Oh Bountiful Summer!

I was looking back at how little I posted on here this year when I realized I hadn't posted about my garden in all of it's glory! Well here are the few pictures I actually have of it.

One thing I've learned in this whole experimental garden is that it takes A LOT of time to make it work 'well'. A garden will still grow if you're not there to tend it but it may not grow what you want it to. I got into a good rhythm for a while going out in the morning for a short while each day to weed and make sure everything was looking good. Also I need to get a sprinkler to I don't have to stand there and water the garden and not really know how much water it's getting each week.



The things that were successful in my garden this year were; tomatoes, potatoes (although I might try a different variety next year), swiss chard (I had more than I could handle of this but it was good for sharing), onions, basil (not a big fan of it anymore), bell peppers, acorn squash, zucchini, yellow squash, parsley, cucumbers, berries, and a few carrots .



I think next year I'll do chives instead of onions and I'll try some cauliflower and broccoli. My green beans and peas didn't do too good where they were so I'll have to get that figured out too. I was able to harvest some but not a lot. I haven't looked into it yet but kidney beans might be something I'll try and a hot pepper plant for chili fixins. Corn never got in the ground this year but it is something I want to grow, along with sweet potatoes and strawberries. All this food is making me hungry.

Inevitability

Today I came to a realization about myself and what the future holds for me and that is this:

I will never be monetarily rich. I won't live a life of luxury where I will never have to think about what I'm spending my money on. Nope not me. I don't have the right kind of career for it, let alone the aspirations for it. Instead I will live a life full of the simple pleasures. A life where I will never have to worry about money because it's not mine to begin with. Everything I have belongs to God and He can manage it a lot better than I can. I will be rich in the blessings that God has to offer to His children. That seems like a better choice to me anyways.

Kayaking is my favorite place to be!

I have been kayaking a lot this summer with friends and family. I wanted to go so much more and with more new people but I don't know how to make things happen sometimes. Anyways here are a few pictures of this summers kayaking adventures and things found along the way. Enjoy!













Have a great night!

a fragile existence

Have you ever been frustrated with how fragile and breakable you or the ones you love are? I can see how easily it would be to become angry with God for the loss of a loved one or the pain we experience in this life through sickness, pain and disease.

Then I have to think about that amazing truth that God made us this way for a purpose. If we lived forever and could never feel pain, the joy and preciousness of this life would be lost on us. We would forget to cherish every moment and live our lives full. I may not always thank God for the life that he gave me (especially when I think my body is not acting like it's supposed to, I hear that happens more and more as we grow old) but it is my goal to try!

Lord help my existence not to be an empty one but full of the joy You give.

Interesting video!

The Longest Way 1.0 - one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

Falling Spring Falls

This past weekend some friends of mine and I went down to Virginia to check out some waterfalls and hiking. Well we didn't really do all that much hiking but we did enjoy the waterfall and surrounding area of Falling Spring Falls. There were many pools of water below the falls to explore and some big enough to swim in. The waterfall wasn't so powerful that you couldn't go under it and if you walked down further along the edge of the fall back where it was dry there were these various caves to explore that were easy enough to climb up to. It was all around a fun place to explore and just enjoy God's amazing creation. The best though was at the top of the waterfall with a little walk further back there was this pool with rope swings to jump in and swim around. It was an absolute blast and something that I've wanted to do for so long.
There were so many things about this trip to enjoy. First off getting to spend more time with a friend that I haven't really gotten to spend extended amounts of time with (apart from her wedding day and into the late nights after bible study). It was good to hang out in a different setting than normal for us. The camping was nice because I got to sleep on the extra cushioning of a futon cover (the most comfortable waking up experience I've ever had camping!), and we also gave ourselves enough time to pitch the tent while there was still some daylight (at least one of the nights). The waterfall was awesome because there are a couple of things that I've always wanted to do at a waterfall but never felt that there was the opportune time when I'd gone before with friends and that is to jump into the water and also to walk under a waterfall.



The other amazing thing was exploring these caves. I climbed up after Dustin and I wasn't really sure what to expect but as the others were climbing up I went further back into the cave and realized how large it was inside. We sent Dustin back to the car to get the flashlights (and water and batteries and string) so that we could go back further and explore. While he was gone I used my camera to shine a little more light in the darker area of the cave so I could get an idea of what it looked like in there and realized it wasn't quite as big as I thought it might be at first but still worth exploring none the less. There was dew everywhere inside and when a little light was shone on it it glittered and shimmered everywhere. We even found a critter who had made the cave his home (the random bones and many seed shells were a bit of a give away). There were probably many but we only encountered one. We saw all kinds of stalactites and rock formations that were absolutely beautiful to behold. One place even looked like an upside down palace.

I've only ever explored caves one other time without a lighted tour along a concrete path was when I was at Messiah College. I went with a group there and we played hide and seek in the cave in the dark (if you've ever wanted to feel what it's like to be blind and not know where you are in a dark and cold place then I definitely recommend it). It was an experience I'll never forget. Anyways it was neat to explore a cave on my own without anyone who knew the place already and could tell me what everything was but I had to kind of figure it out on my own, or only with the observations of those with me. It forces me to look at everything more closely than what I would've done had I had someone there to tell me everything they already knew about the place.

It was definitely an amazing place to explore and enjoy!

Go and have some fun outside!