Catalina State Park, Tucson, Arizona
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.~ Isaiah 26:3
It seems to be that all sporting events are now cancelled – College and Pro basketball, baseball’s spring training, even racing events. We met a couple on the trail who came down for spring training and are leaving a week early, cancelling their trip because of the cancellation. Even Disney has closed all their parks around the world.
And this afternoon, we learned that President Trump declared a National Emergency. These are indeed trying times. These are the times for Christians to be the voice of reason and offer the calmness and inner peace that only a relationship with Jesus Christ can provide.
Our younger son, Kyle is manager for a rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility, and his company was the first in Ohio to close all their facilities to the public. That means no visits from family/friends, no deliveries inside the buildings, nothing. When we talked with him, he seemed to think it was a good idea, considering the demographic of the people most affected by what’s now called COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Our older son is scrambling to find someone to watch his three boys while he’s at work since the Governor of Ohio closed all the schools in the State starting Monday for a minimum of three weeks. It’s times like this, we’d like to be at home to help out. ☹
We’ve also learned that many churches, including ours in Ohio, are closing their doors indefinitely. Some (like ours) are providing video links through their website so pastors can still share their message. But those of you who are church attenders know, that’s just not the same.
At this time when so many people are anxious or panicking, we’ve chosen to take a few precautions, but we know God’s got this, just like He’s got everything securely in His hands, and we feel at peace.
Today we hiked about 7 ½ difficult miles, up 1,000-feet, in the beautiful Catalina, Arizona mountains and what a glorious day it was! For many pictures, it was almost too glorious, as the sun’s rays produced glare and oftentimes darkness, both through our camera lens and as we looked at our screens trying to decipher what we were actually looking at.
Today’s chosen trail took us into Romero Canyon, and since it’s been raining lately, there was water in places there usually isn’t, which made getting started difficult, because many of the hikes in this State Park begin across the wash.
I looked them up – – they’re called Palo Verde. (Green Stick in Spanish)
Well, the wash was full of water, and even covered many of the stepping stones we’ve used in the past.
Yeah. Our feet got wet when the water sloshed over the tops of our boots.
But it was fine. It’s not like we were slopping around with soaking wet feet. Just damp. And after the initial shock of having water hit your feet, we didn’t even notice.
Of course, that could also be attributed to the fact that there was soooo much exquisiteness and majesty to occupy our minds that we forgot about our wet feet. 😊
Slim to none.
Or in our case. None. : (
we’d still never be able to capture how majestic everything looks!
The rain we’ve been experiencing has filled them up pretty well!
warned to be wary of getting caught in the rain, but nothing every happened.
You can see there’s already some people there.
Blaine reserved us a perfect lunch spot! We just had to figure out how to get to it. 😊
Be sure to use your stick to keep yourself on those rocks!
But once we were there, it was wonderful! Roaring waters around us, blue sky, perfect company, and an opportunity for me to bare my feet to the sun (which had more to do with just wanting/needing to have bare feet than it did damp socks).
See the person coming down the trail?
That’s the way we came!
After our leisurely lunch break, it was time to head back home.
Each one was about the size of a pin head!
All growing on this little bush!
By the time we returned to the flowing river crossing, we were dry and really didn’t want to go home with wet feet (no dryer, remember), so we walked the river bank searching for a more suitable place to cross. We’d just about given up, but then further upstream, there were rocks just sitting there, so we added to the crossing someone else made, and completed our cross! And in the process, we got to splash good-sized rocks into the water!
We filled the hole with rocks. : )
The sunset tonight didn’t quite touch the clouds, but it did kiss the mountains. 😊
