First comes love, then comes marriage...

Yup, you got it...7 weeks gone, expecting our little bundle of joy and whatnot May 12ish.

Rough Country

The Country Wife

She makes her way through the dark trees
Down to the lake to be alone.
Following their voices on the breeze,
She makes her way. Through the dark trees
The distant stars are all she sees.
They cannot light the way she's gone.
She makes her way through the dark trees
Down to the lake to be alone.

The night reflected on the lake,
The fire of stars changed into water.
She cannot see the winds that break
The night reflected on the lake
But knows they motion for her sake.
These are the choices they have brought her:
The night reflected on the lake,
The fire of stars changed into water.

Rough Country

Give me a landscape made of obstacles,
of steep hills and jutting glacial rock,
where the low-running streams are quick to flood
the grassy fields and bottomlands.A place no engineers can master–where the roads
must twist like tendrils up the mountainside
on narrow cliffs where boulders block the way.
Where tall black trunks of lightning-scalded pine
push through the tangled woods to make a roost
for hawks and swarming crows.And sharp inclines where twisting through the thorn-thick underbrush,
scratched and exhausted, one turns suddenly
to find an unexpected waterfall,
not half a mile from the nearest road,
a spot so hard to reach that no one comes–
a hiding place, a shrine for dragonflies
and nesting jays, a sign that there is still

one piece of property that won't be owned.
~Dana Gioia (both)

Starry Nights

The full moon and starry night skies were so breath-taking this past weekend.
They constantly brought the below Psalm to mind.

Psalm 19

¹ The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
² Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
³ They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
⁴ Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.

The Wind River Range, Labor Day 2009

We had a wonderful long weekend in the Wind River Range with my brother, and friend Lee Erin. It was awesome to see such majestic mountains, breath-taking scenery, and spend time outdoors. We hiked 45-50 miles from above Pinedale to the Titcomb Basin. The weather was perfect, the moon was full, and it was very hard to leave. More pictures coming soon...!

Psalm 148

Psalm 148

¹ Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens!
Praise him from the skies!
² Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all the armies of heaven!
³ Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
⁴ Praise him, skies above!
Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!
⁵ Let every created thing give praise to the Lord,
for he issued his command, and they came into being.
⁶ He set them in place forever and ever.
His decree will never be revoked.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
you creatures of the ocean depths,
⁸ fire and hail, snow and clouds,^a]">[a]
wind and weather that obey him,
⁹ mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
¹⁰ wild animals and all livestock,
small scurrying animals and birds,
¹¹ kings of the earth and all people,
rulers and judges of the earth,
¹² young men and young women,
old men and children.

¹³ Let them all praise the name of the Lord.
For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven!
¹⁴ He has made his people strong,
honoring his faithful ones—
the people of Israel who are close to him.

Praise the Lord!

"Climb the mountains, and get their good tidings."

Can't wait for this weekend! Haven't been four days in the mountains for too long!