Over the river and through the woods...

A few weekends ago  Gabe and I went on a short trip to Washington to visit his grandma and family.  We happened to arrive just in time to see the tulips in the Skagit Valley in full bloom.  We spent Saturday wandering through the fields and then went up Mount Erie to look down upon the valley.  It was a beautiful sight!  I didn't bring my camera with, so you can thank Gabe's father and sister, Dave and Tori for the photos.

Row after row of blooming tulips!

 

Dave and Leanne

Gabe and his parents

Cute little kid in the tulip fields

Kites being flown near the tulip fields

Gabe and I overlooking the Skagit Valley from Mount Erie

Gabe and his great aunt Esther

Delicacy of Life

As I passed through my room today, I paused to look at the board of pictures and writings that I have acquired through the years. A small green sheet caught my eye today. That slip of paper contains a poem that my cousin Ben wrote some years ago.

Life is as delicate as a flower.
It blossoms in the daylight
And spreads love as it opens its petals.
Love is as beautiful as a butterfly.
It is a cocoon that is only opened by the love
God gives us,
And it spreads its wings to share with the world.
The butterfly will meet the flower
And the world's life is filled with love.

This poem always strikes me with its simplicity. There is also a bit of irony in the words. Ben died when a car struck him. His life was as delicate as a flower. He was a fun kid, who always had simple wisdom hidden beneath a sarcastic comment.
I vividly remember going to devil's log slide in the UP and being too scared to go down with everyone. He simply told me that I would never really want to go down because it wasn't really that neat. I got upset and decided I had to see for myself. With all my fear, I went down...and surprise, I had fun. He smiled and just chuckled. Yeah...that was my cousin Ben.