Bow Valley, AB – Page 13 – Skelton Sketches

Getting ready

Posted on October 20, 2016April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

We got a foreshadowing of winter this week, with mostly freezing temperatures and a thin blanket of snow that has only today melted completely. So the snow tires are now on the van. And our tandem rides are numbered, if not done for the season.

Even with thick lobster gloves (two fingers and a thumb) and all sorts of extra layers it’s still cold for riding!

The grass peeking through looks like day-old stubble— It’s time to shave!

These grasses look so much more graceful with a snowy backdrop…

And every last bit of color shines!

The larch trees are stunning!

And I love this fiery little aspen:

and the color-coordinated lichen!

But alas the tall trio of aspens I’ve been watching out the window are stark naked now:

And yet, beautiful.

–LS

We celebrated a quiet thanksgiving this week and are grateful for our cozy home– among multitudinous other greater blessings—God’s nearness, God’s forgiveness, and the hope that knowing Him brings to every day no matter the season!

And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat…. Acts 27:35 KJV

Oh Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! I Chr. 16:34

First dusting…

Posted on October 7, 2016April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

On a misty moisty Monday morning before I’d left the cozy covers of my bed
there was a distinct clippity clop just outside the window– hooves on cobbled rock.
I didn’t get to the window quick enough; the fugitive elk was gone. But perhaps he was just a decoy, for heading into the kitchen to peer out the front window I discovered visitors at my doorstep.

Do you see him here? A pair of elk had found my recovering petunias tucked up against the house and were having a gourmet breakfast at my door—a mother and her yearling. The youngster caught sight of me first. His mother had her head in the pot, polishing off the straggles. But the silly flash spooked her on the second go and she jumped backward, upsetting the pot, upsetting the bikes and steering her charge to safety at the perimeter of our yard…

So that’s that for flowers—for real this time.

But there is still the beauty of the grasses…

And though I don’t have my own pumpkin patch, I did buy a little pumpkin to practice on…

Oops…a bit of a squash! ha.

But the news of the week is that we’ve had our first dusting of snow, harbinger of skiing days to come!

Just enough snow to make the subject of my daily tidbit to add to October’s collage…

And that has been our week. How about yours?!

–LS

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning…Lam 3:21-23

Leafing through September…

Posted on September 29, 2016April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

I’ve been collecting a leaf a day all month, to capture the essence of September on paper. Though most of the fall color here is shades of gold, there is plenty of variation when you stoop to see closely!

We had ourselves an easy hike in Banff this week, skirting Tunnel Mountain…

It was just the kind of hike that makes me feel so alive!!

So let me pass a glimmer of what I saw on to you ( :

Our destination was this little group of hoodoos…

which seemed rather lack luster to us, having seen Bryce Canyon in Arizona…

But that’s ok—the process of getting there was a treat (mostly).

A burning bush along the way:

I attended a watercolor workshop earlier that day in Banff. This mountain was our subject.
A guest First Nations man told tales while we tried to capture the picture on paper…

He said there’s power in the mountains and some Indians, including himself, aren’t strong enough to stand living here. (He lives on the prairies.) He alluded to a creator that noone really knows much about, except that he’s given us all this and there’s no way we can repay him/her. So they revere the creation and have ceremonies acknowledging their indebtedness. Meanwhile myths and superstitions have filled the void of not-knowing and many are the stories that are told, attributing god-like power to creatures and denying the Creator…

And I thought, how sad—to recognize the grandeur but miss the identity of the Creator ‘for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.’

And my thought is that if there’s perceptible power in these mountains it is just this—they speak of God’s power and majesty! They are a constant reminder of His nearness to His people.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people
from this time forth and forever. Ps.125:2 NKJV

Meanwhile back home the skies and the meadows and the golden splashes of autumn continue to inspire praise!

And it occurs to me that perceiving beauty is all about the way the light shines…

The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.Jn.1:9,10 NLT

But thanks be to God—

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. II Cor.4:6

–LS

I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Ps.142:5