On Vacation

We have been on vacation for eleven days now and still have ten more to go, which seems unbeliveable! We have seen sights that I tried to imprint on my memory so that I can close my eyes and be assaulted with them whenever I want to. But I can hardly *take in* the views, let alone do justice to them as I recall them! I have met so many people from so many places with wonderful stories. (Lonny laughs at me for my stories I always have after going to the campground bathrooms or after riding the buses in Glacier National Park.)

Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks are so different from each other, but both are filled with glorious natural beauty!! Our favorites are the mountains, rivers, waterfalls, the idea of standing on THIN crust that is just bubbling underneath, and countless, absolutly countless, wildflowers in every color growing everywhere in Glacier and on the mountains in Yellowstone.

GNP is much more accessible and not so crowded, although there were plenty of people. We enjoyed some small hikes, but our others were blocked by too much snow still on the ground on the higher trails. Still, from each different vantage point, the mountains look different! The lakes and rivers glow turquoise blue-green from the glacial "flour" in the water that reflects and refracts the sunlight.
Sometimes I didn't know where to look first, and my senses were constantly bombarded with new and fascinating information. I'm still reeling from the beauty.

YNP was very crowded and there were people from all over the world. It was so cool to hear so many different languages. Being an inveterate people-watcher, I loved observing the tourists observing the sights. In Yellowstone, I felt like a tourist and observer myself, but in Glacier, I felt more like an explorer of the place. I liked Glacier better for this reason. But YNP contains some of the most unique things I will ever see, such as the thermal basins, and we saw more wildlife there. For those and the waterfalls and alpine mts., I love Yellowstone, too.

We camped in YNP for three nights and in GNP for four nights. Glacier had no showers for campers, that we know of, so we were glad to be in a hotel last night. I heated water one night and Lonny poured it on my head so I could wash my hair, but it is very difficult to do that, since you aren't supposed to do anything at your campsite that will leave scents to attract the bears. Like no dumping used water on the ground. Camping in bear country is really inconvenient because you have to have all your stuff put away in your vehicle all the time. That meant that we couldn't really set up camp and leave it. We lived in and out of the van the whole time. We set our screen tent up in YNP and that was fine. We could get in out of the mosquitoes in the evening. At Glacier, we were camped in the open on a hill, to better view the mountains. The view was worth every hassle, but the wind blew the screen tent down several times. It was also too windy to cook on the camp stove or have a fire. We ate cold or went into St. Mary for a few meals. We are looking forward to camping in the UP for a few days where we can set up camp and then leave it to find a few hiking trails, and return to sit around the campfire and relax. Of course, you still have to worry about the vicious little raccoons!! We think MI should have raccoon boxes like the bear boxes in bear country.

Well, we are about to hit the road here in northeastern Montana. What a "desolate" country to a midwesterner like me! If I lived here, my soul would die for lack of trees and green. This high prairie is just ongoing flat, treeless, dry, and so sparsely populated!!! We are in Glasgow, MT, one of the largest towns in the whole corner of the state, and it really is a small town. We will be crossing North Dakota today on Highway 2, so I assume we will see more of the same. I am looking forward to Minnesota, and am trying to enjoy the unique beauty of each place. Our country is so vast and so varied. It is mind-boggling and wondrous!!!

Write, Write, Write!

I'm finally here again. I'm sitting in front of a window that looks out onto beautiful Glen Lake. The sunset just faded into darkness, and now it's time to face the music - or the muse, actually.





I'm here to write, write, write!!! I got here just in time for the meet'n'greet this evening, to meet the writers and the wannabes, 34 of us in all. I have unloaded my gear and set up my little writing corner in our cottage. Yikes! I have to take something to my small writing group tomorrow at 1:00. Time to get busy, filling up some white space. I'm so excited!!!





I will check in later to report progress.

"60 is the new 40!"

I turned 60 years old on Friday, and I was a little cranky!! I am not going into old age with an attitude of graceful acceptance. Lonny and I spent the evening with good friends from church, our Friday night small group that gets together weekly. Low-key and relaxing.
Then Lonny suggested we see Indiana Jones on Saturday, and when we got home, I was surprised to see Stephanie and Mandy and their families here. There was a birthday sign in the yard, streamers inside and out, and a Pin the Tail on the Donkey game on the door!! They had all the food for dinner, which they prepared and cleaned up. The grandchildren (and son-in-law Firmin) had brought their bikes to ride on the Rivertrail with Lon and me, and I had a *wonderful* birthday party!
My blessings at age sixty hit me full force as I sat opposite my wonderful man at the table, in the midst of the noise and laughter of our girls, their husbands, and their beautiful children. Holding the baby boys, Ethan and Ben, playing Apples to Apples with the girls, Jordyn and Brianna, enjoying the antics of Josh and Alexander, pinning the tail on the donkey with the whole crew, I felt so loved and fortunate beyond words. Even missing our youngest daughter Laura and her Rick, was a reminder of how much I love these dear ones.
With years come experiences, privileges, and blessings. And to some, wisdom. Usually, I do not feel much wisdom in my mixture. This weekend, though, I think I gained a little wisdom. God has granted me, in these 60 years, wonderful parents and a crazy-great brother. I have the man of my dreams whom I love with all my heart, and he loves me back! My baby girls have grown up to be warm and accomplished women, and they married three "sons" for us to love. Our grandkids, present and future :-), are blessed to have these men and women as parents. The children, of course, are indescribably awesome! This is quite a reward for being 60.
Besides, as Josh said when the birthday cake came, the 6 and the 0 candles blazing, "Anyway, Grandma, isn't 60 the new 40?!?" I do believe he's right!

In the Middle of the River

For our first post, decided to print something I wrote a couple of years ago. I promise not to do it often!! It expresses some of that "living in the middle" feeling I have. If you read the profile, you can guess that I may return to this theme again, since it's something I think about often in relationship to situations I find myself in.



We live near the confluence of the Looking Glass River and the Grand River. In early spring, the Looking Glass flows by one of my favorite sitting spots and inspired these thoughts a few years ago. At this point in our lives, unlike then, we have no "boomerang children" (they return after launching) living with us, but I do feel as if I am in the middle of life's river, juggling the sticks and debris that God has given me to juggle. It is an exhilarating place to be!



River Rhythms



Swollen with spring rains,

the Looking Glass flows

with relentless purpose

to join the Grand.

Strong and loud, it dances and swirls,

juggling sticks and debris with ease.



Water curves through high sand banks

and carves deep pools

with quiet eddies and listless foam.

In the out-of-the-way hollows

it rests, peaceful, saving motion,

waiting to continue the journey.



I have dwelt in these deep, dark pools.

Deaths of my parents.

Deserts in my marriage.

Times to rest and reflect,

to grieve and grow,

to let God restore my Spirit.



But these days I hurtle headlong,

mid-river, battling currents

that would pull me under.

Burdens of obligation and privilege.

Students sap creative energy,

their scrawled pages and my blank ones,

competing for precious time,

which passes too quickly

in a house full of boomerang family

and Mate of my youth.



Buoyed by love I rush on,

juggling sticks and debris.

I dance and swirl

over and around the rocks

to revel in the excitement and challenge

of Life in mid-stream!



by Linda Freed

2004