The Cabin Path

“I’ve found that the first thirty minutes of my day have the biggest impact on how I feel for the rest of my waking hours.”
~Molli Sullivan~
Good morning…oh, the things I’ve learned the last couple of months!! I have to admit that some mornings, I lay there a few minutes wondering if I can do another day… but then I realize we have been given a gift… another day to learn and try again when we mess up! Coffee on the porch and the birds singing and oh, that sunrise…it’s going to be a good day!

“The beginning is always today.” ~Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley~
A surprise! I was thinking this little guy was early, but then I realized it was already June! I missed most of spring…but it happened without me!
Life does go on…

“Everyone thinks they have the best dog. And none of them are wrong.”
~W.R. Purche~
Equal time to Pepper!! He is truly a joy in our lives. A shelter dog…I still cannot imagine why someone did not want him. He has fit our family just perfectly ! It’s impossible to see him and not smile!

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
~Nhat Hanh~

“Be ever grateful for the gifts that nature provides your soul.”
~Unknown~
A walk with Yeller! He’s such a sweet dog…he and all our critters seems to have known that there was a very good reason to be left alone for many days. There had food and water, but they didn’t have us. I took Yeller on a walk yesterday. Rather than run ahead, he stayed close to me. When we got back to the fire pit, he sat beside me as we watched the wind in the trees and on the water. It was as if nature knew we both needed to simple sit and breathe. Slowly, we are all getting our routines back…my husband even took a few steps with a walker! Hoping that soon, he will once again join Yeller and me on our walks. ❤️ (our trail has missed us, too!)

“The healthiest response to life is joy."
~Deepak Chopra~
What a beautiful day! Even Waldo seemed to enjoy it. He can be grumpy, but when I surprised him down on the backyard point, he didn’t even fly away! He perched tall and still…maybe even he missed us!

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'" –
~Eleanor Roosevelt~
My husband continues to improve! Many know his love of graphic design and carving and drawing. I’ve set up a spot on the screen porch for him to sketch. BooBoo is his shadow, and I’m hoping for a portrait of that cat soon! The grands came this week, and that table was also a spot for a game of Scrabble! The mornings have been so beautiful lately…cool and breezy. I had to snap a photo of him at work…life is good. ❤️

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.”
~Alice Walker~

"Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has." ~John Lubbock~
A morning walk…not very far away….

“My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature."
~Claude Monet~
My walks are shorter, but but I still need them! I am slowly trying to catch up with all the things that have been neglected during our time away. As I went down to check the paddle boat, my eye caught a red color that didn’t fit in…and then it moved! It was a small bright red snake! Its head and tail were hidden. I know that juvenile copperheads have a yellow tail, but I couldn’t see it…and its head was already retreating, so I just snapped a quick photo,and I left it undisturbed. I really didn’t think I should push my luck in case it were to be a venomous snake! I’ve seen enough of hospitals for awhile!! I now believe it to be a northern red-bellied snake. They are a smaller snake, and they often hide in leaves and wooded areas.
I was excited to find something I’d never noticed before…it’s good to get back to the woods! If anyone else has a suggestion, please let me know. I know most of the more common snakes here, but lots to learn!

“Bravely overcoming one small fear gives you the courage to take on the next.”
~Daisaku Ikeda~
We have survived the first week home! There have been some ups and some downs, but gradually, we am learning to just relax and breathe… and keep trying! I know that home is going to be challenging, but we are starting to laugh when things mess up, and we are enjoy our mornings on the porch and antics of our critters while welcoming another day. The sunrises have been beautiful!
Wishing all a safe Memorial Day weekend...remembering all our service men and women who have made that ultimate sacrifice. ❤️

After a very long journey, we are finally back home. My husband is still recovering with home nursing & PT… but we are HOME!!
We were led to a wonderful rehab place down the road called Encompass. We were there for 14 days after a couple of months in 2 hospitals and one other rehab place. Encompass is an acute rehab hospital… and we were welcomed like family. 3+ hours every day of physical therapy…he can now stand and take a couple of steps… enough to help me get him in a wheelchair chair and in and out of bed. He has a feeding tube because he’s lost the ability to swallow… but that is slowly returning… can even have a few sips of coffee with me on the porch! Still no diagnosis…mimics a stroke, but scans say no. We are taking each day as it comes, but improvements every day! Feeling blessed this morning as we watched that sunrise!❤️

“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
I will be taking some time off. Prayers, please, for our family while my husband faces some major health issues. ❤️

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

“Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself. “
~L. Wolfe Gilbert~
One of the most unmistakable smells of spring is the Fringe Tree. There are several on the hill across the lake, and breathing in the sweet fragrance seems to replace all the ills of the world.

“Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.”
~Emory Austin~

“The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.”
~Atisa~
A Catesby’s “Tri”llium…and maybe a ”Four”llium….?? It even has 4 leaves…but I love them all!

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.”
~John Keats~

“When words leave off, music begins.”
~Heinrich Heine~
Saddened to learn of the passing of one of our Cabin Pickers… Mandolin player, Pete, lost his battle with that “C” word…prayers to Nancy and all his family. ❤️

“Spring drew on...and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.”
~Charlotte Brontë~

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”~Deepak Chopra~

“Too often we try to avoid that scary place where we love so deep, so much, our hearts could break. But without the bitterness, we would never appreciate the sweetness.”
~Sara Hagerty~

“Flowers whisper ‘Beauty!’ to the world, even as they fade, wilt, fall.”
~Dr Sunwolf~

"A dog will teach you unconditional love. If you can have that in your life, things won't be too bad.”
~Robert Wagner~
Pepper!!

“Today’s goals: Coffee and kindness. Maybe two coffees, and then kindness.” ~Nanea Hoffman~

“May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being, may you walk gently through the world and know it's beauty all the days of your life.”
~Apache Blessing~
A quiet moment at the point during our solar eclipse. There was an
aluminum like glow with blurred shadows.

“What a lonely place it would be to have a world without a wildflower!”
~Roland R. Kemler~
Spring has sprung!!❤️

“Rest and be thankful.”
~William Wordsworth~
Our 50th anniversary on Friday! My husband has been having health problems, and a little worse the last week, but the kids came yesterday for a cookout. They surprised us with a new swing for the point! The grands also made us an amazing cake and cards they made!They helped with some more digging on the spillway and beavers pond… an ongoing project, but still time to enjoy the day. Thankfully, a restful night, and my husband feels better today!

“When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.”
—Tecumseh~
A beautiful spring day…getting green!!!

"Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own."
~Charles Dickens~
Stormy days, warm days, windy days, rainy days….ah, springtime…and maybe this is “ blackberry winter”….it’s cold!!