Birthday Girl

Kristyn Ruth

On this happy day we celebrate all you are 

and all God continues to work in your life.

Your arrival on this planet rocked my world.

I have never been the same.

And now, watching you raise your own,

I am all the more grateful 

- if that's even possible -

to have you in my life.

May you find in equal measure,

the joy you bring to so many,

just by being you.

This mother's heart is full.

If they asked me to pick just one....

Mom

 

Zachary's Turn

Taking the chill off a coolish, post-thunderstorm, stiff-breeze kind of morning.

Zachary's here to help with some of the cottage projects. What a conscientious worker, and a great companion for his Grandad...especially those heavier jobs where Gramma just can't hack it any more.

And we were just realizing, this is the first time ever, in his 16 long years, that he's been up here on his own with just Gramma and Grandad! Doing the one-on-one thing is so much fun. He even beat me in Scrabble last night!

This whole grandparenting deal just keeps evolving and morphing and bringing new ways of being wonderful.

With All Due Respect on Canada Day

 According to the confederation of 1867, Canada is 158 years old today.

As I paddle my kayak around the island in the mornings, however, I am very aware of how much older the land actually is.  

It's the rocks, mostly, that remind me.  And also the words of the Land Acknowledgement I will read, as is the custom, at the opening service of Cognashene Community Church, this coming Sunday, (weather and God permitting).  It begins like this.

"We would like to acknowledge and to honour the land and waters that we live on, and our relationship to Indigenous peoples.  We do this because we desire to share a place that is just and equitable, and because we recognize and respect Indigenous peoples' prior and continued claims to the land, and to our share responsibility for caring for the land, water, and our relationships."

I am also reminded of how predated Canada's origins are by the copy of the bill of sale made out to Ken's Grandfather Albert Liborius Breithaupt, all written out in beautiful calligraphy, of the land on which our own cottage sits.  

And this phrase in small print, that you can't really see in the picture, that acknowledge this land was set apart for the use of the (actual words) 'Chippewa Indians of the Huron and Simcoe', and suggest the sale of this property will somehow benefit (actual words) the 'said Indians.'  And I wonder if that was actually true.

I hope so.

As I paddle I imagine others doing the same, but much longer than 158 years ago.  And I feel the need to bring all of this into my Canada Day reflections.  Feeling all Canadian even though I am a descendant of settlers from England.  Feeling humbled by that.  With all due respect.

Feeling a new sense of this, somehow, with the bitter aftertaste of recent remarks from someone calling us the '51st State,' and how violating that is, to even suggest we'd just relinquish our land like that.  

How ironic, I think, as I paddle around an island much older than 158 years.

I am sad and humbled to realize I can't go back and undo the harm.

But I am hopeful, and even defiantly proud to believe I can be part of building a vibrant future together, all of us, those who just got here 158 years ago, and those who've been here all along.

Happy Canada Day to all of us!

What's in a Name? Part 2 Correct Latin Names Revealed

Thought I'd start with two more serene pictures than yesterday's spider.

 

Both are from my ride around the island this morning.  Amazing.  

But to get back to the little name game yesterday.  The correct answers are:

Prunella vulgaris

Dolomedes

And I guess these small things amuse me because, well -- Is it just me or does it just seem more likely that a spider might be called vulgar than a flower?  Yeah.  Latin.  I know.  But still.

And if you're wondering what I'm talking about and didn't catch yesterday's post, here you go. What's in a Name?

I am on my own until tomorrow afternoon and quite enjoying this little bit of solitude.  Good for the soul.  Besides, I have quite a bit of company at the moment with blue jays, chipmunks, a humming bird, and even a red squirrel joining me for breakfast on the deck.  The morning is perfect.  Warm with only a whisper of a breeze.  

And while it is a holiday Monday for most, I will get myself going with some work that has become pressing as Ken and I work towards some goals, both ministry-related and cottage-related, for what needs getting done before the kids arrive next week.

Happy Canada Day weekend, however you are celebrating.  

What's in a Name?

Picture 1

Playing a little game here today.

Two pictures.  One is of a native flower here on Georgian Bay.

The other is of a very shy dock visitor I'm lucky to have gotten a picture of.

Picture 2

I will give three scientific Latin names.

Can you guess what name belongs to whom?

1.  Dolomedes

2.  Calibrachoas

3.  Prunella vulgaris

Without using any fancy aps or anything, can you match the name to the picture?

I'll reveal the answer tomorrow, just to make it a little more challenging.

Comment or not as you like.  This is just for fun.

Honestly, I wouldn't know the fancy names without my fancy ap thingy.  Since I discovered this feature on my phone, I've been having a great time taking pictures of various things and finding out what they are.  Very educational.  And also helpful when, in the case of spiders and also the snake from the other day, I can learn about them and whether or not they pose any actual threat of harm, other than the creep-out factor.  

In this case, the scientific names were not what I was expecting.  Which I find to be something of a life-lesson in that this seems to be a common experience in a lot of the way the world works.  And while I will keep a respectful distance from critters I find a tad creepy, I do still want to call them friends. 

Because in my life, some people who I might have at one time found intimidating or off-putting or even unsafe, have ended up being surprisingly like me in ways I couldn't have expected had I not explored the relational possibilities. Some have even become good friends.  I wonder, if we adopted this principle at an every day street level, how this might ripple out to affect the big picture geo-political level.  Maybe we'd want to drop fewer bombs.  Maybe.

Another reason for posting these two pictures more or less side by side is simple transparency.  The tendency is to post the magnificent skyscapes, or the majestic deer, or the playful otter, or the spectacularly teeny blooms on spectacularly resilient plants that grow in impossible crevasses in the rocks.  

Truth is that spiders, and snakes, and mosquitoes, and, this year particularly, ticks are part of this cottage experience too.  Also, cottage opening plumbing woes, while lessened for now, certainly are part of the deal.  But that's another story for another day.

This day, though.  This day is a beauteous day!  I was able to get out in the kayak around the island first thing this morning.  It's Sunday, and I miss worshipping with my community of faith at Highview....and we don't start things up for the season up here at Cognashene Community Church until next Sunday.  

So a different kind of worship simply out here being fully present in these perfect moments on the deck.

Happy Canada Day long weekend everyone.  With July 1st being on a Tuesday, it's less certain what days folks have 'off.'  So maybe this is a long weekend, and maybe it's not.  Either way, I wish you a meaningful, restful, peace-filled day.  

Answers to the game will be posted tomorrow.

 

 

Grace Category: "Good Thing You're So Cute"

"It's a glory to overlook an offense."

Proverbs 19:11

 I'll pre-empt this post by stating up front that I do know some folks will say I'm only reaping the results of my own foolishness.  Probably true.

Yet it's also true that our sweet interactions with the chipmunks, over many, many summers, have by far brought more joy than problems in the way these things usually balance out.  

Mostly they are polite, friendly but not aggressive, and keep me company on the deck as I work or read.  It's almost like having a pet, but you don't have to clean out the cage.  And up until now, they have left my deck decor alone. 

I mean, come on.  Just look at that sweet little face!  And their teeny bums bouncing down the stairs once they've stuffed their cheeks full of as much peanut as they can possibly, which is also so much fun to watch.  

This year we have two very young ones in the mix, notably smaller than the others, a little unsteady on their feet even, legs falling down the cracks of the deck boards.  They haven't had enough practice yet stretching out their cheek pockets to be able to put the smallest of peanuts in there, even when that's what they are specifically handed.  They try but, nope.  Oh my.  Adorableness overload.

And.

My flowers!!!

They are eating the blossoms of my rock trumpets!!!  This has not happened before, ever!  This is my one go-to blooming plant because it usually does so well out on my deck.  Very hearty, and attracts the humming birds.  I have had no problems with anyone nibbling on these any other year.  

But when we got back from our four days away, all the colour was gone.  Before we left, I had had to shoo away a chipmunk or two from snacking on the smaller buds.  So, even though I have no photographic evidence, no eye-witnesses, I'm afraid it's my sweet chipmunks, my little forest friends on the deck, the ones I pay money to buy peanuts for...those ones...they are the prime suspects here.  

Sigh.

Nobody's perfect, I guess.  Even the sweet cute ones among us.  Whom, foolishly, or forgivingly, either one, I still provide with peanuts.  

I had to bring the plants inside to see if they can be salvaged at all.  Oy!!!  Not cool.  So, yes, my fine forest friends....it's a good thing you're so cute.

What this brings to mind, in it's own odd kind of way, are the complexities of community.  

True that while I am here, I live somewhat in isolation.  Being on an island is good for that.  True that I am basically wired as an introvert, and the solitude that might drive others crazy is very much part of the charm for me.  

Still, I am very well aware of the richness of my relational life, and cherish the various and wonderful humans that populate it.  

But don't we all sort of, sometimes, often, tend to nibble on the blooms?  

The complex and irritating annoyances we sometimes inflict on each other, either out of instinct or ignorance, or sometimes on purpose.  The ways we seem to repay generosity by taking more than we're offered.  The ways we can help ourselves to what's not really ours, or steal the colour from someone's deck without realizing it, or maybe on purpose.  The ways we can behave according to how we're wired and not even realize how it's affecting anyone else.

And sure, I could stop with the peanuts and get out a spray bottle and do everything I can to discourage and frighten away all my little friends.  I could claim the deck for myself and my flowers, and how dare any encroach on my space.   Or even better, I could just stay inside.

But the deck is inviting, and lovely, and fresh, and wide open.  Lots of life - not just chipmunks come to visit - happens out there, which enriches mine.  

A needful caveat here.  Some actions between humans cause intense damage requiring severe consequences.  Sometimes people make themselves dangerous.  Even Paul, a huge proponent of grace and forgiveness in community, knew that there were times when it was right to draw lines in the sand (eg. Romans 16:17).  And even in lesser but significant moments of navigating interpersonal conflict, boundaries are important.  Difficult conversations need to be had.  Self advocacy is an essential skill. Honesty builds bridges. 

Still, in the day to day ways we can bump into one another, in the little things, even the repeated things, even the really annoying things, I wonder how much gentler and generally happier our lives might be if more times than not we just might simply shake our heads a little, give a good sigh, move the plants indoors, and say, "It's a good thing you're so cute."

And really, while I'm thinking about it, I find I'm so very glad for all the people who all the time do the same for me.

So we'll see if I can revive the rock trumpets.  I'll keep you posted.

When All of a Sudden...

I come around the point and I ambushed.

Oh my God!

A glimpse of it.

Of glory.

Your glory.

Of Heaven maybe.

Of Your will being done on earth, as it is in Heaven.

All glorious and right and as it should be.

And I sit here in the quiet as it screams across the sky.

Holy, holy, holy!

“If anyone is to love God 

and have his or her life filled with that love, 

God in his glorious reality 

must be brought before the mind 

and kept there in such a way 

that the mind takes root 

and stays fixed there."

Dallas Willard

"And all of a sudden

I am unaware of these afflictions

eclipsed by glory,

and I realize just how beautiful You are

and how great Your affections are for me."

David Crowder

"For our light and momentary afflictions

are achieving for us an eternal glory

that far outweighs them all."

2 Corinthians 4:17