Counting Blessings, 2015

Yes, Fall in California is mostly all golden!

This year I found myself wedged into such a bittersweet place for Thanksgiving, how to write? My 35 year old son is still an inpatient, flat on his back since June 2. He is still alive, Praise God! I struggle with writing about him, and will not write too much more, as he deserves his privacy. And of course, my other two children and my grandchildren are blessings, but I didn’t see them this year for Thanksgiving. A friend in Warner Springs offered a seat at her table, and I gladly accepted. A lot of blessings so far. (Everything I accomplish now, is late, past when it should have been done and that includes this blog. It’s almost Christmas, and I’m writing about Thanksgiving, but once the process of blogging starts perking, you must write it down.)

Another blessing: I’m finally beginning to take photos again, as since June, photos have been few and far between. I belong to two photography clubs; one in the Eastern Sierra (Bishop) and another in the Inland Empire (Temecula). I’ve had opportunities this year to be on overnight outings with both clubs. In the spring, I hobbled along with Inland Empire Photo Club during their outing to Joshua Tree National Park. I took my hiking poles and went on a car camping trip to Arizona and Utah with the Eastern Sierra club. The group promised they weren’t fervent hikers, so I went along – despite having just had surgery myself at the end of May. I did a lot more hiking than I expected. But, being in the canyons and on the cliffs is so inspiring and spiritual, I am glad I had the opportunity to be there and sometimes, one must just keep going on despite our handicaps.

I visited so many places in Arizona and Utah during that trip that I will have to break the trip apart into several posts. The southwest is incredibly beautiful and I’ve barely scratched the surface!

The group met at Virgin River Campground in Arizona; an overnight stop on the way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The moon was almost full and frankly, the photos from this stop are better than the full moon over the grand canyon (sometimes you get the shot, sometimes you don’t). I didn’t sleep much this night.

Nearly full moon taking a rest as the sun is setting in the west.

The moon was shining so brightly, the night looked like daylight. Look closely, do you see Orion’s Belt?

The dawn brought glowing Venus. The moon had set by this point, taking away the moon glow on the mountains.

The dawn clouds were beautiful. After a short hike, we packed up and drove to the Grand Canyon (next post coming soon).