A Walk in His Gardens--NW Parks in Spring

This was to be a walk in the parks of the NW--truly it was. But apparently the upload is tired this evening so I will have to ask you to use your imagination as we walk through the beautiful landscapes of God's gardens.

Update: we have pictures; the upload must be rested now :)

You can still use your imagination though to 'smell' the fresh air of the park, and to hear the sound of birds as they fly over your head and sing from the many trees surrounding the trails.

Do you feel the warmth of the sun? Nice, huh?

Makes me want to return there--soon, maybe tomorrow.

Here, in the parks, there is green everywhere one looks.

But when you're there it doesn't feel like it's overdone in any way, for along the trails you'll also find flowers in yellow, light purple and other colors. Brown too. And the green--well its not just one shade of green; nope - there are several shades and different textures which make up the forests here . And all the green on the forest floor looks so soft--like one could sleep on it. I wouldn't do that though because it might be a bit wet as we have a lot of rain here; it's why everything is so green in the parks.

Speaking of wet ...usually there is some type of water in the parks here -- waterfalls, a river, a bay, the ocean or a lake. In fact, I can't think of a park without water of some kind.

We have a lot of parks in the mountains too--and it's especially nice there!

I am a mountain girl you know

(well maybe more like a mountain woman--now that I am a grandmother 5 times over)

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Speaking of parks in mountains... a lot (maybe all??) of these seem to have old growth trees--lots of tall, closely spaced, really old beautiful trees, like the type my pioneer forefathers saw when they came here before Oregon and Washington were states.

At times I imagine what it would have been like then--those many years ago--when there were no big cities or freeways and everywhere you looked there were tall trees covering the mountains, hills and valleys.

Makes me happy to think about that type of world and a simpler way of life.

Simple but hard too.

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I wonder if my ancestors liked the tall, beautiful evergreens as much as I do. They probably got tired of them because they had to cut so many to be able to grow food to feed their families and make a living. And to keep warm in their cabins and later in their homes (my ancestor's home is still standing by the way)

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Since we have supermarkets and Farmer's Markets today,

and since we're not dependent on our land to survive,

and since our family doesn't have to clear the land we live on now,

I can just enjoy the trees and wish there were more--a lot more.

And I do.

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But back to the parks....

In some places the trees there grow so close together and are so huge that the path below their canopy is dark and shadowy (Hum. Is shadowy a word?) , like parts of the Trail of Shadows near Longmire in Mt Rainer National Park

(a magical place; a place where the world feels ancient)

*Sorry but I haven't scanned in my photos of that particular trail, but the first link will take you to an awesome site with a lot of information on the whole Park and great, better then mine, photos!

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I also like parks where the light filters through the forest, lighting up the bark of the trees and the vegetation below them. This is beautiful too, especially when the light hits the green moss on trees.

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It's a peaceful place there in the forests within the parks.

It's a world where it's easy to be 'green' and even easier to be filled with joy and peace!

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Thank you Lord for the beautiful forests of the Pacific NW.

They make my heart sing and remind me of You, the Master Gardener.

Blessings, aimee

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"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness...The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace."

Psalms 29:2, 11 KJV
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"Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself."

Isaiah 44:24 KJV
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Photos:

Parks in the NW part of Oregon.