Highway 26 is a two lane road curving and twisting through mountain ranges in Eastern Oregon. On this particular route, after traveling through the Ochoco National Forest, you can spot some unusual scenic "beauty". These photos show the artistry of human imagination and inclination in a creation called aShoeTree. This particular one is located about 68 miles east from Prineville and if you are heading west, it's approximately 17 miles from Dayville. Shoe trees are a rare sight but they are "planted" here and there in Oregon and in other parts of the country. We are fortunate enough to have one such tree, due to human ingenuity, in our own back yard of Eastern Oregon on the side of the road on Highway 26. All kinds of shoes and boots hang down like clusters of leaves wherever a branch can bear such weight. Who puts them there and how they are arranged onto the tree is a mystery. However, it attests to a memorial of sorts to those folks who hang their shoes as a bit of whimsy. Studying the shoe tree, a deeper thought comes to mind... all these shoes belonged to feet that walked out daily living before being retired to the shoe tree. Individual stories are attached to the tree in the form of shoes which makes the inanimate become animate, becoming a "story tree" as well. If those shoes could only talk, what stories they would tell!
About 10 miles from the shoe tree (heading East towards Dayville) is a turnoff which allows you to pull over and enjoy the surrounding view. I call this shot "Gateway to Grant County", for between the two cliffs, you can see a partial scenic view of mountains and hills which belongs to Grant County. The county line begins where these cliffs meet at the bottom of the valley on Highway 26. For those of you who have not visited this part of the country, I will display photos on
this blog from time to time, to show the varied and ruggedly beautiful country which exists in this high desert region.
"Gateway to Grant County"
The world is rich in scenic splendor. For those who have been able to travel, it is a blessing to see God's creativity in such diversity. Photography through various forms of media is a way to bring the world into our lives so we can travel to these places from the comfort of our homes.
The below YouTube video,
beautifully presented by Eva Necka, expresses that very thought through wonderful pictures and song by Gregorian, called “Voyage
Voyage”. In case you haven't heard their music, they are a German band which performs Gregorian chant-inspired versions of modern pop and rock songs in both vocal and instrumental harmony. The lyrics are in French, but
you can catch the idea through viewing the amazing scenes that were photographed in
different parts of the world. God’s beautiful creation
is everywhere in color and in form and also in music. The video can be put in full screenif you want to view the full effect of these spectacular scenes. You can also view at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx32wQ2I3SY
I think of the inward voyage or journey
we all take as we live as sojourners on planet earth. Spiritually
speaking, the journey takes us many places, with twists and turns as on a
mountain road. We cross rivers and
valleys, high and low places. We experience
joy and delight and also despair and division.
We feel love and we feel pain.The Father of Lights is with us throughout our journey and if we train our spiritual ear and listen close in heart, we can sense His encouraging Presence, giving a new surge of hope and strength to continue on as His children of Light.
The last several posts have been on "Pieces of Heaven" and "Bit of Magic" along with encouragement to find or look for the heaven and magic in your every day world. Sometimes it feels like a set of binoculars is needed to find that magic depending on the circumstance of the day. A perfect illustration is the photo below for a little humor. I hope that binoculars weren't needed to find some magic this past week.... rather, that it was right in front of youin delightfuldiscovery to lift up your day.
....looking for the magic!
I became aware of how hands speak in pictures that
were spontaneous and not posed. Hands are expressive! Hands can tell a story within a photograph when they become the focus. In particular, children and their hands lead us to enjoy a fresh new world where heaven and magic are found in everyday surroundings. Children find it quicker than we adults since they have not yet become jaded with the imperfections existingwithin the framework of life. A child's hands are innocent, true and trusting and they are intrigued with the simple, which exists around them. A weed, a flower, an animal, even dirt is a fascination. The following slide show is meant to take you to that place of delight with the hands of a child and the hands of those in his family who love, nurture and protect. It is entitled "Handprints in the Heart". You can also view at: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/uI2mr7bJ
The following poem helps to tell the story of the above photo slide. Tiny hands that explore in the wonder of discovery become grown-up hands that explore in the wonder of personal destiny.
Tiny
Handprints Author Unknown
Tiny handprints grow so fast
Their
awkward groping soon will clasp
A ball, a book, a sweetheart’s hand
A diploma, briefcase, a wedding band
Tiny handprints grow so strong
It doesn’t take them very long
To snap a shirt, to paint, to draw
To work hard, to drive a car
Tiny handprints grow to be
A person that is quite unique
A wonderful mix of so many things
With his own feelings, thoughts and dreams
Tiny handprints grow to rely
On his family to bring him up just right
His parents pray that when he’s grown
He’ll say their job has been well done
Tiny handprints are ours to love
The sweetest gift from God above
A miracle that never is surpassed
How sad they grow up way to fast.
Until next Monday, I close this post with a stanza from "Moon Music" by Lanny Sherwin, which is the song on the slideshow. No matter what ourage is, we are never too old for a comforting lullaby.
Hush…
can you hear it -- Hush…
listen close
There’s
a melody drifting down sweet and low
It’s
coming from the twilight sky..... It’s
coming from the moon
This is a great quote by J.B. Priestley… “I have always been delighted at the
prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic
waiting somewhere behind the morning.”
What a great attitude to have if we could greet each day anticipating that bit of magic to unfold with the gift of a new day. It may come with a child's smile; an affirmation of "good job"; a pet who licks your hand in love and acceptance; a pleasantry passed with family, friend or co-worker. It can come in the form of a note, email or phone call from a beloved. It can be a breath of fresh air or in sunshine that breaks through on a cloudy day. It can be in aging, withered hands reaching out to give an affectionate hug from an elderly. It can be an encouraging word or a rainbow in the sky. Many such experiences of bits of magic are but a whisper from God waiting for recognition.
Last Monday, I shared with you about "Pieces of Heaven". Today's post goes hand in hand with a "Bit of Magic". If we seek the magic, we will find it whether it be connected with people, places or experiences in our day to day living. Withthis in mind, I share a few more photos of winter magic in Eastern Oregon....
Morning Has Broken
Just Horsin' Around
Wintering Quail (A reminder to click on the photos to enlarge)
Hoarfrost... It’s been several years ago that most of the John Day valley
experienced a hoarfrost which transformed the winterbleakness of leafless trees and
surrounding countryside into a crystal wonderland. Magic waited behind the fog as it lifted, leaving a covering of
delicate white ice crystals as it touched trees, ground, hills and brush. It was a photographer's delight! With my camera in tow, I walked on country
back roads and drove on Highway 26 to catch some of this magic before it
disappeared in the warming sunshine. I took so many shots, I decided to
use some of them in this post as a photo slide show. It was difficult for me to pick out my favorites as they all were. The camera still cannot do justice to the crisp white frost that changed the ordinary to extraordinary. The Father of Lights was especially creative in transforming His nature into a dazzling display of frosty ice.
The PhotoShow is called "Magic". The images are more detailed when you watch the slideshow by clicking on the larger view format. You can also view at this link: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/pq6XQ7bQ
Until next Monday at The Turn-Up Patch...may you experience a bit of magic in your every day.
We've just passed through the busy celebrations of Thanksgiving, Christmas
and now, into the new year of 2013. We all hope for a better tomorrow,
not only personally but for our country and our world. Planet earth is
so minute in the grand scale of the universe and yet it teems with hopes
and dreams, aspirations and inspirations;paradoxes of peace and conflict, life and death, triumph and
tragedy, laughter and tears, light and dark, according to the condition of mankind. How
finite within infinity. How simple and how complex.
Simplicity greeted me on the morning of New Year's Day. It came in the form of deer stopping by just long enough for me to enjoy them with my camera. The does posed quite well for me as they savored the sunshine on a cold winter morning and then they left as silently as they came, deftly and gracefully.... all movement and no sound.
"Just Passing Through"
Click on photos to enlarge
Silence can calm the soul in a noisy world.... yet another paradox. On rare
occasions, I feel privileged to hear the sound of silence. The other
night was one of those times. I woke up to a full moon streaming
through the window and saw fresh, fallen snow on tree branches and the
lights ofMt. Vernon twinkling in the snowy distance. It was the silence which
caught my attention.... everything was still; no sounds of critters or wind or
traffic. House noises were stilled and it was as if a blanket of quiet
had descended with the new fallen snow. All activity had ceased and what emerged was this beautiful sound of silence. It felt holy in its appearance, seemingly absent of time .... "Be still and know that I am God" is a scripture that comes to life during such reflective occasions. The awing silence turned into eventual chatter of the day's awakening and along with it, responsibility. It is time to feed hay for those of us who raise horses, cattle and sheep since pasture grass has disappeared in the ensuing weather that winter brings. This becomes a daily routine until Spring arrives and the animals begin to grazeon green fields and hills. Below are some recent photos taken of a few of the quarter horses which are raised on the ranch. They start out in a lope and end up in a gallop, running for the "hay wagon" when they see that it is feeding time. You can catch glimpses of the noble horse as well as the beautiful hills and mountains which surround the John Day Valley in some of these photos.
"The Rush"
Clark & Company(dogs) with the "Hay Wagon"
Feeding Pasture
Until next Monday, I end this post with a quote from Jules Renard...."On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it". Today, I share with you, my pieces of heaven produced by the creativity of God in deer, silence, horses and countryside.
I
begin this post with some humor. I
wanted to do a little message on Eagles and in my personal photo archive, I
have no photos of such a great majestic bird. Eagles are a rare spotting for me and whenever they do appear in the sky
or in a tree, I am without my camera or they are too quick for me to take a shot (with a camera that is).
This was the next best thing……
Eastern Oregon Wild Turkey
Yes,
we do have wild turkeys which populate our area in Eastern Oregon. We had several small “gangs” roaming around
the ranch. They loved to come in the
back yard during the waning days of Autumn and eat apples on the ground that had fallen from the tree. As soon as the apples
disappeared, so did the turkeys, off to higher and more secluded ground for the
winter. I did a little research on
turkeys. Wild turkeys do fly, although their soaring stamina is in short
bursts and don’t do altitude climbs so well.
Their tendency is to stay on or near the ground to feed and roost in
trees at night. They can also end up marinated in the oven or in
a hunter’s crock-pot for a little turkey stew!
It may
not be fair to compare a turkey with an eagle.
I could list all the differences but for this post, I'd like to just focus on Eagle wings which are wide, long and strong. By using rising warm air currents called thermals, eagles can soar for hours, which helps conserve their energy particularly during long migration periods. Information sites states that the top flight capability of a bald eagle can be up to 30,000 feet and most around 10,000 feet.
On June 20, 1782, our Continental Congress adopted the bald eagle as our official national symbol after much debate among the members. Thomas Jefferson jokingly suggested that the wild turkey should be chosen, but ultimately the symbolic power, strength and freedom associated with the bald eagle won out.
Here is a great song by the The River Boys which they did in 1991. I typed out the lyrics so that you can sing along with it.... makes you feel good and the tune is really catchy. Remember that "Reach the end of time" is eternity....
The video is presented by Sami Traboulsi featuring The River Boys singing "Fly like an Eagle". You can also view at this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQC-_cGbp_A
Where the clear wind blows... Where the only freedom grows... And theLight
that you see...Shines for you and me That's where I'm gonna fly... Fly like
an eagle in the sky... Over valleys in green... To the places no one's
been... Ride the wind high and low... Into the sunset flow.... Watch the clouds
passing by... Fly like an eagle in the sky ...That's where I'm gonna fly....Fly like an eagle in the sky.... Fly into the air... On the wave that takes you higher... See the
pictures disappear... Until you reach...Reach the end of time... meet the end of time....see the end of time Fly like an eagle in the sky... Fly into the air...On the wave that takes you higher... See the
pictures disappear... Until you reach... Reach the end of time... meet the end of time....see the end of time Where the clear wind blows... Where the only freedom grows... And the Light
that you see ...Shines for you and me That's where I'm gonna fly... Fly like
an eagle in the sky... Watch the clouds
passing by... Fly like an eagle in the sky ...That's where I'm gonna fly....Fly like an eagle in the sky.... Watch the clouds
passing by... Fly like an eagle in the sky ....Fly like an eagle in the sky....
As we
traverse through the currents of life, there are times the Light is obscured
from our spiritual vision by the clouds and storms we pass through. However, spiritually speaking, we are built with
eagle’s wings to climb and soar, mindful that the Father of Lights is ever
with us. Warmed by His Presence and
infused with His strength, we gain the stamina needed to break through and
experience freedom from the difficulties that hold us back from joy and
peace. 2012 was a difficult year for many people who had to face extreme hardships and heartaches that came their way. May the days ahead in 2013 be of new beginnings and better times.
"but
those who hope in the Lord will renew their
strength.
They
will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they
will walk and not be faint". Isaiah
40:31
To my family, friends and readers, and also to those who live outside of the United States who have tuned into my blog.... HAPPY NEW YEAR from The Turn-up Patch and remember to fly like an eagle. May the Father of Lights bless you abundantly.
Tomy Canadian friends and those in the United Kingdom....HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Space
has always been a wonder for me… both in the realm of its depth in beauty and its
mystery. Space is described in the
dictionary as a region beyond earth’s atmosphere containing other planets,
stars and galaxies. It is also known as
the heavens and skies or the cosmos in simple description.
In its complexity, there are solar systems within the universe, using such terminology as aerospace, interplanetary, interstellar and
intergalactic, to name a few.There
is another word called infinite which aptly describes such an endless
frontier of the unknown. Today’s space
technology has allowed us glimpses into such vastness through the Hubble
telescope and NASA explorations.
Improved
technology in astronomy has allowed photographs showing breath-taking beauty in colored
dimensions caused by cosmic energy, gases, gravitational fields, celestial planets,
galaxies, not to mention our own stellar solar system.
The earth seen from space is like a beautiful blue and white marble,
splendid in suspended aura, pulsing with life and host to creation in many forms.
Space science is
very busy trying to find the origin of the universe and to make conclusions as
to where it all began and the “ending” of space. Our Creator, the Father of Lights, is the beginning and the end... the Alpha and Omega. I will say for Science, that the further it advances in discoveries, the more compatiblefindings are which line up with scripture written long ago. As an example; there is a whole
spectrum of ethereal sounds recorded by NASA.
Since the vacuum of space cannot transmit audible sounds, scientists
have captured radio emissions and electromagnetic waves from other planets and
stars and translated them into sound.
Psalm
119 describes this dynamic.
The
heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world. (NIV)
I have a collection of images which I have saved from internet articles on space, planets, etc. provided by the Hubble Telescope and NASA satellites. I chose a few and put them together in a photo slide show to emphasize how Great our God is. The heavens truly are filled with His Glory.....
You can really be a star gazer if you see this in the enlarged view format. Click on escape when finished. The PhotoShow is entitled "The Star" and also can be viewed at this link: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/BE4MJ6Sn
In Genesis 1, one of God’s first spoken commands was…”Let
there be Light” and Light was formed and God saw that it (the Light) was good. He began separating the Light from darkness
and as it was in the beginning, God is still in the business today of
separating Light from dark... which brings us to Christmas.
Christ was born in the first century, yet He belongs to all centuries.
He was born a Jew, yet He belongs to all races.
He was born in Bethlehem, yet He belongs to all countries...
George W. Truett
Christmas celebrates a Divine Awakening, a saving grace, when penetrating Light enters mankind in the form of a baby boy birthed in Bethlehem - to a dying and tortured man hanging on the cross at Golgotha - to emerge in resurrection power out of a Jerusalem tomb as Jesus, the Light of the World.
Hello my dear family, friends, readers and from Eastern Oregon to Newtown, Connecticut.... I have just completed this message tonight (Saturday) which is being posted a little sooner than my usual Mondays. It is important to acknowledge those who have lost their most treasured possessions this past week.... their children and loved ones in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty children and six adults were killed by a lone gunman at their Sandy Hook Elementary school. Actually 28 died when you include the gunman's mother and his own suicide. As I write this, on going investigations are still unfolding events as to the heroes at Sandy Hook and a deeper glimpse into the 20 year old shooter. The names and profiles of the all those who were killedare now released; the children were 6 and 7 years of age,such tiny angels.
We are bound to one another as a community throughout the nation and the ripple effect of such loss is felt across the human soul in the face of such senseless tragedy. Consolation seems impotent in its power compared to the magnitude of grief experienced in the broken hearts of affected families and friends. Particularly, this time of year.... Christmas! Which speaks of joy and peace among men, and children eagerly anticipating the opening of gifts. It is equally difficult because of a child's innocence and vulnerability in the face of such darkness that came upon them last Friday. We don't know the answer to 'Why God, why'? But we do know that we live in a broken world and that the Father of Lights is here to help us pick up the pieces in whatever destructive circumstancehas happened. May His Son, the Light of the World, sustain and strengthen, infusing His warmth of love and comfort to the numb and shattered hearts in Newtown. I found this song by Ricky Atkinson with it's beautiful and meaningful lyrics.Collectively, we can all send this truth through our prayers and thoughts to Newtown's hurting people. Presented by Kwantum Productions, the link to this video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdymLSwTjAA
Jesus Can
Ricky Atkinson/Ricky Atkinson Music/BMI
Verse 1 If I could I would take away the troubles weighing heavy on your mind and in your life If I could, I would wipe away the sorrows that you feel deep down inside and make them mine But there’s only just so much a friend indeed Can help you through along the way But I’m glad to say I know the One who will be there To help you when you pray
Chorus If I could I would take you by the hand and lead you through this valley wide And stand upon the mountain high If I could I would walk across the burning desert sand Restore your soul with sweeter water from a better land But I’m sure that in my strongest hour I still could not possess the power To bring you through the raging fire you must withstand But remember, Jesus can
Verse 2 If I could, I would wipe away the tears that stain your pillow in the night and make it right If I could, I would lift you up above the clouds of doubt and fearful fright with all my might But the truth remains the same, Though I try my best, I’m still a man like you But I’m glad to say I know the one who will be there to help you make it through
Please join me next Monday, December 24th for my post entitled "The Infinite Holding Infinity".
