Flag Waving

 

      This is the U.S. flag, being flown at McCormick Stillman Railroad Park near Phoenix, Arizona.  Next to "Old Glory" but not shown here is the French flag.  It is also here because a "Merci Car" is behind the railing.  (For more, click the link below.)

     Next year for Veteran's Day, my Witticism & Aphorisms Blog should be featuring the Arizona Merci Car (November 2025).  In the meantime, enjoy this flag for our American Fourth of July celebrations.  For other related posts of the past, click the "summer" link or the archived July links on web versions of this blog.

Merci Train Home Page

Merci Train Arizona

Merci Train Wikipedia Info

Perspective

 

As we take a bittersweet look at how quickly this last year has passed, like so many before it...  

Simple Pleasures

 

Rather than coloring intricate adult coloring books, I like to color simple children's coloring books.  I like to get done sooner, but I also spend extra time shading them with pencils.

This was done at a coffee shop.  I was there with my husband, who's been on some convalescent leave. (His health issue worked out quite well.   We feel very touched by grace.)  He worked on a very intricate adult coloring page.

I tried to make the daisies look a bit like my favorite black-eyed Susan flowers.  I don't know that I succeeded.  The purplish-blue ones are alternately called bachelor's buttons, cornflower or chicory.

Old Glory at Another National Park

 

Old Glory at Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Take this link to discover past postings of the US flag in scenic places.  Happy 4th of July!

Flag in s.e.Arizona

And this:

Natural Wonders of America

Flag Day

 
  In honor of the U.S Commemoration of Flag Day on June 14th, here are some pictures of the U.S. flag taken in beautiful, mountainous Northern Arizona.  (Yes, Arizona).   

  Although the pictures were taken in the fall, they are excellent to ponder this Flag Day and any other patriotic day.

 

#nature

Mountain Lore

     These photos are from a recent trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado.  The dunes are some of the largest natural dunes in the US, created by unique forces working in this area of the Rio Grande.  The mountains are part of the Sangre de Cristo ("Blood of Christ") range within the North American Rocky Mountains. (Spanish explorers applied the name centuries ago because reddish light reflecting off snow caps suggested this.)  This area is collectively referred to as The San Luis Valley.

    Included is some Biblical poetry about mountains.  

     This is a reminder of how God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as sands along the seashore (Genesis 22:17 & 26:4).

I will lift up my eyes unto the hills

From whence comes my help.  (Psalm 121:1)

Great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised

In the city of our God,

The mountain of His holiness. (Ps. 48:1)

Who may ascend upon the Mount of Yahweh?

And who may stand in the place of His holiness? (Psalm 24:3)

In [Yahweh's] Hand are the depths of the earth,

And the heights of the hills are His.  (Ps. 95:4) [original translations] 

     The person who stand in the place of Yahweh's holiness is the person whose sin has been forgiven by Jesus. We see this spelled out in other places in the Bible.

     Mountains seem almost eternal and unmovable.  Yet God can move them.  Jesus spoke of having "the faith to move mountains."  (Matthew 17:20) 

     A hill is also a place which can be seen from far away on the plain.  From atop a mountain, things can be seen for miles around. Many Biblical events took place on hills or mountains.  The 10 Commandments were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Part of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness occurred on a mountain. Jesus was 'transfigured' (radiating bright as the Sun) on a mountain.  Jesus prayed with His disciples the night of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.  Jesus was crucified on the hill at Golgatha.  Jesus ascended into heaven from a mountain near Bethany, traditionally the Mount of Olives. 

Glorious Old Glory

 
Here are some fairly recent photos of the US Flag flying around the Big Lake area in eastern Arizona:

Here's an older 4th of July posting, showing the flag in various scenic places across the United States:   Natural Wonders of America

Lakes & Rivers

We took a trip to the White Mountains in Arizona this fall.  Yes, this, too is Arizona.  (It's not all desert and the large, branching saguaro cacti.  BTW, AZ is the only state in the US where those cacti grow.)  Here are some photos of Big Lake in the White Mountains (near Greer) and the Little Colorado River near Springerville.   

There are other blog postings, as noted, with some of the autumnal plant life from this trip.

There is related Biblical poetry woven throughout the various postings.

Enjoy!  Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans reading this. Blessed fall season to the rest of my Northern Hemisphere friends reading this!

[Yahweh says]:

"I will open rivers on the bare heights

And springs within the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water

And dry lands springs of water."  Isaiah 41:18

[Part "deux"]

See, there is a river whose streams make glad the City of God, the dwelling places of the Most High.  Psalm 46:4

Then [the angel] showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb... On each side of the river was the Tree of Life... No longer will there be any curse... they [the people of God] will see His Face...  from Revelation chapter 22, a vision of heaven.

 

Birds' Nests

 

"Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided.  But because we cannot keep birds from flying over our heads, there is no need that we should let them build a nest in our hair."  -- Martin Luther's Large Catechism,  "Explanation of the Sixth Petition" ("Lead us not into temptation.")

The Long View

 

"If I knew tomorrow were the end of the world,

I'd plant an apple tree today." 

(attributed to Martin Luther; 16th century German)  

The Bright Morning Star

 This month, I'm making a departure to post something by David C. Brown, a "blog acquaintance" from the U.K.  He first posted it in July, 2016.  The link to his blog is below.

Thou art the Star of the morning;
Thou art the Bright Morning Star;*
Saints, in the midst of man's scorning
Welcome Thy light from afar:

Star of the morning,
O what a source of delight!
Soon Thou wilt have Thine assembly
Shining with heavenly light.  

Thou art the Star of the morning;
Thou art the Bright Morning Star;
Shining with heaven's adorning
Into the night where we are.
 
Star of the morning,
O what a source of delight!
Soon Thou wilt have Thine assembly
Shining with heavenly light. --David C. Brown, 2016

Sing it to  the hymn "Showers of Blessing"

*Christ as the Morning Star from the Book of Revelation.  (For more on this matter, see my posting, "Little Star, Might Star" from last month.)

The Bright Morning Star-- Grace Notes Blog

Rain Redux*

Rain, rain, come again;

Drought and dryness starts to drain.

Rain, rain, come and stay:

Stay again another day.

Arizona wants some rain

Which we've too long sought in vain;

Rain that's gone away since May:

We would welcome shades of gray. 

Father, who once cursed the soil,

Saying now that we must toil,

Still You show amazing grace,

To Your falt'ring human race---

SOOOO

Rain, rain, come and play

Stay with us another day.

---C. Marie Byars, (c) November, 2020

*Redux, both because of the importance of "again" in the original rhyme and this poem. Also, "redux", because this poem comes in tandem with my poem of earlier this year, discussing the distress of Arizona's already long-standing lack of rain then, which is even worse now.

(It was a challenge writing a poem with deeper thoughts using the "punch" and even "taunt-like" meter of the original rhyme.)

Here's the previous poem that "twins" with this

Perspectives

Volunteering

 

During this COVID time, we are limiting our travelling and exposure. We did take some time to do some socially distanced, responsible  volunteer painting.  (My husband held the ladder while I got up into the pinnacle!)