Kirkland Sunset

I never tire of Kirkland's sunsets over Lake Washington

Cranes in Kirkland

Cranes have dotted Kirkland's skyline for years

The cranes in these pictures are for Kirkland Urban

 March 2017

 May 2017

The last crane is being dismantled - fascinating process

February 2019

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Check out YouTube videos on disassembly 

Music of Life

"… Life is not unlike cinema. Each scene has its own music, and the music is created for the scene, woven to it in ways we do not understand. No matter how much we may love the melody of a bygone day or imagine the song of a future one, we must dance within the music of today, or we will always be out of step, stumbling around in something that doesn’t suit the moment...."

"I think of my grandmother, of her empty house, of her room in the nursing home, of her inability to recognize me most days. Tears well up in my eyes. The music of old age is difficult to hear when it’s playing for someone you love.”*

*From "Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate 

Believe, Love, Do

 “… discipleship begins with three simple words:   Believe, love, and do.

Believe - Believing God leads to faith in Him and developing trust in His word. Faith causes our hearts to grow in our love for God and others. As that love grows, we are inspired to emulate the Savior as we continue our own great journey on the path of discipleship.

Love - The scriptures reveal that the more we love God and His children, the happier we become. … The love God speaks of is the kind that enters our hearts when we awake in the morning, stays with us throughout the day, and swells in our hearts as we give voice to our prayers of gratitude at evening’s end. … It is this endless compassion that allows us to more clearly see others for who they are. Through the lens of pure love, we see immortal beings of infinite potential and worth and beloved sons and daughters of Almighty God.

Do - In the Savior’s work, it is often by small and simple means that “great things [are] brought to pass.”  We know that it requires repetitive practice to become good at anything. … [we need to] practice living the way He taught and blessing others the way He did.”   Dieter F. Uchtdorf  

Painting or Plow

"... belief is not so much like a painting we look at and admire and about which we discuss and theorize. It is more like a plow that we take into the fields and, by the sweat of our brow, create furrows in the earth that accept seeds and bear fruit that shall remain." Dieter Uchtdorf

image pixabay

Book - Eleanor Oliphant

 "Smart, warm, uplifting, the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes the only way to survive is to open her heart. Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. That, combined with her unusual appearance (scarred cheek, tendency to wear the same clothes year in, year out), means that Eleanor has become a creature of habit (to say the least) and a bit of a loner. 

"Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kind of friends who rescue each other from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond's big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one"  (worldcat.org)

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JHT - Eleanor made me think about the "loners" I see periodically. Eleanor and Raymond remind me about the huge difference a small act of kindness can make. Eleanor sometimes made me laugh with the way she used language and her matter-of-fact approach to life and people. Eleanor's observations about social conventions, beauty, and other areas of life were often humorous, thought-provoking and spot on. 

While reading the book I often thought of the hymn, "Lord, I Would Follow Thee" in which we sing about walking the path Christ has shown us.

"Pause to help and lift another

...In the quiet heart is hidden

Sorrow that the eye can't see.

...I would learn the healer's art

To the wounded and the weary

I would show a gentle heart"

text Susan Evans McCloud

music K. Newell Dayley

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More about Eleanor here, here, and here

Eagle

This eagle found a nice perch

The top two pictures were taken about 7:30 in the morning

The bottom two pictures were taken the same day in the afternoon

The bird appeared to be in exactly the same place

Winter Flowers

Winter flowers in downtown Kirkland

Sunsets

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I was walking home from a friend's house and saw this glorious sunset. 

If you look closely you can see the outline of the Olympic Mountains.

That's Seattle on the other side of Lake Washington

The colors change so quickly

panoramas from Mariana Park

Trees, Light, and God

 

Isaiah speaks of the Messiah and the work his father sent him to do. 

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; … to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61: 1-3

“That they might be called trees of righteousness” planted by God caught my eye in light of the thoughts I recently expressed about being “gatherers of light.” What do trees do? They gather light and in turn that light fuels processes that lead to growth and beauty. I could go on and on about the analogy but will leave it up to your imagination and knowledge. 

What wonderful thoughts and something to work towards – being a tree of righteousness planted by God. To gather light and then share that light, love, and beauty with others.