Refuge therapy

I love going out to the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. It's close to where I live, an easy 20 minute drive and so beautiful.  Scenic landscapes, lakes, wildlife, hiking trails and peaceful spots to just sit and be still. There's a worship song we sing at church called, Come and Find the Quiet Center by Shirley Erene Murray.  I love the words so much that I copied them down in a small notebook I keep in my purse to reflect upon when I need a little peace in my life. 

Here's the words:

"Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead, find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed. Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes that we can see, all the things that really matter, be at peace and simply be."

Find a place and be at peace, the wildlife refuge is my place to find peace, it's so therapeutic.

This past Sunday was a beautiful day so my dog, Clapton, and I spent several hours enjoying the refuge.  Clapton loves the refuge as much as I do.  He gets so excited when he sees where we're going and is bursting with exuberance to get out of the car and start exploring.  I've found several secluded spots where we can walk and he doesn't have to be on the leash which are his favorites since I can be too slow for him. We went to 3 different areas, hiked a couple of trails and just sat and enjoyed the surroundings. I stopped at one picnic area and found a secluded table where I could sit for awhile and he could explore around me without being on the leash. He indulged me for awhile but then got bored and we had to move on, he likes to keep moving and thinks that I should keep moving as well. We saw buffalo, several herds of longhorns and at one of the lakes I saw a great blue heron just standing quietly by the shore, it was so peaceful to just sit and watch it. We had a wonderful day, got some exercise, enjoyed nature and went home very happy.  "Be at peace and simply be."

Enjoy,

Bamah

Snow Day Blessings

Snow days are such a blessing, especially in Oklahoma where we don't get much snow to speak of. Snow in Oklahoma is measured in inches, not feet.  When it does snow, it doesn't matter what time it is, you go outside to play in it because before long it's melted and gone. Sometimes it melts in the same day but usually by the next day it's gone. It's really special if it stays around for 2 days. Snow somehow makes me nostalgic, remembering my childhood, old Christmas movies that had snow in them and just a quieter time to hold up at home with blankets and warm drinks. It also brings out our inner child as in throwing snow balls at each other, playing out in it and building a snowman. We had our first snow on a Saturday in early December and it was quite a bit for us. My daughter, Tabitha, was home for the weekend and I was working.  We closed early due to weather so I went home and made soup.  We immediately went out and started taking pictures of our winter wonderland.

Tabitha and our dog, Clapton, played out in the snow and she built a snowman. Clapton had a blast running around in the snow with her but after awhile he got cold and was ready to come inside. Snow brings out Tabitha's inner child, she gets giddy and just has to be out in it. The next day the sun was out and by the afternoon the snow was melted and gone. The first part of this month, we got another snow storm, this time several inches fell and blanketed the area closing many schools and businesses.

We had 1 1/2 snow days which was nice. I was already off but it was still exciting to wake up to snow covering everything. I went outside and took pictures, everything was so pretty. Snow causes us to slow down, it gives us time to hibernate, clean out stuff, cook, watch TV, read or just relax. Tabitha had 2 days off from work because of weather so the first day she cleaned and rearranged furniture in her apartment and the second day she walked around her neighborhood taking snow pictures.

May this year bring many blessing days where we can slow down and just enjoy the moments.

Enjoy,

Bamah

Celebrating over 5000 views

I'm so excited!!! My blog has over 5000 views, as of today, 5033, which to me is incredible. I started this blog in 2012 with the strong encouragement of my daughter, Tabitha, who set it up for me. I love to cook,among other things, and am always sharing recipes so this was a perfect way to do that. Thanks so much, Tabitha. Over the years it's evolved into more than just recipes with farmers market adventures and family memories. I've been able to share the blog with friends, family and even strangers.  It's been a real joy, so I'm adding a new category called Celebrate and will be adding future posts of things I want to celebrate. Thanks to all of you who have come over to read my blog. I'm most grateful. As Thanksgiving approaches may we all be grateful and celebrate life with family and friends.
Enjoy,
Bamah

Feeding the Soul

Clapton in front of Lake Rush

January is typically a time of reflection so I'm going to do something a little different for this month's post.  I gave up making resolutions several years ago but last year I listened to several different podcasts that discussed goal setting and keeping track of them on a monthly basis so I set several goals for the year and tracked them every month in a little notebook.  This month I looked back at my goals to see how I did, several were completed, the majority I at least worked on consistently and a few weren't addressed at all.  I set new goals for this year most of them the same as last year, things like reading so many books a month, crocheting items to use up my yarn stash, organizing and cleaning out areas in my house, writing monthly blog posts and things of that nature.  One of my favorite goals from last year that I'm continuing with this year is visiting and keeping track of visits to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge that is about 25 miles from us.  It is part of the National Wildlife service, with over 59,000 acres of mountains, prairie and abundant wildlife to include buffalo, longhorns, elk, eagles,  and prairie dogs to name a few. 

 The scenery is breathtaking, views of lakes, mountains, and prairies.  There are a wide variety of hiking trails, plus various outdoors activities.  They also have a really nice visitors center and gift store.  My family and I have been going out to the wildlife refuge for years, ever since my girls were little and it's still a family favorite activity.  My oldest daughter, Tabitha, calls it refuge therapy and she often goes out by herself to photograph and video various scenes in all seasons.  We also take our dog, Clapton, out in remote areas so he can run around and explore without being on a leash, it's his favorite place to go. 

Prairie view

Longhorn grazing next to road

A couple of Sundays ago, when I got out of church and the sun was shining and the temperature was 69 degrees, which is fantastic for January, I decided that Clapton and I needed a little refuge therapy.  My husband and daughters had gone out of town so I was spending a quiet weekend alone with our animals.  I drove out with Clapton who was  very excited in the back seat and we found a remote lake that we hadn't been to before.  There was just us and a man fishing so we had the place to ourselves to walk around and I took pictures. We then drove over to another area that is a favorite of ours that has great vistas and I walked a bit while Clapton explored on his own. It was such a beautiful day and we really enjoyed ourselves.  I felt a peace come over me after spending a hectic week at work.  Being out in nature is really therapeutic for me which is why I decided to take advantage of the weather and just go.  This year I've decided that I need to visit each month if possible, even for an hour or so, just to feed my soul and enjoy God's creations.  Last year we went out at least 10 times during the year, mostly in Spring and Fall, but there's things to see and do in every season.

Clapton on the prairie

My hope for you in 2018 is to find things in your life that feed your soul and that you take the time on a regular basis to take advantage of the beauty around you.  If you're a nature lover like me, find a local park, National park or wildlife area near you to visit.  Another thing I like do is to visit National and State parks when I'm traveling so I include nature time in my tourist schedule to just have time to unwind.

This year take some time to indulge in your favorite pastime in order to feed your soul. It will be time well spent.

Enjoy,

Bamah

View of Lake Rush

Mountain and prairie view

I liked the contrast between the bare branches of the tree to the blue sky