Hometown: Bellingham, WA!

We got to Bellingham yesterday after driving west on the North Cascades Highway--more mountains! It is perfect weather in Bellingham: sunny and clear, with Mount Baker visible.

Now our whirlwind tour of WA State begins. This morning we drive to Seattle so that we can see our daughters AE and KA, since they are leaving for a wedding in another state next weekend. We will stay with dear friends Terry and Dennis, who always provide accomodations, transportation and friendship when we visit them. On Sunday MJ will fly from TX to be with us all. On Wednesday we'll drive back to Bellingham to have more time with husband CB's family before departing for the lower hot and humid part of the USA, where hurricanes and tropical storms threaten at this time of year.

Fun, food, and love abound!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my dear husband CB!

Here he is at Glacier National Park yesterday, the last day he was 60 years old.

Going to the Sun (Highway)

While we went towards the sun, fog kept encroaching upon us.

This morning around 11 am, this is what we saw through our windshield as we travelled along the Going to the Sun Highway and never saw the sun shining on the U.S. part of Glacier National Park. Poor CB hated driving along the cliffs knowing there was a 1000 foot drop, though unseen. It is disappointing that we did not see the peaks or glaciers along the way. I have postcards to send of the sights we did not glimpse.

After we left the park and went through the Canadian border crossing (that is only open in the summers), we entered the joint Canadian national park--Waterton Lakes National Park. As we drove in this direction, we started seeing patches of blue sky and finally entered the sunshine again. And we saw the top of a mountain--and got to the sun!

Yellowstone!

Bison walking towards our car on a road at Yellowstone on Sunday!

The only wild animals we saw during our two days at Yellowstone National Park were bison, a few elk, and some ducks. It was a little scary to have this bison walk towards our car though. Luckily, he walked right past it on the driver's side.

Since the only time I had been to Yellowstone before was in 1959, I only remembered Old Faithful. I don't think we saw much else, probably because 50+ years ago there had not been so much construction and attention to tourists' access to the many geysers and hot spots.
I took over 200 pictures during my two days there and hope to post about some of the amazing and weird sites when I get home to a regular computer. (AND I still have to post about my April/May trip to Spain!)

On our long drive to northern Montana, we had the first rain on this entire trip. Going along Swan Lake, we were reminded of the drives in northwest WA state, with the gray, close skies and drizzle. Tomorrow we will drive through Glacier National Park to reach Canada for the next two days.

By Friday we will be in Bellingham, WA to visit CB's parents and family.

Away for one week now!

Flaming Gorge, Utah

One week ago today we left Corpus Christi on this long driving trip. In a way, we are halfway through, as next Friday we will arrive in Bellingham, WA--our hometown and where CB's parents still live.

There is not as much time as I expected on this trip to be on the computer and to blog. I miss it and also all my blogging friends. It is cumbersome to use this laptop and so pictures may not be forthcoming until we return back to hot and humid TX.

Briefly, where we have been since Moab, Utah:

Thursday we drove most of the time in Colorado, leaving Moab in Utah and ending up in Flaming Gorge, Utah. After the red cliffs around Moab, we were a little disappointed by the so-called "Flaming" Gorge, though it was pretty by the National Park's visitor's center. We were somewhat surprised to learn that John Wesley Powell first found and described (for the American government) both the red cliffs and the flaming gorge.

Today we drove to Jackson, Wyoming. We were expecting Jackson HOLE, but learned on our arrival that the town is called "Jackson" and the "hole" is really a description of the 13-mile-wide canyon.

Tomorrow we will drive to West Yellowstone and spend two days and nights there, so we can tour Yellowstone National Parks. We'll go on some short hikes, but neither CB nor I can walk long distances at this time. (I have RA; CB has bad knees.)

We're in Moab, Utah!

CB and Jan at Mesa Verde National Park, NM

Near Spruce Tree House dwelling

July 18, 2011

It is so nice to be in Moab, Utah for tonight and tomorrow night, where we have wifi in our room! Unfortunately, the laptop we brought with us is clunky to use, so I will not be downloading as many pictures as I would like to. It is refreshing to be connected with the internet again, because we did not have access to that or to our cell phones (not here either) for the last two nights.

Sunday night we stayed at Jemez Springs, NM in a log cabin that also had a hot tub. CB and I had not been in a hot tub for over 25 years! Since my RA was acting up that day, the hot water felt soothing to my joints as we sat together in the hot tub, with the Ponderosa Pines swaying in the breeze around us.

Monday we drove to Mesa Verde, National Park where we spent the night at the park hotel called Far View Lodge. All afternoon we spent looking at different sites, ranging from pit houses built around 575 to cliff dwellings from 800-1200. The multi-story cliff dwellings were built at the later period, with the early Pueblo people leaving the area around 1300, abandoning all their structures. The cliff dwellings span long expanses of cliffs in clefts that appear. Amazing! It was hot walking on the short hikes.

This morning we left early to get to Canyonlands National Park, also in NM. The red cliffs, needles, and rock formations are truly amazing. It was hot, though mitigated by thunderclouds and huge raindrops at times. It was sad to see the remains of burnt trees and vegetation, still evident from serious fires in 1995, 2000, and 2006. The last one demolished over 23,000 acres!

I took over 100 pictures, which I will share someday when I have an easier computer, maybe at CB's parents' house in Bellingham, WA--where we will arrive in ten days.

Sadly, symptoms of RA flared again today, so we skipped the last hike to a petroglyph wall left by the early Pueblo people (whose name I cannot remember how to spell--Anasazi?) Maybe all the heat and exertion from yesterday caused this to happen, I don't know.

The only (!!) changes in my life since starting this vacation have been little or no meditating each day and no swimming/exercise. Otherwise, I have no idea why I have had two alternate days of pain.

Tomorrow we are going to visit Arches National Park.

We began our vacation on Friday!

On Friday we drove to Austin, but first we stopped in San Antonio to have lunch with daughter MJ and her boy friend.

CM and MJ after lunch

I like to play Words with Friends on my Ipod, though the only difficulty is getting wifi access. I could easily do that at son DC's house in Austin. However, I usually lose these Scrabble-like games, especially with DC. Yesterday I even asked my husband CB to help me find a word in a game with DC, who was just across the living room from us.

CB helping me with Words with Friends game.

Granddaughter Avery

Avery is almost 8 months old and laughs, smiles, and babbles. Last night DC kept lifting her up high, which guarantees a smile so I could get this wonderful picture.

Friday Five: My Name Spells Gratitude

A wise person once told me to make an ABC list of things I am grateful for any time I feel sad or depressed. It is a good practice when one is feeling happier than that, too. So for this Friday Five, I suggest that you use your name or nickname of about five letters and express your gratitude about something that starts with each letter. Some people have longer names, so you decide how you will go about this! (Last names, middle names, and nicknames count!)

Although I am known by most people as "Jan," my given name is JANET. When I was in first grade, I insisted that everyone, including my parents, should call me "Janet," because that was what my beautiful first grade teacher called me. That only lasted one year.

J:I like my name of Janet, though usually I am called Jan. Having a family name makes me feel connected, as I know that various ancestors were named Janet. More recently, my aunt was also named "Janet." I may be the only Jan though.

I love jonquils (or daffodils) and wish they could grow here (in the ground). It was always a joy to see them blooming as spring approached when I lived in WA, OR, RI, and NJ. I especially remember them around the time my father died.

A: Apples that are crisp and juicy are my favorites, and we hope to find those more easily on our trip up to WA State.

For people, I immediately go to my daughter AE, who has a family name, which is also my middle name. Also there is daughter-in-law AA who is married to our oldest son DC, and they are the proud parents of AVERY, who is seven months old!

N: My longest maintained/ing friend is Nancy. We have known each other since junior high school on a Navy base in Japan and continued much of our lives writing (real) letters to each other. Since that has slacked off, we mostly talk on the phone once a week. She's also the friend who went to NM with me last summer--to celebrate us turning 60!

Friends have found a NEST of baby hummingbirds in a tree by their house!

E: I am grateful that I am regularly exercising again. Thanks to the diagnosis of RA, I am going to deep water exercise classes at the YWCA at least five times a week. I feel better for doing this.

Since today we leave on our month long driving trip, I hope that I will be disciplined enough to go and exercise in motel pools along the way!

T: Today is when we leave on our TRIP--this driving adventure husband CB has talked about and planned for months and months.

We are driving north to Canada, stopping off to visit various national parks. Then we will drive along the Crow's Nest Highway along the border of Canada and the US and get to Bellingham, WA by the end of July. We'll then be more stationary and visit CB's parents and our daughters AE and KA in Seattle!

I will try to blog about the trip, while we are comforted to know that a friend is staying in this house with our three dogs and one cat. They love to be in the air conditioned house in this extreme TX heat (and drought).

2,000 Posts!

This is my 2,000th post since May 2007.

Should this be the end of Yearning for God? I still yearn for God and continue to desire connection to blogging friends, other friends and family.

I move but don't

SUDDENLY, it is time for our big trip north and west through the national parks, ending up eventually in Bellingham, WA. We leave Friday, and I feel like I am moving, without motion, to get ready and not getting enough accomplished.

So I am sorry I am not writing or reading blogs; I miss my friends and miss their comments.

I have not even finished writing postcards I got in Spain. I haven't blogged about the Spain trip OR labeled the 600+ pictures. Now I hope to write postcards to friends on this USA trip--as long as my fingers will allow me without too much pain.

I haven't gotten rid of piles of books or papers. Somehow I always think a trip is a deadline. With RA fatigue and sometimes pain, I am not meeting any of those odd goals I seem to set myself up for.

I have not written letters I meant to write--hopefully, postcards (maybe) will suffice. . .in the future.

I have no birthday present for husband CB, whose birthday will be celebrated on this trip.

The only packing I have done so far is putting a pile of books in a big bag to take along. That's one advantage to going in our own car.

There's more, but this is enough complaining. The time will get here on Friday morning; we will leave; that's that.

(Sarcasm: This is such a momentous 1,999 post!)

Avery's Visit

Avery came to visit her daddy's parents (us) this past weekend in Corpus Christi, TX.

Avery (7 1/2 months)

Also coming with Avery was her big brother, Sampson, the English Bulldog.

Avery, Sampson barging in, and Grandpa CB

Sampson is allowed in parts of our house that our three dogs are not permitted into, mostly because Maisie and Baillie (our female dogs) want to snack in the cat's litter box. Our cat is not used to having a dog around, and Sampson loved to rush at her and bark. This is how she looked after he was taken away from her area.

Gracie our cat, glaring

Daddy DC loves to play with Avery and have her stand up (and flip over). He is her caretaker while his lovely wife works every day.

Avery and Daddy DC

Since you can only see Avery's mommy's right arm, I'll put another picture up to show you AA with her pretty daughter.

AA and Avery

On Prayer

You ask me how to pray to someone who is not.
All I know is that prayer constructs a velvet bridge
And walking it we are aloft, as on a springboard,
Above landscapes the color of ripe gold
Transformed by a magic stopping of the sun.
That bridge leads to the shore of Reversal
Where everything is just the opposite and the word 'is'
Unveils a meaning we hardly envisioned.
Notice: I say we; there, every one, separately,
Feels compassion for others entangled in the flesh
And knows that if there is no other shore
We will walk that aerial bridge all the same.

~ Czeslaw Milosz ~

(New and Collected Poems, 1931-2001, trans. Robert Hass)



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Avery Visit!

Son DC took this picture with his Iphone soon after their arrival here in today. I love holding my granddaughter Avery, especially without my hands hurting like they did over Mother's Day weekend.

Friday Five: Summer Fun

Dorcas brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

So, what's up, Rev Gals and Pals? How are you spending your summer? (I know, some of you are in a different hemisphere and it may be chilly...sorry!) Are you experiencing fire or floods or tornados? Vacationing? Working harder than ever? Experiencing change? Longing for change?

Share five things that are happening in your life, personally or professionally or some of each, in this season of life.

1. Trips to WA State
Ever since we moved to TX in 1978, we have always gone back to our hometown of Bellingham, WA every summer. Both sets of parents/grandparents lived there until my mother died in 1992 and my father died in 2002. CB's parents still live there, and now our daughters AE and KA live in Seattle, plus our dear friends Terry and Dennis.

This year CB and I are venturing out on a long driving trip up there, which starts one week from today! We are going north from TX through various national parks in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana before we head west to the Pacific Coast.

2. Summer reading
Somehow summer gives me permission to read more frivolous books, such as the mysteries I love. I have a bag full of books that I will take on our driving trip, because there will be lots of room in the car!

New mysteries I am trying out are by Rick Riordan, whose detective lives in San Antonio, TX, and Matt Beynon Rees, whose detective operates in Israel and Palestine.

3. Coping with RA
Since the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in May, I have had innumerable medical tests, three visits with my rheumatologist, and the beginning of a drug regimen based upon methotextrate. Symptoms fluctuate, especially as I try to decrease my daily intake of prednisone while waiting (and hoping) that the methotextrate will start suppressing my immune system. Having a chronic disease is something I alternately deny and accept. There is an emotional limbo where I want to accept it and not be passive, but also be optimistic and trying to be better.

4. Choosing HEALTH
As a counselor once told a friend, one lives better if one "chooses health." I am trying to do that by exercising more, mainly taking water aerobics classes at the YWCA, and eating more nutritiously, as guided by Weight Watchers.

Being on prednisone keeps me from losing weight, but at least I am not gaining either. Eating is something to watch as we vacation for five weeks. A long-held tendency (tradition?) is to celebrate with food, especially desserts, on trips and with family. Trying to remember to choose health as the way to live (not the goal of losing weight) is what I hope to remember.

5. Continuing to meditate twice a day
My practice of sitting in silence, waiting upon the Lord, is pretty well set at twice a day. I managed to do this with daughter MJ on the Spain trip. I know the equanimity and peace given to me are helping me adjust to RA, among other things.

Just like eating, spiritual disciplines can be distorted, diminished, and/or delayed /forgotten on vacations. I will try to make prayer a priority, even if it is only 1-2 minutes at a time. (That is enough, because it is God's prayer after all.)

TX heat is good for something!

The heat and humidity have definitely arrived here in Corpus Christi, TX. At least, we are about 5 degrees cooler than Austin and Dallas, where it is reaching 100 degrees F. or more every day.

Even with my RA hands, I still like to hang clothes out on the clothesline, which is behind our garage.


Here you can see my turquoise swimming cover-up and the bag I carry my pool stuff in (given by the Shalem program).

Float!

As swimmers dare

to lie face to the sky

and water bears them,

as hawks rest upon air

and air sustains them,

so would I learn to attain

freefall, and float

into Creator Spirit's deep embrace,

knowing no effort earns

that all-surrounding grace.

~~Denise Levertov

Why are you unhappy?

Why are you unhappy?

Because 99.9% of everything you think,

And everything you do,

Is for your self,

And there isn't one.


~~Wei Wu Wei

(I found this in Grace and Grit:Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber by Ken Wilber on page 243. Now I want to learn more about Wei Wu Wei, who was born in Ireland in 1895!)

Memories of July 4th

I don't have that many memories of July 4th. You would think that my childhood growing up on military bases (mostly Marine) would highlight patriotic observances, but I do not remember any. That seems odd from my perspective of being 60 years old, so I thought I would try to recall any Independence Day celebrations I could:

• The one I remember most vividly is one I spent on the beach at Port Hueneme Naval Base in California when I was in high school visiting my long-time friend Nancy. Her family brought us to the beach for the fireworks display. It was fun, and I remember her younger brother (who is now a linguistics professor in Australia) running around--probably Nancy, her sister, and I were moving around, too.

• It used to be that you could see the fireworks from my parents' house in Bellingham, WA. I remember sitting alone on the couch, watching them when my mother was dying of pancreatic cancer. Little did I know that she would die only ten days later (in 1992).

• In 1979, when I was pregnant with our first baby, our neighborhood had a gathering at the local park, which we declined to attend--as I was very pregnant and it was so hot (like today)! My mother was visiting from WA, waiting for DC's arrival--and she wasn't used to the heat either. He was a week overdue and finally arrived on July 6.
  

• On a few occasions, we took our children down to the waterfront grassy areas here in Corpus Christi, TX with massive crowds of other people. It was always very hot and humid. . . and buggy. (There are over 200 varieties of mosquitoes, and all of them can be found here!) I mostly remember doing this with our two younger children. I wonder if they liked it. . . .

We are having a very quiet 4th of July. CB will grill chicken. Otherwise, we are staying in our nice, cool and air-conditioned house. (At 5 pm it is 94 degrees F. For my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, it is 100 degrees F. in Austin!)

I hope you are enjoying the 4th of July wherever you are!

Happy 4th of July!

Go to The Star-Bangled Banner to learn about the preservation and restoration of the flag raised at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry to celebrate a crucial victory over British forces during the War of 1812 on September 14, 1814.

Quick facts about the flag are here.

Now I Become Myself

My friend Louise pointed me to this poem by May Sarton:

Now I Become Myself

Now I become myself. It's taken
Time, many years and places;
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people's faces,
Run madly, as if Time were there,
Terribly old, crying a warning,
"Hurry, you will be dead before--"
(What? Before you reach the morning?
Or the end of the poem is clear?
Or love safe in the walled city?)
Now to stand still, to be here,
Feel my own weight and density!
The black shadow on the paper
Is my hand; the shadow of a word
As thought shapes the shaper
Falls heavy on the page, is heard.
All fuses now, falls into place
From wish to action, word to silence,
My work, my love, my time, my face
Gathered into one intense
Gesture of growing like a plant.
As slowly as the ripening fruit
Fertile, detached, and always spent,
Falls but does not exhaust the root,
So all the poem is, can give,
Grows in me to become the song,
Made so and rooted by love.
Now there is time and Time is young.
O, in this single hour I live
All of myself and do not move.
I, the pursued, who madly ran,
Stand still, stand still, and stop the sun!

May Sarton