The storms that ushered in the 2023 new year along the Pacific coast in California were amazing! These waves, called “King Tides” were between 45 and 50 feet tall!
The swells were increased by winds up to 50 mph on New Years eve and they crashed into the shores, washing away the cliffs, bringing houses down into the ocean.
The winds also brought down trees all over the Carmel, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach area where we are visiting family and friends. Fortunately, our friends did not lose any trees, but their neighbors had a tree land on their house.
Down the road a bit some houses were completely destroyed. Large trees were totally uprooted. Amazingly we have not heard of any deaths.
Can you imagine having this happening to your vehicle? Driving in this area is dangerous at best right now. Roads are washed out and trees have fallen across roadways.
My heart goes out to the people who have lost homes, businesses, vehicles, etc. We are feeling so grateful that our friends have not lost any of those things. Bob’s brother and sister-in-law have lost power and water service in their home, and their neighbor’s house has a tree in the middle of the roof, but no one was hurt.
The ocean along this central Pacific coast is beautiful, but given the rains and heavy winds of this last week, it can be treacherous. Many of the homes and businesses that built too close to the shore are regretting it today.
When we started our trip from Paso Robles to Pebble Beach, God sent a rainbow. It was an amazing sign telling us He would be with us – and our trip would be a safe one. God is good!
I have some wonderful photos of us with family/friends here… I will post some tomorrow. Right now, I just want to enjoy their company. Carpe’ Diem! Right? Bee present.
Jem Croucher, Poet’s Corner introduced to me today a new poetry form. Her blog beautifully described “In the Autumn Now” in an aaab rhyme scheme.
For those of you unfamiliar with those poetic descriptors, the aaab scheme means the first three lines all rhyme, but not the 4th one.
The fun thing about her last line is that it was the poem’s title and it was repeated in each of the four stanzas. Brilliantly done! (There are probably other rules to this rhyme form, like 7 or 8 syllables to create rhythm on each line… but I’m not sure I can do that! So will just go with the rhyme scheme and number of lines for now.)
I’m going to try my hand at this poetry form, but as you know if you saw my post yesterday, we – here in Ennis, MT – are “In the Winter Now.” Alas, our fall colors are buried under several inches of snow. Beautiful, but – oh my – too early for me!
From my kitchen window
October snow fell softly
The view from our dining room
Through the screen of my bathroom window – Look up – can you see the icicles?
October snow – unseasonable Way too early – unreasonable Return of colors – unfeasible In the Winter now
Lack of wind – delightful Snow in clusters – rightful Blue sky returning – eyeful In the Winter now
Howling winds return – disappointing Wind chimes play – enjoying Returning storm looms – annoying In the Winter now
Tasting falling snowflakes – purely Venturing out in the snow – securely Getting skis ready – prematurely In the Winter now
Wanna try your hand at this poetic form? Go ahead … give it your best shot. It’s fun!
For a really good example of the form, check out Jem’s In the autumn now It’s delightful!
Send your poem to Jem Croucher She’d be delighted to hear from you.
Speaking of fun – Look at that photo of us – 100 years ago – Ready for winter!
Today is National Smile Day. Our glorious Montana Colors will sure give you something to smile about!
I am smiling at our glorious Montana colors today!
We took a drive from Ennis up into the Tobacco Root Range up North MeadowCreek above McAllister where our friends, Mary & Paul Carlson live.
The colors along the roadside were so glorious! I got out to take this picture instead of looking though our cracked windshield like I did on that first photo.
My blogging friend, Dwight Roth, took this. His colors are as spectacular as ours. Are the colors changing where you are?
We visited Paul and Mary at their house. We met a new friend as we were traveling up to Paul’s little cabin. Paul & Mary invited him to come on home with them.
This piece of old mining equipment was found abandoned along the roadway leading up to their house. A friend helped them haul it into their backyard
The mining apparatus fits perfectly with the remains of this old mining shed (that’s also in their backyard). It was probably built in the late 1800’s.
The views from their backyard are breathtaking! They just completed this fence last week – attempting to keep the deer out of their greenhouse and flowerbeds.
Mary inherited this old barn when she bought this mountain property Paul uses it now as his “Man Cave.” It’s where he creates magical things with all his woodworking equipment.
Paul took Bob & me up to see the property he dreamed about as a kid… and the cabin he and nine of his friends built there -around 2005 – (same year we came to MT).
Many happy memories are tucked in here!
The road leading to/from the cabin is lined with wonderful aspen that shine their gold this time of the year.
Some farmers raise cattle in this high country.
Autumn is a wonderful season It brings with it colors galore I love the fall leaves and scenery I hope you can get out and explore
Do get out before all the leaves drop. Pick up your pup and take a hike. Tell me about your choices: Which of the scenes did you particularly like?
Today Denise (our son-in-law’s mom) took Bob & me on a walk in Sierre. Thirty years ago, when we first started coming here (when our first grandson was born), we would have jogged up the trails into the vineyards. Today we were content to take a leisurely walk on a relatively flatter terrain.
The grounds around the hospital are beautiful. Lots of trees and flowers and park benches where we could sit and take a break.
The leaves on the acacia trees are starting to show signs that autumn is coming. The grapevines are laden with fruit ready to be harvested.
Look at the base of this grapevine. It’s over 100 years old! All gnarled and twisted behind the protective wire fence.
I thought of Derrick & Jackie Knight and their beautiful garden when I saw these gorgeous rose bushes.
Beyond this water trough, with its constantly flowing fresh drinks for the cattle that used to come through this town, you can see the concrete sides of the round church. We went to mass there this morning with Denise. This morning I posted the sounds of the bells for you. Did you catch that blog?
I pray you had a beautiful Sunday, too, my friends. Tonight we’re going up to De’s chalet in Vissoie. We’ll be there all next week. Wait til you see it!
Oh, and tomorrow is DeAna’s birthday! Our DollyWolly will be 55. Can you believe it?
Our arthritic hands show our age – even if our active spirits deny it! Stay young in spirit, my friends. Thank God every day for the gift of another opportunity to live and play, breathe, and enjoy life. Live in the now! And stay vibrant!!
Enjoying Sunday Remembering Saturday And Fish on Friday
Sunday began with this prayer-filled good morning photo from my friend Lisa in North Carolina
After church, Sunday continues with our TazE needing attention and us trying to just relax!
Saturday memories include a wonderful evening shared with Bob and dozens of friends at the Madison Valley Ranchland’s annual “Noxious Weed Dinner and Auction.”
Check out Bonny Morningstar Guzzo on Facebook to see her wonderful pictures of that highly successful event.
Friday memories include our walk along the Madison River in Lion’s Club Park where this beautiful painted fish sculpture greets us.
The painting on the fish inspires the Haiku poet in me.
“Father, please teach me I want to learn how to fish To fish like you, Dad“
Back home, the clouds keep the day cooler as the sun plays peek-a-boo The trees provide welcomed shade And the birds serenade you
The breeze causes the wind chimes To sing a lullaby Reminding me of my sis, Sally She’d love this place as much as I
The deer come quietly to rest Beneath the shade of verdant trees They promise not to nibble But who can trust deer like these?
Time to think about a meal Don’t know what I’d like to cook Need to go check out the fridge Maybe left-overs -Have a look!
Mmmm… I can see shrimp Waiting for the coconut Time to make the sauce
Hope all is well with you. Thanks for sharing my weekend memories vicariously with me.
Now it is your turn What are your best memories Of this great weekend?
If I had space in my WordPress photo gallery, I would show you a series of photos of this place in Ennis, Montana where we are blessed to live. BUT, to add more photos, I have to erase older photos. The program tells me I am at 100% capacity! How does Derrick Knight manage to post so many beautiful photos of his garden on https://derrickjknight.com every day without running out of space? I need to discover his secret!
Meantime, what I did was put the photos on a Facebook post – and give you the link here so you can go there to see where we are inviting you to come visit. I hope you will/can check it out!
I’ll put one here as a teaser – hoping you’ll click that FB link and go see more, OK?
Bob & Jan love company… and now that my hand is better and I can be a hostess again, I hope you will consider a trip! We are just one hour from Yellowstone – and the entrance (nearest us) to the park is open now – and the road that takes you to Old Faithful is open, too… following those terrible floods a few weeks ago. Beekman B&B is full July 2-6, but after that, July is clear on our calendar!!
Our kitchen windows with the gorgeous lilac bush
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. It’s our daughter’s 35th anniversary this weekend… DeDe, the one who lives in Switzerland. We look forward to visiting them in the end of August.
Meantime, my devotional today in “Mornings with Jesus” encouraged me to “Find a quiet place. Write down any problems that surround you. Thank Jesus for being bigger than those problems.” It is not hard to find a quiet place here… and it is easy to live gratefully for daily healing of my broken finger and hurting hand, and to thank God for the beauty of nature and the peacefulness of this place. Come see for yourself!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek
Tell me what you’re doing this lovely weekend… See ya Monday (I’m taking a day off tomorrow) Hugs, Jan Beekman
If you have known me a while, this answer will bee a no-brainer!
Thanks for buzzing in to visit JanBeek today. I will post my sermon notes later today. I hope you had a lovely Sunday morning. We did!
It was so good to bee back with our Ennis church family!
What tree would you bee??
Here’s a darling children’s picture book about trees. Do you have a child nearby (like maybe inside you) who would enjoy learning some basics about trees?
