Moving Site

I've done it! My website is now up and running. You can now find all my posts at www.mottsmusings.com. For those of you who are regular readers, thanks and I look forward to keeping you informed more regularly and with better quality pictures on the new site. Take a look around, make as many comments and suggestions as you like. The site will continue to be a work in progress, so I'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks to all of you for your interest in my life and for the support you have all been even from far away.

Perspective

A little news to start the day: Because I cannot do all the things I’d like with Blogger, I’ve been working on putting up a personal web page. It will still include daily blogs. (The world “daily” should be read very loosely). I’ll post here to let everyone know when it is up and running, but until then you can continue to find my blogs here. Anyway, in the process of putting together the web page, I was sorting through some of my pictures and I ran across these two.

Like the first picture, every life has a few fallen arches - a few dreams that didn’t quite come true, a few hopes that fall short, a few enormous problems that were not expected. These fallen arches can turn the picture of what life was supposed to be into something unsymmetrical, unexplainable, and unpleasant. However there is an inspirational mix of beauty and strength in one who chooses not to avoid the arches, but allows God to take them right into the middle. The perspective from there is unlike any other. No, the arches don’t magically disappear. But, sometimes very quickly, and sometimes long down the road, this perspective allows the beauty to become clear. Only from this perspective do the arches change from obstacles to things of symmetry and beauty revealing God’s plans.

Capital of Seattle

Today, one of the boys I nanny asked me “What’s the capital of Seattle?” I was about to launch into my “Cities do not have capitals” speech, when he gave me the answer. “Starbucks,” he said. I laughed and thought to myself how right he was.

I know that those of us not native to Seattle joke about how important Starbucks is to us, and how crazy people in Seattle must be about it. I’m here to tell you that our jokes aren’t that far off base. Furthermore, if I continue my current caffeine intake, I’m going to become a blood born native (based on blood-caffeine level). I’ve even established "my" regular Starbucks – no home church yet, but I know where to get my coffee. I'm not a Starbucks loyalist or anything. There is just one close to my job and thanks to many of you I have a couple gift cards I'm still making good use of during the cold, snowy winter days.

Anyway back to today's story. I went to "my" Starbucks today to order a Vanilla Crème and the staff, some of which I actually know by name, were concerned by my choice’s lack of caffeine. They assured me that when (not if) the headache set in, they would be there to help. I left feeling a little concerned that perhaps I was getting too friendly with the natives. Perhaps I was being corrupted by the allure of caffeine. Surely this was not an addiction. Surely the streets really did smell like coffee everywhere I went. It couldn't possibly be just my imagination. I was considering the possible addiction and ease with which I was willing to give up my Coca-Cola only Southern upbringing for this capital of coffee. Then it dawned on me. What is it they say – “When in Rome do as the Romans”? I’m not addicted. I definitely am not. I'm just being a wise steward of gift cards. Furthermore, I’m not laying aside my Southern Coke roots for some flakey coffee drinks. No way. I’m just becoming a “Seattle-ite” on the outside. I’m just studying the full scope of the culture in which I am now immersed. Ahhhh, I'm so glad to have that settled. Now I can sleep in peace. Well, when the caffeine from the Starbucks Caramel Macchiato (the one I drank to counter the Vanilla Crème headache) wears off.

Writer's Block

I’ve discovered that writing is one of those tasks for which I require a creative mood. A couple of you have asked where I’ve been or what I’ve been up to. I’m happy to report that I am fine, just suffering from writers block. I'll work on getting the creative juices flowing again.

The weather was nice on Friday, but other than that it has been cold and cloudy. While I’m still actually enjoying the weather, it puts a damper on motivation for sightseeing. I did make it to Discovery Park on Friday afternoon. It is the largest park in Seattle and also home to West Point Lighthouse. I was disappointed to find that I must be accompanied by someone under the age of 7 in order to be allowed to drive to the lighthouse. Otherwise you are required to make the 2 mile hike in each direction. I wasn’t up for that on Friday nor did I have the time. I think I'll "borrow" Toni's kids and come back later. I decided to still enjoy the nice weather and take a short hike. For some reason when I'm hiking I tend to get caught up in two separate worlds. There is the "big" world of landscapes and knowing where you are, and then there is this whole other "little" world that generally goes unnoticed by joggers and walkers. I decided on this hike to just explore that "little" world (and use the excuse to get more familiar with my camera's macro settings). I really didn't walk very far, but I had fun looking for color in the otherwise dead winter forest.

Hole & Whole

So I’ve had those words rumbling around in my head for the last few days and it’s really been bothering me. I was reading a past journal entry in which I had used the word “hole” and being the bad speller I am, had to concentrate to determine if I should have spelled it “whole”. Ever since then, the two words have been tumbling around in my head much like a pair of heavy jeans do in the dryer. My mental dilemma and thus conversation with myself has been centered around why the English language made homophones of two words that have opposite meanings. One spelling means an absence of something and the other means to be full. There is a certain irony in it.

I’ve pondered this irony for several days now and while I still have no idea why the English language made homophones of the words, I have come to a conclusion. The words make sense from a Christian / spiritual sense. When I look at the “holes” in my life, I discover that those are places God has filled to make me “whole”. I know, it is cliché and a complete play on words, but something about it made sense to me. Perhaps it is the result of too much time with the words rumbling in my head or perhaps it is a true yet simple commentary on life. Like much of the Bible the irony baffles me.

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.” II Cor. 12:10
“But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first”. – Matt. 19:30
“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” – Matt. 20:26

None of these sayings make sense from a human perspective. There is nothing about using holes in our life to make us “whole” that makes sense either though. I think that is the miracle of it. We don’t need to be perfect for God to use us. He takes our holes, our shortcomings, our weakness, my poor spelling, and uses them to make us whole in ways that we never imagined. Somewhere in the process He also makes us “holy” (but that’s another blog.)

Lighthouses, Ferries & Art

Yesterday, I spent the morning doing a little more sightseeing. I drove out to Alki Beach where the first settlers to Seattle landed. My main mission was to get pictures of Alki Lighthouse. However, as often happens when I have a mission in mind, I was unable to accomplish the task at hand with any real success. The trip was none the less enjoyable. I did manage to get this photo of the light house, but failed to get the photo from the beach. The lighthouse is closed until July, which I knew, but thought I could still get my desired photo. The community at Alki is well developed. The lighthouse is surrounded by private homes and condos which are under construction. I decided with my already tarnished “criminal record” that trespassing would not be a good addition and I thus settled for this photo.

Alki beach lies to the South of Seattle and thus affords great views across Puget Sound into the city. I took some time to just take in the sites and take some more photos. I really do have to ride one of the ferries. Despite previous calamitous events surrounding ferry usage, I still have an unexplained desire to utilize them even when alternative transportation is possible.

I still had a few hours until I needed to report for work (I found a nice family for which I nanny and tutor in the afternoons.) I decided to tour the Seattle Art Museum’s outdoor Sculpture Park. I enjoyed the experience even more than I thought I might. I like the straight and geometric lines of industrial sculpture even when I am oblivious to the true artistic meaning behind the piece. This piece is called "Eagle" (which I do understand the meaning of). I liked how it framed out the Space Needle.

Noises

My day started with a disconcerting noise; a noise with which I am unfamiliar; an annoying, grating noise. At 5:30 this morning the snow plows came down our street. If I ever heard this noise while I lived in Connecticut, my mind had long since forgotten. Anyway, I went back to sleep soon enough, and when I awoke I had completely forgotten the annoyance. That is until I looked out the window to realize it had snowed the previous evening.

The roads were in fairly good shape, thanks to the plows, so I decided to visit Snoqualmie Falls. It is one of the few Indian names I’ve actually learned to pronounce with out completely giving away that I’m a Southerner. (It is pronounced snow qwal mee.) I just like to say it, spelling it – not so much. The only photos I could get are pretty misty because of – well - the mist. I think it looks pretty cool in black and white though. I discovered that the sound of water dropping 270 feet is so much more beautiful than that of snow plows. Every time I visit a waterfall I'm reminded of Ezekiel 43:2 that says God's "voice was like the roar of rushing waters." There is something incredibly powerful yet calming about the roar of a waterfall.

Since it was a fairly clear day (by Seattle terms), I decided to head back to Kerry View Point on Queen Ann Hill. I wanted to get the shot of downtown and Mt. Rainier. While it was bright and beautiful, there was still cloud cover on Mt. Rainier. I enjoyed the view, but have ultimately failed in my mission again. I'm okay with it though, because now I have another excuse to go back.