Prime Forever

Lord, I don't want to be a faded flower -
Brown, tattered edges,
Petals falling
leaving a naked stalk,
Past prime.
I don't want to be a faded flower,
beauty gone,
strength waning,
a mind not quick to grasp,
Usefulness and purpose done.

How eagerly each blossom began as a bud -

impatient to open
and experience life,
straining towards the future
and all its promise.
The bud opened too slowly to suit me.
But petals do open,
unfolding life,
beauty, vibrant color,
awe-inspiring freshness.

Then prime passes, flowers fade,
petals drop,
are blown away.
Winter follows autumn
as surely as summer follows spring.
Life keeps unfolding, the cycle continues.
Sometimes I wish
life would end at prime.
But that's not how
You planned it.

Lord, how can I be a faded flower?
Your original plan
was life forever at prime.
But with sin came death
and faded flowers.
Yet death holds the seeds of a New Spring.
Now our glad hope
is to push through the soil
a second time, and
rise again to prime forever.
Lord, teach me how to be a faded flower,
to wait patiently
for Your new spring,
and to hold on to the hope
of Prime Forever.

Eleanor Braun

Written May, 2004

A day in the Life of a Moose

Yesterday morning I went for a walk along our new paths by our new pond near our new school, all next to our old marsh. As I walked the paths I was shocked to see what could be nothing else than a moose! I rushed home to get my camera and Mal drove me back to take some pictures. As it turned out, the moose spent an interesting day in town.

The moose visited the school,

then crossed the newly planted grass of our baseball diamonds,

passed the community hall,

then jumped over a chain link fence into a yard,
where he spent the day eating their trees!
We saw him there in the early afternoon but by six o'clock he had left -
I assume he went back to the coulees for the night.

I phoned the local newspaper to offer my pictures,
but they said they'd already been given some pictures from a moose
in a backyard last week which they were going to publish next week.

I'll be interested to see if it's the same moose,
or if there's several moose walking the streets of our town!

Luke's Dedication

Tim and Juanita had Luke dedicated last Sunday.

Grandpa Braun was privileged to pray the Prayer of Dedication for him.
Luke was quite interested in the event!

He is 4 1/2 months old now and enjoying life,
especially when Auntie Jess tickles him!

Kaleb enjoyed his frog mask...

and running!

It gave Uncle Darrell a chance to experiment with his new camera.

The good, old days!

This isn't Hallowe'en, but it's the only dress-up picture that includes Tim.

It's tough to be youngest, eh Tim???

Those clown costumes from Doyles really got good use!

Mal's 267 lb. pumpkin hit the newspaper.
Jon's inside and Darrell is on the right.

Okanagan Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in the Okanagan, beginning with Diane and Gordon in Keremeos for one day.

The fruit stands go all out in decorating for fall.
We toured the them just to enjoy it all.

Then we had turkey dinner with Irene and Joe in Kelowna. Yummy!

It was Ron's birthday, plus they sang for Mal and me.
Ryan and the boys were here while Carol was in New York with her mother celebrating significant birthdays.

It was a good family time, and Dad can still beat us at dominoes!
But he took pity on us this time and Leanne passed him.

Fall Camping

We went camping for an overnight on an impulse because the weather was gorgeous and managed to hit it when the fall colours were at their best. Our friends Rob and Linda joined us. It was awesome!

Rob and Linda said I could use this picture as long as I mentioned that it was us who led them into sin! We wanted to show them our church camp but the gate waas closed for the season, so we found our own way in!

We camped at Red Lodge Park, and it was gorgeous no matter where we looked.

There was this old codger enjoying the campfire with us!

Black leaves with yellow veins indicated disease, but it sure looked pretty.

Our Yard

It took until the middle of August before our flowers looked like there was a decent amount of growth. We're still babying them along, protecting them from frost because we don't want to let them go yet!

Mal laid rubber tiles on our walkways in the side and back. They are made of recycled tires, so they should last well, and they are really nice to walk on. We'll put shavings or crushed rock along the sides to finish it off, but maybe not until next spring now.

My Scarlet Runner Beans have finally reached the top of the arbor. I grow them for the flowers and vines, not for the beans. In past years I've tried morning glories and moon flowers, but they are just not tough enough for our weather.

The swing is our favorite place to sit. We often go and sit outside on the swing for a bit after lunch. I've got 6 sunflowers blooming now - only about 10 to go! I have a feeling we're not going to make it this year! This month has been below normal temperatures and time is running out. However, bit by bit we do a little more in our yard each year, and we enjoy it.