Category: Nature

That which uses the beauty of the earth as it’s subject matter, including plants, animals, astronomy, geology, and anything not made by mankind.

Birthday Miracles

Jeanne 1 Comment 
Dawn calls us through a window (freed from ivy vines)
Through the labor of my best friend with her heart, body and mind.
God gives us each talents and watches what we do.
We each have our agency to choose what we want to.

The Son's gold touches the sky.  The clouds catch His first rays.
I rose up slow and careful and stretched my pain away.
I gave my thanks to Heaven, to live just one more day--
rose and dressed and slipped away, as my mate slept on today.

I went out our front door and drove to a special place
Above the wake-up noise of each soul's fleeting race.
I watch the Son's miracles caress each cloud on high,
And gaze in awe-struck wonder, of this earth, clouds and sky.

From deer to bunny rabbits, to the birds that praise each dawn,
Each miracle reflects God's eternal song.

Now I sit again, in silence as my mobile turns before my face,
Reminding us of each precious goal; each family's special in time & space.


Bob wrote this on his birthday–July 20. Here it is, almost September, and I’m supposed to post a poem every Monday. Well, that hasn’t happened this summer. We’ve really been on the run and have not been home-based. But I suspect there aren’t many of you who race to your computer on Monday morning to catch the newest post, do you? If I lived for comments, I’d be dead! So that’s a scolding for both of us.

This is China Cove…one of the places that has distracted me from the blog this summer.
If you only had one more day, what would you do?Download

Eden

Jeanne 1 Comment

I will entitle this entry as “Eden” because I feel I have been to the Garden of Eden last week. My daughter and I took a trip to Carmel-by-the-sea, visiting the coastline, Monterey Aquarium, Point Lobos, and the enchanting downtown Carmel with never-to-be-forgotten gift shops, and dining that was most memorable and also tasty.

I was going to write a poem about it; something to catch the wonder, the fresh sea breezes, the vivid and wild ocean, the amazing creatures, and so much more….but all I could think of was the words to the hymn, “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed…..when thru the woods and forest glades I wander, and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze….Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to thee, How great the art! How great thou art!

2019-04-0010-you-are-his-child-360p-engDownload

All that is around us testifies that we are His children and that He blesses us with His love, if we will but listen and look.

Man Up

Jeanne Leave a comment 
Man up! When life knocks us down; Look up and see the sky.
There are always important lessons in the things that make us cry.
When we help lift another from their sorrow and their pain,
We too lift up our own hearts, through kind service we do gain.

As we 'man up' in our spirits, we are healed within our soul,
To face another week, as we from the Sabbath grow.
Though our pains and sorrows sting us, and temptations come each day,
We grow to know we're lifted, as we strive, fast and pray.

As we pray each dawn and eve, unto our Father, for His light,
And thank God for everything--each bright day and starry night,
Each of us can take comfort, if we 'man up' and try our best.
The Father, Son and Holy Ghost, help every worthy quest.

There is a Norman Rockwell painting entitled "Lift Up Thine Eyes".


This is so typical of us today, except we’ve all got cell phones! Looking up can just be paying attention to our surroundings–a blue sky, a flower pot, a beggar on the street, a tree, or maybe even the person we are walking with! I like how the birds in the painting draw our eyes up and up and up. Life can be so routine, but there is wonder and promise even in that. Yes, even in taking out the garbage or cleaning up after breakfast, or, heaven forbid, doing the laundry. Look up. Take a deep breath. Smile. Pay attention to each step of this journey we call life. Open your eyes and really see. Click on the red title of the video below for a 1 minute video that demonstrates one way we can LOOK UP!

2017-01-0005-think-to-thank-360p-engDownload

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. (Psalms 121:1-2)

The Advent Calendar

Jeanne 1 Comment

When I was a child, I first discovered the holiday advent calendars: a pleasant picture with small ‘doors’ to open, labeled 1-24, referring to the days in December. I remember how excited I was to open each one. One of my favorites displayed various woodland creatures behind each door. For some reason, those images absolutely delighted me. Now, most of them have a small chocolate behind the door, which could also be delightful.

I’m thinking that life is like an advent calendar. Each day, there is a door labeled with that date. I imagine–behind each door is a delight. I think of it as a message from God that He loves me and is caring for me, and is there to help me. If I open the door, I feel that same warm joy that I felt seeing those woodland creatures so long ago.

Life really is like that. If we but look for manifestations of God’s love for us, we will see them, feel them, and recognize them every day. It’s such a simple effort with such monumental payoff.

Grand kids…Now that’s a manifestation of God’s love!

2016-11-0002-start-small-start-today-360p-engDownload

Can We Be Prepared?

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Can we be prepared for famine, floods, fires and other forces that test our grain?
Violence, greed, pollution, dishonesty, and pornography all try our heart & brain.
Can we prepare for disaster, like our FATHER’S awesome fire?
When high winds carry infernal flames through our homes we much desire?

Can preparation help all these disasters that come in different ways?
Only our testimony of JESUS CHRIST, helps us through our darkest days.
We can learn from the HOLY GHOST, how to choose our safest path.
Only through our LORD’S true church can we grow strong through heaven’s wrath.

When we’ve felt the flames of wrath and lost all that we own,
Our hearts are stretched beyond ourselves, as we lose house or home.
Our tears flow more free for others grief; we see through deeper eyes
The heart-torn pain of strangers caught in devastation’s cries.

Disasters come in many forms: tsunamis roar, to lightning storms,
Volcanoes erupt, freezing rain, famine’s starvation, to war’s dark pain.
Please, LORD, help us to have eyes to truly see
The suffering of all caught in these last days tragedys.*

Remember, every trial we face is here to help us grow.
From war we learn the true joy in peace, from hate, we see love’s glow.
From the loss of precious loved ones, we can learn true empathy.
For others caught in sorrows song, our LORD’S charity gives us clarity.

We thank Thee LORD, for sorrow; it helps us past our pain.
We thank Thee, LORD, for heartache; it gives us deeper grain.
We thank Thee LORD, for clarity to see, taste, touch and feel,
That when trials pour upon us, we can serve, help and heal.

As oceans over jump their bound and armored insects roar,
On air fields and on freeways, we see men’s faces soar.
As jets and choppers shoot fire down at souls on land and sea,
We see the faces of those souls in the armored dragons of insanity.**

As earthquakes in diverse places increase, as heart attacks do grow,***
We hear John’s revelations play upon our heart, mind and soul.
May we remember JESUS CHRIST, and pray each dawn through eve,
And be prepared through these troubled last days; May we give love and receive.****

* Matthew 5:44
** Revelations chapter 9
*** Matthew 24:6-8
**** Luke 10: 30-37

The devastation of the camp fire in Paradise, California, has been foremost in our minds lately. I’m sure it has to do with our family, who were evacuated, and then learned of the total destruction of home and property. We live in a world full of pain and suffering, but we cannot allow this to immobilize us and to take away our hope. May God strengthen us to be His hands.

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2009-05-22-o-remember-remember?lang=eng&_r=1

Stopped in Time

Jeanne Leave a comment

Here’s another poem about time and nature, and is appropriate right now because we’ve been spending time in our tent trailer in Wyoming, drinking in the scenery, the quiet, the wildlife, and especially the lack of schedule.

Whenever life stops us in our flow,
Or we chance to travel slow,
As we’re given time to look and be,
We strive to understand God’s wondrous eternity.

Whenever we stand still among life’s hurried throng,
We watch all life about us, and listen to their song:
Now is the time to grow, here is the place.
Within this test of life, we all need some quiet space…within the human race.

Within each momentary pause, we find upon this planet,
We strive to warm our heart, from hardned icy granite.
There are deeper meanings, that feed our troubled soul,
With humble meditation on God’s truth, we can grow.

We can find peace in a mountain, or while driving down a road,
Or clouds can lift one’s eyes, worried by a heavy load,
Or what about a river’s song, as it goes flowing by,
Or in each young child’s freedom, as they play beneath the sky?

For speed and power are empty goals.
They leave a hole within our souls,
Where love, truth and gratitude
Can keep a soul from being rude

And set us truly free to forever grow.

The link below notices that the more we see things, the less we see them….

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-11-23-thanksgiving-daily?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2010&lang=eng

Let Go

Jeanne 1 Comment

Several events over the last week have led me to the thought of “Letting go.” A friend of mine was blind-sided with the death of her husband, who is younger than me. As I put myself in her place, I realized how fortunate I am to have the companionship of a husband, even if it’s just sitting side by side watching tv. Think about it: How often during the day do you rely upon interaction with your spouse? Just knowing someone is there is priceless. It must be really difficult to let go of that season in your life.

On a note (not quite so somber as the last)…my grandchildren. Before they moved out of state, lived roughly a mile from our home. In 5 minutes, I could be there. In many ways, they depended on that. I drove them to school. They came by the house after school and I drove them home; sometimes stopping a McDonald’s if they hated school lunch that day. They were a big part of my time and life. And then they moved. 3 l/2 hours away. It left a hole that I still struggle to stop tripping over; and that hole was really big last week when they started school…a new school. I wanted so badly to be there and do whatever Grandmas do to make things better, or, at least to think you’ve made things better. It’s painful. I worried. I prayed. I fasted. I worried, and then I worried again. Then they got sick, and some had to miss school. I realized that I had to ‘let go’, just like I did before when they left.

I remember those days. I’d sit in the car and play the Mormon Tabernacle Choir verse of ‘How Firm a Foundation’…feeling the words: “Fear not, I am with thee, Oh, be not dismayed, for I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I’ll strengthen thee, help thee and cause thee to stand….” I’d play it loud and could almost imagine heavenly help descending upon me, not just from God, but from dear ones now departed who also cared deeply.

I have often confused control with security. Let go. Let go.

The frosty autumn nights
Bid the tree (glorious and alive)
Let go their precious golden leaves
That in days past, bid them survive.

In spring, the fledgling bird will grow
Now the mother tries her best
To prod it from the nest.
Let go.

We hold our babies close,
And treasure every show.
They now seek new horizons,
And we painfully,
Let go.

Our beloved ones, we cherish
And the winds of age do blow
Now they pass thru death’s door,
As our hearts are broken,
And we let go.

But hearts are healed
When we come to know,
A loving Father,
Will never
Let go.

This short video below helps me to let go. It helps me to trade fear for faith, and helps me remember that, even though I will be required to let go, I can be confident that God will never let go of me.

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-01-0004-live-by-faith-not-by-fear?category=social-media-shareable-videos&lang=eng

Alaska!

Jeanne 1 Comment

I’m finally getting around to putting together a scrapbook of our cruise to Alaska last month. On the cruise, Bob would get up early, as he always does, and go up to where he could watch the water and coastline. Here he would pen a poem for each day, and I have included the verses that deal with our fjord cruising of the Sawyer Glacier just south of Juneau. The views were 100% gorgeous, as you will see in the photos below.

As we take the inside passage
We watch life in every move.
Then on we sail up the fjords
Within the glacier’s ancient groove.

We arrive in eyesight of the glacier
Where ice has blocked our way,
So our captain takes us west to
A narrow fjord today.

We sail to the glacier’s western arm up this narrow pass,
The captain stops the ship near, as we look and gasp!!
Then turned that giant ship around
Smooth and slow as another hour passed.


The whale tale

Jeanne 1 Comment

So, just returned from an Alaskan cruise. It was all so fabulous. This earth is an amazingly beautiful place with more wonders than anyone could possibly take in in a life time! Out of all the wonders we encountered, I wrote this ode to the one that excited me the most:

Sweet was the time,
The scenery sublime,
But nothing delighted
So much as we sighted
From the small boat, a WHALE,
Who twice dove, and showed us a tail!

http://www.mormon.org/blog/3-reasons-to-spend-time-in-nature

Eternity

Jeanne Leave a comment

Many people want to see a miracle. They want to see something that says there is a God; and yet, all around us is the handiwork and majesty of life–from the perfection of a little ant to the perfection of an elephant, or each flower and tree, to the moon or sun, or anything!

Is life for the moment? Is that all we really have?
Can we work toward tomorrow? Or is that really bad?
In our world, fleeting moments seem to stifle most our dreams.
Is there something worth relying on, or is it all a scheme?
Does the universe not care? Is God unfeeling too?
What makes life worthwhile, if nothing’s really true?
If each child’s own pathway has no guidelines for their life,
Then what is the reason for becoming mates through life?
If it all ends with the grave, than let passion rule my life.
If selfishness brings happiness, then take all that we can.
Does it really matter if we hurt our fellowman?
Can you see love in a flower as it blooms in early spring?
Can you see love in the floating of a bird upon it’s wings?
Yet, who’s the Master Painter who paints all that we see?
In endless living color, through all eternity?

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-10-017-gods-greatest-creation?lang=eng

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