My favorite Spring hike

Last September I hiked Sweathouse Creek Canyon as far as the falls. This week some friends and I returned & found the canyon gloriously dressed in a multitude of flowering plants & trees, as well as cool with the spray from the roaring creek & falls on a warm day.

Sweathouse Creek Canyon

The Oregan Grape seemed to love the mist from the falls and boasted 4-5 blooms on each plant. The tiny Bluelips found the shade and most woody soil, as did the wild strawberry plants. The canyon's floor was littered with fallen older trees, but the youngsters were around as well. We again examined the flat needles of the fir, the multiple needles in a bundle on the soft Western Larch, and the different types of pines & their characteristics. The mixed pine & flower fragrances, the sound of the rushing creek or the thundering falls, & the glorious sites kept us wishing this hike would never end.

The Falls area

A few Trillium were still in bloom at the heights near the Falls amongst the joint grass. We also found tiny, pink Fairy Slipper (Calypso). The rush of water captures fallen logs & brush in many places along the roaring creek.

Sweathouse Creek Falls Hike

In my series of Wednesday morning hikes, Sweathouse Creek Falls was our destination this week. The Lupine was now blooming along with the Penstamen. At the lower elevations, chokecherry bushes were loaded with their elongated white flowers. We made mental notes to return in the Fall to pick the chokecherries. They cook into a delicious pancake & waffle syrup or jam.
At the higher elevations the Solomon's Seal blooms were along the trail, often mixed in with many of the other Spring wildflowers. Sweathouse Creek is smaller than Kootenai & Bass Creeks, but still reflected the Spring run-off.

Trees and mystery bloom

One of the hikers with me knows a lot about the native plants & trees in our area. Here is one flowering plant she did not know. It smells strongly like a rose, but its white bloom does not look like a rose to me. Laura also taught us about types of trees by looking at the needles. The firs had friendly flat needles, while the spruce had triangular shaped needles in cross-section. The Lodge Pole Pine has 2 needles in a bundle, the Ponderosa has 3 in a bundle & White Pine has 5 in a bundle. Does anyone know the name of the mystery flower?

More of the Kootenai Creek Hike

Snowcapped mountain peaks teased our gaze upward, while the blooming blue Climatus, Oregon Grape (which is yellow now, but turns purple later in the summer), the light purple to pink Shooting Stars, the orange & red Indian Paintbrush, the blue Larkspur, the white wild strawberries, yellow dill-looking plant blooms, Blue Lips & light pink Kinnikinnick painted the landscape all around us. God had created the most wonderful wild garden for our benefit!!

Kootenai Creek Canyon in the Spring

The temperature last Wednesday was 90 degrees plus, so Kootenai Creek was roaring down the canyon from the melting mountain-top snow run-off as I hiked with three friends. The white frothy water was a warning to not try crossing the creek. Blooming Spring wildflowers were everywhere. The single purple Trillium blooms and bunched yellow Balsamroot which we saw last week in Bass Creek Canyon were still around. Lining the trail this week were the smaller yellow Arnika flowers & white blooms of the service berry bushes. Arnika is added to massage creams in this area to soothe sore muscles.

Bass Creek Trillium, Woodpecker Tree & Spring Runoff

Wednesday was clear, warm & perfect for a spring hike with friends. We hiked the couple of miles up the trail to the small dam. The creek was white water almost the whole way with spring run-off water. We stopped frequently to snap photos of the wild flowers along the way. The trillium were everywhere...white flowered in the shade and purplish in the sun. We examined a wonderful old woodpecker tree. Isn't it great that age doesn't keep us from being useful?!

Antrum Point Revisited

After Esther had finished the last two exam portions of her GED on Friday, Sherry & Ruth shared a quick hike with me to the top of Antrum Point. Sherry took some photos that I hope she will share on her blog. There were blue shooting stars and yellow balsamroot blooming in bunches all over the conservancy land. We didn't find any Bitterroot blooming yet. They will come in June. We stopped at the "Lover's seat" before heading home.

All wrung out

Louis has two teeth that have been bothering him. I finally was able to get him to the dentist today after one of the teeth broke. The dentist spent three plus hours on two root canals & hopes to save one of the teeth. The other will have to be pulled. This is about how he looks and feels this evening. We have had more dental work done in our fifties than all our other years put together. Is this typical of midage? We floss and brush regularly and stay away from sodas most of the time... yet, here we are - always in debt to our favorite dentist.

YOM HA ATZMA'UT - Happy Birthday, ISRAEL!

How many of you remembered that May 3rd was the Israeli Independence Day? That's according to the Jewish calendar - Iyar 5, 1948. Iyar 5 fell on the Gregorian date of May 14, 1948 when the United Nations voted to support the declaration of Israel as an independent nation where Jewish people could again live on their own. Many folks see Israel's independence as a modern miracle. If you know the Scriptures, this miracle should come as no surprise. God did just as He promised! (Genesis 12:1-3...13:14-17) Isaiah 66:8 "Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." This verse also speaks of a coming day when the remnant of Israel will all be saved in one day & spared from the anti-Christ by the coming of the King of Kings & Lord of Lords!

Did you also know that the above flag of Israel is a talit (prayer shawl) with the star of David sewn on to it? The assistant to David Ben Gurion was given only a few hours in Geneva back in 1948 to come up with a national flag. He walked all over Geneva, praying and looking at flags of other countries. During the last hour, he was struck with the thought that a talit looked much like a flag. He added the star of David with a marker, I believe. It became the accepted flag.

Three Things Thursday - Favorite Pets

Ari, Genny & Tana - our wonderful goldens!

When my heart is breaking because of my past choices or the choices of my daughter, God has given me three faithful golden retrievers to show me His love. The middle retriever, Genny, is on permanent loan to a friend in her 80's, who is legally blind and needs a companion. Except for the hair that they continually shed, I can think of no flaws in these dear pets.

Special Olympics

We are boarding two extra horses, whose owners pay enough to cover the hay for all of our animals. This has been a true blessing. The owner of "Diego", a whitish half Paso-Fino and half Arabian mare, is somewhat disabled after a car accident years ago. Steve has severe seizures & even has a dog trained to help him realize when one of the seizures is about to begin. Because of his disability, Steve is able to participate in Special Olympics events. He asked if we could transport Diego to the Missoula Equestrian Park for one of those events this past Friday. (Diego is the horse standing just in back of the water trough in the photo.) I had never driven our Yukon pulling the horsetrailer, but was willing to try. So I asked the Lord to help me drive carefully & was treated with safety and a wonderfully up-beat day. The weather was absolutely glorious in the high 60 degrees with clear blue skies. Steve was one of 50 or 60 very special people there, whom God gifted with extra-difficult physical or mental needs. Oh, but most of them were so open with their friendliness and their delight in being helped to ride loaned horses through gates, over bridges, etc. in the trail portion of the events. The whole atmosphere was gilded with helpfulness and caring. The volunteers included teens, retired ranchers and cowboys, YMCA workers & a couple of ambulance attendants. I see & feel that same type of caring whenever Louis & I go up the hill to a resthome called "Kathy's Place". We go on Sundays after church and spend an hour or so singing old hymns with around eight of the dear folks who call it home. Margaret, in her mid-90's, is the most mentally alert and best singer. Ruth will hum with us if we spend a little extra time encouraging her to do it. Others show their appreciation by swinging their feet to the beat or just wanting to be helped to the main living area where our singing takes place. We find that taking time for others in these ways always enriches our lives. I did flatten one of our flower barrels by our gate while attempting to drive back into our driveway with the horsetrailer. Guess my mothers' day gift is a given this year. We have three large geraniums that we nursed through the winter for our gateway barrels. One is now without a container.

And now there are 10...the fox returned.

The two pullets, who flew the coop the most, were both white spangled spitzers - a new breed for us. They had floppy cute feathers on the top of their heads. Yes, I said "had". Louis could not get them back into the chicken yard night before last, although he certainly tried. We hadn't seen the fox since last fall, so he decided to take the risk overnight. When we checked in the morning, we found a small pile of white feathers in front of the chicken yard & another pile in the southeast corner of the yard. Just outside our pasture, in our adjoining neighbor's pasture was a much larger pile of white feathers where the meal must have been eaten. This is the end result of "flying the coop" when there is danger always lurking. This is why I am constantly praying when Esther is not at home.

Flying the Coop

This is the color of a couple of our chickens - the Rhode Island Reds. After the fox got all but two of our previous chickens, Louis reinforced the electric fencing around the chicken yard. Then in March we traded egg cartons for five pullet laying hens and a couple weeks later bought five more from a neighbor. We now own a couple of hens of 5 or 6 different varieties. Our dozen hens are without a rooster, which is fine with me. One less obstacle when we need to gather the eggs.

About a week ago, we noticed some interesting behavior in the chicken yard. Several of the younger hens were tired of being confined & found a way to escape the electric fenced chicken yard. They would back up to the far east of the yard, facing the fence between their yard & the area in which we have our six sheep penned. Then using most of the chicken yard as a runway, they would run two/thirds of the way to the fence and then start flapping their wings to fly over the fencing. After only one or two tries, several pullets succeeded in flying out of their chicken yard. We pray this will not expose them to the cunning fox of yore. Our original two survivors are too heavy to copy the younger hens' behavior. They seem content to take a dirt bath instead.

The young adult that lives off & on in our home, shares some of these chicken traits. When we tighten or strengthen the boundaries meant for her safety, she finds ways to fly out of the home area. Actually, it's usually driving out in her snazzy, red Pontiac Grand Am. Thankfully, tonight she is out, but attending her first Young Life meeting with Sherry & family & Taylor - a neighbor friend. Flying from one safe area to another is entirely acceptable.

God's Spring Cleaning & Hug

Friday's weather tempted us into a huge burning project. We had a lot of dead tree limbs, the pruned suckers from our fruit trees and piles of dead pine needles which needed to be cleaned up. Louis and I spent several hours burning them in our fire pit in our pasture. The horses and sheep stayed totally away from the fire, thankfully. Each Spring when farmers are cleaning their pastures via fire or I see the volunteer fire department assisting in weed-burning, I think about how God calls Himself a "Consuming Fire". He will clean us up if we ask Him. Like the spring fires I have watched, only the dead things get burned up. The green shoots of live plants seem to escape the fire unscathed. God leaves the growing parts in our lives too, if they fit into His best plan for us. He just removes all the deadwood & rotting things that clog up our lives and testimonies.

As we stood watching the fire, Louis and I both commented about needing a mini-tiller to help with the weeding in our flower garden and regular garden this year. These were passing comments and thoughts in a long stream of conversation between us. Yet, within two hours, our friend, Becky (Owner of Pug, a Schnauser we sometimes dogsit.), called while we were still in the field. "Cary, I have been thinking about giving away my Honda mini-tiller which I don't use anymore. You and Louis keep coming to my mind. Could you use one this Spring?" Becky is not a believer. However, God used her to give us such a wonderful HUG! He so loves to do this at the most unique times. Yesterday after Beth Tephila, we drove by her home and picked up the almost new tiller. It's the perfect size for our needs!!

Sherry's newest birthday creation!

Esther loved this Habiscus lemon cake, but was way too embarrassed by the situation to say so. Sherry has a definite artistic talent in several venues! Thanks for your love in action, Sherry! 

I'm an embarrassed new adult. Hurry, Sherry, before any other customers come into Subway! 

Celebrations

I climbed into bed a couple of hours ago nursing a sick headache after a full day. I awoke hearing Louis's deep breathing that comes when he's soundly sleeping. My heart is celebrating and overflowing with gratitude...even beyond laying quietly and communing with God.
Thanks for taking away that headache. THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR LOVE FOR ME AND ESTHER TODAY THROUGH YOUR SERVANT & MY SPECIAL FRIEND (SHERRY)! You brought Esther into the adult world in such a fun and memorable way. She'll always fondly remember her 18th birthday! She didn't know how to respond when I woke her with a kiss, whispered "Happy 18th Birthday!' & handed her a piece of warm Noodle Kugel and a glass of milk. (The eight days of Passover/Unleavened Bread challenge me a bit in creating "birthday cakes".) Sherry's greeting with a roll, an hour or so later, must have been special too.
Thanks for giving Sherry the desire and talent to create the habiscus-decorated, lemon cake just to Esther's tastes. Thanks for having Sherry include me in the mini-celebration. Once again, Es didn't know how to respond when we surprised her with it at Subway. She was thrilled we didn't forget her "big day"...She was embarrassed that Sherry asked her to wear the birthday crown and had the co-worker and customer join in on the "Happy Birthday" song as she blew out the 18 fancy candles..She wasn't hungry, but didn't want to offend us when we were honoring her. You removed her mourning of previous years that "her day" was shared with the anniversary of Columbine & Hitler's birthday - replacing it with a quiet joy!
Thanks for having her other friends remember her with small gifts and the arranged party at the cabin. Keep her safe there.
Thanks for having Sherry listen to Your prompting about checking out the Massage Therapy School so Esther has the choice to attend the Spring introduction and make a more informed decision about her future. Remind her how important it is to her when the time comes to leave her friends & attend.
You even used Sherry's artistry with the camera and computer to give us these photos to recall the day & to change my blog profile.
Yes, You also gave us the greatest weather yet in 2006! Clear blue skies, 70 degrees, a few Spring flowers ! Oh, there's more, but I just wanted to express my gratitude for your "chesed/faithful love" and for Sherry's friendship! I so enjoyed our time together today! I've added this day to my most treasured ones. It can remind me on those dreary, gray days of the abiding joy You bring to those who are Yours.

Problems seem larger, the closer you are to them.
My daughter's gray cat, Rachel, shadows me. She misses Esther, who is home very little these days, and has made me Esther's substitute. When she gets especially frustrated she has developed the habit of reaching around and pulling out some of her hair with her teeth. She almost denudes the back half of her body this way. At first, we took her to the Vet, thinking she might be in pain. The Vet. gave her a thorough check-up, took lab. tests & later reported she was in good health. I would rather clean up cat hair than cat urine, so I am thankful the habit isn't a worse one. Now I am praying for wisdom. While I'm praying, the Lord just reminds me that I am often like Rachel. When I get frustrated and try to resolve my frustration on my own, I am only hurting myself - and sometimes others. I need to realize that He is still in control. Therefore, I need to take each frustration to Him and leave it with Him. I also need to ask what I am supposed to be learning through the situation.

Chag Sameach! (Happy Passover!)

At 10 p.m.- about 24 hours before the start of Pesach- Esther began violent vomiting. Like clockwork, every 2-3 hours until 5 a.m., she began another episode of hugging and filling the trashcan. Of course, desperate calls for "Mommie" preceded each episode. Somewhere around 3 a.m. I gave up and spent the rest of the night in Esther's room with her. We had a Pesach guest from Great Falls, trying to sleep in the next bedroom. Thankfully it takes 2 to 3 days to incubate a flu virus before symptoms appear. The next day included cooking from scratch 4 large kettles of chicken-matzoh ball soup, table set-up for 65 seder attendees, cooking broccoli and assembling the appetizer plates, organizing the hand-washing and desert areas, music and overheads, etc. I was so grateful for the help of several women the day before, including Jeanne, when we prepared the charoset (chopped apples/nuts & honey, cinnamon & wine mixture) and the potatoe knishes. Then God sent great support before and after the seder service and meal, as well. The 5766 seder lasted four hours, but will be remembered as a success. PTL! The next day as we slipped into the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread, Louis & I finished the clean-up, sorting and packing away of Pesach items along with a tinge of nausea. Yesterday, we awoke with full-blown symtoms. Nausea and bouts of diarrhea led to a low-key day, so I was once again so thankful that Sherry was accompanying Esther to her next portion of the GED exam. (Thanks, Sherry, for following through with this when you also were exhausted.) Chag Sameach!

Pruning

The sunshine and 60 degree temperatures beckoned to me yesterday. So I spent time in the yard that's greened-up from our two weeks of rain. The sucker branches that Louis & I pruned from our trees the day before the rain started in earnest, were still surrounding each tree trunk in pick-up-sticks fashion. We hope for bigger and better fruit late summer and fall as a result of the pruning done in early spring. The sun warmed my back as I gathered each armload of deadwood to carry to our burn pile. It felt so good to be outside again and recovering from my bout with an upper respiratory infection that came with the spring rain. My thoughts were on the pruning that God has been doing in my life. I was praying that His pruning would lead to my personal growth and fruit for His Kingdom, when suddenly one of the sticks I was bending over jabbed up one nostril! I nearly blacked out from the unexpected pain and held my nose...sure I had started a nosebleed. The reality of my day to day life is often like that unanticipated sharp poke from the stick. Sometimes I walk away bleeding, sometimes I'm just brought up with a start. Yes, I haven't yet slipped into olam haba - that world to come just beyond the vanishing point at my horizons. I'm still living in a fallen world. I need to submit to each experience my Master sends with "for this I have Yeshua/Jesus!"