A view from the sky tram in Jasper on a family holiday
HURRAY!! I've made it through one year of blogging. There are now a total of 55 posts. In the past when I shared some of my stories of my life experiences with friends, they suggested that I should write a blog. I didn’t have any interest or see any reason to. What got me started blogging was a feeling I had. I should write a blog. Although the feeling was a surprise to me, I have learned to trust my feelings. I did have a few ideas I could write about and trusted that more would come as I went along. As for how to go about publishing a blog, I had yet to learn. I needed a domain name, a blog-site and I needed to define my purpose (a sort of mission statement). What I didn’t know was that help was on the way.
When I was trying to think of how to explain what my purpose was, I remembered about the older gentleman who came to speak to a group I was in a few years ago. He made no claim to great wisdom because of his years. Instead, he said he had a panoramic view of what young people might call history. I liked that. I too had a panoramic view and I had a desire to share. We all have different experiences and maybe you would find something of interest from mine. My goal was and still is to share some of the nuggets of wisdom that I have picked up along my life’s travels as well as sharing past experiences you might find entertaining. As I said initially, (see About Me) if nothing else, we will get to know each other a little better, especially if you comment. Once I clarified my direction, the blog name came easily, “A View Point”. I registered aviewpoint.ca as my domain name and set up my site with the help of a family member. He also provided meaningful editing for my Welcome introduction. I wanted a picture at the top of the page to set the mood. Searching through past photographs, I found the one I was looking for. One year we took a family vacation to Jasper National Park. Some of us had taken the Sky Tram to the top and I captured the picture from there. What I had from that lofty and majestic view point was a sweeping vista of the adjacent mountains, the valley below and the town of Jasper itself. That would work. It just needed to be cropped in Photoshop to fit the blog site. Again, I received help from a family member. My writing has been a work in progress. I had much to learn. Usually as I post a blog, I am not sure what the next one will be. Will I modify something I have already written, taking out the personal names out of respect for the anonymity of the individuals I am writing about, or will I need to write something new altogether? When I draw from stories I have written previously, I sometimes have to add more background detail that others outside of the family wouldn’t know. More than one person asked if I would have enough stories to keep going. I would reply that I had at least enough to take me to Christmas, and then I could decide. By Christmas, I found I still had more to share and I continued on. Thankfully, some of you continued on too. (Weebly tells me how many views I have each day and week, but not their names.) I now had a broader audience to consider. When I wrote stories before, it was usually about something I wanted my family to know and was written with feeling. Although feelings are involved now, this writing to a deadline has been much harder work. My biggest surprise was the ghost editor. He seemed to come out of the woodwork just when I needed him. I didn’t even realize I needed help. Silly me! The questions he asked and the suggestions he gave were invaluable as a help to clarify my thinking at times. I wasn’t even aware he had that talent. Not only that, he has stuck with me week after week, many times late into the evening. More than once he has said to me, "I know what you mean, but that’s not what you said". My first three entries were new ones. After the Welcome, I began with the story “The Ant and the Grasshopper”. It included an ‘Aha moment’ I had, when someone suggested the grasshopper got a bad rap. That is when I turned to the internet and Wikipedia for added input. I wished I had a good picture and I soon learned about public domain pictures. Hurray for the Internet. The next blog was entitled, ‘Jaws Revisited’. I had just started my blogging adventure, when on the way home from the chiropractor, we passed a road construction girl fighting dosing off while she held up the stop sign. There was danger in front of and behind her. I knew there was a story to be told and I was anxious to get home to share. My first Sunday Blog was entitled, “Scatterbrained”. It was wonderful to have an opportunity to share something close to my heart and trust enough to expose a little bit of myself. Yes, I do have to watch out for being scatterbrained at times. This was published the third Sunday in August. That is when I realized that I could publish the Sunday Blogs the first Sunday of every month and then you would know when to find it or when to avoid it, whichever your desire is. I always will label it Sunday Blog to clearly identify it . “To Rocko With Love” is one of my favorites. It was initially written after the unexpected death of a very unusual pet that I had come to love. The unusual part is that I loved him the moment his eye caught mine in spite of some strong past prejudices on my part. As I wrote it, it became one of those times that the words just flowed. Because of him, I learned a profound truth. These entries took care of the first month including “Grandma, I Cheat” What was my grandson's surprising secret? Grandchildren can be so much fun. I was now on my way or should I say “we” were on our way. (The editor is still hanging in a year later, although I did sneak one or two past him.) By September I felt brave enough to share my personal Mission Statement (Blogging fits in the part of the Mission Statement that says 'to strengthen my family, past, present and future') From time to time interspersed with the stories, I have shown some of the items that have helped me in my quest for self-improvement: my place mat, Quick and Easy Goal-Getting and my To Life poster. My intent is to put it out there hoping it might be a help to someone. It also helps as a way to reinforce my commitment. The personal comments you gave, below the blog and also in my email, have been a great encouragement to me. I am always interested to know which entries have been your favorites. Maybe others would like to know too. Why don’t you comment below and let us know which ones you liked best. “The Outhouse Agreement” (May 17) seemed to be a winner as the readership took a huge jump that week and doubled its previous high. Besides that one, my personal favorites are “Pin Ups” (June 21), “Hit ‘Em, Hit ‘Em” (Nov. 16) and right below "Hit'Em Hit 'Em" is “Oh, What Will I Do Now I’m Sixty” published on November 9th. It has been fun for me to reminisce about the past blogging year looking at how it all came about. Thanks to all you readers who help to make this a rewarding experience. Thanks also to my family who have allowed me to include stories about them and of course thanks to my ghost editor and I mustn't forget to express thanks to Weebly for allowing me the free space. ............................................... *The Jasper Skytram is the highest and longest aerial tramway located in Canada. It was built in 1964 and goes to a height of 2,277 meters (7470 feet) above sea level. It is 6 kilometers (4.25 miles) from Jasper, Alberta, and crests The Whistlers Mountain. Wikipedia P. S. This will be my last blog for a while. I am taking off September and October from writing and plan to start blogging again in November. I will let you know.
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![]() By Small and Simple Things A church leader tells us, “of a loving God, aware of even the small, daily needs of His children and eager to assist them, one by one.” This became very clear to me one summer day in August of 2013. My husband and I were picking chokecherries by the city's bike trails above the river bank. I remember it was a Thursday because we had been at the church earlier. It was our practice to go early and vacuum with no one else around, when it was our group's turn to clean the church on Thursdays. It was then I got my first surprise for the day. My planning journal had been missing for over a month. Part of that time I had been away on holiday, but this lost journal had been a matter of concern and prayer for me. It was very personalised and it felt like a part of me was missing. It was while vacuuming that, to my delight, I found my treasured journal. This was not the first time I had been rescued after leaving something somewhere it didn’t belong, including my planning book. Gratitude filled my heart. The Lord was so good to me - way more than I thought I deserved. (See August Sunday Blog; Aug 21, 2016; “Scatterbrained” ) This was the first year that we picked chokecherries having just discovered this patch. Besides making very tasty syrup, they provided a bit of nostalgia for both of us. The farm, where I first lived as a child, had a berry patch and my husband had a similar memory. Tuesday, Wednesday and now Thursday found us enjoying the fresh air and sunshine as we gathered some of nature’s bounty. It was like an adventure into another world within the confines of our big city. It was fun and easy picking as the berries grew in grape-like clusters hanging from the branches. Several people out for walks on the adjacent trails passed by and stopped to ask what we were doing. Some had never heard of chokecherries. Our buckets were filling and it was approaching suppertime. I checked my watch frequently as we still needed to get the berries washed and into the freezer before we could eat. While my husband went to bring the car around, I waited with the buckets. I was getting concerned about time. Checking my wrist, I gasped. My watch was gone - my favorite watch. It was actually a bracelet that I had purchased from Avon more than five years previous for only seventeen dollars. A hinged lid concealed a watch underneath. Silver with a turquoise-looking stone in the center, the intricate design made me think of something one might bring back from Mexico. Others seemed to like it too as I often received compliments. Maybe it was because of its slip-on style that I had received a little warning nudge when I was dressing that morning. I should probably just accept it was gone. I certainly had my money’s worth of enjoyment and service from it over the years. And besides, I had been warned. My heart was still overflowing with gratitude for having been so blessed that day, heaped up with memories of all the many other blessings I enjoyed in my life.. There was no room for pity, even if I had thought of entertaining it. My husband was the one insisting we go back after supper to look for it, not me. How could we possibly hope to find it? The thick patches of chokecherry bushes were daunting, not to mention the long grass undergrowth where the watch had probably fallen. And yet I kept getting the impression reminding me that the Lord knew where it was and I only needed to ask. It seemed almost disrespectful to ask for more, when I had already been given so much. My husband was diligently searching from the spot I last remembered wearing it. Anyway, I think it was the spot. They looked so much the same and it was a long area. Every once in a while he would remind me to keep looking. I couldn’t seem to get my heart into searching for the seemingly impossible. This was even worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. Having started life on a farm, I could imagine how difficult that would be. Still there was that impression that God knew where it was. I just needed to ask. Finally I responded with, “I know You know where it is. I already have been given so much. If you really want me to have it, then would you let my husband be the one to find it? He is the one who wants me to get it back. I am willing to let it go.” We finally gave up the search and headed a little way on toward an open lookout point. My husband continued further ahead to see if there were more berries for another day. While I waited, I sat on the lookout bench and gazed down at the river valley and downtown core of the city and enjoyed the beauty of the scenery and the lovely evening. “No”, he said, “I think that’s it." The season was ending and the few berries that were left were starting to dry up. We turned around and started back together through our original picking area to head home. I noticed some clusters I had missed. I looked up to see if there were any berries up higher and then I saw it. There, hanging on a branch above my head, was my bracelet watch. Most of the fruit we picked had been within easy reach, but this area closer to the lookout was a little more open to the light and a few bushes had grown taller. Seeing the taller branches were laden with fruit, I had earlier grabbed a branch and pulled it down, restraining it, while I scooped the berries into my pail. Let loose, it sprang back up hooking my watch as an unwilling hostage as it went. Although I had actually been the one to discover the watch, because my husband had looked further on, it caused us to return from the opposite direction past the way we had originally come. Now I realise that I was given much more than just the watch. Whenever I see it, I am reminded again of how a loving God is aware of even “the small, daily needs of His children and eager to assist them, one by one” and I wear the evidence. .................................................... "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass" Alma 37:6 from The Book of Mormon As I said in my very first Sunday Blog almost a year ago, "I am a person of faith. I believe in God. I trust Him and I have learned I can depend on Him and I am grateful. My faith is an integral part of who I am." Although showing me where my watch was hanging was a small and simple thing for Him, it was not at all difficult considering who He is. It is another testament of His willingness to guide us in our lives, if we will let Him. It all adds up to be a great thing in our lives, line upon line and precept upon precept as He teaches us. He is ever a loving Heavenly Father. A friend wrote the following :Luke 12:7: "Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows" Luke 12:24: "Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds!" Taken from The New American Bible, Revised Edition I had intended adding something from the Bible, but he beat me to it. |
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