too. The ravens are no longer alone.

The quiet glory of snow has given way to the silent wonder of swelling buds

with their reminder that winter’s stark glory will soon be surpassed.

I am watching and waiting…

And I am quite lichen the green of it! ( :

How about you?

–LS

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Rev.21:5

“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed…” I Cor.15:51,52

Leaving Tracks…

Posted on February 6, 2016April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

Skiing and doodling are two new things I’m applying myself to in this season of my life, just because they are at hand and I have the time. And because I need to overcome the associated fears. Of falling. Of breaking. Of embarrassing myself. Of failing…

At face value they may not look like much. And if you’ve been looking at pictures here this winter you’ve already seen enough snow!

But in the practicing there have been lessons. Valuable ones, that go beyond the actual skill that grows with each effort.

How to fall. How to get up. How to bid shaking knees be strong and stride on…

I’ve learned that a drawing starts with one tentative line. Mistakes can be redeemed, lines re-routed, or bad starts entirely scrapped with no earth-shattering consequence.

Ability is relative. Doubting whether I can succeed is no reason not to try.
Committing to try, today, and tomorrow and the next day… is the first step to succeeding, or failing. Which will it be? Who’s to say? At least I can show up and see what happens. There will be surprises either way!

I have learned I can laugh at myself. I can go “poof” into a snow drift at a sharp curve in a slick downhill trail and roll over and get up and try it again. You will never see those pictures. I need not keep a record of the times I fail…

I can tackle a drawing that looks so beyond me I wonder why I’m trying, and well, it may be, the first time. But there’s a glimmer of something good and practice may yet render a pleasing effect. I’ll never know if I don’t try.

Fear dies hard. Balance takes time to achieve. Training muscles and fingers and reflexes and undoing lifelong thought patterns takes time… and continuance…

These things I’m learning as I show up at the snowy trail and the snow-white page
and commence to leave tracks.

–LS

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them…” Eph.2:10

2015 in Retrospect

Posted on January 30, 2016April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

It was a year ago this week that we made our initial move away from the coast to limboland. It was the day after my 53rd birthday. We left house and home with just a little trailer full of home-making essentials…

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…to set up housekeeping with Jim’s Dad in the Kootenays for a bit and see where God might lead us all.

It’s been a year of discovering seasons and nature’s bounty in a new place,

of connecting more often with our grandkids,

of making a few new friends and

of learning a few new skills. It’s been a good year.

Discovering Seasons and Nature’s Bounty…

The snow receded early in the Kootenays…

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and we began to discover the world at our new doorstep.

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By early April we were out on our tandem–

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This is quite the place to cycle—lots of hills, and mountains!

With the coming of spring, I realized that flowers I thought I’d left behind, bloom here too…

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And there were new ones coming up in profusion among the pine needles…

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Out my window a young oak replaced my beloved willow… P5060558

With the coming of spring a buyer was found for our left-behind- house. So April found us back in Powell River boxing up 12 years of family life.

We had moved in as a family…

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We left as a two-some…

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The day we moved, our last fledgling flew, off to Alaska to join her Grandma. P1170307

Good-bye Powell River… [IMG_20150418_200559630_HDR%255B4%255D.jpg]

Our nest here has been lined with boxes every since, as we wait to see what will be our next home…

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Summer here was hotter and drier, which we didn’t mind a bit!

Familiar faces bloomed in my wee bit of garden

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And we went to our second Tandem Rally—back to the coast, Bellingham, Washington.

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In all, we pedalled 2,000 miles together in 2015!

One perk of pedalling down the highway was catching sight of all the wayside fruit! Free for the picking—Cherries, Saskatooon berries and delicious apples! [IMG_20150625_1113018584.jpg]

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And then summer had passed…

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But fall was so beautiful we coudn’t begrudge its coming P1180820

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The glory of yellowing larches was new to us…They extended the fall color.

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It has been good to be nearer extended family too. Thanksgiving was a great feast shared with siblings, nieces and a host of progeny…

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The visitors to the yard have been different here. The black bears have brown noses and are very clever…

And the turkeys come gobbling just in time for Thanksgiving…

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and Elk come looking for winter grub…

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Enjoying the Grandkids

We now live ever so much closer to our favorite little people—a mere 8- hour drive away through some of the most beautiful Parks in the world…

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We have been back and forth to Calgary more than half a dozen times this year trying to keep up with birthdays and such.

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six

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We even got in our first camping trip all together! And our first family bike ride too!

Spray Lake panorama

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Discovering New places with New friends…

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Despite the want of ocean views, the Kootenays have some pretty spectacular scenery and we’ve made a start at discovering trails and the people that walk them…

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A new friend introduced me to a new hobby– birdwatching!

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Learning New Skills

Pine trees rise all around us here, and some of them have foot-long needles!

[P1180721%255B3%255D.jpg] [IMG_20150824_173245682_HDR%255B3%255D.jpg] So… I tackled something I never imagined I could learn…

IMG_20150916_204904808 And now I suppose just about everyone in the family owns a hand-made pine needle creation! If you don’t and you’d like to… you know who to ask ( :

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Living in snow country, we figured it would be better to enjoy winter than to languish indoors wishing it away, so within a week of arriving last winter, we had purchased cross-country skiis and commenced to learn how to use them!

IMG_20150204_112235753_HDR The season ended early last year but this year we’ve put in many miles (135 miles for me at last count!). It’s been terrific for morale to get outside and glide along through pristine wilderness. And for me it has been a personal triumph over unwarranted fears.

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That pretty much brings us to the present. I expect we’ll be out skiing again tomorrow…This re-cap of the year has been too long but there is just one note to add…

FERRIES.

When we left the coast we thought we were done with ferries—but no, there are three of them in our vicinity. They have short runs, crossing rivers rather than ocean straits. But the best part is, they’re free!

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And that concludes my year of being 53 without a home to call my own. I expect we’ll look back on it fondly, though now it seems like a perplexing bit of limbo for us. We are in Good Hands.

–LS

“Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!” Ps.23:6