Saturday, November 07, 2015

A little getaway


Hazy sunshine on the last morning
Last week, Mr. T and I were blessed to take a couple of days away at our favorite lake up north.  This time of year, one can expect any sort of weather way up there.   Here, it had rained hard on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, but was brightly sunny by the time we left around noon on Thursday.  On our trip north, we saw not one but three rainbows!  Talk about encouragement for our trip!

As we neared the Great North Woods, however, things were looking more ominous, and before we had finished unpacking the car the wind was whipping and the rain was lashing.  We really didn't mind, as we knew this was the time we had available and also the time our favorite cabin was available.  When you pray long and hard about the time frame for something, you can get it settled in your thinking that it's God's timing -- and leave details like the weather to Him.  We were there for rest and quiet and -- although warm sunny weather would have been nice -- the weather really was not our top concern.

It did clear off a bit in the late afternoon but was still cold and windy.  We sat by the lake for just a little while and read, but it was too chilly to sit out there for long.  As you can see from the photo at top, most of the pretty fall foliage is gone up there.  There are tamaracks, though, which are deciduous evergreens that turn a pretty golden yellow color in the fall.  Those were striking against all of the dark green pines, hemlocks, firs, etc.

In spite of dark clouds, we were blessed to see an absolutely glorious sunset!


As darkness came on,  the wind intensified.  We were snug in our little cabin on the lakeshore, however, and enjoyed a relaxing supper and evening by the fireplace.

In the morning, the power did go off -- no surprise with all that wind -- but we were not inconvenienced at all since the cabins have a wonderful generator that comes on when the power goes off.

We did find that we had to seek out a different breakfast spot than the restaurant where we had planned to visit, since they were closed with the power outage.  We traveled to a nearby town (if anything up there could be said to be "nearby") and were thankful to find a wonderful place that was open and served a fantastic homemade breakfast.  The homemade cinnamon-raisin toast was sliced at least an inch thick and was so amazing, as was the rest of the meal.  As is usual in places which serve good homemade food, this restaurant was filled with locals -- and you know you are near the Canadian border when half of the locals in a place are speaking French.

Friday was dreary and cold and spitting snow but we had a nice day regardless, mostly staying inside by the fire other than taking some time to visit with a friend who has a seasonal home nearby.  We sat by her fire for awhile!  And Friday night there was another fabulous sunset!



After another relaxing evening and good night's rest, Saturday morning came all too quickly.  We ate  breakfast at the cabin and packed up the car to head back.  We did see two loons on Saturday morning which was a real treat.  We really thought they would be gone to their winter home (the open Atlantic Ocean!) by now.  We were so happy to see they were still around.
This shows one of the loons.  They have nearly completed the transition to their winter plumage.

We had a leisurely trip home, stopping to have lunch out and do a bit of off-price shopping, and arrived home midafternoon.  Our getaway seemed a bit too short to us, but we knew this was the time frame God had given us and that He would use that time to give the refreshment we needed.

This week, Denise from RefreshHer shared a wonderful post concerning getaways and how they are simply to refresh us for the ordinary days which make up our real life and are to be lived to the glory of God.  Get-Aways and Ordinary Days is well worth the read. We have definitely felt energized and refreshed by this little break and are so thankful for it!

12 comments:

  1. I am just going to use your photos as the scene for some of those Louise Dickinson Rich essays. What marvelous sunset scenes! Sometimes cold and rainy cranks the cozy factor to the nth power perfect for relaxing and reading.

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  2. What a great idea to use the photos as the scene for the essays by Louise Dickinson Rich. I imagine the setting for those is very similar to our far northern lakes. Not all that far apart geographically. Yes, the sunsets were absolutely amazing. Mr. T just stood by with the camera, snapping away as the scenes changed moment by moment.

    And yes, the coziness factor was definitely increased by cold and dreary weather. Our fireplace burned brightly and merrily while we just rested and relaxed.

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  3. That fire looks so cozy..I would love just sitting there reading or cross stitching. I am glad you and Mr T had a good time together and you are right, God plans all things so we might as well enjoy the journey.

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  4. Absolutely beautiful photos of beautiful scenery!!
    Thanks so much for stopping by!!

    Hugs,
    Deb

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  5. Hi ladies!

    Arlene, it was cozy indeed. I didn't do much cross stitching as the light in that room just isn't good enough. I did do some crocheting in addition to reading, working on my Sunday School study, and so on. What we were looking forward to so much was just quiet and restfulness. That's what God gave us!

    Deb -- I am glad you enjoyed the scenery pictures. It is still very quiet and sparsely populated up north ... not for everyone, but we love it even though we might only get the chance to go up there once a year or so. The sunsets were amazing!

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  6. I'm in awe of the beautiful sunset photos you took! How wonderful for you and your hubby to get away for awhile.
    Thank you for your visit to my blog!

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  7. You are welcome, Kitty! I will be stopping by your Kozy Kitchen again because I really enjoyed my visit.

    Yes, it was a 2-day getaway so seemed very short. But we did get refreshed and are so thankful for the time we had to get away.

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  8. Beautiful sunset! Sounds like you had a relaxing trip despite the rain...Christine

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  9. What beautiful sunsets! Sounds like a very cozy getaway. Sometimes I don't mind bad weather if it means a chance to snuggle close to a fire and read a good book or take a nap! Sounds like a refreshing time for you both.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog. It's nice to "meet" you. Deborah

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  10. It was refreshing just to read about your refreshing, relaxing, and cozy getaway! Isn't it wonderful when you can just enjoy the moments, and be thankful for them, enjoy them, and be blessed by the happy surprises like the amazing sunset, the loons, and the special visit with an old friend! God is so good and gracious to us! It is a special thing to just getaway and relax with nothing on the agenda but to do just that! May your week be blessed my dear new friend! :)

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  11. Welcome, ladies!

    Deborah -- It was cozy indeed. We don't have a fireplace here at home (although we do have a wood furnace) so it was a real treat to have a cozy crackling fire to read and relax by.

    SpicingUpIdaho -- So glad you were refreshed by reading about our getaway. It's true -- God is indeed so good, so wonderfully good, and gracious to us. It was such a blessing just to be able to rest in the fact that He was in the details of this getaway and that we need not stress over the weather, some changed plans or anything else. We could just take things as they came and be blessed, as you said, by those "happy surprises" that He planned into our time away. It added much to our refreshment.

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  12. Christine, this is another comment that never reached my email. So sorry for not replying to you earlier. Blogger is acting very strange indeed of late. Guess I need to check my dashboard regularly for comments awaiting moderation.

    Yes, it was a lovely getaway despite the rain and chilly weather. The sunsets were spectacular. Thanks for stopping by to visit!

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