Goal Met & Some Sunshine, September 13, 2017

Hello friends,

I'm so excited to be able to say I've met my reading goals for the year. 

It was an eclectic mix of books for sure.

My official reading goal is modest . I've only selected 35 books for the year.
I already have a few more books on the go but these are various coloured icing on the cake :-)

I hope all is going well for you wherever you are.

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I'm so pleased to know that many of my blog friends in Florida have now reported they are safe after Hurricane Irma and they all came out reasonably unscathed. Thank God for that though I am still waiting to hear from one friend in Orlando.

Hurricane Irma also left many Canadians  stranded in the Caribbean.  Some on holiday but also residents and seasonal residents, students and business people.

Canada has airlifted 1,652 citizens out of the Caribbean since Saturday, according to the latest figures from Global Affairs.

Some Canadians are unhappy that the government help arrived a bit later than the help for the citizens of other nations. Some are thinking about those who travelled to these hurricane prone countries even though there was a severe travel advisory against travel. I'm sure there will be much more in the news to come.

(Source:  CBC News, September 13, 2017)

Closer to home the wild fires still rage across a good part of my province, next door in Alberta and farther east in the Province of Manitoba.

Yesterday, the BC Wildfire Service reported that as of September 12th, there are still 136 wildfires (over .01 hectares or larger) burning in the province.

So far in  the fiscal year 2017, the province has seen 1,246 wildfires burn 1.28 million hectares. That compares to a 10-year average of 154,944 hectares burned.

(Source: The Georgia Straight, September 12, 2017)

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Weather here is quite a lot cooler than it was a week ago. I'm needing a bit of adjustment as I'm still using summer covers and have my windows wide open all night.  Last night for the first time I felt a distinct chill and a cramp coming on. Reluctantly I realized it is soon time to change out the linens and blankets change my habits a bit to accommodate the cooler climate.

The days are beautiful and sunny though I realized last night that the sun sets over 2 full hours earlier than it did in the middle of July. I miss the longer days but Fall is one of my favourite seasons.
The only thing I don't like about Fall is that Winter will arrive soon and it seems to be a longer season than Fall, Summer or Spring!

I haven't had time to clear out the garden.  I've decided I will probably just leave it until the Spring.

Joanne from Cup on the Bus,  reminded me that the birds can come and eat over the winter if I leave my garden as is.  It makes good sense given that my city is not usually covered in snow for very long.

I know in previous Winters I have enjoyed watching the birds come to peck around in the garden and am always grateful then that they have a garden to come and peck around in.

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Our World Tuesday

The Sun & The Royal Wedding

As if on cue for the royal wedding, the sun came out on Friday in Vancouver and warmed my bones. There was still a touch of crispness to the air but it was lovely to have the unadulterated sunshine on  my first full day back home.

I stayed up until 5 a.m. to watch the royal nuptials and I saw that the sun came out there as well when rain was expected. Surely that is  a good sign for this lovely, young couple.

I'm afraid my wedding invitation got lost in the mail and I didn't want to fly to London and join the crowd. I may never have found my way out of there *wink.  

It may seem silly but I took a few photos of the royal couple on the palace balcony. Unfortunately, I missed the royal kisses. They were too quick for me.

Kate looks stunning.

I wish the royal couple nothing but the best, and loads of happiness in the years ahead.

The Sun Rays (A Lyric)

The sun rays in your eye,

The love you’re giving that I have found;

Like sun that shines though the sky,

Each love must be worth and sound.

The sun that shines each day,

The love you gave from your heart;

What matter what we do or say,

Never let it depart.

Each heart is broken only once

And never grows from sorrow,

Let there never be no bygones

Not today nor tomorrow.

Sun rays oh sun rays

Never hide behind a cloud,

Sun rays all my days

That's what love's all about;

Give me no raining shower thought,

Nor glimpse of shadows I've caught.

On each star brightening night

When only flickering light is around,

I wish you'd hold me so tight

My fright could surely be drowned;

The sun rays the feeling of touch

Each love is not made of stone,

You know I love you so much

Oh never let me be here alone.

Each heart is broken only once

And never grows from sorrow,

Let there never be no bygones

Not today nor tomorrow.

Sun rays oh sun rays

Never hide behind a cloud,

Sun rays all my days

That's what love's all about;

Give me no raining shower thought,

Nor glimpse of shadows I've caught.

Sun rays oh sun rays

There are many turning ways,

Let’s give future to all

Before it returns to the haze;

Give me no answer: perhaps or not,

Tomorrow you may have forgot.

Sun rays oh sun rays

Sun brightening rays oh sun rays.

Sun rays oh sun rays

Never hide behind a cloud,

Sun rays all my days

That's what love's all about;

Give me no raining shower thought,

Nor glimpse of shadows I've caught.

Sun rays oh sun rays

Never hide behind a cloud,

Sun rays... 

Words by Peter Quinn 

Boats Afar

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good:

Genesis 1: 3, 4

I love that I can capture scenes like this from my window. I simply love the pure beauty of the tiny sailboats on the horizon as they are basking in the sun.

I turned it into black and white so you could see how brilliantly the sun is illuminating the waters below where the two sailboats are lazily making their way.

So spectacular. Creation is beautiful!

Rain Falls, a Promise is Made

Photo Credit: http://community.webshots.com/user/anttisarki/profile

After a week or more of blessed sunshine, it was pouring rain overnight and into the morning. Rain brings a freshening of the earth, in addition to a cleaning for our enjoyment on another sunny day. It just so happened that my reading for the day was also about rain.

In Genesis, chapters 6-9, I read again about the flood that God sent upon the earth due to the evil and violence in the world.

¹¹The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

¹²And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

¹³And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Genesis 6:11-13

But God found in Noah, a perfect man for his generation.

Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:9

So he made a way of escape for Noah, his family and all the animals, both clean and unclean by getting him to build and Ark and enter into it for the duration of the 150 day period (Genesis 7: 24) over which the water prevailed on the earth.

I've loved this story about Noah and the Great Flood since childhood. It is because it is so incomprehensible to my human mind that man could be so wicked and violent so as to provoke God to flood and encompass the entire earth. Yet, God in his awesome love and mercy would save the world and even the animals so that the world could be inhabited once again. This speaks to me of how awesome God's love and mercy really is. He didn't have to save us but for one Godly man, He did! Praise His Name!

This wonderful story concludes with God's promise to us to never again send a flood to encompass the entire earth; the mark of which is His beautiful rainbow.

¹¹And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

¹²And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

¹³I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis 9:11-13

Whenever I see a rainbow, I am reminded of this wonderful story and God's promise to us, His children. I am grateful that God keeps His promises.