Life in the Slow Lane

Contemplating life, faith, words, and memories

Catching Up — September 16, 2019

Catching Up

With family coming for a visit this past weekend, we decided it was time to work on catching up on a bit of housekeeping. This would be my first serious effort at helping Husband Bob do household chores. I’m happy to report my catching up on housework exercise worked out A-OK for a newbie (that’s what they call you after a four-year hiatus from your duties!).

 
Early Friday evening our niece and her husband arrived for the weekend. Our niece was attending the Rose City Comic Con. Her publisher provided a booth for authors to sell and sign books. With a new book out,* she wanted to take part. Their visit provided us with time to catch up on family and memories. Lovely house guests create a feeling of successful hospitality. We hope they’ll return for another visit when we can take in a few wineries in the area.
 
On Saturday night, we were happy to hear the sound of rain hitting the roof. Our summer had been so dry we desperately needed the rain. It spent Sunday catching up with the rainfall deficit. Despite a dark day, it felt good to know that this rainfall might actually be enough to make a difference. A few candles lit brightened things up.
 
Catching up is always a good thing as long as you’re not the object of a hunter like the tiny mouse in the photo above.

 

Feature image attribution: Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto from Pixabay

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Gray Days — May 17, 2019

Gray Days

Watching raindrops fall silently onto the leaves of trees and flowers. Hard to believe a week ago it was sunny and almost 20° warmer.

Yet this week’s weather–gray, cool, damp–is the norm for May. Last week was a teaser sent by by Mother Nature. Pacific Northwesterners understand summer’s arrival is scheduled after the 4th of July. We know better than to get drawn in too quickly
 
Rain has been on our wish list for a while now. Each glistening raindrop holds life for someone or something. The earth has been dry and hard. And then again, too much rain can cause distress for others in the form of flooding or landslides. 
 
The snow depth on Mt. Hood is at 113″ as of today’s report. Although spring runoff supplies rivers and streams, it can be dangerous. The dangers come with early warm days. We’re prone to be fond of slow runoffs.
 
For me, I’ll sit back and watch the droplets fall and spring off leaves. And I’ll take the sunny days but not too warm too soon as well. 
 
Mother Nature seems to know best.
 

Adopt the pace of Nature. Her secret is patience.

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

 
Image attribution: Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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