Sunshine on leaves.
That was November at its best.
Before the storms rolled in...
one after another.
The travel advisory to the United States was lifted and we returned to our favorite spot in the sun...
after a few years absence.
Sunshine...
good books...
some memorable hikes...
time spent with friends.
We visited the Thousand Palms Oasis...
situated on the San Andreas Fault.
We found shade under one the the 1500 palm trees flourish at this spot in the desert...
where water bubbles up along the fault line.
And just to say we did...
we hiked a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail.
Not all 2,653 miles.
A very small portion!
The sun set on our California reprieve...
...and we arrived home to a welcome mat of red leaves.
We rounded them up...
and then rounded them up again.
The temperatures dipped...
and the snow levels dropped on the hills.
We gathered the family on Remembrance Day...
and all squeezed around one big table.
We also had November birthdays to remember...
three of them.
Micah...our gentle and kind-hearted grandson...turned twelve.
These two who made me a 'grammy'..
celebrated their 20th birthday.
How can that even be?
Love them all dearly...
and pray that God protects and guides them one day at a time.
So thankful that spectators are allowed at sporting events again.
It had been a long time since we had watched Ryder play hockey.
It seems he is playing at a whole new level!
How my dad would have enjoyed watching his great-grandson play hockey.
Beginning mid-month, a parade of devastating rain storms rolled through ...
It is now the end of the month...
and we are still dealing with rains and floods...
road closures and disruptions to supply chains.
BC Highway 1 from Chilliwack to Abbotsford was closed for 10 days.
Unprecedented.
The day before it re-opened to the general public...
they allowed access to some essential vehicles, including trucks hauling cattle.
I accompanied a load of cattle to the stockyards in Abbotsford...
...and got a front-row seat to view the flooded farms in the Sumas prairie.
Blueberry fields...
...poultry and dairy barns under water
... and tow trucks that will need towing once the waters recede!
Our local streams and rivers have tree trunks piled high on the banks.
It could be awhile before things are as they should be over here.
The highway re-opened for a few days and closed again on Sunday as another storm arrived with accompanying flooding. As I publish this, it is still raining and the highway remains closed. We are hopeful that the rains and flooding will soon be over!
It is advent.
We have hope.
“You don’t need a reason to Hope —
you only need the Person of Jesus.
And He is Coming.”
Wishing you all a wonderful advent season...
as you prepare your hearts and your homes.
A lovely recap of the month, Judy. How your grandchildren are growing up! The floods and devastation continue to be in our thoughts and prayers - it will be a long time before recovery is complete. Meanwhile, we have Hope in Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you got to spend some time away, not knowing how this month would play out. Good times and hard times, following one another throughout life, and it is good to know that through it all we learn to lean on the Lord, whom we know as Emmanuel, God with us.
ReplyDeleteI love how you put into such elegant words what I was thinking.
DeleteI love reading your month end posts and am grateful you continue to do these. So sorry for the hardships the rain has brought. I had no idea. Perhaps I have stuck my head a little TOO deep in the sand. Love you and your sweet family and that beautiful photo of so many around the Remembrance Table. I promise to pray for you as you cope, survive and recover from all the damage.
ReplyDeleteA full and busy month for you with lots of heartbreaking weather news. You have done well to find the good things in it all. What you have shared about having hope because of Who He is... That's everything. The times being what they are, we all need hope. We all need Him.
ReplyDeleteContinued prayers for all of you up there in the midst of all the devastation. Hopeful for the waters to recede and for the cleanup to begin. Loved seeing your full table!
ReplyDelete"When you don't know what to do, HOPE is always what you do" - Ann Voskamp. What a month you've had. So glad you had an escape to some sunshine and rest before this all happened. Can't stop thinking of you all over there. Praying for restoration and hope ...
ReplyDelete