Friday, November 11, 2011

SORROW AND SADNESS, SWEETNESS AND LIGHT

To be honest, there won't be much "sorrow", but when life is life things can't be perfect. Been thinking about the bits and pieces in Minnesota and the drive home.

One joy I always have on these
trips is seeing the two longest rivers in our nation -- or what many people consider it to be one LONG river, having given the Missouri the credit.



The Mississippi photo is about 10 miles from the source site. The following one is the source.



Had a nice time walking with a
little girl around her parent's land while Susie and her Dad were talking. That little one really liked this shadowful event. Pointed at my LONG legs and giggled and giggled.


One of the challenges: churches.

One is
growing solidly... not poured with lots of folks, but very, very foundational. So that is joyful.



On the other hand, a few times during my drives up north through t
his countryside, I have seen country churches that are damaged -- paint stripped, roofs falling apart, weeds clamoring through the gravel parking lots, and even the grave sites not looking cared for. So sad. Life has changed in this hundreds-square-miled part of our nation, and it is sending a future message, a sorrowful one.

And NOW, my final JOY. Stop
ped to take photos on the Winnebago and Omaha Reservations. Mostly Missouri River, a few rolling hills, and autumn-colored trees. While taking other photos, and hearing all this racket overhead, I couldn't see anything for some seconds, nearly a minute. Then suddenly caught this.


[One of my main joys connected to living in the Plains portion of the country is something I rarely saw in the Northwest or California. Flocks and flocks and flocks of hundreds of birds. I'm overwhelmed when I'm driving and see them on the land, on the ponds and lakes, and floating through the sky.]

Know this isn't filled with lots of overly intellectual and challenging topics and spiritual kick-ups. But, except for one serious event, this trip truly was "sweetness and light."

1 comment:

S. Etole said...

Love the photo of the Mississippi with its golden reflections from the tamarack trees.

So glad we had this time together and that you were able to make the other connections you had hoped for.