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.
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?
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?
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!
As I sat in my sanctuary this morning, with the painting of Jesus praying looking at me,
I stopped and appreciated the peace, the quiet, the calmness.
I tuned my ears to God and what do you think I heard? God whistled at me!
No, God didn’t whistle like Roger Whittaker. He didn’t even whistle like this obsessed whistler below.
No, God whistled through the trees outside in my snow-covered yard.
Didn’t take long for the snow to blow off the trees!
The wind was blowing at about 30 miles per hour.
Some people might find that sound annoying or frightening. I found it inspiring.
Here is the poem it inspired:
God Is Whistling
God is whistling At me this morning The trees are dancing Sending out a warning
A storm is coming The sky is darkening gray We’re going to have snow Again on Christmas day
I listened to His whistle For in it there was joy I heard His song announcing The coming of His Boy
I can whistle His arrival I can join God’s happy tune ‘Cuz I celebrate this season Christ the Lord is coming soon
Alice Paschal drawing
I imagine those doves are cooing as they peer down on the Christ Child.
I can whistle a cooing sound of a dove. Try it. God is listening.
I can whistle. Can you? Whistle a love song. Whistle a Christmas carol. Whistle along with your favorite song of the season. Here’s another Roger Whittaker for your listening pleasure:
I hope that made you smile. Nothing like a cheerful whistle! Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
This is my son, Ty, with his grandchild, Cosette (my great-granddaughter). Ty sent me this photo yesterday. It warmed my heart so much!
Cosette with The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
Isn’t that the most precious photo and the most adorable expression? Someday with the help of her mom and dad, grandparents, her Uncle Sam, and friends who love her enough to read to her, Cosette will know the difference between an up-side-down view and one that is right-side-up. But meantime, this Great-Grandma (call me “GG”) takes enormous joy in seeing the delight in this child’s face – and her interest in books at her young age!
Uncle Sam, Cosette & her daddy, my grandson, Jordan
When children are surrounded by love, they grow into loving adults who know how to love in return. Yesterday, while Cosette was receiving this kind of nurturing, my friend, Kathy and I took the hour and a half’s drive from Ennis to Helena. We visited Intermountain Children’s Home and delivered some backpacks with school supplies for a boy and a girl who are there.
Intermountain ccottages
Intermountain is a school and residential facility for children who did not have the privilege of a loving start. They are between the ages of 4 and 14 and are critically “at risk.”
I first visited Intermountain about 14 years ago- with my Presbyterian Women’s group. We delivered “Wish List items” to the home for the children. This chapel was not there at that time… it was added to the campus about 6 years ago. I have loved visiting every couple years or so and watching Intermountain grow and thrive.
Intermountain was established in about 1908. It’s been around a long time! It was essentially a home for abandoned children initially. Today it is home to 24 children who need intervention for a variety of reasons. (The numbers were double that before COVID forced the space to house less children for social distancing and safety). There are four cottages with 8 children in each… and a staff of trained professionals who work as counselors, teachers, cottage parents, and administrators.
My friends, Kathy from our PW in Ennis and Tyler Zimmer, who is Intermountain’s fund-raising coordinator and an excellent tour guide!
Play is an important part of the children’s rehab.
Children who have been abused or neglected need guidance to learn how to play together peacefully, how to get along, how to trust again.
This is the bell tower in the center of the Intermountain campus
This plaque is at the bottom of the bell tower
Harry “Dibbs” Mitchell is just one of thousands of children who have been helped by the Intermountain brand love and care. Many, like “Dibbs” went on to live successful lives and enjoyed being able to “give back” to the place that changed their lives when they needed that intervention the most. They have about an 80% success rate – sending children out into the world with less traumatic symptoms than they came with. Not every child is receptive and able to change yet. We need to keep all our children in prayer. God’s not through with them yet… nor are we!
Intermountain’s website can tell you how to add your financial help if you are looking for a way to help children that has a long history of success: https://www.intermountainresidential.org/
Meanwhile, back to Cosette:
Grandma Monika, Uncle Sam, and daddy Jordan (and Grandpa Ty, photographer) took Cosette to the pumpkin patch
You can see how she loved it!
Cosette got to choose one to take home with her. to show mommy Joss.
I hope their ride home was as pretty as ours from Helena back to Ennis
I love this chapel tucked back into the aspen!
I wonder if it still is used every Sunday for worship?
I hope you are inspired to think of a way that you can help children in your life. If you’re a mom or dad with family still at home, you have your task facing you daily. Love ’em, read to ’em, and limit their screen time. Give ’em lots of hugs, encouragement, and face-to-face time!
Cell phones and internet games have their place – but they are not nearly as good a baby-sitter as you are!
Take a child to a pumpkin patch this month!!
Take a child on a picnic NOW before the snow comes! It’s predicted for Sunday here in Ennis!
God bless you, Ty & Monika, for being good grandparents. God bless you, Jordan, for being a loving daddy. God bless you, Sam, for being an adoring uncle.
Here’s a cute little Halloween kitten to bid you farewell for today.
Oh, for the joy of human love, Brother, sister, parent, child, Friends on earth and friends above, For all gentle thoughts and mild
Lord of all, to Thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise.
Enjoy this beautiful hymn while you read the rest of this post. I love The Cambridge Singers directed by John Rutter. Sooooo beautiful!!
Yes, Lord, I raise this joyful hymn in grateful praise to You!
Yesterday I had the privilege of spending time with my granddaughter, Hope, and her family: her husband, Drew, and their two children, Xander and Sienna. I am so grateful for their visit!
Here is Hope – with her beautiful smile.
I was so busy with the children while they were in the house, I didn’t have time to think about pictures. But once they were strapped in their car seats, ready to leave, I said, “Wait! I need to capture this visit!”
Sienna was tucked in, thumb in place, too tired to smile – ready for a nap on her way back to Big Sky.
This is the typical Sienna – big smiles – big appetite!
I actually captured this photo of Xander & Drew just before Xander was strapped in. His toy phone is his constant companion. He carried on very loud pretend conversations with his dad and Bob and imaginary friends!
This is a scene a mile from our house at the golf course. I bet Sienna was asleep before they got this far!
For the Beauty of the Earth For the glory of the skies, For the love which from our birth Over and around us lies
Lord of all, to Thee we raise Our voices in grateful praise!
I pray that one day my great-grandchildren will grow to become young people who can sit and listen to a story, a poem, a wise parent… as Hope and Drew share “The Great Realisation” with them. God Bless “Tom Foolery” for his beautiful poem and the timely message he is sharing in this video with his child. If you have not heard this before, please take time to to listen. It is WONderful!!
Thanks for visiting today. Have a WONderful week. See ya tomorrow. Love, JanBeek
Sharing more pictures from yesterday’s autumn colors ride I wonder why some are golden while others remain green?So many wonders to behold everywhere we looked!
The picture doesn’t do it justice. With the sun coming through them, those trees were pure gold!
Our friends, the Feldmans, led the way.
I posted this one yesterday. Bob told me today, “Those aren’t aspen.” Well, anyway, I like their color!
Before I leave you this morning, I want to share something I found on FaceBook:
#11 on the list is at least a half hour of journaling and beginning my blog post
I do #9 regularly. I love the Proverbs. There are 31 chapters. Today read Chapter 22. Full of wisdom!
I’m at #11 on the routine list right now. Do you get notices like this from WordPress? I wonder what’s magic about 1337? You’d think they’d wait til 1500 or some round number, wouldn’t you? Anyway you look at it though, that’s a lot of posts.
I hope you spend some time perusing them by putting your favorite topic up in the search bar at the upper right. Topics like bees or animals, Switzerland or Jesus will lend some beautiful results!
I appreciate your visit. I’m off to do #12… See ya tomorrow.
JanBeek 