Finding Joy

Joy's smile is much closer to tears than laughter."
~Victor Hugo~





"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Teddy Roosevelt~

My Grandson, the Bean, called the other night to tell me that he found a FIVE leaf clover. The excitement in his voice was a joyful noise in my ear. He had been looking for a four leaf clover in the lawn in his backyard. He kept at it and finally found the object of his quest.... even more. Not four but five leaves... for this little five year old. He was seeking, with his steady concentration and childlike hope, the proverbial "needle in the haystack". He found, to his delight, more than he wished for. It seems that effort is something that children understand when they are encouraged to try and that joy is the unexpected gift.

"Joy to the world,
All the boys and girls.
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea,
Joy to you and me."

~hoyt axton~(1938-)

Wordless Wednesday: Logan's Pass in Glacier National Park

Logan's Pass: Glacier National Park

I have had company here on the farm. My sister came to visit. So blogging came to a halt for a few days. We love having her visit. The dogs are delighted too.
The weather is wonderful. Rain and cool weather. Just like Montana.... which is where I took these photos. Logan's pass, in Glacier Nat. Park, is the highest spot on the Going to the Sun road. It straddles the Continental Divide. This is Alpine country and still has wildflowers in September.

When I first sighted these Bighorn sheep I was stunned. They are huge. They can weight from 100 to 300 lbs and are 5 to 6 ft long. This group just sat up on the hillside above the parking lot at Logan's Pass.

Look at this guy. He looked like the leader of the pack. He was majestic! He has such an old and wise face. We were very lucky to have them congregate so close to the parking area. Of course, this is not as close as it looks. "D" let me use her big lens that brought the sheep "up close and personal" and the miracle of cropping photos makes it look like I could have reached out and touched him. I cannot tell you the thrill of seeing these sheep for the first time.

This is me on the "easy" Hidden Lake Trail that is one of the most popular hikes in the park. It goes up 1.5 miles to Hidden Lake. It was very tiring and we make it about 1 mile, saw the next rung of the wooden path ahead of us, decided that we had reach the "65 years and above" level and turned around. Now, anyone that has been there and is in good physical shape will say that we wimped out, but I say that for two 65 year old ladies... we did good. As we came back down I smiled at the thought that some older person would pass me and think..."If she can do it, I can." Little did they know that we turned around before we reached Hidden Lake. I hope that everyone made it. A little later a helicopter came in over us and the thought crossed my mind that they were flying above us to pick up someone who attempted to go the distance and didn't make it. I felt justified in turning around, even though there is still a part of me that wishes I had tried harder and pushed myself further. On the other hand I'm proud of how far I did go. It was a beautiful hike and worth the effort.

( "D" took this picture of me on our downward hike back to the parking lot. Looking up toward the rise is the top of the hill that continued on to the lake. It was still another half mile from there to the lake.)