Seeing Beauty in Hard Places, part 3

Long hours on the road this summer were brightened by a vase of flowers from our garden!

By the way, Elsa and I trained our way into more driving over the past two months than we had been able to do in the previous decade combined! This is another part of our major "rehab" from years of chronic illness. 

Garden flowers also brightened up our hotel room for part of Dad's month at Mayo.

And the first tomatoes from our garden came along to ripen in the window.

Sunsets and a couple of ponds were another bit of beauty we looked for each day.

Did you notice my “garden” in the photo behind the orange juice*? Probably not. It’s all in one’s perspective!

That little patch of wildflowers between a highway and a hotel parking lot was a bright spot in an otherwise ugly setting. Especially compared to our lush flowerbeds back home with rarely the sound of a vehicle on our gravel roads and fresh air blowing across the prairies… that month in an airless hotel room on the edge of a city was not a restful or healing place.

And yet God turned it into a time of healing the nervous system at deeper levels, just because it was so far from peaceful or natural. What mattered was that He had called me to these new challenges, and He was there to meet my needs. By wiring in the truth through brain rewiring (neuroplasticity) methods, my nervous system learned that even there, I was safe with Him!

*The orange juice itself was a brain rewiring win after more than a decade without! I enjoyed it most days at the hotel as well as training with some more "firsts" of a bagel, corn flakes, conventional ice-cream, and a waffle cone! Plus walking up to 3 miles at a time on the paths and sidewalks of our community.

Seeing Beauty in Hard Places, part 2

When able, we got Dad out of the city altogether during his month of treatments at Mayo. On what turned out to be his best day in several months, we explored a state park that was new to us. Moss, bogs and wildflowers lined a pleasant path to the main feature of the park...

...a waterfall! So refreshing!

Mom even managed the hike between her two knee replacements!

And Elsa and I had to check out the fun playground make of logs and lumber! Reviving a childlike curiosity and spontaneity adds joy to life (as well as making fun pictures to send to nephews and neice)!

Seeing Beauty in Hard Places, Part 1

As mentioned in my last post, we spent a month of this summer at Mayo clinic. Since Dad had less than an hour of treatments per day, we looked for ways to get out of the city/clinic atmosphere as much as possible. At least as much as Dad was able to handle.

Even in the middle of the downtown roar of traffic and construction/demolition, we enjoyed a stroll to this park with a fountain one afternoon.

Then God had a beautiful surprise planned for us on the day we drove up to enjoy the Mississippi River. We always like to stop at the Lake City marina where the river widens to a lake up to 3 miles across. This particular Saturday we were surprised to see so many sails out... until we found out that local sailors were giving rides for a donation to a fundraiser.

And that is how we got out sailing in a year where our own Weta stayed parked in the shed! This Catalina 310 was the biggest sailboat we've gotten to try yet, and our captain and first mate were a good fit for us.

It is just so good to get out in God's creation!

• Viewing the Mississippi from Frontenac State Park (and trying to stay cool in intensely humid heat!)

Sawing and Shedding Old Shells

Photos 1&2: After a chainsaw workout.

3: Before. A painful place to mow.

Yes, muscles that have hardly been used in over a decade put up a fuss for a while. But I still count it a "win" to be able to do something like this! (And thanks to Dad for picking up most of the branches as I had to run to town after sawing and mowing.)

Meanwhile, I got to see a cicada crawl out of its old shell and change those little green ripples into wings! So amazing! A first for me.

A strange shape and slight movement caught my eye at the base of a tree. The legs moved so slowly and looked so weak for the immense job at hand. But I was watching when the old, worthless exoskeleton dropped away and the tender body began to expand and harden! Then I checked back in an hour or so and found delicate wings!

Sometimes healing the limbic system / nervous system and connected physical issues can feel like that painfully slow and weak crawl out of an old, dead shell of a life. And then you break free in one area only to be held back in another. 

But God is at work, bringing new life. Eventually the wings unfurl and harden, and it will be time to fly and sing for joy again! (Yes, I like to think of the shrill sound of a cicada as its God-given song which glorifies Him.)

So, keep persevering on your way out of whatever exuviae God wants to set you free from! It's time to molt and grow!

~ Hannah

Coffee in the Flower Garden

It was time for a break in a full, check-list sort of day.

So I brewed coffee, splashed in whole milk, and headed out to the garden.

Delphinium are getting lovely, lilies are starting late, and so many more flowers are getting ready to enjoy the summer sunshine!

I also took time to sit on the swing while finishing my coffee, enjoying Annabelle hydrangeas turning white and a pink thunbergia climbing a trellis. Restful minutes!

April "Showers," Flowers, Birds, and Clouds

Our April Showers have been mostly white so far. See April 3rd for example:

But they did bring some April flowers! Can you spot our very first blooms in this April 13th picture? 

No? I'll zoom in.

We recently learned the name of this hand-me-down bulb from Mom's mother, who got it from her mother in law, who got it from a community friend. (My great-grandma's journals are full of these neat facts that tie our life and things in our home back to her days.)

The plant is called Scilla or Squills. It is tiny and easy to miss completely. So glad I looked at the right time this year!

I also cut in some little lilac leaf-buds that day. Here is what they looked like at first.

And more green two days later...

Also last Sunday, I had some restful birdwatching and cloud-watching from deck and porch. The back-lit layers of rain clouds rolling in before sunset finally got me to pull out my watercolors again to add to my nature journal. 

And yes, we identified 14 kinds of birds by sight and another by sound, plus there were more we couldn't name.

What a gift of an afternoon!

Winter Joys

A clipping from last summer's geraniums is getting ready to bloom!

It is so neat to see tracks of various wildlife in the snow.

Our Valentine tulips from Mom & Dad brightened up winter days!

Mom's multi-year crochet project has an end in sight!

Pulling out old games has been fun and stimulating for occasional family game nights. Dad learned Mille Bornes when student teaching in Africa to wrap up his music degree, so he bought this once he got back home in the 70's.

Counting Plants... and Blessings!

Today I am camped out in a room full of plants hiding out from the sub-zero (°F) temperatures coming into the house as a new fireplace and chimney liner are installed. I started counting plants and ended up laughing! Guess how many plants live on our main floor alone (answer below)!

Each plant feels like a smile and gift from our loving Heavenly Father! Each one showcases His creativity and imagination. Each green leaf is a testament to His life-sustaining power.

And I thrill to know that I, Hannah... sitting among all these plants, am an even greater example of God's creative power. But not only that. I am a testament to His love and grace!

And I keep seeing His blessings wherever I look:

From my mug of green tea,

To the sunshine on snow...

From the new fireplace,

To the big air-scrubber my creative Dad built for these years of dusty house projects...

What blessings are you counting today?

Mine include 47 plants in this room!

~ Hannah

October 2024 Highlights

October 2024:

Finished apple harvest

Got on our annual drive to maple, birch, and oak country

I helped with a couple days of Dad's big wood-splitting project.

I finished canning cherry tomatoes.

Frances needs more porch or lap time as the seasons change since her buddy Gully is now gone.

Elsa and I pulled out Monopoly for the first time in decades!