Amazing and Frightening Storm

Monday July 20th. Nothing special. Work, home, quick dinner, off to Spanish Class, home ... short chat with my wonderful honey, then off to bed for both of us. Curled up together, peacefully sleeping and the phone rang. "Hum", I thought, "who would be calling us at 10:27pm?" (clock work). It was our newly acquired "Weather Call" warning service - severe thunderstorm coming your way, lightening, hail, heavy rain and "damaging wind". The service calls when our address is in line with a notable storm. So I checked to make sure outdoor furniture in a good spot... lightening and thunder off in the distance. 10 minutes later...wind, thunder, lightening, rain....then the wind picked up, the thunder and lightening in earnest...then the tornado warning sirens...very loud...very loud wind...rain, hail....yikes it was very very scary! I asked Jack if we should go into the bathroom(our safe place). Turned on the TV.... some guy had just called in - thought he saw a funnel cloud 2 blocks from our house! Double Yikes.... strong wind and black outside. I was frightened. Jack stayed in bed, sleeping, not a worry in the world. Meanwhile the TV weather reporter is warning of the severity of the storm..."this is a powerful storm, do not go outside, stay in a protected area", after about 20 minutes the tornado warning was lifted, the storm...still very active had passed and was on its way east. I went to bed, but didn't fall asleep for quite a while.
In the morning ... 2 verified tornadoes touched down in the Denver area (neither near our home) wind and hail and rain had caused 100's of thousands of dollars of damage to property, cars, trees in the greater Denver area and 10's of thousands of people were out of power. It was a fierce storm. Fortunately no reported serious injuries or deaths...praising God for that! So, last night was the first time I was truly frightened by a storm here in Denver. Even when we knew that tornadoes were happening nearby previously...it was daytime...a storm of this magnitude in the dark of night was a whole different situation and very frightening for those of us who stayed awake through it, and where lightening before was entertaining, last night it was dangerous and very alarming. Winds topping out at 70 miles an hour roared toppling large trees, and denuding them of their greenery, smashing windows with the hail and debris. Some slept through the storm, some were awakened and were as frightened as I was...
OK here is the kicker. One of my lady friends at church...who, with her husband, slept through the storm...thinks we've almost had it all..."just need an earthquake" to round out this wild wild spring and summer! AN EARTHQUAKE!!! (She's originally from California)...so OK....but only a 1 or 2 on the scale please!

July 4th 2009

It has been a long time since I have blogged - so sorry for being neglectful. I admit that most of my time has been on....on....Facebook. It is a fun place and I can see photos of my family in VT.

But life still goes on and I do need to write more. Though I remember now why I stopped blogging. I had put a little "banner" on a page and it shows up on everything I do, and I don't know how to fix it. I can only type in "central" mode. Odd, but not insurmountable.

Today is Independance Day for the United States of America. We are an awesome country. I have watched people as they celebrate in their unique ways. We all have the liberties that have been given us by those who came before. Americans dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness gave their time, their expertise, their earnest efforts and their lives to not only secure the Independance of United States of America, but to keep it over the years. We are the United States of America, wonderfully diverse and working to become better, and I hope and pray our efforts are guided by the Divine Providence that led our founding Fathers in the establishment of this wonderful country under God. God Bless America!

Morning Drive Thoughts

Oh my! I just realized that I have not blogged since March! Not that I have nothing to say, nor that thoughts to blog about haven't come my way, nor that I have been away from my computer. Nope. Just haven't really sat at this delightful keyboard and tapped away at the keys! Hmmmm.
Well. Just yesterday as Jack was driving me into work. He does that every morning, by the way. Up before the sun dawns, we share a quick moment over coffee then off to work for me, as he drives and I collect my thoughts and enjoy the ride. The sun was dawning, bright and warm, the sky blue and the sun just brilliant.
We were driving through a neighborhood with tree lined streets, huge stately trees with branches outstretched over a wide 4 lane road divided in the middle by a large grassy median. I found myself getting frustrated as I looked at the trees. Here it is a beautiful sunny morning. Blue sky, brilliant sun and the trees are still in their winter dormant state. Every once in a while a shrub or bush would have a few green buds, but the trees were bare, lifeless, sleeping. Then the Lord quickened a thought in my heart. He is the sunshine of this world...He being Jesus - the true Sonshine. And He; Jesus shines bright and clear everyday, His Spirit is ever present in the world. He longs to be a part of every one's life, to help them grow and blossom. To be the warmth and the encouragement, the friend and yes, the Lord. To be the light of our path, the lamp of our way is His earnest heartfelt desire. Yet, for all His shining, for all His presence. We sleep. We remain dormant to His presence, and the beauty that we could have in our lives, the vibrant life that awaits us if we would but awake to His presence is lost in our barren dormant sleep. I was frustrated that Spring had not yet arrived, tired of winters chill and the stark nakedness of those magnificent trees. And suddenly I became aware of the Lord's presence and was overwhelmed with the thought of how He must feel. Out stretched arms. Hands ready. A love unceasing and without partiality. Fully accepting. Ready. And I sleep, we sleep. My life, our lives barren to the great and marvelous things God has to offer.
Lord forgive me. Forgive us. For we do not rightly acknowledge you for who you truly are. We sleep as you surround us with your glorious presence and offer us all that you have. If we would but awake to your presence....

Grace and peace

Blizzard in Denver

Thursday March 26, 2009...

It snowed and the wind blew hard, the snow piled on the street, the scrubs and trees. It lasted 24 hours. The driving was treacherous for most of that time. Then the sun came out. And in a matter of one day, most of the snow has melted away.




When I got my camera out to take some pictures, I discovered that I had not charged the battery since January. No pictures in the midst of the storm...so sorry. I have early morning the day after and Friday afternoon pictures to share. Early morning darkness with the new fallen snow, and some afternoon pictures of blue sky and sunshine.
Jack and I did try to do some business on the day of that storm early hoping to get back home before the brunt of the storm hit. Unfortunately, we got caught in the midst of the fury of the blizzard...harsh wind and snow...on our way back home.Thankfully the with the help of angels, the Highlander's 4 wheel drive and Jack's purposeful driving brought us home safe and sound. We stayed put for the remainder of the day.

Grace and Peace

Colorado New...not so nice... Find

I just love bike riding. I love the places one can go and see while on their bike. In Colorado there is a nemesis to bike riders... the dreaded GOAT HEAD...per Wikipedia "Tribulus terrestris -The nutlets or "seeds" are hard and bear two to three sharp spines, 10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble goats' or bulls' heads; the "horns" are sharp enough to puncture bicycle tires and to cause painful injury to bare feet." My tires found several of these "nutlets" on my last bike ride around the community here. I know exactly where I encountered them...but did not know the lethal impact they would have on my tire. Flatter than flat! I will never ever walk around barefooted now that I have seen the results to my bicycle tire. YIKES!

So off to the bike shop to see what could be done....at home Jack had found two of these little spikes in my tire...the fixit man found 2 or 3 more. We live where they "populate". Hmmm. So he replaced the tube and provided some automatic fill the hole when it happens stuff and strongly encouraged buying a brand of tire called "Armadillo" - very expensive but almost always effective against the Goat Head, and nearly every bike rider in Colorado has them. The bike shop folks were awesome. Gave us a newbie discount, a welcome to Colorado discount and lots of advise on where would be great rides. Scott our friendly chatty gray haired understanding our plight and ages sales guy recommended Breckenridge for a wonderful not too challenging ride along side the river there. Fourteen miles downhill. I think it sounds great. Jack is somewhat more hesitant to do Colorado trail riding in the mountains. This is not a mountain trail per se, I presume similar to the Stowe VT bike trail.

So there you have it. A new awakening as it were, and frankly, I am thankful that my bicycle tire was first to encounter this stabbing experience.

Grace and peace to all

BIRDS IN DENVER

Couldn't help but add a new picture of Tucker .... isn't he just the cutest little boy ......





On to the story.....

Yes, yes we know there are many birds in Denver...especially geese! However; today, to our absolute delight, a bird or two visited our little feeder just off our patio, and Jack got some pictures. Amazing how this little visit boosted our spirits. Not that there was any need for boosting mind you, a wonderful little blessing is welcome anytime!

We are looking forward to consistent warm weather, even some rain, a good soaking would be good for the dry Denver area.

So here is the bird, perched on our new feeder. A local squirrel has also discovered the feeder, but seems the feeder is not conducive to the squirrel's hanging around as it were, and the holes for the seed are situated in such a way as to mandate unusual contortions the squirrel was not able to maintain. Hilarious! Not only that, Jack's quick trot to shoo away the squirrel with a loud boo, fended off the intruder.

**in the original post I had the birds as the main story...but, truly...Tucker is the main story, birds are the delightful sideline!

Tea and Sculpture

Last Saturday on the advise of a local friend we drove to Boulder to visit the Celestial Seasonings Teas Manufacturing plant. A very touristy thing to do, well worth the trip. We packed a picnic lunch and drove the 45 minute route with ease. Tea tasting, visiting the gift shop, Julie OOOooo's and Aaaawww'd over the lovely tea cups and tea pots and all accompanying stuff, the unique tour including a short movie about Celestial Seasonings filled our late morning and early afternoon. On the advise of our factory tour guide we then drove less than 1/2 mile down the road to the Leanin Tree Museum of Western Art. THAT was awesome and made our day more than enjoyable and complete. Outside was a Sculpture Garden...fantastic! Inside were paintings that took our breath away and more sculpture. We are in awe over Gods gift and talent to these artists who capture the essence of nature and western life so powerfully.


Celestial Seasonings Tea Shop - free tasting of every flavor they make is here, along with some morsels of cookies, cake, biscotti and the like for sale.

T'was a very sunny day as we sat outside enjoying the sun and a beverage

Jack with the Colorado sunshine on his shoulders...and it truly does make one happy as the John Denver song proclaims.

Boulder roadway depicting the tree lined road, foothills and Rocky Mountains...these views often wow us.

Mountain Lion sculpture in the Sculpture Garden at the Leanin Tree Museum.