The scriptures and the devotionals that popped up this week all point the way to our preparation for spring. Get ready! Be prepared! Make way for the new!! It will come, won’t it? Eventually?
I am more than ready for our ice (used to be snow) piles to melt and allow the bulbs to wake up and begin to sprout!
Isaiah 43:16,18-19-
This is what the Lord says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing…”
But, I do remember those former things!!
These were the last of them from last spring.
I am ready to hang my spring wreath and I am ready to “Spring Up!” my clocks tonight in preparation for Daylight Savings Time.
I am ready to keep that time schedule all year round to give us more hours of daylight in our waking hours. How about you?
Get ready for a sunny Sunday! I am ready for more sunshine. How about you?
I love it when my friend, Lisa, sends me photos of her sunrises above the lake near her home in North Carolina.
I’m ready for a ride on “Lucille” (our redheaded ATV who is a “Ball”) into the springtime wildflowers on our mountain trails around here.
Right now, looks like that’s a couple months away.
This year we won’t have our TazE (our beloved Boston Terrier traveled over the Rainbow Bridge last December. We miss her!) to keep us company on our rides. She was sure a great trail companion!
We saw some mighty PURDY sites together on those rides! Sometimes we’d take the trail all the way over to Pony, Montana, the cute little town northwest of us where there is a cute little tavern. We’d meet our other ATV friends there.
So, get ready, my friends. Make way for the realization of those dreams once more when we can take that ride again!
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal (that’s my time right now); a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh (that’s ALWAYS now!); a time to mourn, and a time to dance (let’s do!!); a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace (let’s do that, too), and a time to refrain from embracing; …
May your storms diminish and your sunshine increase; May your troubles decrease and your joys abound.
May your eyes clearly see the beauty all around you. God bless you, my friends. Make way for those blessings! They are coming! Rest assured!!
Love and Lotsa Hugs, JanBeek
P.S. My eyes are healing after the cataract surgery last week. Thank you for your prayers. The farsighted vision is bright and clear – beautiful colors. Single lens replacement instead of the multiple variety was my only option. It has to do with the age of these tired 83 year old eyes and the shape they were in. But I’m not complaining. Another follow-up appointment is scheduled in 3 weeks. I’ll keep you posted. Thinking positively!
Our hearts are hurting today. Yesterday we had to help our 12 year old Boston Terrier, TazE, over the Rainbow Bridge.
She was struggling to breathe, rasping… not eating or drinking for the last four days… and lost the use of her back legs twice during that time. Her organs were shutting down.
We were snowed in and unable to get out. It was terrible to see her suffer.
She had lost all kinds of weight since this picture was taken because even when she still was eating, it was very little.
We knew we were losing her, but we just didn’t want to let go. Who will be my walking partner?
Our wonderful neighbor, Rex, spent over an hour with the snow plow on his ATV here in our driveway yesterday plowing us out so we could take TazE to the vet. The ladies at Mountain View Vet Hospital in Sheridan/Twin Bridges were wonderfully compassionate, empathetic, and professional. TazE went peacefully in my arms.
My heart is breaking, but I know we did the right thing… and I believe when I get to heaven she’ll greet me at the pearly gates! It wouldn’t be heaven if our beloved furry family members aren’t there, too! Would it?
Bob won’t miss having the toenails to clip. That was a stressful job!! But he sure will miss his buddy when we’re out on our “Lucille” (she’s our ATV… a red head who is a Ball).
There is a part of Bob’s personality that only surfaces when he is with his Boston Buddy! I will miss that part of Bob!
Happy TazE
In Heaven our TazE will be forever young! Good-bye for now, sweet pup! See ya over the bridge… keep the light on!
This is “Lucille.” Yesterday we joined 12 friends and went on a trail ride into the Gravelly Range above Antelope Basin.
Lucille is our ATV (all terrain vehicle). Because she’s a redhead on whom we have a ball, we named her after the actress/comedian, Lucille Ball.
Are you old enough to remember her?
Anyway, we met at Antelope Basin about 50 miles south-west of Ennis, and took the trails through the Gravelly Range to our destination of Hidden Lake.
It was a blue-sky-perfect day with temperatures not rising above 80 degrees. We had not been up to this site for over a year. In the meantime forest fires had ravaged the trees and changed the landscape.
This tree was lush and green last time we were here.
We stopped and chatted with our friends awhile before taking a lunch break.
Good buds: Sherry Riggs and Penny Hocking
TazE was quite interested in what Rex & Penny Hocking were getting from Linda Schott. Mmm … fresh and yummy Flathead cherries!
TazE was interested in Bob’s Cheetos, too!
After lunch we traveled on up to the lookout above Henry’s Lake.
The wildflowers were prettier than I have ever seen them this late in the summer. We had quite a wet spring and that helped!
Traveling back down, we could see our Madison Valley in the distance.
We gathered to take a group photo of our ATV friends. And then some couples and quartets, too.
Top left: Kris & Bob (CG’s cousin) with CG & Caroline Bottom left: Penny & Rex Right: Sue & Bob Welna
Here are our five ATV’s. You can see that Lucille stands out among all those earth tones!
Most of the way to and fro the trail was a road also traveled by cowboys in their pickups, tending the the cattle up in the verdant fields.
Some of the trail was rocky, steep and pretty hairy. But, we managed just fine… and I am so grateful that Bob and I both had enough stamina to enjoy the trip.
We Thank the Lord for our neighbors/friends (the Welnas and Hockings) who came to help Bob prepare Lucille for the trip, and then returned this morning to help him put her back away. God bless them!!
Maybe you’ll come join us one of these days for a Montana trail ride. Ya think?
I’d be tickled to see you!
Just give me a call and let me know when you’re coming. We’d love to see you and treat you to a Montana trail ride!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Click on the link below if you’d like to enjoy Dale Evans & Roy Rogers (my favorite cowboy) singing “Happy Trails to You.”
I have taken a week off from blogging… time to enjoy company … time to enjoy summer finally!
July is a month Of special celebrations First: Back on the road
Bob, TazE and I were invited to join our friends, Mike and Julie, on an ATV ride into the Gravelly Range.
Julie & Mike brought their wonderful dog, Zeke.
The wildflowers were out in full bloom, and my friend, Susan Phillips, captured their beauty magnificently. What you see is the Madison Valley and the Sphinx in the Madison Range in the background. Impressive, huh?
Thank you, Susan, for letting me share some of your photos.
I captured some of the panoramic scenery. It was such a pretty day!
The fields of wild mustard and other wildflowers were breathtaking!
The fields are so green. The cattle are happy grazers!
Bob & I thought this was a beautiful place to stop for a lunch break.
That’s Bob holding TazE’s leash… And Julie bending low in front. She and Mike were our drivers… and Caroline & CG were the trip organizers.
Caroline & Chuck- dear friends!
Then, other dear friends, the Tillions, came from California to spend a few days with us.
Ingrid & Alan Tillion
We went to our nearby tourist attraction, Virginia City, and enjoyed time together there. No time to blog… too busy being in the moment!
Ingrid & Alan almost missed the hailstorm – but not quite! We got hammered!!
We went on the 4th to watch the parade from the comfort of our friends’, the Washburns, beautiful yard. They provided breakfast and lunch for an amazing group of their friends. We felt privileged to be included and to be invited to bring the Tillions with us.
Alan, Bob, Jan & Ingrid Such a beautiful Independence Day!
The parade came right in front of our lovely, shaded area at the Washburns. I loved the painted horse.
Back at home, we were treated to our own neighborhood parade with the Welna Family… too cute!
To continue our July celebrations, we went with the Tillions to Bozeman on July 5th, and we all enjoyed a yummy brunch at Jam! (my favorite BZN brkfst)
Mmmmm… it was delicious!
We didn’t stop there… yesterday we invited our pastor, Rev. Mary Grace Reynolds, to come celebrate her birthday with us. So you can see why I have not blogged for a few days. It’s been a wonderful time of face-to-face with people who are dear to our hearts. No better way to celebrate!
Happy Birthday, MGR!! We’re so happy you are a part of our lives! You make us happier with your presence.
It’s good to be back on my blog. I thank you for visiting and sharing time with us. I hope you will share how you are celebrating July, too.
Happy Trails to You!
See ya again soon, I hope. Have a beautiful rest of your week. What will you be doing? Tell me…
Doesn’t that word make you smile? PLAYFULNESS is underrated! We all need to have days when we determine it is the Word of the Day! Today was that day for me!
It’s a good day to embrace playfulness. It’s a beautiful blue-sky, no wind afternoon. Bob & I are headed to play with friends Who are so dear… and so much fun to play with!
Terry & Jim – really fun-filled friends!
The Bible reinforces the idea of playfulness:
“Moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.”
Ecclesiastes 3:13
Eating Drinking and taking pleasure in the company of our “Hood”
Do you have friends who embrace playfulness?
I didn’t get this posted yesterday. I was having too much fun playing. So here we are another day…
Bob, TazE & I are headed out with friends on our ATV (Lucille – the redhead on which we have a “Ball”)
I wish you could come and enjoy this playfulness with us!
What kind of play is your favorite? What will you do to enjoy playfulness today?
We went up, up, up into the Tobacco Root Mountains yesterday (west of McAllister, Montana) and we touched the sky on the top of the world!
The view looking east to Madison Valley was spectacular.
The view looking north was amazing, too. The camera doesn’t do it justice!
The ride up on our ATVs became bumpy and rocky, but it was fun! Through the trees, across the mountainsides, and up to the top. We could not have asked for a prettier day. After weeks of smoke-filled skies, this was a relief!
The sky looked threatening at the start of our ride.
But the clouds were less threatening as we continued.
Always fun to see cattle roaming free along the trail.
As we climbed up into the trees, the trail became more narrow and rockier.
Come ride with us!! Hang on tight!!
I was glad I wore a jacket, a scarf and a hat. The wind came up and it was quite chilly the higher we went.
CG and Caroline arranged today’s outing. Their delightful friends, Mike & Jane Dodson, were visiting from VA.
Tucked behind, check out Charlie, the Jack Russell. There were 9 guys – eight of whom drove the ATVs…
Here are Mike & Jane with 6 of the ATVs… Our “Lucille” is the redhead at the front of the line – on whom we have a “Ball!”
I want you to experience this mountain-top, blue-sky, perfect day’s vista with me!
Two of the guys and their gals left from the first look-out and didn’t travel to this very top with us… But here are seven of the troopers with TazE being babied by Bob!
Here are Ron & Linda, two who needed to head back down from Lookout #1. It was good to see them!
We took at lunch break at the mountaintop before heading back down.
Took the same trail back down that brought us up to the top. It’s actually easier going down!
Thanks for joining us today.
Maybe one of these days, you can come to Montana and join us for a ride. What do you think?
Don’t overlook your life’s importance or minimize its worth. It doesn’t matter if you’re on an allowance or Social Security. No matter where you are in life, you have so much to give.
The vital part of your life never disappears or fades away. Each of us is vital to God. He gives us the courage to go out and live, to heed His call, and step out in faith on a new journey today.
In faithful obedience, lean forward to hear Him. He doesn’t shout. His call is quiet and personal. Get serious. Listen carefully. Are you up for a new journey? Have faith and step out!
I wrote the poem, “Have Faith and Step Out” in 2002 while we were still living in California. I had officially retired from teaching in 1999, but daily I was looking for new direction, new purpose, new adventures. The International Library of Poetry published the poem in its 2002 Anthology of Poetry and sent me a dozen greeting cards with the poem printed on the front of them. Today I am using one of those cards for a friend who is stepping onto a new path.
The poem has become more meaningful in the nearly 20 years since its creation. The older I am, the more I realize, “No matter where you are in life, you have so much to give.” Your age doesn’t matter. Your place doesn’t matter. What matters is your mindset, your faith, your motivation.
It’s OK to be petrified. Sometimes God takes us to the edge of adventures where we feel unprepared.With faith, He will remove our fear, put us on a bridge, and send us the Light to follow.
Deuteronomy 31:6
Today Bob is out on Lucille (our red-headed ATV on which we have a “Ball”) with his former student, Victor, who is visiting from Alabama. Victor was Bob’s wrestling student back in the 1970’s. He reminded us that Bob also was his Drivers Education teacher. They are on an adventure – going to a lake above Sheridan. Our Boston, TazE, is with them. Ah, yes, step out in faith. Have fun!
Where He leads me, I will follow!
Remember, no matter where you are in life, you have so much to give.
Where are you being called to go today? What are you being called to do? Whatever it is, step out in faith. He will give you grace and glory… He’ll be with you all the way!
Here is the Madison Valley and Range as seen from the Gravelly Range
We went on an adventure today into the Gravelly Range with our friend, Julie, and her dog, Zeke. Come enjoy the Montana Vistas with us!
The Gravelly Range is just south-west of Ennis. We were looking for wildflowers. This is the time of year when they usually are prolific. However, it has been a relatively dry spring and summer so far, so the flowers were not as colorful or plentiful as usual.
This field of flowers is irrigated – so they’re not the “wildflowers” we were looking for.
See that line up the mountain? That’s where we are headed.
We drove the pick-up with trailer to the base of our destination and took the ATV up from there.
Julie & Zeke rode in the back. TazE sat in my lap. Bob’s the driver.
TazE enjoyed the views. That mountain above TazE’s head is called the Sphinx.
The clouds made the sky so beautiful and interesting today, but they also threatened rain. Fortunately we had about an inch or two of rain last night, so it settled the dust. And it held off until we were headed back home this afternoon.
On the way up, we saw a lot more cattle than usual. Definitely more cattle than wildflowers!
Zeke was quite interested in the beauty of the Madison Valley vistas.
This is Caroline’s tree! We always think of her when we see it. Caroline loves tree skeletons!
As we climbed, the clouds moved out from the Madison Range and began to cover the valley.
This is a purple sticky wild geranium. Julie has an app on her iPhone that allows her to take a picture of a flower and then have the phone tell her the name of that flower. What a cool app! “Picture This” is the name I think. I need to check it out.
I can’t remember the name of this hairy wildflower. Isn’t it interesting?
We reached a place where the road was closed and we could go no further. So, we stopped and rested a while and let TazE and Zeke run around.
Julie took our photo, and while we were distracted, Zeke went out exploring.
Zeke found some wet, runny cow poop and thought it was great fun to roll in it!
Like I said, there were more cows than wild flowers, so of course, there were plenty of places for an inquisitive pup to explore!!
Julie was intrigued by some of the leaves.
I walked beyond the closed gate and took this photo of the US Forest Service sign and the field of wildflowers beyond it.
They were more brilliant than this photo shows.
Heading back down the mountain, the cows bellowed at us! They were not happy that we were disturbing their peace.
The one we enjoyed earlier was still there on our way down.
TazE continued to enjoy the views with us.
The sprinkler systems keep the fields green in spite of our near drought conditions.
The storm clouds threatened … and we got a few raindrops on our way back to the pickup.
See the squall on the other side of the valley? You can see that it is raining there.
Ah, home – with great memories of beautiful Montana Vistas!
And a beautiful sunset ended our day…
Thank you for sharing our beautiful Montana Vistas with us.
I hope you had a beautiful day, too. Embrace Montana Vistas. Come visit us!
I could have called this “Embrace Maturity,” but that would have been pussyfooting around the issue. Not everyone matures as they age, but aging is not an option.
You do it or you die.
However, I embraced this meme when I saw it:
Aging is a privilege only given to the lucky ones, you know. So, yes, I will count this year … but at 81, I sometimes forget if it is 80 or 81 and if I try to get by with the lesser number, I have an 82 year old husband who is quick to remind me.
Hah! Can’t fool him… He keeps a check on me – – – but he’s not big on donuts. Darn!
My daughter (most of you have met her on this blog in the past – DeDe – lives in Switzerland) sent me this a little while back. She particularly liked it because one of Bob’s nicknames for me is “Rocky”
Most of you also know that I have a sanctuary where I spend the first hour most every morning… and in it I have three antique rockers. Ah, yes, it’s the perfect image of me!
But the chair that brings us mutual joy is the one we put in the back of our ATV and pull out when we stop for a break. The best way to embrace aging is to find a hobby that you can enjoy with someone you love.
For Bob and me, it is joining friends and going four-wheeling on these wonderful Rocky Mountain trails. .. stopping to fish the mountain lakes. Ah, that’s livin’!!
What hobbies make your aging process more enjoyable? One of our mutual hobbies (besides four-wheeling) is teaching Sunday School.
Here are darling Ruby & Cord.
COVID got in the way of being able to meet each Sunday morning with these two darlings and one other… and then these two moved away. As they age, their mom sends us pictures.
Getting picture from family and friends is a great way to welcome the new day and look forward to the next time you can visit.
Aging is easier to embrace if you have dreams – something to look forward to, right?
We dream of next October – when COVID-19 will be controlled and it will be safe to travel to see our daughter, De, and her husband, Andre’ – and stay in one of the hotel rooms above the restaurant.
As we age, some of the benefits outweigh the struggles that come with aching joints and lowered energy levels.
One of them is, when your grandkids act up and get on your nerves, you can just send ’em back to their folks!
Couldn’t do that when you were younger and they were your own kids!
Gotta look for the perks in this aging process!
Oh my! Take ’em home!!
Another advantage of aging is that we have time to reminisce about the “Good Ole Days” and the songs we used to sing that these youngsters with their guitars and drums don’t seem to understand anymore.
And if those songs and the memories they bring aren’t enough to make you feel good about still being on this earth, try singing this one:
Another way to “Embrace Aging” is to relish the extra time you have to just find a good book, pour yourself a hot chocolate or a glass of wine, curl up in front of a warm fire, and spend some uninterrupted quality time.
When you were younger, that luxury was seldom yours, right?
Now, if you are a youngster (under retirement age) reading this blog, you are probably thinking that I am a dreamer. You’re right. I am! And each day I dream up all kinds of things to keep me exuberant about life.
Yesterday it was effervescence. The day before it was … oh, do I have to go back that far?
Nope! A trick to aging gracefully is to remain playful. Keep your hobbies, and make up ways to keep the sparkle alive. Take those boots that were left at the front door and get creative!
If you can’t get out because you’re snowed in – and you’re longing for sushi, but the nearest place is an hour away, send money to your kids and tell them to go out for sushi on you. But make sure they send you a picture… and drool all over the computer screen when they send it!
Ask your friends to send you a picture of the table they decorated for some recent holiday – and then marvel at their creativity as you sit down for the 10th night in a row at your kitchen counter… thanking God for your life, your food, your kids, and your kitchen counter.
A trick to embracing aging is to always remain thankful for your blessings… even if they aren’t at a yacht club!!
Now, here’s a couple who knows how to live it up: My friends, the Rosens.
Embrace Aging by feeding your mind Hope, Truth and Love on a daily basis.
Don’t let your mind tell you you’re OLD. That’s a state of mind for the senile. It’s not for you!
Tell your mind that aging just adds to your story… and you’re not finished telling it yet!
