My husband and I have gotten interested in Tracking. Our instructor, Joel Hardin,(http://www.jhardin-inc.com/profiles.htm) teaches tracking to Search and Rescue, Military Personnel and Law enforcement personnel. He is teaching us to see what others don’t see. Tracking is very interesting and challenging. We spent the weekend in the area of Fort Collins where we trained for about 20 hours. It was a hard course but it was awesome. We stayed in Rustic log cabins at a Methodist Camp there. We met some wonderful people and we learned more. We hope that someday we can be used with the Search and Rescue teams in tracking down lost people. It is a worthwhile pursuit. In the meantime, we continue to learn more about tracking and we meet some great people on the way who have similar interests. Some people may be jelling, but we are tracking!!!
Every year Victor Colorado puts on a show for artists and artists from all over show up to paint Victor. See http://www.victorcelebratesthearts.org/ . This week is Victor Celebrates the Art so artist are painting the scenery around Victor. At the end of the week, their plein air paintings will be put on display and some purchase patrons will come to buy their select paintings. This event gets more popular every year. I am not participating this year but I know how much fun it is to put paint to canvas. If you are in the area, head over to the Elks Club at Victor, CO. You will be thrilled to see some beautiful paintings.
On our road is a man who has worked hard on his property. He has done much in improving the area around his home. I love what he has done, planted trees in front of his home, putting up his home, backyard brickwork and a pond, planting grass and other things. Where we live, we really don’t need to do much but he loves to work outdoors. The other day I saw he was building a tree house. I have lots of trees and wished I could build a tree house for the children that come to stay here. It was just a thought.
When I got home, I went to visit the family of four staying with us. They were really enjoying the stay at the cabin. At night, they built a fire, sang songs and cooked out there. During the day, they went out and did the sights. Sometimes, they stayed at the property in the morning before going out. This was that day and when I went to see them, they had been building a fort among the rocks behind the cabin. I was thrilled. I have seen those rocks and it hadn’t occurred to me. They showed me around and they kept building while I was there. The way the rocks are laid out, all they needed was a roof. How cool is that!
I love being around children because they have fresh ideas and they can make you laugh. They see what you don’t see and they come up with new ways of doing things. Best of all, children are a gift from the Lord.
Yesterday, I went out and sat under the ponderosas. It was peaceful. The birds flew around, the wind blew gently and the Aspens rustled. I sat under the shade of the trees and remembered a time when I had invited our art group to come and visit and paint the scenery onto canvas. I had two chairs then and they are still there now. Two of my friends sat in those chairs. The rest of the artist chose other spots to paint. The same ponderosa shades that area. But one of my friends is gone. She died about 3 years ago. Cherry was a great artist. She had a love for life. When I see those chairs facing out in the direction of the Sangre De Cristo mountains, I think of her sitting there. She had a saying that stays with me still. After our art sessions, she would say, “We may not have painted a masterpiece today but we sure had fun trying.” She enjoyed life and her legacy lives on. You see, it is not about reaching the end of the journey, it’s all about the journey. Are you enjoying your journey?
We got up Saturday morning and went to Skagway Reservoir (http://www.victorcolorado.com/fishing.htm). I like fishing. My husband likes to read while I fish. The sun promised to come out and make it a hot day, but not as hot as Colorado Springs. However, we were blessed. The rain clouds sat over the reservoir for a few hours until I gave up fishing. The beauty was awesome, the mountains looked green and full of ponderosa. Skagway is in a valley so there were mountains all around. There were people in boats, fathers with little sons, couples and families with the intent of catching that big fish. Some were doing well. I just enjoyed the view and casting. We had our picnic out there and had a great relaxing time. I found it interesting that the reservoir was built by a family named Woods. It was built to carry electricity to the mines.
On Sunday, after church, I took some friends to the new Baja Billy’s Mexican restuarant. Good food. I took them around Cripple Creek and to the historic town of Victor www.victorcolorado.com/aboutvictor.htm. All in all, it was a great weekend. My friends discovered the Visitor’s Center. Inside they have an original jail. They had fun taking pictures of themselves in jail. Then there was a huge mountain Golden Eagle with a big wingspan and a very old fire engine truck. They had a great time taking pictures of the mine headframes and the town.
Life has been busy this summer. I have attended two weddings and am set to attend a special baby shower. The first wedding was at the US Air Force Academy Chapel( umm, the Chapel is listed under http://www.greatbuildings.com/). The bride was a friend, the groom a graduate of the Academy. The second wedding was Melissa’s (our niece) wedding and it happened this past weekend at a beach in San Diego. Both were beautiful. There is so much love expressed during weddings.
This coming weekend will be a baby shower for our first grandson. We are all thrilled and he is scheduled to make his grand entrance in October. There’s a lot of love expressed at Baby Showers too. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if love reigned supreme throughout all the other events between weddings, anniversaries, showers, birthdays and the many other in between happy events? We can make it happen. All we have to do is remember the Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13).
Our guests just left Caleb’s Retreat. It was a family of four. I asked the little girl what she liked best about her trip here. She had to think for a couple of seconds. It seems this family did quite a bit of sightseeing and activities. They went on the Royal Gorge train, the Suspension Bridge, whitewater rafting, Pikes Peak and other things. I can see that it was hard to rate one as the best. They liked them all.
The children that come to Caleb’s Retreat rarely spend time indoors. The last few families have had children that just want to explore and play outdoors. The weather is great, the trees provide great shade and it’s a great place to rest between adventures.
One family had four children and they climbed rocks, hiked, ran, and did so many things on our property, it was great to see them really enjoy this. The sound of their laughter and voices is inspiring. I was reminded how enjoyable it is being young and innocent with an awe of wonder.
I can see views from every window but it’s not the same as being outdoors. Colorado is calling, “Come outside and enjoy the beauty of the Rockies.”
Years ago, Cat Stevens sang the lyrics (1973 song written by Eleanor Farjeon) and they went like this:
Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word
The silence here at Caleb’s Retreat is like that in the morning. The bird sounds are the only sound one hears. I don’t see the blackbird but i see the Blue Jays flying back and forth from tree to tree. The sun takes its time coming over the ridge and when it breaks through the trees, is like a new day dawning.
Mornings were meant to be peaceful and gentle. The alarm clock is not used here. Years ago, we realized our bodies had an internal clock and we wake up when we need to. There are no missed appointments. Time watches over us.
The year is now 2008 and we are in the middle of it. I haven’t blogged in a long time. So many things made it impossible for me to blog and I have missed it.
Writing is therapeutic. So is painting. Today our art group (The Timberlines) went to Heather’s home here in the mountains to paint. The Timberlines have been around for a couple of decades so the group has painted a lot of the scenery around here. Today was a treat. Heather is an English bred lady and she loves her flower garden. We met at her house and her flower garden was filled with bright orange poppies, purple columbines, peonies, wild flowers, pansies and so many other flowers. Around the little garden path, there were comfortable seats all set so one could enjoy the flowers. It was set perfectly for a garden party. It was hard to believe it was in the Rockies. We painted a few flowers but we left knowing we want to go back again. It was a beautiful summer day taking time to enjoy what we love doing.
A day after Thanksgiving we took off to the mall to check out the sales. It was a cold day but one that is definitely preparing us for winter. After finding little to buy, we came home and lit a fire in the hearth. It may be chilly outside but it is as cozy as can be inside. Happy Thanksgiving 2007.