Be still

Cora, Jim and I drove back onto Bainbridge Island this morning to visit the Bloedel Reserve. This is a 150 acre natural garden founded by Prentice Bloedel who intended that it be a place which "provides refreshment and and tranquility in the presence of natural beauty". We walked trails for over two miles and it was so beautiful and so tranquil that we often found ourselves talking in a whisper. The 10th verse of Psalm 46 kept running through my head "Be still and know that I am God".

The trails were covered with ground up pine, and I made the very bad decision to wear my flip-flops instead of tennis shoes. I kept getting horrible, thin little needles stuck in the bottom of my feet like tiny, painful injections. Finally in desperation I lined the soles of my flip-flops with Kleenex that Cora fortunately had with her. I looked like one of the poor orphans from Oliver Twist. Note to self: think twice about what you are wearing before you leave the house!

After our trek we drove to Poulsbo which is a little historic bayside town with Norwegian roots where we had a German lunch accompanied by a Scottish bagpipe player who was on the street below the balcony where we were seated. I guess it must be an American place because it was a conglomeration of international influence.

We had to remind ourselves that today was a holiday (Labor Day) because every day feels like a holiday.

We were sorry that Mom Keatley was not able to accompany us because the trails would have been too difficult for her to navigate, but we finished the day together with more conversation.