Country Roads Take Me Home

I love John Denver.  Yeah, he was a little goofy looking.  And in today's world, the music is a little sappy, but I loved him and his music.  I was a country girl (for which I also thank God).   I didn't go to Rocky Mountain High, but I would have if I could have.  Sunshine on my shoulders still makes me happy.  And country roads always took me home.  I'm a big fan.

On the way to work a week or so ago, amidst some tribulation that extends even to this very moment, instead of leaving on a jet plane, I decided to take my time and take some photos of my favorite country roads.

 I love this corner.  I especially love it with wildflowers added.

 I'm not much of a botanist. I don't know what the yellow flower is but the other one is an Indian Blanket.  Such a happy flower.

 Beauty.

 

Scissortails always remind me of my granddad.  They were his favorite.  Now they are mine too!  I was trying to get a really good shot of this guy when he disappeared.

 When I checked my shots, I saw this was the reason he flew away. Good call.  

 A little further along the way.  I just want to stop here and breathe in the tranquility.

Wild turkeys are not very smart, but they are very fast and hard to photograph.  I followed a rafter of wild turkeys down the road with my passenger window down trying to get a good shot.

 I love these trees.

 A friendly girl on the way catching some shade.

 Beautiful wheat ready to harvest.

 Combines had this field cleaned by the end of the day.  Wheat harvesting is a lot faster now than when I was a kid and had to help my dad.  They have giant harvesters and giant semi trucks not broken down combines and trucks held together with duct tape and bailing wire like ours was. 

My camera has some fancy settings that I have never used. I really wanted to try to capture the light on the tractor, but none of the settings I clicked would work until I chose "special effects" and painting.  I was surprised and happy with this shot. It's silly, I guess, but when I see sun rays beaming down like that, I think of it as God sending me a little hopeful message.

Just revisiting these photos has eased my mind some today. I know the Lord of Heaven and Earth has us in the palm of His hand.  "And we know all things work together for good  to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose."

All things?  Really?  Yes.  All things.  Even this.

May the good Lord bless you and keep you and offer you opportunities to feel His love on your face.

<3 Lori

Giraffing

The month of May was CrayCRAY!   Sophie being sick, new puppies, spring basketball, spring volleyball, awards banquets, middle school graduation, Baccalaureate, high school graduation and all the junk the goes into all of that plus a bunch of stuff I can't remember now.  It was nuts.  I thought if I could just live until the end of the month and then through the first week of June when the state monitors would be at my real job for our annual review, it would be approaching miracle status AND I could take some time off.  I lived, AND I'm off!  Yea!

What have I been doing with this unusual spare time?

Playing with puppies.

Purchasing MORE crafty goodness.  Not sure what I'm going to do with this yet, but it was my reward for making it through the monitoring week.

Catching up on my 1 Peter Bible study with #Shereadstruth

And making art.  This one is almost finished.  It's called, "Giraffing".

Maybe it shouldn't, but it still feels kind of miraculous when I make something I really like.  I really like this guy.  There's a quote from Robert Fulghum scratched into to the paint. It says, "Does the giraffe know what he's for?  Or care? Or even think about his place in things.  A giraffe has a tongue twenty-seven inches long and no vocal cords. A giraffe has nothing to say.  He just goes on giraffing."

I feel a little like that sometimes.  I don't know about my place in the world. And I don't really care that much because this world is not my home. I'm anxious for the next one!  Until then, I'll just go on doing what I do and feeling blessed beyond measure.

May the good Lord bless you, too, friends, better than you deserve.

<3 Lori