O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Photo taken 5/16/2010 in Glacier National Park.
Still water, so still that without the perspective of the shoreline there was that illusion that it was possible to fall into the sky.
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
I can’t help but think of that verse when standing at this point on the lake on a day like this day.
Be peaceful, be quiet, be still.
Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, January 29, 2010.
This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
If you pay attention to my commands, your peace will be like a river.
Isaiah 48:17,18*
Peace like a river.
photos taken on January 24, 2010, McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park, Montana
*my edit of verse 18
With everyone feeling in tip-top shape and the weather calling for partly sunny, we loaded Karl, snowshoes and provisions in the Explorer and set out for parts East. The plan was to head over Marias pass, skirting the south end of Glacier National Park and then north towards the Canadian border to see what we could see.
However, the weather was not as advertised. It was snowing – heavily at times. The road south of West Glacier, MT was starting to get slick. The skies were heavy and gray. We turned in to the park to see about winter rates for entry with the idea that we would save the gas and go home but be armed with knowlege about the winter park fees….summer one time entry rates are $25 per car!
Well, now…the park has “senior” rates of $10 for a lifetime pass and “senior” is 62…and Steve is 63, so “Yippie – cai – oh – cai – ay”! – we got a pass and having it in hand we decided to drive the 8 miles of Going-to-the-sun Road that is open in the winter and at least let Karl out for a bit.
First stop, Apgar, where it was snowing heavily.
We continued on…
Ha – a bit of blue sky! This is close to the classic composition of photos of Lake McDonald excepting that most choose to take this shot on a blue sky, sparkling water, bright summer day…
That little bit of blue sky was the last blue we saw…
…until we hit the valley floor. And in the photo above – around the bend…there lies the road home.
It was a beautiful day.