the seed of hope

In a frivolous act of optimism I planted tulip bulbs for spring. To cover a seed with soil is to demonstrate faith in the future. Tearing out weeds,watering,and nurturing the sleeping seeds are acts of trust in nature. When a green shoot appears the gardener experiences a similar rush to one who has given birth. Gardening is the closest some people get to feeling like a god. To watch a seedling spout and unfurl into a flower or a vegetable is to take part in a miracle. The gardener also learns acceptance of decay and death. To almost welcome a season of withdrawal as part of the cycle."

A quote from "Cleo" by Helen Brown.

" Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

I have been thinking about hope. It seems crazy to have hope sometimes. I wonder where it comes from. The hope I, sometimes, have is in spite of all rational thought. It is at odds with the world around me.

This earth lost a dear soul last month. My passionate friend TJ passed from this life to the next while giving birth to her beautiful baby boy.  I am so very sad about the loss of TJ. She is greatly missed by so many. It makes no sense. There are no answers to the why questions. My heart breaks.
And yet, at times in the misdt of it all I find Hope. A hand reaching out with a gift of faith for hope in the future. Hope that TJ is in a better place. Hope that someday I will see her again.

And so I plant bulbs in honor of TJ. I plant them randomly all over. So when the winter is over and spring comes there will be blooms of hope scattered all around me. I will remember TJ. I will remember her love for the Church, her passion for Truth, and her amazing laugh.

the reason I live in a bus

People often ask me why I live in a bus or what I like about living in a bus. I am a slow processor so 8 years of bus living and I have a bit of an answer. 8 years! Where has the time gone?!

A picture tells a thousand words. So I could just let these photos do my blogging for me. I mean look at that view! I can lay in bed and watch the seals play around. Yes, seals. We are parked up at Cape Palliser where there is a wonderful seal colony.

I guess to get the full picture of how I ended up in a bus we better go back to my childhood. I loved dressing up as a gyspy for halloween. Mom let me wear all her old costume beads. It was great. And then later it morphed into dressing up as a hippie. I was also in love with the Boxcar Children.So when I married a man who owned a bus I was more than happy to move right in.

I love that we can pack up the bus and get a new view. I love not having to pack for holidays. I love that I can get a dish out of the cupboard with out getting up from the couch. I love being creative and organizing in a small space.

 Don't worry mom we walked the road before we drove on it. I guess we are not a long vehicle because we made it there and back! To be honest I was more scared on the national park road in N. Carolina! Those were some narrow roads.
I love the adventure of driving in a bus. This last year has been the most stationary we have ever been. One whole year in the same place. It has changed how we vacation in the bus. When we were traveling full time we would get away by ourselves sometimes. The plan was to park somewhere, anywhere really and not move for a few days. Just be, no driving, no packing up.
We have taken 3 little trips in the bus so far this year and we move everyday. I think our sense of adventure is back. We spent so much time in one place here that when the bus in moving we want to see it all.

Can you see the bus in this photo?  It is there in the middle point by the beach. This is the view from the lighthouse at Cape Palliser.

I love that living in a bus means I get to stay at place like this. I get to be surrounded by beauty. I love that there is no cell phone reception when we are in a place like this and that we dont have enough battery power to run the computer. I like that we get to step back and get a different perspective.

At least when we are in New Zealand. If we were in the USA we would be parked up at Wally World! Ha!