Joe's Serengeti

Joe called this his Serengeti.  Hensley Lake was beautiful and we enjoyed kayaking there but it was super hot!  The hills were all brown dotted with trees.  Hardly any shade but kayaking and swimming in the lake gave much needed cooling down from the heat.

It was a tremendous blessing to have Joe discover he loves kayaking!  I was getting discouraged that we were running out of outdoor activities to try out. Joe has been suffering from a series of debilitating back issues that have limited what he can do physically.  We got that yellow kayak a few years ago.  It was a cheap one for me to try out and it’s a sit-on-top type.  While preparing for this trip, Joe saw the blue one at Walmart and he wanted to try it out.  He ended up not liking it.  It was too rickety and unstable for him.  We ended up switching while at Hensley and the yellow one was a better fit.

We just kept kayaking throughout our trip and we even tried fishing!  We don’t have very good luck fishing but we keep doing it.  It brings back great childhood memories for Joe and it’s relaxing.  Joe got some really good bites, lost a couple and caught a bass which he ended up releasing before I can get a good look!

 

The Return

 

My last post was September 2012.  Nearly 5 years have passed.  The hardest 5 years of my life but through it all, the Lord remained faithful and generous.  Joe and I went through fire.  Bits and pieces of that will come through in my future posts but for now I find myself more in love with him than ever.  We are looking forward to this new season, marked by our return to gardening and cooking! So I get to revive this blog. 

 

You can't really see the details of these roses but they are from our home.  Our "new" home since 2012.  We moved to the Capitol in 2014 to be closer to the business which we sold earlier this year.  A glimpse of that fire.

 

Joe got our  motorhome all ready for our trip to Hensley Lake.  This is our 2nd motorhome trip and it was last minute.  It's a 4-day holiday weekend so we were very short on options.  The view is spectacular and the lake is very accessible for our kayaks and fishing.  Two buts:  no sewer hook up and the picnic table and fire pit are on hill which is quite a steep hike from the motorhome!  The backdrop of trees in the rose picture is that hill.  I told Joe going up and down that hill means freedom to eat!

 

When I got home Friday afternoon, Joe has the rig all ready and when I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the mason jar of fresh cut roses from our garden!  Such a sweet and beautiful gesture to make this rig our home.  Joe has been specially attentive and caring these past few weeks.  Honestly borne out of the fire we went through and the healing path that the Lord has ordained for him.  I feel so blessed and just so, so loved.