Sunday May 4, 2025
Morning Prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for rain.
- Thank you for rest.
- Thank you for breath.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 3 AM and read for a while before going to sleep more. At 7 AM, I awoke again. I felt fully rested. I got up and made tea and Angel’s breakfast. Angel was awake and she ate. I sat on the daybed and wrote my blog. Angel joined me on the daybed for a while before going to play in her room. I finished writing my blog and was adding photographs to it when Aaron called. We had a great conversation about plants and rocks and the how they are way smarter that we are. We also discussed the vastness of God being beyond our comprehension.
When I got off the phone, I heard church bells ringing in the distance. It reminded me of something I’d heard Thich Nhat Hanh say about church bells being a reminder to be present in the moment. I listened to the bells and appreciated their beautiful tones.
I took a long hot shower and stretched my body. My body is feeling much better since I’ve been eating foods that make me feel vibrant and alive. Then I got dressed up in a dress for church and made a smoothie. Angel got dressed up too and changed dresses three times before she came to a decision.
We walked to church and when we arrived I realized that it was potluck Sunday and I hadn’t brought anything. I thought about not staying for the potluck anyway because I am eating only foods that make my body feel good right now. I was assured that there was plenty of salad and vegetables to eat so I agreed to stay. The church service was different than usual because the pastor was home sick but everyone did their best and it went well. At the potluck afterward, I ate salad and visited with people.
When we arrived home from church, i had Angel take food scraps over to my friend Camille’s to give it to their chickens. While she was gone, I packed to go on a hike to Council Mountain Hot Springs. When Angel got home, I was ready to go.
It was a half hour drive to the trailhead and when we pulled in there was another car there. I wondered how many other people were up there and figured we would find out.
It’s a two mile uphill hike into the hot springs and we got started. It was a beautiful hike. The spring flowers were in full bloom. Fluffy white blossoms were blowing off of the Pussy Willow’s and it looked like snow.
I took pictures of flowers and enjoyed the scenery and views. The mountains have incredible energy. We met up with a young man walking down the trail. Now I knew whose car was parked at the trailhead and I was glad we would have the hot springs to ourselves. The man said the hot springs was ok but not great with the creek running high.
We continued on and at one point we came to a gulley with a small stream. There was the choice to go up and around the stream or go over the log. Angel chose to cross the log and I started to follow her but I changed my mind. It was a long log with a good drop below it and I didn’t feel stable enough. I started waking up and around, I had to climb over a big tree trunk to get to a good place to cross the stream. When I stepped down onto the other side of the tree trunk, my foot slipped and got wedged under the log and I slid a little. I felt a slight twinge in my ankle at the end of my fall. I was grateful I hadn’t slid down the side of the log anymore than I did or my ankle would have been sprained or worse.
It took us about 2 hours to get to the hot springs. We stopped and rested and ate when we were halfway there. The weather was perfect for hiking. It was in the low 70’s with a strong breeze. We started out with our jackets on but took them off shortly into the hike because we had gotten so warm.
When we arrived at the hot springs, I saw that there was only one pool of warm water that wasn’t washed out by the high water in the creek and you had to cross the raging creek to get to it. I walked upstream a ways to see if I could find a good place to cross and I did. There was a shallow part where the creek split and you could walk out onto an island. On the other side of the island there was a log to get across the deeper water. The log was a little bit spongy but it held my weight and you could hold onto tree branches as you crossed for stability.
Now that we had a way to cross over, we changed into our swim suits. At least Angel did, I just stripped down to my underwear. I didn’t expect anyone else to show up that late in the day. We made it across the creek and back down the other side to the pool of warm water. The water temperature was perfect but the pool was full of sand and it was so shallow it barely covered my ankles. I decided that in the future, I need a little compact shovel to take with me to the hot springs so I can dig out the pools. Angel and I dug out some of the sand by hand and built up more rocks. Soon we had a great pool to soak in. Angel played with her little toys she had brought while I laid in the warm water and basked in the sun.
Suddenly Angel let out a cry. I quickly sat up and she was pointing to the other side of the creek. I saw that the creek level had risen and it was flooding the spot where Angel had set her boots and one boot was gone. I got up and made my way across the raging creek in the ice cold water to where her one boot was. I moved it to dry land and followed the creek down a ways to see if her other boot might have got caught in an eddy but it was long gone. I walked back across the raging creek to the hot spring pool and told Angel she would have to walk back barefoot.
We stayed for another hour or so. When the shadows were starting to get long, I figured it was time to go. It would get cold out once the sun drops behind the mountain and Angel was going to be walking in bare feet. Angel went upstream and crossed over on the log and I crossed over through the raging water. We got dressed, then I couldn’t find my glasses and realized that I had left them by the hot springs pool on the other side of the creek. I didn’t want to get undressed again to cross the raging water, so I went up and around over the spongy log and got my glasses.
Walking back was faster since it was downhill but we were still moving slow with Angel navigating the sharp rocks in her bare feet. I suggested she put on her socks to protect her feet and once she did that, things went a little faster. We were in shade almost the whole way down and it was starting to get chilly out. When we finally got to the truck it was 7:30 PM and we only had an hour or so of daylight left. I love how long the summer days are up north. When we get to the summer solstice, it will be light out until 10:30 PM.
When we got out to the highway to drive to Council, there was a crazy strong wind blowing. I was grateful it hadn’t been blowing on the mountain where we had been. At home, I went to use the bathroom and found myself stuck to the toilet seat. What in the world? I peeled myself off of it and found that I had tree sap all over my butt. I didn’t even try to figure out how that had happened. I asked Angel to help me get it off and she said that she was not going anywhere near my butt. I got the sap off myself as best as I could and took a shower to scrub off the remaining sap.
My mom called and I told her about the sap incident and she laughed and laughed. I laughed along with her. Life is funny. When I got off the phone, Angel and I played a couple of games of What’s the Point. Then we went to bed. I called my adult sons and daughter talked to each of them. After getting off the phone, I wrote my blog notes and put on a sleep meditation. I drifted to sleep at around 10 pm.
Monday May 5, 2025
Morning Prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for wind.
- Thank you for hot springs.
- Thank you for mediation.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 4 AM. I wrote my blog and posted it. Then I put on a meditation and meditated for an hour. The Holy Spirit gifted me with a lot of clarity during my meditation time. At 7:30 AM, I got up and made Angels breakfast. I made myself tea and a took a shower. After my shower, Aaron called as I was making a smoothie. We had a great conservation about sitting in our pain and gaining accept of what is.
When I hung up the phone, I hearted (headed) to a cat sitting opportunity outside of town. I gave the cat fresh food and water and checked the house to make sure I hadn’t missed anything when I cleaned it Saturday. I noticed that the glass shower doors in the master bathroom didn’t turn out very good, so I cleaned them again and they looked much better.
Next, I went to a cleaning opportunity. I greeted my client and asked him if there was anything extra he wanted me to do. He said asked me to clean the front door really good which I happily did and he was pleased with the way it turned out. I thoroughly cleaned his house and washed his laundry. Then we went to another cleaning opportunity.
On the way, I stopped at a friends and got her house key so that I can clean for her while she’s out of town. She also paid and prepaid me for cleaning and paid for insulation panels she had bought from me, which I appreciated.
When we arrived at my next house to clean. I chatted with my client and Angel did her schoolwork. It was a new client and she wanted me to do some deep cleaning for her. She had me clean the living room and dining room from top to bottom including moving all the furniture and cleaning the inside of the windows. I got it all done and the rooms looked fantastic when I finished. My client was really happy with my work and we scheduled for me to come back next week.
When we arrived home, I returned a call to a lady that wanted me to do some deep cleaning for her. Then I laid on the daybed and responded to my Facebook comments. After I felt rested, Angel and I packed up our dirty laundry in the truck and we went to the laundry mat/coffee shop. Angel and I sat in the coffee shop while we waited for the laundry. I ordered a chai latte with coconut milk and Angel ordered a hot chocolate with coconut milk. Angel watched videos on her phone while I wrote my blog.
A friend came into the laundry mat when I was switching my clothes from the washing machine to the dryers. We chatted a little, then I sat and wrote my blog some more. The coffee shop closed at 4 PM, so we went into the laundry mat to hang out until our clothes finished drying. I enjoyed sitting and watching the clothes spin round and round while Angel played on her phone.
When the clothes were dry, we went home and I put them away. Angel bicycled over to play practice and I walked to the bank and cleaned it. When I finished, I walked back home and wrote more of my blog. Aaron called and we had a meaningful conversation. Angel came home and was upset because her tire was flat on her bicycle. I told her that we would repair her tire in the morning.
When I got off the phone, Angel and I ate dinner and played a few games of What’s the Point. Then we got ready for bed. Angel said that her phone wasn’t working and sure enough, it wasn’t. It was a hand me down from a friend of mine in Texas. It doesn’t have phone service, it has educational games on it and pictures that she took and she watches YouTube kids on it if she is connected to Wi-Fi. She can also make phone calls on it if she is connected to Wi-Fi. I suggested she ask Christopher to help her get another phone and she sent him a text from my phone. We got in bed and I was just getting settled in when Angel came in and cuddled with me for a while. Christopher texted back that he could do that and sent a link for a new phone. We called him and discussed what phone to get. He said to find one and send him the link. Angel and Christopher talked for a while, then she got off the phone and went to bed. I looked at phones on-line but was too tired to look for very long.
I finished writing my blog. Then I put on a sleep meditation and went to sleep at around 9:45 PM.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I appreciate you.
Love, Victoria
P. S. This blog post was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
P. S. S. This was Sunday and Monday. A lot has happened since then. Stay tuned.