Radiating

Have you ever caught a glimpse of something in nature 

that fills your whole being with light and happiness? 

When I recently saw such a tree I thought of people who radiate sunshine and joy from their very beings, people who light up a room and light up our lives, people who are so filled with the light and love of Christ that it just spills out of their very beings. 

What a gift

Storms & Beauty

We headed north to see the tulips. We anticipated beauty.

Part way through our journey this is what we encountered. 

Things were pretty treacherous for a while.

Another view from the car - 

this is what we saw when we pulled into the parking lot of RoozenGaarde.

Sometimes life is like this - we have to keep going through the storms. 

The beauty will be there - at some point. 

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more tulip beauty here

Happy Birthday to Joe!

Can't think of a better companion for the journey

Happy Birthday to Joe

My eternal companion

April 24

Small But Not Ordinary

This looks like an ordinary pen, one of hundreds, maybe thousands given out at the OSU Medical 

Center. But it's anything but ordinary to me.

To me it represents a thoughtful act of kindness and a reminder that doing "small" things during difficult times can make a big difference - and leave touching memories.

In December 2003 my father was in Madison County Hospital with pneumonia. He was transferred to OSU Medical Center in Columbus for a higher level of treatment. Once there Dad and the rest of us were engulfed in all that goes on at a major medical center. At times it was overwhelming - very different from the small town feel of Madison County Hospital.

My sister's sister-in-law was director of OSU's Trauma Center. She brought Dad a fistful of pens for him to give to staff and visitors. Dad had fun distributing the pens. In his situation, he was being acted upon in mighty and overwhelming ways. Giving out pens was something he could do. It brought a smile to his face and to the recipients.

Dad's earthly journey ended at that hospital. The pen joined a multitude of mementoes from Dad's time here on earth.

Someday, someone will come across this pen in my "stuff" and think it's just a pen.

Evening By The Lake

Downtown Kirkland

Many people enjoyed the beautiful evening by the lake

]

rhododendron are blooming

Kirkland - a happy place, a good place

Flashback

Sitting in traffic I was taken back to the 1960s

camper van & "War is not healthy" decal in the right rear window

(changed to say "Peace is healthy for children and other living things")

Northwest touch - quite a bit of puffy, deep green moss growing 

around the seam where the canvas meets the metal on the top of the van

Because He Lives

He is here

then

now

always

He is here

during the good

the bad

the in-between

He lives today

Click here to watch the video

Tulips

Skagit Valley, about an hour north of us, is home to the largest tulip growers in the country - Tulip Town and Tulips.com/RoozenGaarde. The owners of both farms came to this country from Holland around 1950.The Roozen family has been growing tulips, here and in Holland since the early 1700s. According to this article "... the largest single business in the world for growing tulips, daffodils, and irises is the Roozen family’s Washington Bulb Company located in Skagit Valley." In addition to over 1,000 acres of field flowers, the Roozen family has 16 acres of greenhouses. Skagit Valley has over 2,000 acres planted in tulips, iris, and daffodils.

RoozenGaarde's three acre display garden is planted with over a quarter of a million bulbs including 100+ tulip varieties plus daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, iris, and other specialty flowers. 

The colors are amazing. The pink tulips look like peonies.

I look for these tulips every year. They are planted high up in a tree. 

"Bloom where you are planted" comes to mind. 

Daffodils and purple hyacinth - wonderful combination

red, white & blue (almost)

left - The daffodils were finished with their bloom

right - This field of dandelions even looked pretty

Fun to play with panoramas - trying to catch the scope of the color

bottom - Same woman on both sides - she was behind me when I started the picture and in front of me when I finished it!

Happy - that's how I felt as I gazed on this beauty

Happy & grateful for the beauty in this world

Individual petals were as large as my hand

Fringed edges

All these pictures were taken at RoozenGaarde 

(interestingly this means Rose Garden, not tulip garden)

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Want even more pictures of tulips? 

See pictures from past trips here, here, here, and here

Thankful for Nature's Beauty

For me the beauties of nature often summon very intense feelings of closeness to God. These feelings are usually mixed with emotions of happiness and pure joy. 

I felt it as I surveyed this area, looking for snow geese

(We found them across the road)

What a joyful rush to see them take flight

I felt it as I stood in the tulip fields - swaths of color as far as I could see

I could have remained there for hours just soaking it all in 

I felt HAPPY and grateful for the beauty of the earth

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof..."    

Psalm 24:1

For the beauty of the earth,


For the beauty of the skies,


For the love which from our birth


Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise


This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour


Of the day and of the night,


Hill and vale, and tree and flow'r,


Sun and moon, and stars of light,

Lord of all, to thee we raise


This our hymn of grateful praise.*

*****************

It is good to put ourselves in the midst of beauty and soak it up 

Is it good to feel God and His love. 

*****************

Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings "For the Beauty of the Earth"

*****************

*For the Beauty of the Earth

Text: Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917


Music: Conrad Kocher, 1786-1872

Spreading Sunshine

One morning the Spirit nudged me out of my morning routine and suggested I spread some sunshine via daffodils from Trader Joe's. It was fun to follow that prompting and pray about recipients. What a joy it was to leave flowers and notes at people's doors. Going with the Spirit's flow - awesome!

You give so much sunshine to others. 

Here's some for you!

A Child's Gift?

This paperweight came from Mom's and Dad's. 

I don't remember seeing it before their deaths 

- so all the following is a guess on my part. 

I think Mom made this for her father. 

I think the picture shows Elizabeth, Gram/Mildred and baby Mary/Mom. 

The date would be about 1926. 

Written in the plaster bottom is 

H.E. Floyd 

192 …way Bldg 

111 Washington St. 

Chicago, I.

Mildred in 1924                   Mary & Elizabeth ca 1927