Tag Archives: Beach Walks

Looking Back…

…translated to, I have nothing new to share today.

The photos I’m sharing today are from one of our early morning walks at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura California back in 2009. We lived in Camarillo which is south of Ventura from 2006 until 2010. We would get to the beach before or just at sunrise.

I’ve said it before that I enjoy visiting beaches in the Winter. We enjoyed high tides and low tides.

So much to discover during low tides!

It would be good to get away and enjoy something different right about now.

Walking at the Beach

Last Friday I had a wonderful walk on the beach. My sister Vera lives a few blocks from Huntington Beach in Southern California and we always enjoy walking down and taking in the sea air. On this day we walked down with my brother Leonard, SIL Mandy, niece Hope, new nephew Andrew, and my sister Vera.

We were wondering how Andrew would react to the ocean waves.

Hope went in with no fear and Andrew watched from the sand.

We left my brother to enjoy watching the kids while the three of us walked along the tide line for an hour.

We walked up the beach and then down again to the pier.

Andrew kept quite busy building in the sand.

Do you live anywhere near an ocean shore? We live close to the shores of Lake Washington and a short drive to the Puget Sound but we have to travel a few hours to get to the Pacific Ocean.

Winter Note Cards

It’s time for Vee’s January Note Card Party.

I’m going back to 2009 and our walks on the beach at Emma Wood in Ventura. While Dear and I were living in Camarillo, California we would get up very early on Saturday mornings to head north to Ventura for a walk at the beach. These shots are all from January 10, 2009. I’m adding a poem by Ralph Spaulding Cushman from his Hilltop Verses and Prayers.

The Secret

I met God in the morning
When my day was at its best,
And His Presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.

All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O’er a very troubled sea.

Other ships were blown and battered,
Other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them
Brought to us a peace and rest.

Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I too had loosed the moorings,
With the Presence left behind.

So I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way:
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day!

A prayer of the fisher folk:

Help me, O God, for my boat is so small and Thy ocean is so wide! Amen

We are so happy to be back in Washington State but I do miss our early Saturday beach walks. Thank you Vee for hosting the monthly Note Card Party.

 

Ode to Emma Wood…

Here’s a photo of Dear and me at Emma Wood State Beach this morning at Sunrise. We love this early morning walk and we’re going to miss it.

Ode To Emma Wood (Think “Harriet” from So I Married An Axe Murderer”)

Emma sweet Emma

You thrilled us each week

We hardly could speak

We listened to waves crashing near

Emma Sweet Emma

We’ll miss being here

Each week of the year

To see all your Tides High and Low

Your waves crash on shore

The pelicans soar

The Godwits and Sanderlings dig

Emma Sweet Emma…

Hope your Saturday is going well…

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…

I’m posting early this week so I hope I don’t confuse anyone into thinking it’s Friday already…

Time for Friday’s Fave Five again! Visit the lovely Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in with this fun exercise.

#1 & #2

~ Saturday was a double date day! In the morning Dear and I walked at our favorite beach at dawn and then in the early evening we went to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate a belated 35th Anniversary dinner. Our Anniversary is December 6th but Dear and I were in different parts of the country on that day so we decided to celebrate this past Saturday.

#3

It’s no secret that the enjoyment of food is big in my life. My mother has never driven a car and she has never worked outside the home. She put her energy and time into her love language which was cooking food for us and others. We always had people over growing up to share meals with us. I never worried about bringing home an unexpected guest because there would always be enough food for all. Our family was in the lowest middle income class but my parents always found money to put food on the table and shoes on our feet. I’ve inherited the love of food and being around a table.

All of that to say that I experienced a wonderful Prime Rib dinner on Saturday with an amazing fig and orange souffle for dessert! Yum…

#4

What a fun sky we saw here on Tuesday night! Dear was out BBQ’ing and he called me outside and said “You’ve got to see these great clouds” I grabbed my camera and headed out and clicked away! The clouds were like little cotton balls.

#5

Oh dear me…I bought some more dishes. They were just so much fun and they met my criteria of being made in England. I’m thinking it will be fun coming up with a Valentine day dinner using these red checked dishes! Thrift store shopping and finding dishes at a bargain are always fun for me and a favorite!

#6

A Bonus Favorite: I love how people always come together after a disaster to help their fellow human beings. For all of us who feel so bad about what has happened in the Island Nation of Haiti don’t forget or hesitate to send some money their way using a reputable/tried and true organization like World Concern, or Samaritan’s Purse just to name a couple who have proven their integrity in getting relief where it’s needed. A little from all of us adds up…

 

O.W. ~ Back to the Beach!

Warning Posted: Photo Overload!

It’s time to head over to Susan’s at A Southern DayDreamer for Outdoor Wednesday. All my photos were taken at Emma Wood State Beach in the wee morning hours this past Saturday.

Aren’t digital cameras great! I was just thinking about how we used to have to load a roll of film after every 24/36 photos and we never knew if the photos were good till after we had the film processed! I am so thankful for digital photography!!

 

Bittersweet…

It’s always bittersweet to get on a plane and fly away from the Condo to our home in Seattle. I’ll be separated from Dear which is always hard but reunited with my children which is always good. I’ll miss our favorite early morning walks at Emma Wood. We haven’t established an early morning walk in Washington yet because duty calls when we are there. Here are some scenes I’ll miss…

Have a great Thursday everyone!

 

Counting Down to Saturday…

I love this view that we had on our early morning walk this past Saturday. The sky looks painted don’t you think? This coming Saturday I fly to Seattle and will be at our home there until the New Year. I’ll miss our early morning walks here in Southern California with Dear and with Willow. Dear will join me there over Thanksgiving and then have an extended vacation during Christmas in Seattle, too. I have projects to complete that require some extended time there for me. My countdown here includes projects that need to get done before I fly away on Saturday. On Tuesday I’m headed to my mom and dad’s for a meal with the girls in the family, sisters and nieces and a nephew or two. It will be hit and miss with me and the blog till I get my Seattle legs. In the meantime I’ll be praying for God’s blessings on my bloggy friends…

Where’s ellen b.? ~ She flew the coop!

Just wanted to share one last image of our first born Josh with his beautiful wife Laura at a good friend’s wedding this past Friday. Laura was in the wedding.

I stole it without asking right off of facebook!!