LineaLanoie's Weblog

I am visiting Red Deer for the first time.  I may have travelled through here or by here but have never spent any time that I remember her.  It is quite a beautiful city.  Karyn and I have taken good long walks each evening on the many paths that follow the river.

It has been a while since I have entered anything here so I will fill you in a bit with notes I made as the days went by.

Friday night I arrived at my campsite.  On the road, I was rather unsure that I would be camping.  We drove through heavy rain most of the way from Lloydminster but as we approached Edmonton, it cleared a bit and the forecast said only a few more millimetres of rain were expected overnight.  I decided to chance it and so we went in to Elk Island National Park and selected one of the two remaining campsites and set up the tent before I went down to Devon to drop Sara off at her friend’s home. 

I am glad I decided to camp.  I find it very relaxing being out in nature.  There is a liquor ban for the weekend but that didn’t stop one group down the road from me from making a lot of noise last night.  Finally they quieted down or else my cold medication knocked me out and I slept till the sun woke me this morning.  There was no rain at all here during the night. 

Saturday morning I was reading in Phyllis Tickle’s book of prayers for summertime.  The call to prayer was from Psalm 66

Be joyful in God, all you lands;

Sing the glory of his name;

Sing the glory of his praise.

Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!

All the earth bows down before you,

Sings to you, sings out your Name.”

As I read, I listened to the leaves in the trees around my campsite sing.  My campfire crackled.  A squirrel began to chatter.  A bit farther away the birds were waking for the day with song.  And I began my day thanking him for his goodness to me – for rest, for this place where the trees surround me and that it did not rain in the night. 

That would have been my blog entry if I had been anywhere that I could connect to the internet on Saturday.  But I was far from anyplace like that.

Sunday afternoon I arrived at a friend’s house in Red Deer.  They graciously are letting me hook up to the internet and so I have no real excuse for not making an entry yesterday, except that I had a long nap in the morning – from about 9 till 11 and then was busy doing other things – like visiting.

Now today, I will move on to visit my sisters in Calgary and area.  My cold is causing me less trouble as the days pass.  My poor nose is pretty red but I can breathe through it again. 

I did bring my camera with me on this trip.  While in the park up at Elk Island, the buffalo were roaming the park near the road.  I got some amazing pictures up close – from inside my car for sure but they were close.  At one point a big bull bison was making some fairly threatening noises as he shuffled closer.  I decided to move the car out of his way.  I don’t think a vehicle would fare very well in an encounter.  These pictures will have to wait till I get home but I will post a set on Flickr.

It is hard to wrap up after a course like this one.  There has been so much that I have learned – about myself, about my ways of listening to God, about what I will do with all this. 

I came with a lot of fear.  I found that I have found a place that feels a lot like home.  I think it is a place where I can come to terms with those fears.  Part of that is just knowing that fear is sort of built in to who I am.  Part of that comes from also knowing that God wants to take me past my fears to a place where I can find my being in him.  That doesn’t mean just ignoring the fears and doing stuff anyway.  It is more of a way of acknowledging God’s accompaniment on the path through it to where he can grow my relationship with him.

So here we go together.  This whole journey into this course and into a life of listening to God and others, becoming more available to people so that they can also discover ways that God is talking to them is going to be good.

Now, we have dispersed.  Some are already on their way home or catching planes this afternoon.  Tomorrow early, very early, we head home, barring a malfunction in the alarm clock.

This afternoon I head out into the hot – 33 degrees now – afternoon.  I’m heading downtown to do some shopping.  Treats for the kids.

Yesterday, I really regretted not bringing my camera along to Chicago.  Randall and I took of for the heart of the city for our free time from the course.  We visited Millennium Park after wandering around a bit in the downtown and sort of getting lost finding our way under the road to the side where the park is located. 

While we were wondering I decided that I had better try and get myself a new pair of sandals.  Half way between Thorpe’s, where we are staying, and the El station, my sandal began to come apart.  I could still walk in them but I knew the situation was deteriorating.  So, I made my first visit to Marshal Fields.  I don’t think the women in Chicago who walk seriously buy their sandals there.  I did however, find one pair fit for walking in.  My size.  On sale! 

So, armed (or shoed) for walking, we went forth.

Millennium park was wonderful.  They have this highly polished stainless steel? bean – called the Sky Cloud.  It does wonderful things visually as you walk around and under it.  I am so curious about how it was made.  They also have the most wonderful water park – huge glass block towers with water coming down .  One has a picture of a child’s face.  First thing I noticed was that the child has a crossbite.  Then the kid’s lips pursed and out spit this huge stream of water.  The kids playing there were having such a wonderful time.  I wished I was a kid again – or that one of my grandchildren were with me and I would have a good excuse to get thoroughly soaked under the fountain too. 

In the evening we walked over to the north side, across the bridges to a small restaurant – Sandy’s Jazz Cafe.  The food was great and so were the tow acts.  The second of the two was so good.  A big band kind of sound – trumpet, sax, trombone, bass, grand piano, and drums.  We couldn’t stay forever but what we got was good enough that I would sure want to go back.

I did stop in the park and pick up a disposable camera.  I was missing my close up lens though.  I guess I should pick up a small digital that will fit in a purse.  I think I have enough reward points to do that.

And here we are! 

We arrived in Chicago, no mishaps, very little weather on the flights till we got close to Chicago.  Near Chicago, just a bit before we began our descent, the clouds started to build.  There were some huge thunderclouds we had to skirt.  Up there in the clouds it was pretty cool.  The big thunderheads were like giant anvils, very flat on the top.  All around were big cumulus cotton balls.  This time there were only a few bumps but I think it took us a few extra minutes to fly around the really bad stuff. 

Randall was travelling with me, which was nice.  The stewardesses on our flight Calgary to Chicago were Ruby and Coco.  Randall says he says he doesn’t’t think you could have a name like Coco and be a pastor.  Well, no kidding, there is a dentist I took a course from one time – Dr Coco Garcia – so I guess you don’t have to have normal serious names to be a dentist. 

The hardest part of the trip for me was waiting in Calgary for three hours after we had gone through security.  There isn’t much to do in that area and there’s not much for restaurants or shops to wander around and look at.  and no TV sets to watch!  That I was surprised at.  If you want to work on your laptop, fine, but there is only wifi if you pay.

We took the El – I guess it is called the CMA train really, then the bus and got to our destination with no problem.  I like the transportation system here.  It is pretty quick and efficient from what I saw.  Just come prepared to buy your tickets – with change smaller than a $20.  Cause the machines that vend the tickets don’t give out any change!

Today our course here begins.  We retreat all day.  Somewhere.  We have to meet at 8 am to catch a bus and we will be secluded “somewhere” till 9 at night. 

Actually – I need this time with God to begin this course.  The last few days have been busy.