It is August and I am home after a huge journey, both emotionally and physically.  I am blessed to have traveled the miles safely and I am happy to be home in Calgary, where the skies are huge and blue and the mountains stand tall to the west.  On Monday I will experience my last ‘first day’ of school and I am full of excitement about what all that will mean. 

This summer I shared, with my daughter, big ‘things’ of all sorts, big bridges, Lake Superior evenings when the waves pounded up on the shore, wild lupines, good food and Millers beer…miles and miles of music and road kill, wet firewood and laughter.

I spent time with my Mom and Dad, helping them to transition into the next phase of their lives…sorting through fabrics, wool, needlework, photographs, pottery and gardening implements, clothing and papers…so much emotion wrapped up into so many wee things…and in the end, a bright flash of realization that it is all about the warm hearts and hands of those we love! 

I was able to cherish my sister and her family, to eat well…to watch children, so young and full of life….riding bikes, jumping waves, colouring and giggling…..I was able to sit next to my sister at the Ottawa Blues Festival…feeling secure in her love…her support…and hoping that she felt those very things from me.

This summer I shared, with my son, the Martyr’s Shrine and Huronia, the journeys of Jesuits and soldiers…Tobermory, the ferry, meals and a campfire that just would NOT light! Duluth, Fargo, Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Rushmore, Deadwood, Badlands, Little Big Horn, Billings and breweries, Great Falls…Presidents, a driller, a special cousin, ‘big’ things of all sorts!

Max was with me through it all…and he nestles near my feet as I type.  He is a good and faithful dog!

I feel blessed by this summer…and again my eyes have been opened to all that is important….love for one another….

We are so blessed in this country of ours.  We are so very rich and the miles and space go on forever.  Let us keep our Covenant with God to care for all of it!