Wrapping up 2014—all gift!

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As a New Year rolls in I’m looking in the rear-view mirror so to speak, at all that has passed this year… P1160487

Week by week I’ve left its traces here in pictures.  But this year looking back is bittersweet.  The remembering is laced with the sadness of loss.

For eleven years these gifts have been ours—the natural beauties of the Pacific Northwest—the water, the trees, the garden, the flowers…I have loved them. Dearly. The freedom to tromp all about in a world akin to a National Park (minus the fees and the people) has been a priceless gift.  But now that we’re moving the pictures that re-cap the year remind me of gifts I must leave behind… I can take only the reminders, these pictures, and a grateful heart for all these blessings.

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As we move toward snow country,

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we will leave behind rain-forest and ocean with their now predictable seasons…

February’s snow drops and pussy willows…P1140291snowdrops

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Spring’s skunk cabbage and wild currant blooms

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Fruit trees and rhubarb coming to life…

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Summer’s garden time

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and familiar hikes to favorite viewpoints…

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Fall’s harvest will be different too this year…P1160244P1150885IMG_20140823_164037128

 

And snow not so rare and valued…P1140270P1140279P1140236

Looking back I suspect these are things I will miss

but then again, there are other things we may not miss too much  [P1140336%255B7%255D.jpg]P1140331P1140915

What I cannot see is what lies just ahead…

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Last year at this time we had an empty nest. It was just the two of us at the table not knowing what to expect.

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And yet the year has been a good one…

 

 

 

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April highlight—a trip to visit my sis

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May—our flown away chick returned!P1140913P1140907

 

June—My mom came to visit!

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And we gained a daughter as well!DSC_7744

 

We spent more hours than ever riding together this year—2,200 miles worth of sights and sweat!

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IMG_20140804_135216772Pender tandem ride

Care to join us for a virtual ride down the hill nearest our home?

 

 

 

 

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We hope to see more of these special small fry this year…

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But look as we may, only God knows what will transpire in our lives.

My hero

 

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Come what may, we can rest in knowing He will be in it with us, just as He has been in the past.

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I can’t think of a better way to close here than with the words of an old hymn a friend reminded me of today. I needed them.

Be still, my Soul

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Words: Katharina Von Schlegel, 1752 Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Jane L. Borthwick, 1855.

[Click to Listen here]

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From our house to yours:
We wish for you a New Year blessed in the knowledge of the nearness and sovereignty of God.

–LS

Cincinnati Sightings…

No trip is complete without a bike ride…My sister courageously consented to  go riding with me! 

We had a grand bit of pedaling down a quiet wooded trail along the Little Miami River…

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We stopped along the way to have a closer look at wayside flowers, of course…P1140475P1140479P1140496P1140499…completing a delightful 26 miles or so before our rental time elapsed. 

If you’re ever in these parts look up this paved trail running from Loveland to the ‘beyond’ in both directions.  Peaceful, quaint, and refreshing terrain, with NO HILLS!

 

And then there’s downtown Cincinnati—an interesting mix of old and new…

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in various stagesP1140536 of decay or restoration…

 

But I am a walk-in-the-woods sort of girl…

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And these woods are so like the ones by which I grew up. 

The may apples are raising their umbrellas…P1140589P1140593And the Violets and Spring Beauties are showing their faces, just as they did in the springs of my childhood.

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Only we are now children only in our memories…P1140611 

 

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And they are good ones!

P1140697–LS

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. I Cor.13:11-12

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Photos taken in Loveland, downtown and Washington Park, Mt. Airy Forest park, and Eden Park…

Cincinnati Scenes…

I flew to visit my sister this week…  I was greeted by temps nearing 80…

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…which then plunged to winter’s chill and dropped snow overnight!

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I love the old architecture in the vicinity!

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We both loved this one best…

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But this is home, sweet home.

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Experiencing local culture necessitated a trip to: Jungle Jim’s a most quirky and colorful international market!

Everything from pig snouts and tongues to fine teas and gourmet chocolates…

IMG_20140414_200534304IMG_20140414_202517893IMG_20140414_211204426 And a very lot of exotic produce in between.

But comfort food in these parts comes from:

Skyline Chili

IMG_20140415_213048990IMG_20140415_210535914_HDR “Skyline Chili” is a secret-recipe chili of supposedly Greek origin, with an unexpected touch of cinnamon.  It’s served on spaghetti pasta topped with a mound of shredded cheese.  This is a “three-way”.
For a “four-way” you add chopped onions OR beans.  And for a “five-way” you add BOTH onions and beans.  I tried a ‘five-way’.  Tasty but not comfort food.  Apparently the taste grows on you.  Many locals love it.

And that’s what I’ve seen of Cincinnati so far…

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Heather and Lindy

–LS