Day 53: Laura’s Homeblend Herbal Iced Tea

Today was Memorial Day in the States, and our family got together for a dedication barbeque for my dad’s new property in Sedona, Arizona.  This place is absolutely amazing – I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating, that this is a sprawling ranch-like property complete with caboose, gazebo, tree house, workshop, garage, and creekside access, all in addition to the house itself.  The place just exudes peace and rest, and my sister and I drove up the night before to experience some of that rest, and I almost found myself rushing about to grasp every opportunity for rest – down at the creek, on the swing, watching the stars, and sitting in the very comfortable reclining chairs inside.

My sister Laura made some homemade iced tea for our family get together , and I have no idea what kind of tea it is specifically, and I didn't even take a picture of it, but I  kind of like the fact that it’s just original Arizona blend, in keeping with our family barbeque.  This was some barbeque.  There were at least 75 or 80 people there, and yet with such a sprawling place you hardly even noticed.  Car parking spaces seem to materialise out of thin air, and hide the cars away so that their technological look doesn’t spoil the woodsy feel of the place.  There were children playing in the caboose and treehouse, men fishing down at the creek, a rousing game of Connect 4 over here, and lazy discussion over there.   It was just the right kind of day – blue skies, red rocks, incredible steaks, good company, time with family, and the reminder over all that all of these blessings come from God.

The verse my dad quoted which is the only response to all these benefits and graces and gifts and joys is: “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought us thus far?” (2 Samuel 7.18)

No real walk today. I tramped over the rocks to the creek and back, but I needed a few days off, and this was one of them.  

Day 45: Earl Grey with Lavender

Today (Friday 20th) I spent the day with my dad up at his new property in Sedona.  Our whole family has already spent countless hours trying to come up with names for the place, since it's incredibly amazing and the story about how it came about is pretty phenomenal too.  We've thrown around Reyburn Ranch, Reyburn Resort, Kingdom Creek, Covenant Creek, and (my personal favourite) The Angle.  (There's a very long story to that one.)  It's the kind of property that has great potential, and is liveable, but with an endless supply of projects to keep dad (and all his daughters and sons-in-law) continually occupied when going up there!

I dandered around all day taking photographs, taking in the vast beauty of the place and most of all the little red caboose which sits at the front drive and in my mind is the most amazing part of it all.  It's an original railroad car from the Arizona Railway and probably almost a hundred years old.  Maybe not that much, since the entire state of Arizona is only turning 100 years old next year, in 2012, but the point is that it's historical and very, very cool.  I've decided I would like to have it for my photography studio when I'm in Arizona.  The inside has this intricate red carpet with funky designs that just looks like it was the original carpet when the train was running.  After cleaning out the whole thing, sweeping and then hoovering said carpet, I now definitely believe it was the original.  It's doing well to hold together at all.  But the caboose has little seats and hundreds of cubbyholes and places for belongings, and best of all a little cupboard where the trainmaster kept all his bits and pieces of paper.  There are old glass oil lamps and a secret door and a multitude of windows and a sense of history that just breathes creativity into you as you stand inside. At least, it did that for me.

After all our hard work, Dad and I drove into Sedona to have lunch at the Wildflower Bread Company. I knew that they wouldn't let me down in terms of tea, and they didn't.  They had a whole selection of miniature tea boxes (each of which had those little loose-leaf infusion teabags I am coming to love), and I selected the earl grey lavender.  I do love earl grey, but I have to say this particular tea tasted like drinking perfume.  A bit too flowery and intense on the lavender - the earl grey was still there in all its glory, but I prefer it plain, with a slice of lemon.  (That may actually be one of my new favourites, earl grey with lemon.)

I didn't have a long walk to speak of today, but I worked pretty hard on cleaning up the caboose, so I'm calling it a day.

Walk on!