Photo Hunt: Family

" All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all."
C. Alexander

Our family of animals gets along most of the time. They watch out for each other, comfort each other, tease each other,
and make room for each other when they sleep on vacation!
For other photo hunters using family go here.

The Journey

Last Saturday evening my friend BW was heading to a concert in a college town in southern Idaho with a friend. They were crossing the street at a crosswalk when a car hit them both, throwing them into the air. My friend BW suffered multiple injuries from the accident. Her friend didn't survive the accident. As BW lays in a hospital bed with a broken hip, leg, and ribs she is trying to manage the pain. She also struggles with the fogginess from the concussion. When she first woke up after the accident she was concerned about her dogs, the lesson plans for school, and her many obligations that are first and foremost in her life. She has had to let go and let her body and mind heal.

In the collection of poems Ten Poems to Change Your Life compiled by Roger Housden , the following poem reminded me of the journey ahead for BW. She is blessed to have a support system of colleagues, church members, and friends around her as she embarks on the journey of recovery.
My prayers are with you BW... keep up the fight!!

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.
-Mary Oliver

Without a Map: Meredith Hall's Exploration of Family, Love, Loss, and Hope

I am continuing to explore memoir this fall as I add more titles to my Book Recommendation list for others. I highly recommend Without A Map by Meredith Hall. I can't remember when I first heard of the book. I think I read a review of it or saw it linked with another memoir I had read on Amazon. I then visited the U. of Idaho's bookstore and discovered Kim Barnes was using the memoir in her creative writing class. Barnes' body of work has inspired me since I first read Into the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country. I picked up a copy of Without a Map when I returned home.

Hall was a teenager in the mid-sixties in a small town in New Hampshire when her life changed drastically as she learned she was pregnant at the age of sixteen. She began a slow, painful journey that started with Hall being expelled from school and shunned by her community. She moved in with her father and he forced her to stay inside the house during the pregnancy. If guests came she had to stay in her room. She was drugged when she gave birth as not to see the baby that was taken away for adoption. She navigated her life after pregnancy without a map. She had no family support, no direction, and drifted through the next part of her life trying to come to grips with depression, despair, and the loss of the child she was forced to give up.

As Hall put her words to paper the events were written with a clear, honest voice. I felt her loneliness, grief, and loss of purpose as I read. I believe when a writer pens a memoir it can be another step toward healing and understanding of life events. I was haunted by her despair as she walked country to country in the Middle East with little money or food. I was moved to tears when she met with her father years after the time she lived with him during the pregnancy. I admired her when she enrolled in college as a forty-year-old mother that wanted to learn, and think, and write.

That theme of loss is woven through the book as she remembers how old the baby would be at a certain month, dreams about his life, and pours her love into two other children she raises. The contrast between her sadness in the first part of the book and her joy in simple pleasures of rural living later gives the reader hope and displays Hall's courage and determination. I hope you add this book to your " must read" list.

“Meredith Hall’s story of loss, shame, and betrayal is also a story of joy, reconnection, and survival; each memory takes us deep to the marrow of sorrow and celebration. A work of extraordinary beauty and grace.”

—Kim Barnes, author of In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country

A Place Worth a Visit: Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars

Part of the purpose of the road trip Saturday was to stop to hike and snap some photos at the Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars. It is located by the Washington-Idaho state line about fourteen miles north of Nordman, Idaho close to Priest Lake. We went over the mountain road from Sullivan Lake which was definitely the scenic route!
The Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars was visited by a forester in 1919. His analysis of the area showed that the trees averaged 800 years of age, while many exceeded 2000 years. On his recommendation, the area was set aside as a scenic area in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1943. It has been a preserve ever since.
It was a quiet day at the grove. We were joined by a few other hikers. Here Annie and Shelby are trying to lead JEJ to the next viewpoint. Views of Granite Falls make the trip worthwhile as hikers move along the viewpoint trail from the upper grove.If you are in this area, it is worth a stop. There are lots of spots to stop and take pictures along the trail.This was our first time stopping in the fall and the area had a whole new beauty with the leaves turning and the weather much cooler. Moisture kept the moss along the sides of the hill green and lush.

Pear Mincemeat: A Keeper from the Recipe Box

A few years ago we had an overabundance of pears and searched for a new way of canning them. I came across the following recipe in my Ball Blue Book of canning recipes. I love mincemeat with fruit and spices, but not with real meat added. A pint of this mincemeat mixed with some tart apples makes a superb pie. Warmed up, it works as a yummy sauce over ice cream or pound cake. It is one of those recipes with lots of possibilities!

Pear Mincemeat
7 pounds Bartlett pears
1 lemon
2 pounds raisins
6 3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon allspice
1 teaspoon ginger
1 cup vinegar

Wash, quarter, and core pears. Wash and cut lemon into quarters, removing seeds. Coarsely chop pears and lemon. Add remaining ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat; reduce heat; simmer 40 minutes. Ladle hot mincemeat into hot pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 25 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about 10 pints.

First Frost: : An October Farewell

frost
noun:
1. A deposit of minute ice crystals formed when water vapor condenses at a temperature below freezing.
2. A temperature low enough to cause freezing.
3. The process of freezing.
4. A cold or icy manner.
5. what happened to my gardens over the week-end.

We said good-bye to the peppers,
and the sunflowers,
the tomatoes, and the cardinal climber.

verb:
1. To cover with frost.
2. To damage or kill by frost.
3. The ending of my vegetable garden and many flowers.