Snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOW. If you’ve ever watched White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, those five words should trigger a harmonic tune in your head. Although, I’m pretty sure only people who live where palm trees grow could sing about snow so dreamily.
Snow has been filtering down these last several days and my little corner of the world is a picture perfect winter scene. The full moon on these wintry nights has been exquisite, making the snow on dark silhouetted branches glimmer. It really is too lovely for words.
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Snow falling soundlessly in the middle of the night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity.
Novala Takemoto
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It is Christmas around here despite painting paraphernalia and packing boxes around the edges. The Cowboy and I have been so busy that Winter Solstice has come and gone, and we hardly noticed. Suddenly we’ve reached the time when days are getting longer instead of shorter. We made it this far and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Dark days don’t last forever.
Being busy preparing for a move meant Christmas preparations came late. If you remember Jubal (find out about him here), you will know how much he loves Christmas. Well, when he arrived this year he sat staring at an empty Christmas tree stand. He asked where Christmas was and I knew it was time to push some boxes out of the way and bring in the festive decorations.
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For these next few days we will put the painting and packing away. We’ll indulge in some Christmas treats and Christmas movies. We’ll give thanks – for the Baby whose birth we celebrate, and for His presence with us always, through the good and the bad. Always.
And I’m thankful for the beauty of snow. Snow piled on fenceposts. Snow dusting pine trees. Snow imprinted with tiny footprints. It reminds me that even in hard times there is beauty to be found.
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To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold.
Aristotle
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Merry Christmas everyone. Wherever you are, may its beauty enchant you.
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will never be shaken.
Psalm 62:2
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Hello Friend.
It’s been a while since our last visit.
Life has been a little busy around here, but I always love when you drop by. Here in my little corner of the world, the snow has begun. First, specks so tiny you wondered where the white on the ground was coming from. Then big flakes, like crumbs of sticky cake floating and falling.
Now, the ground lies under a heavy mantle that whiffs and whirls in the white wind. It’s the perfect cozy afternoon for tea and apple pie. I’ll pour while you choose a slice, or two.
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Image from Pixabay
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You know that little piece of property I told you about? I’ve been writing about our journey with it. Would you be interested in following along?
Get comfortable and let me read you what I’ve got so far.
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Image from Pixabay
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On this visit, we turn into the approach and immediately my eyes go to the new driveway. It inclines and wraps around … what? That pile of dirt there that’s the foundation for the garage? Anyway, the driveway is new on this visit.
We snap photos and videos that pan the length of our property while Excavator Ben delicately picks up rocks the size of my dining room table with his bucket, and places them precisely – oh so precisely – one on top of another to build a retaining wall. He uses that bucket like fingers and thumb, gingerly lifting rocks as though they were mere pebbles and not thousand-pound boulders. I stand mesmerized and watch him work. This is an exceptional skill, I realize, and as I look at Ben’s face through the large windows of the cab enclosure I see … he loves his job.
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The rocks have come from The Land itself, dug up to make room for a walk-out basement. There are hundreds of these boulders, and even more below the dig level. One of the excavators tells us we will have a solid foundation; that once built, this house won’t move. We are building on rock.
My mind turns to the Sunday School song I learned as a child … The wise man built his house upon a rock … and the house on the rock stood firm. As a child, I didn’t know that the rock in the song is symbolic: God, the solid rock on which to anchor a life.
That day in 2013, when we first set eyes on the place, there were hints of what lay below the rolling green that covered almost three acres. They were stacked at the door of the big shop built by the previous owner, and walled up to make a flowerbed. There were flat, shale-like crests here and there, skimming the lawn.
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But we didn’t really pay attention to that at the time. We only wanted to know, was this The Land that God had asked us to purchase? I went for a walk in the little wood on the property, and when I emerged I knew, with the same certainty I’d known on November 4, 2008 that I’d heard the whisper, We need to buy land.
Yes, after months of searching, this was it.
So we bought it, not knowing if we were meant to live there or just hold onto it. Because when the faithful Rock to whom you’ve anchored your life asks something of you, you do it.
We took care of it and enjoyed it; we shared it and prayed over it. We loved it. One day, we sensed we’d been given permission to build a home. And not just a home, but a sanctuary; a safe place for weary and wounded souls to breathe before continuing on their personal journeys.
This has always been the dream.
Only, we didn’t know that the rocks would be part of it.
What to do with all those rocks! Excavator Ben built a retaining wall. And The Cowboy had ideas for the rest of them: rock gardens and strategically placed barriers around the perimeter of the property. Slowly it began to dawn on us that rocks have a significant meaning for this place. This is not coincidental. It’s a beautiful interweaving design of symbolism and safety.
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For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity; He will hide me under the cover of His tent; He will set me high on a rock.
Psalm 27:5
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The Cowboy was telling friends about this momentous realization one day when they visited the skeleton of the house soon to be a home; how we’ve been drawn to the story of Moses being placed in the cleft of the rock and covered by God’s hand while God passed by. Imagine, he said, what it must have been like to be covered by God’s hand, there, in the safety of the rock. So warm and safe. The safest you’ve ever felt. He told them about how our dream for this place is Sanctuary for all who enter. Built on rock, surrounded by rock – a safe place.
That’s when I knew we’d found the name we’d been searching for. The name for this sanctuary. It’s The Cleft. And if those who come to it find a little bit of the warmth and safety that Moses must have felt in the shelter of God’s hand, our dream for this place will have been realized.
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Thanks for coming along on this journey today. Stay safe out there, and see you next time.
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Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.
Wallace Stegner
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“Another turned page”. That’s what September has always been for me. A chance to start fresh, like the freshness of the air breezing into the house through my open windows. A chance to make new plans and goals. Regroup. Pivot. Check. Ask God for what He expects of my life going forward.
In truth, September usually turns out to be busier than I want it to be. Fall activities like winterizing the trailer, readying the garden and yard for its winter slumber, getting back into household routines, meetings, and volunteer activities … these take up precious minutes that I’d rather spend in tranquil reflection. But life isn’t like that, is it?
So I snatch these quiet moments to reflect and recenter myself; to look for the truly important, the beautiful, and what brings me joy.
Hello Friend,
How was your summer? I’m so glad you stopped in today. It’s been a hectic few months and about time we had a good visit. I’m offering tea and cupcakes; tea brewed by me, cupcakes baked by a specialist. Please help yourself.
Is an expanse of green surrounded by rustling trees, under a September blue sky. We’ve come out to our small slice of property where we keep a vacation trailer. It’s quiet. So quiet. The land, the trees, the sky, the quiet. All little pieces of heaven. At the edge of our boundary, the neighbour’s vegetable garden sits idle. Normally I’d see her in her garden about this time of year, harvesting her potatoes and carrots, but they moved away in the summer, so never planted in the spring.
I am thinking …
That I’m so glad we got our wedding well done this summer. Our province has just moved into new restrictions because of rising hospitalizations, and the wedding we had in August would not be possible now. It was a beautiful day, Babe was a gorgeous bride, and I got many wonderful comments on my fascinator.
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I am thankful …
For The Cowboy. Two personalities could not be more different than he and I are. I’m pretty sure that, had we had access to one of those dating sites before we ever met 43 years ago, we would never have been put together. For example, as I sit here reflecting and writing about the quiet, he has just fired up the power washer and is proceeding to wash down the very trailer in which I sit meditating. I can only laugh at the irony. I’m convinced that it is our differences which keep this marriage so very interesting and fun. He has expanded my horizons in ways I could never have imagined all those years ago. Yes, I am indeed so very thankful for him.
I am wearing …
Black capris, white and black-striped V-neck top with ruffles at the elbows, gold earrings.
I am reading …
Roots and Sky by Christie Purifoy. This quote from page 33 made me cry:
We fool ourselves if we believe that life is the tedium of our to-do lists broken up by occasional highs … and occasional lows … Everyday life is utterly extravagant. It is morning glories we did not plant. It is four children we did nothing to deserve. It is moonlight and starlight, rainbow-coloured leaves and autumn rain. It is the shelter of trees, the songs of birds, and the enduring sight of a farmhouse on a hill. It is more beautiful than it needs to be. It is more meaningful than we can begin to comprehend.
Chrisite Purifoy, Roots and Sky
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I am listening to …
https://youtu.be/DMa3tBH4hpg
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I am hoping …
To start a new blog thread that focuses on our brand new house-build. I need to document this journey, and it’s been a long one even before the diggers go into the ground. If you don’t mind, I will share that journey here at times, mixed in with our other visits.
To give you a taste, the expanse of green I mentioned earlier will give way for the house we’ve been dreaming. Yes, it’s finally time to take that dream off the shelf, permanently. Exactly a year ago I wrote about keeping dreams on a shelf, at Dreams and Other Burdens.
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It’s exciting and a little bittersweet, this dream, and it’s why that expanse of green is so precious to me in this moment. I’ve captured many images of it in my mind and digitally, so I can go back and remember …
Which brings me to what I am learning …
To capture moments – snapshots – in my mind more than on any device or camera. Instead of preserving for the future from behind a lens, I’m choosing to be present in the moment; to open new pathways in my brain where I consciously store these memories. What a wonder.
Closing Notes …
I hope you are enjoying the extravagant Septemberness of September in your little corner of the world. Thank you so much for the visit today.
Stay safe out there, and see you next time.
Shared Quote …
There is a clarity about September … the sun seems brighter, the sky more blue, the white clouds take on marvelous shapes; the moon is a wonderful apparition, rising gold, cooling to silver; and the stars are so big.”
The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it.
Hubert H. Humphrey
Hello Friend,
Thank you for the birthday wishes. What a gift it is to have a friend.
I had the most wonderful day. It started with chocolate and ended with Jane Austen. What could be better?
The day began early, with a bite of chocolate that The Cowboy had left under my pillow. Then, I spent two heavenly hours reading and journaling, and an idea began to form – I would spend the day engaging all of my senses. Sight, sound, smell, taste, touch – each of them would get a gift for my birthday.
The sunflowers in my dining room had been there for almost two weeks, but when I came downstairs their sunny faces greeted me as though they knew it was my birthday. And I couldn’t resist stroking their velvety soft petals.
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Before breakfast I made a Cinnamon Swirl Banana Loaf. The dazzling cinnamon-y aroma wafted through the house and settled in to bring us joy all day. Mmmmm …
I had only one thing on my agenda after breakfast: to find earrings for Babe’s wedding (which is one week away!!).
So, I walked into a jewelry store I had never been to before and told them exactly what I was looking for. White gold, dangly, sparkly, and in a certain price range. Within ten minutes I was walking out with a charming package. It seemed almost too quick to fully enjoy the moment. But for me, the joy was in the accomplishment. The fact that I knew precisely what I wanted. And got it!
Best Day Ever!
And now I had even more time to peruse a favourite book store. Because, it’s not a perfect birthday without a trip to the bookstore.
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Which one would you read first?
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Back in the car, Il Divo was playing on the stereo, and I turned up the volume so the music would surround me, go through me, engulf me. So that there was nothing but the music and me.
These voices, though! I get shivers every time.
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In the afternoon, Babe took me for coffee to La Boule Patisserie and Bakery. La Boule specializes in French pastries, Viennoiserie (which I discovered means “things from Vienna”), breads, and confectionary. Not only are the pastries luscious, they are also strikingly beautiful.
I couldn’t choose only one, so Babe generously let me choose two! They are almost too beautiful to taste, but of course I tasted. I tasted! We both highly recommend the Vanilla Bean Sour Cherry Cheesecake. But get there soon, if you’re going. They’re closing this month!
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Babe and I did a little more wedding preparation back at home. We’re down to last minute details now, and it’s all coming together. It’s going to be such a lovely day.
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We ordered in a late supper, and ended the day with the latest Emma movie. Every one is just a little different from the last, but I always recognize the actual quotes from Jane Austen’s book.
You must be the best judge of your own happiness
Jane Austen, Emma
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I went to bed full of gratitude. Every one of my senses had been richly realized because I’d endeavoured to be mindful of them. I thought, how much we miss when we are not attentive to the everyday.
Thank you again dear friend. My life is rich because of you and I thank God for you.
