Teeny Tiny 5 July 2015

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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Teeny tiny things that make me happy:

hot coffee brewing, hot fudge sundaes with extra hot fudge, hot horse breath on my neck.

Teeny tiny things that annoy me:

the car in front of me not speeding as fast as I want to, the TV turned up way too loud-especially the commercials, messes

Teeny tiny things that make me happy:IMG_3603

waking up in the night with my love’s arms around me, a phone call from one of my boys, Laffy Taffy.

Teeny tiny things that annoy me:

saying you’ll show up and then you don’t, waiting on hold, disrespect.

teeny tiny things that make me happy:

hot cocoa with marshmallows, a letter in the mail-the old-fashioned mail, flowers sprouting from teeny tiny seeds.

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Dawn 1 July 2015

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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Just this morning I was struck again at the arrival of dawn in all its pink-orange glory. It comes slowly, humbly-not at all a huge trumpeting fanfare; tenderly it comes, and should you choose not to notice, you’ll miss it. Dawn is like grace, it always comes after even the darkest night and it waits patiently for us to notice, becoming brighter so we must squint to avoid it, and then gently reaching out with those last rays as it settles into night. It reappears then in the twinkle of a million stars.

And then there is rain. Grey skies converge and rain begins to fall, pattering on the roof. It is soft at first, but comes faster and steadier and then backs off again. It is peaceful; a calm that blankets worry with a warm reassurance that all will be well when the earth’s thirst is assuaged.IMG_3566

Breathtaking beauty surrounded us yesterday as we hiked in Wild Basin. The wildflowers, the sharp smell of pine, the crashing water, the cooling mist, and the imagination of the Creator journeyed up the trail with us. IMG_3601
Pussy-toes all pink and new, tiny fairy slipper orchids and majestic columbine lined the path. Wild strawberries we had to sample even though they are not yet full and ripe. Kinnickinnic which is not only fun to say, but it has the most delicate pink flowers before it berries in later summer to bear-licious red fruit, it is one of my favorite native ground covers-it’s such a happy plant!IMG_3579

It was a glorious day with brilliant blue skies and of course, at the end of the hike, we HAD to go to Meadow Mountain Cafe in Allenspark and partake of divine victuals, chocolate malts not withstanding!

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Country or City 29 June 2015

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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Remember the story of the country mouse and the city mouse? I’m definitely the country mouse, but I do enjoy the city.

I love the wide-open spaces, or a tree-lined mountain trail, a wind-swept shoreline with waves crashing-a place where a quiet calm prevails, even in a fierce, blinding blizzard that envelopes the distant homes of neighbors; where stars stretch across the night sky in a sparkling, bedazzled blanket. I love to ride down the dirt roads and through tall pasture grasses while tractors disc or chisel through summer fallow, pick-ups haul fertilizer, and windmills churn water up into stock tanks. Scan 131780050I love the smell of rain in the mountain pines and the way pasque flowers bloom in spring. I love the salt-spray in the wind on a beach and the gritty feel of sand sticking to my legs. I love checking and feeding cattle, pulling discs and sweeps through fields, grooming, saddling and riding for hours, harvesting and preparing jelly, zucchini and rhubarb to last all winter, and I love rising before dawn to see the sun slowly rising to wake up the day.

But I know those who love the city can create just such a list too: of meeting friends at the coffee shop, going to the theatre, hearing the newspaper thud on the front steps or the bustle of crowds on the sidewalks, shopping, riding the subway, handing out Halloween candy to hundreds of kids, art museums, concerts, hockey games and going out to eat. I can get lost in a good musical or play and I love going to the movies. Book citystores-mmmm, evening performances in grassy green parks, neighborhood churches, city bike paths- a kind of hustle and bustle that maybe soothes or energizes.

I like a taste of the city, dream of someday going to Paris, but there is nothing like the sun setting over the fields or behind the mountains, or sinking under the ocean.

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Perfect 25 June 2015

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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One of my perfect days starts with a half a cup of coffee before sunrise and leading me into a six-mile run that feels more like three. Return to watch the completion of the sunrise with a full cup of coffee on the deck. Change into jeans and take ride with someone on a mountain trail, stopping by running water or a small lake surrounded by a meadow full of wild flowers to enjoy crunchy almond butter & honey, Cheeze-Its and brownies.

Upon returning, spend hours lost in writing at a comfortable desk with more coffee. IMG_1258Bake something yummy like chocolate zucchini cake with thick chocolate frosting and some sprinkles for good measure and bright color~eat it with more coffee and go write some more.

Take a long walk outside in quiet company, offering prayers of thanksgiving for the beauty of creation and blessing of family and friends, for antique tractors and horses, for coffee and chocolate (especially dark), for the tiny slit of the sun yellow-orange as it peaks over the horizon and deep red as it sinks below at the alex's camera 8 2010 035end of its day’s journey, for the quarter moon ivory among the myriad of brilliant stars in the blue-black night sky, and for the incredibly gracious love of God.

Watch The Man From Snowy River, Return to Snowy River and maybe An Unfinished Life on the couch with popcorn and RC Cola and laze away the afternoon and evening while someone cooks fried chicken to enjoy with the third movie! Did I mention coffee? And yes, this would be very long day.

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Missing 24 June 2015

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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I miss snow falling when it’s summer. I miss Black Cows and Sugar Babies. I miss bunk beds and tiny babies warm in my arms. I miss innocence and not knowing any better.

I miss being able to call Cathy and hear her in-your-face solution. I miss Godfather’s Pizza on Friday night by the Rexall Drug Store in Rockbrook, sitting in the cool dark of that little upstairs balcony. I miss banana splits from Goodrich Dairy.

I miss riding horses every single day during summer in the mountainshorsecamp2005 012 and campfires with s’mores, guitar and singing, “Pharaoh, Pharaoh, oh, oh, let my people go-ya-ya-ya-ya” and “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” I miss Wranglers-Night-Out and driving in reverse down dirt roads in the dark.

I miss my dad’s red socks. I miss riding my ‘indian’ ten speed. I miss sitting in Mary McWhorter’s bedroom listening to Beatles’ albums. I miss Saturday morning cartoons: Land of the Lost and The Jetsons. I miss donuts at church, was it every fourth Sunday?

I miss drive-in movies and big brown paper bags full of popcorn. I miss singing in a choir. AllPics 1028I miss sharing prayer with my small group. I miss that platform tent by the stable and Pegasus. I miss dancing the Salty Dog Rag and the Hokey Pokey. I miss big puffy sweet clouds of cotton candy-especially the blue kind.

While I do miss all of these things and more, they are tucked safely away in sweet memories. I bring them out every so often, dust them off and savor them.

 

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Forgive and Forget? 22 June 2015

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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What is required to forgive someone? First, I guess, an openness to be vulnerable to the hurt caused; to expose the bruised and battered heart because forgiveness necessitates pain and then, with great hope, healing.

It takes time to come to forgiveness, depending on what needs to be forgiven. And then comes the very difficult work of rebuilding trust. I don’t like this kind of vulnerable. I would rather bury pain and hurt. I know that is not a good thing because it wears you down like a soul anchored in a deep dark. And yet, there are some things that I don’t know if we can come to forgiveness on- I mean how do you forgive rape or murder? I don’t know.

I do take it to prayer, IMG_3482but I don’t always listen for the answer, or maybe I just don’t want to hear it. I tell God there is  no way He can understand the anguish. Really Sally, God can’t understand? Facing the fact that God can understand, hits me right upside the head with my own inability or unwillingness to forgive, on such a much more microscopic scale than God’s forgiveness extended to me.

So what is the secret formula for forgiving? For moving on? For not carrying the scars around etched in your spirit? I have no idea. I turn to the Psalms, and I find solace in my horses and in my run. And in those I love and who love me.

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Habits 17 June 2015

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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One of my best habits is running. It is good because I’m consistent. I usually run about five miles, five days a week. Sometimes I run further and sometimes as little as four miles. It is good because it pumps my heart rate to about 144 beats per minute from my resting rate of about 50 beats per minute. It is good because it raises my respiratory rate, giving me a healthy cardio-vascular work-out.

Aside from all that goodness, it opens my day with the fading stars and a rising sun.IMG_3451 It lifts my spirit for what is to come. My brain is filled with the sweet sound of fast-tempoed music or a really good story, depending on my mood. Then, when I shut off my headphones, my soul finds peace as I pray to my God for my family and friends, students and teaching, my writing, my dreams and goals, for my day, and to ask forgiveness and for a clean slate, and to give thanks for beauty and blessing and the fullness of life.

IMG_3452This summer, one of my goals is to climb Mt. Meeker. I’ve added hiking to my week-to get up to the mountains with my dear friend, Elaine, and hike. Once a week would be great, and so far we have. But when harvest time comes, that may not be so possible. This week, we hiked in the abundant company of deer, turkey, hummingbirds,wild flowers, and many cyclists. Our Fitbits went nuts!

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Beautiful 15 June 2015

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen was Bridle Veil Falls at Yellowstone. Hiking up the trail in the early morning, we caught little glimpses of the falls. Soon enough, the top of the falls became visible and rainbows danced through  the tumbling waters. My son, Alex, snapped a photo, which turned out so incredibly and I hung it in a neat white wooden frame and hung it on the wall outside his bedroom door to inspire us.Scan13_0013

My sons at birth are quite possibly the most beautiful, definitely the most precious, sight I’ve ever experienced.

Fog settling in mountain valleys for days at a time, the thick grey permeating everything; that red and white covered bridge in Iowa, sallys camra 322Elaine at her wedding-the love she and Trevor have shone out of every part of her and sparkled in her incredible brown eyes.

Blossoms on the cherry trees, chokecherry bushes, peach and crabapple trees; snow falling thick and soft on golden aspen in fall, the Ponce de Leon lighthouse on the shore of  the Atlantic Ocean on the north bank of Ponce Inlet, the bright blue crabs of Frasier Island in Australia 2005_1008Image0001and the wide open view of the whole world from the top of Long’s Peak in Colorado.

The American flag waving in a breeze or standing at half-mast to honor a fallen soldier or that same flag being folded and handed to the family of veteran after a long life lived well in service; a tangle of wild roses unfolding in blooms of pink and yellow.

Psalm 90:17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us!

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Dinner 11 June 2015

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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One of my favorite dinners includes: zucchini grilled with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic paired with salmon that has also been grilled and is crusty golden brown on both sides. In my perfect dinner world, there is a salad that includes: spinach, mixed greens and butter lettuce, sliced tomato, edamame, snap peas, a bit of fresh mushroom, goat cheese crumbles, small chunks of pear, maybe a tiny bit of crisp bacon pieces, some grated parmesan and a lite balsamic vinaigrette.

Dessert, always the most important part of the meal, would be some kind of dark IMG_3426chocolate decadence covered in a rich chocolate frosting, or perhaps a thick hot fudge. This would all be accompanied by hot coffee and enjoyed with pleasant conversation and friends. It would be a relaxing evening when no one is a hurry to get anywhere.

IMG_3431One of my other favorite dinners happens occasionally and is always appreciated. After I’ve been planning and preparing meals, which I enjoy very much, admittedly, once-in-a-while, I get tired of planning. So, I love to go out to eat. I can order what I want and I don’t have to cook it or think about what I have available. This is also a time to enjoy the company of one or more special people and consume vast amounts of coffee.

The best communion happens around the table, whether it is in or out and I place great value on all of those times. On a hike, recently, with a dear friend, we enjoyed the delicate ambrosia of trail mix, Cheese Its and Pull n Peel! The photos are from that day.

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rest 8 June 2015

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Sally Gerard

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Everyone talks about how teachers get three months off and so their job must be the best of both worlds-to get paid for three months when you aren’t even working! Ha! Follow a teacher around for a while and you’ll get the real picture. They put in so many hours during the school year, that you’d need six months off to make up for it. I will also say that most of them, including this one, would not trade the work for anything!

I look forward to summer though for a variety of reasons. I like to take classes to both continue my striving for excellence in teaching, and to continue to study my craft:writing. I also need the uninterrupted time to write, none of which I’ve found at any length yet. Right now, we are deep in farming mode due to the very wet spring that has delayed our normal work. IMG_3351When the fields can be worked, then that takes precedence over everything-sleep, food, and plans. Of course, I’m also teaching a pretty full load of summer students and trying to keep up with their varied short time periods to finish an entire semester’s worth of work.

Eventually, it will even out some and I’ll have those hours I need to continue Isa’s story. I do wish I had some kind of APP for my phone that would allow me to “write” using my voice as I run with the tractor up and down the field. And, I have noted that in spite of everything, the sun still seems to rise and set in the most beautiful way on God’s schedule. Blessing.

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