RL4B: Relentlessly Looking For Beauty

Simon Cowell may say I'm being indulgent. Matthew Inman could draw a cartoon questioning my stability and embellishing my imagination. Quite a few of my friends would simply call it coincidence. But what others may say in their own judgement (and that is their right) has no bearing on what I felt happen today, and it doesn't make it any less meaningful to me. Today, I got a glimpse of God at work. I believe God works in our daily lives whether or not we pay attention or believe it to be true. For me, this afternoon, it became strikingly obvious because of a series of out-of-the-pattern events. A) I wasn't sure I was going to town today; the errands I had to run could've waited. B) I was planning my route to the post office (visually thinking of the best route from my pharmacy) and I was driving on auto pilot. I was so confident in my path that I allowed myself to start counting the number of Subaru Outbacks on the road with me (six in two minutes!). C) I rarely c...

I've never been one of those people who get super-stressed during the holiday season. Maybe it's because I don't have kids. Maybe it's because I don't host parties. Maybe it's because my gift list is manageable and relatively short. Okay... it's probably all of the above and then some, but I've been thinking that there can be a different kind of Christmas rush: a new way to view the busy-ness of the season to see the underlying beauty. For years (as in more than 20) our Christmas tradition had always included traveling cross-country to visit extended family. When I got married, this changed, and I was in Montana on December 25th for the first time since I was a toddler (when my mom was due to have my sister). However, the long-distance trips didn't stop after this, they were just put off into an alternating-year schedule. We had some local years, but there was always the next year's travel to plan for. This year is different. Things have ch...

As I came into the building, I was greeted by a woman who said, "And here's another courageous soul!" I had just come in from the bitter cold weather; at noon it was only two degrees, and it had been below zero (way below!) the previous night. Don't think I wasn't tempted to stay home that day. In fact, that was one of the warmer days that week, and I had hunkered down and hid under my blankets more than my fair share. Sure, getting in the car and waiting for the heat was hard, however, once I was out of the house, the beauty of cold weather hit home. I realized that our cold, dry weather creates the only opportunity for the numerous trees on the nearby mountains to remain completely dusted in snow, as if some giant flour sifter was set loose over the landscape. And then to top it off, the sun shines brightly over it all, trying either to add its own special sparkle to the scene, or to melt its colorless nemesis in hopes of returning to fond summer memories...

The tow rope & chain that gave us hope. Near the end of September, our family decided to make one last camping trip before the frost set in. We were headed on a drive that would take us at least two hours from home. We both had Friday off from work, so we left Thursday evening, about an hour after my mom and dad, who were planning to choose the campsite. When we arrived at the turnoff from the highway, we were met almost immediately by Mom on her ATV. I figured she was ready to lead us to camp, but instead, she informed us that their motorhome had shut down in the middle of the road and it wouldn't start again. They were stuck. This was the first of many opportunities that night that one, or all of us could have started yelling, kicking, cursing or crying out of despair and frustration. I'm not saying we weren't tempted (and maybe we gave in a little) but given the obstacles we faced, it would've been easy to throw up our hands. Here's how the nigh...

Last month, my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Many women (arguably so) expect a big event on their anniversaries and put an equal amount of pressure on the man to plan and produce said event. They want to feel special and loved and appreciated. That's not me. Well... I want those feelings (like any other human) but I don't pin all my hopes on one big day either, because my spouse will fail - miserably - at planning an all-out, Hollywood-style, "romantic" date... and I'm okay with that. Instead, we've learned that feeling special and loved and appreciated can come in many different forms in many different settings and in any given minute of our relationship. I hope I don't sound high-minded or superior - in fact, we've learned these lessons the hard way by expecting the other to deliver something that is totally uncharacteristic of that person. My weakness has always been the movies - thinking my dear one will magically rep...

Gipsy Lake in Helena National Forest We have many high-mountain lakes here in Montana, yet a large percentage are only accessible on foot. Luckily, I was able to ride right into this beauty and capture this great panoramic picture. Not long ago, my family and I were camping at a large lake near our state's capitol. Canyon Ferry Lake is actually a reservoir on the Missouri River, which ultimately drains into the Mississippi. This lake covers over 35,000 acres and has 76 miles of shoreline. Naturally, it is a popular place for water recreation and fishing in this land-locked region. My parents towed their personal watercraft and we were camping with others who had large boats, but since Canyon Ferry is in western Montana, and the mountains aren't ever very far, we brought our ATVs too. Doesn't everyone bring a four-wheeler for a weekend at the beach? On the first day we were there, we decided to pack a lunch and head east on the trail -- well it was really a dirt ro...

It's been a while since my last post, but that doesn't mean that beauty has been absent. In fact, when I think back over the last couple weeks, one thing continues to make me smile... friendship. I can't say I have a large circle of friends, or that I'm the life of the party when it comes to entertaining, but I am lucky (blessed, even) to have a few nice (I mean really nice) friends with whom I can enjoy a good meal and some encouraging conversation. About this time of year, marketing departments and educators alike are in "back-to-school" mode, which in the past for me meant planning, supply shopping and mentally preparing for a new crop of students and classes. However, this year is different. I'm not doing all those things, because I'm not going back to teaching. My health condition has brought that chapter of my life to a close, but it has also brought renewed perspective on how important it is to cultivate and maintain friendships. So rat...