A good friend of mine is out in Colorado this weekend for a mini vacation. He hasn’t travelled much, and he’s out in the Denver area visiting another friend.
I’ve enjoyed the texts and photos he’s sent the last few days. I can tell he’s having a great time, and the thing that he’s enjoying most is the beautiful scenery and the regional food he’s been trying. He’s got me thinking about my own upcoming trips.
I’ve found myself asking this question a lot lately. Over the weekend, I was getting ready for someone to come and paint several of the rooms inside my house.
I didn’t want to change colors, but just give everything a freshening up. I knew I had a paper with all the color names and paint numbers, but it took me awhile to find it. Who can remember names like Jersey Cream and Caen Stone? With a tip I must have gotten from Martha Stewart, I had created a little chart that had all the paint names and numbers, along with the corresponding paint swatch. What a great idea! 🙂
I know. Fall isn’t even officially here yet, and I’m already writing about spring. Well, in my book, it’s good to plan ahead.
And if you want your spring to be especially beautiful, now is the time to act. Most spring-blooming flowers have to be planted soon in order for them to settle in before the ground freezes.
Another benefit of thinking about spring, at least for me, is that it takes my mind off of all the craziness going on in our world today, especially surrounding the upcoming presidential election. Just get this over with, please. We’ll be clawing ourselves out of this mess for years to come, regardless of who gets elected.
I made a little retreat this past weekend with a friend of mine, and it was filled with lots of great experiences.
One of them was heading to a outcroping of rocks in Pennsylvania called High Rock. Over the years, I’ve taken lots of people here to see the spectacular views.
On Saturday, we were treated to watching a group of hang gliders launch from the rocks and glide down into the valley below. To the right of the rocks, a small plaque was mounted on a tree, memorializing a young man who must have misjudged with wind, and crashed his hang glider after jumping from this very spot, losing his life. It must take a lot of courage to make the leap, especially after walking past this little monument.
I don’t know about you, but it seems like there’s an awful lot of negative things going on in the world today.
I thought that maybe after the political conventions, the rhetoric might be toned down a bit. No chance.
We all keep praying for peace in our world. It seems like violence and hatred continue to raise their ugly heads more often than not. And then there’s the economy, unemployment… The list goes on and on.
While on vacation in California this summer, I picked up a couple of bags of pistachios, one of my favorite nuts.
Frankly, I was surprised they’ve lasted this long, but when I saw this soup on the cover of the latest edition of Vegetarian Times, I knew they wouldn’t last for long.
This is a super easy and tasty recipe, perfect for the cool fall days ahead. Labeled “guilt free comfort food,” you can go ahead and have two bowls if you want. 🙂
I was talking with a group of college students tonight, and the theme was the power of prayer.
I shared with them a personal experience of years of prayer for a particular intention, but those prayers seemed to go unanswered. I prayed. My family prayed. My friends prayed. Nothing seemed to happen. We got discouraged. Some stopped praying. I gave up more than once.
So, how has your holiday weekend been? As we mark the end of the potential summer vacations, I hope you’ve had the chance to relax a bit.
I’ve used my time to catch up on some yard work and a bit of housecleaning. As the rains have come and gone, I’ve had to alternate between being in the yard and being inside, but so far, quite a bit is being accomplished on both fronts.
Last night, I started reading a new book entitled Linchpin, written by Seth Godin. It’s been sitting around unread for quite some time, and it was unearthed in the housecleaning. It’s ironic that I should crack this book open on a long weekend which, according to the US Department of Labor, is “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers”. Why the irony?