Sunday Snapshot {Fleeting Summer}

Canon Rebel, Canon IS 28-135mm, f7.1, ISO 400, 1/320, edited in Photoshop CS5

For the life of me, I do not know what has happened to the summer. Jeff and I entered the summer with grand plans of what we wanted to do. We accomplished task number one quite handsomely: get married.

{A little sneak peek…more of the special day to come.}

A few other things have been checked off as well…go to the local water park, pick cherries, pick blueberries, relax on Lake Chelan.

But the weeks have slipped away with many of the desired activities sadly neglected. One of those activities is the hiking we dreamed of doing once the winter snows {finally} melted from the mountains. However, while the mountains are by no means far from us, and the snow has been melted for quite some time, a week ago we had yet to make this dream a reality. Hiking requires intentionality and planning…two things that in our lazy summer days have perhaps not been our strong suit.

We attempted to correct that error this past week. Jeff took some time off mid-week, we got off our bottoms, and headed about three hours north and west.

And it wasn’t long into the hike that we were saying, “Oh my word, we need to do this way more often.”

It’s amazing how therapeutic it is to slip away from the hustle and bustle and noise of civilization and into the beauty of undisturbed creation.

Where flowers grow not because they were planted, but simply out of delight in what they were created to do.

And long {somewhat} arduous climbs are rewarded with tucked away reservoirs of stunningly clear {and cold} water.

Water so clear that you can watch the fish dash about.

Yes, indeed, this is a sweet balm to the soul.

Here’s hoping for greater intentionality to indulge in that balm more often.