The Heavens Declare

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Psalm 19:1-3

I've written much of the rain lately. Washington state is famous for it, but even natives have their limits. Days upon days of pounding rain always make me think of Noah and the flood. It hadn't quite been 40 days and nights yet, but it the number of consecutive days was rapidly climbing.

My sister Kaari and I left for church this past Saturday night under a deluge. Toward the end ofthe service during the closing prayer, we could hear it hammer the converted warehouse roof with particularly impressive force. After the final song was finished, we made our toward the foyer and out the front doors. The first things we saw were a startling shaft of sunlight and a rainbow. I had difficulty capturing it with my camera, but from our vantage point in the parking lot, you could see the full arc of it.

The whole sky was magnificent, like nothing either of us had ever seen. The clouds were brilliantly illuminated yellow and orange. The sky held for us shades of blue we had never seen. We immediately made our way to the waterfront. I would post all 33 pictures if I could, but not even they would come close to doing God's handiwork justice.

After snapping several pictures of the evening sky, the light began to ebb quickly. We returned to the car and listened to Chris Tomlin's version of "Amazing Grace", cranked loudly with the windows down. I can't imagine a better soundtrack for such a sky.

Aslan is on the Move

In C. S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe the White Witch's power over Narnia manifested itself in making it "always winter, and never Christmas". Snow melted away and gave in to spring when Aslan was on the prowl, allowing trees to bud and the ground to become malleable once again.

It may not be time for spring yet, but Aslan is on the move in Bellingham. There is no snow in sight and to that I say, HALLELUJAH! I've never been so happy to see the rain.

Today's Weather:

Snow Pics

Here are some pics from yesterday, all taken right outside my apartment. It was a nice, clear day & a balmy 4 degrees with the windchill. Today it's a heatwave @ 14 degrees. Woo hoo! We're warming up ...

Snowy Day

I do believe I may have to rename my blog to "lattes & snowy days". Yesterday & today mark the fourth winter storm Western Washington has seen in just over a month. Mostly it has been high winds (gusts up to 65 mph yesterday) & plenty of rain. Get some nice soaked soil & add some high winds, you've got the perfect recipe for falling trees, which often result in massive power outages. In all fairness however, I cannot complain about views like the one at the left.

I am sure this is nothing like what our friends in Colorado are experiencing. But for Washingtonians who were expecting a "mild" winter, we are certainly getting our fair share of newsworthy weather.

Here is what I'm in for today:

Weather for Bellingham, WA

I'm melting!!

Slowly but surely, the snow is melting away. Not as pretty as it once was ...

When in doubt ...

Western Washington has been experiencing some serious windstorms lately. Last week, over 135,000 residents of western WA lost power due to the wind. Here in Bellingham, we had gusts up to 82 mph.

And I have never been more thankful for electricity. It’s a luxury I have been remiss in acknowledging. Since we are in the season in which we make a point of being thankful, this is my ode of gratitude for electricity & the people who make it happen.

My power went out at approximately 5 am, Wednesday November 15. Didn’t think much of it until the hours wore on to days. Three days to be exact. With temperatures in the 40s, & everything in my apartment dependent on electricity (stovetop & oven, hot water, lights & heat), I was up a creek. A very dark & chilly creek. It didn’t help to see that every neighbor I had was enjoying light & heat while I was selecting my clothes by candlelight.

Luckily I had places to stay while Puget Sound Energy worked around the clock to restore power. My apartment just happened to be low on the priority list since we were in an area where my building was the only one affected. But luckily, on Saturday morning (the 18th), electricity was restored. HALLELUJAH!

Though I had not opened the fridge or freezer since the whole debacle began, I knew I was in for some clean-up. Remembering the adage when in doubt, throw it out I set to dumping beef I had been saving for a stir-fry, about 5 lbs of chicken breasts, ground turkey, my re-frozen vanilla bean ice cream, and of course all the milk, cheese, lunchmeat, & yogurt I had.

And boy was the freezer pretty! Have you ever had meat thaw out & leave its sticky red juices on the bottom of your freezer, only to have the freezer come on again?

It amounted to two garbage bags full when all was said & done. Sad day!! I know it’s not Puget Sound Energy’s fault the power went out, but I felt like sending them the bill to replace all that spoiled food.

And less I be remiss in thanking the One really in charge ... thank God no one was seriously hurt or killed during these storms. With all the felled trees & dangling power lines, it is a miracle!!