Are You?

I find people's stories so interesting. Fascinating really. I'm sure I must come off as nosy because I ask so many questions when I meet people. But truly, I can hardly help myself. I'm like the person who marvels at the cosmos in all it's glory and wonder - only for me it's people. When I start to learn the bare facts and if I'm lucky - the juicy bits -of a person's life story I find myself in a state of wonder and awe. People are just so damn resilient, so enchanting, so complex!

I love the moment when I meet someone and I wonder, "Are you my people?" (remember Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman about the baby bird who, in search of his mother, meets all sorts of creatures and things in his quest?). Sometimes the people I meet are a kitten that just looks at me (perplexed by me perhaps), or a hen that says no, or a dog who says "I'm a dog" or a cow who says, "How could I be?" (the sub text being "Are you kidding me?!?") or an old car that just couldn't be or a boat that just motors right by, or a plane that flies overhead or a big thing that says "Snort" and scares the hell out of me! And then there's that fabulous juncture when I meet someone who asks me in their own secret way, "Do you know who I am?" And my soul says happily,

Yes, I know who you are.

You are not a kitten.

You are not a hen.

You are not a dog.

You are not a cow.

You are not a car or a boat or a plane or a Snort!

You are you and you are my people.

It's a gift and it's wonderful. I have many people who are "my people". And before you get thinking I'm being elitest or something by leaving out the kittenhendogcowcarboatplaneSnort the only thing that a person really needs to be one of my people is that they can put up with me and hopefully enjoy me! If you can do that - you're in.

And when it comes to having these kinds of people in my life I AM A ROCKSTAR! I am rich beyond my wildest dreams. My life is full of such marvelous people, up close and far away. I feel overwhelmed by quality and quantity! And now I'm here in Haines Junction and I'm curious to see, "Are you my people?". I'm sure there will be some and I'm interested to see who they'll be. I'm not in a huge hurry tho' because I'm lucky enough to live with four of "my people" (Ken, Brenna, Will, Jay) with whom I find myself in a state of wonder and awe. They're just so damn resilient, so enchanting, so complex!

I'm curious. For you, what determines who "your people" are?

Jesus,

Thank you that you call me "your people". You enjoy me and I enjoy you. Just like the baby bird said, "You are a bird, and you are my mother", I say to you, "You are God, and you are my God." I love you.

til' next time,
Dianna

The View This Morning...

This is what I see today...

And then as I took the kids to school I saw this...

Beautiful I know, but nothing is as beautiful as a boy with his lego creation!

Karla mentioned his smile in the comments, he's got a great one! He's also lost his two front teeth this summer which made my little "Alex Keaton" happy! I was afraid he was going to try and stay awake to roll the Tooth Fairy to get a little more cash!

Have a great day all and console yourself with the fact that although I am living in a little piece of heaven - I did have to scrape my windshield this morning!

Jesus,

Thank you for your gift to me in Will. He is fascinating. I love you.

'til next time,

Dianna

Ta Da!

Ta Da!!! (Loud cheering and whistles are appropriate here!) I set up a computer all by myself! I know that for many of you Tech Gods out there that is laughable. However for me to do it is pretty darn amazing. AND I also figured out how to set up the printer, the speakers and drum roll please... I found the cord to our camera and downloaded the pictures from there to the computer and then choose some to show you here!!! So what if the laundry isn't done, the dishes are piling up and I have less hair on my head from pulling it out. I am a TECH GODDESS IN TRAINING! It's the price I'm willing to pay...

Now, enough of my bragging (although do you get how monumental this was?!?) and on with the update of the wild and crazy Symanskis. Another week in paradise. Except for the black flies that threaten to eat our dog Wags and carry him off. This week we are settled in that much more and I'm starting to see the end of the "set up" chores that come with moving. We have a phone, internet, insurance for our car, regular deliveries set up for heating fuel (oil heat here), I've made my first delivery to the dump (no garbage truck!), collected cash for our refundables (all pop and juice containers), gone to the library/liquor store/drivers licencing and got out books, wine and a drivers licence. And every morning I still look out to see if the view is still breathtaking and IT IS!

These were taken from our little front deck

Can you speak? I live in a frikkin' postcard!

Monday after school Will wanted a friend over after school but instead Dave (the dad) offered to take the kids fishing! What! On a school night? YES! I tagged along on the grounds that he might need a little help with all the kids - his two, my three - but I was the biggest kid out there. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. We were at a little lake about 2 kms out of town called Pine Lake. It's right at the base of Paint Mountain - so pretty.

Dave was pretty sure we would be doing more casting practice than catching when lo and behold his son got one! And Will would want you to know that it was on HIS rod! It was a pike and just as we were pulling it out of the water the line broke.

Too much fun! I'll post more pictures once I get them emailed to me from our laptop. There's some from the Terry Fox Run they did last week. 5 K down the Haines Road! Kindergarten to Grade 12. Some of the secondary students do 10 K and even Remy, Jay's little friend from grade 1 did the 10 K with her mom! Yikes! I didn't go because I couldn't bear to listen to the whimpers, whines and wails of my soft little city kids. I warned Ken not to walk with them but he went with the boys and listened to all their woes the whole time. Brenna just went for it and had a great time. Today her class is out on a field trip picking wild berries and cranberries. The permission letter reassured us that the teacher would be taking bear spray with him. Hmmm...I don't know why but that totally amuses me! That and the fact that they had another announcement at school yesterday that there was a bear seen in the area. Hee, hee.

So that's it for this newsy little blog entry... I'll try to be more insightful and full of angst tomorrow (it makes a blog interesting doesn't it?!)

Messy beauty

or

Clean garbage

Tidy chaos

or

Disheveled joy

Cookie cut out living

or

creative abiding

beauty, joy, abiding

rest

Jesus,

You are my peace. My rest is in you. I love you.

'til next time ,

Dianna

Kidnapped

This morning, as I do every morning, I walked out onto our little front deck and gazed at some of the mountains that make up the St. Elias Mountain range in the Kluane National Park (a World Heritage site). They're not in the distance but "reach out and practically touch" close. There were clouds set into some of the nooks and crannies but you could see the glorious peaks. Awe inspiring and breathtaking. Now a couple hours later the clouds have come down even further and the peaks are hidden for the time being, playing hide and seek but always reappearing to capture my attention.

The leaves are turning here and rather than in the ground you find gold in the trees. It's a magnificent display of the richest color you can imagine. It's as if the landscape is saying, "You may have come here for gold but my beauty will keep you here." I feel kidnapped by my surroundings and and I'm a willing prisoner. Peace has wrapped itself around me and contentment has rested itself on my lap. Creator God has a pleased and playful grin as he sees me revel in His handiwork. This was in his heart long ago and He delights in my response.

Life in Haines Junction, Yukon. We're here and we're loving it. Just 5 short months ago Ken and I started to dream a little dream and now we're here. Those of you who know us best know how miraculous that is. We are fantastic at dreaming and lousy at following through. In an earlier post I shared all my anxiety about whether we were doing the right thing. We are. The anxiety has lifted like the clouds lift from the mountains.

We are well. We ended up getting into our place the day before school started (they started on the 31st of August) and are all set up now. It's amazing how it all came together. The house is a double wide mobile home and has an addition. It's very comfortable with lots of windows - the better to appreciated the scenery with! The kids bedrooms look like they were painted for them. Brenna's lime green room perfectly suits her and the boys' blue and red room perfectly match the new Star Wars duvet covers Auntie Kate made them. It's a little thing maybe but all the little details add up to the adjustment in being here going so smoothly.

The kids seem happy. They are enjoying having a stay at home mommy. She's a newer version and some of the bugs have been worked out of her. She's calmer and more relaxed (she does crosswords now!). She still has the occasional glitch when bedtime goes on too long and her head threatens to spin around like in a horror flick but overall she cooks yummy stuff and there is no mountain of laundry to scale in the house.

They're enthusiastic about school, they all like their teachers. The school is a great facility and proof that the territory pours a lot of money into the outlying communities. Today there was a bear spotted outside the playground a couple hours before school let out. The announcements encouraged the kids that walk home to keep their heads up and to walk in groups. Hmmm. Really?!? Yikes!

Brenna is learning Southern Tutchone (the local language) as well as French this year and has already had a friend over three times. Will is doing better than we could've imagined which is great as he's historically been the one that's expressed the most anxiety about this northern endeavour. He's going on his first play date tomorrow with his buddy Dawson. I'll get him to blog again soon - he's such an interesting writer. Jay already has a girlfriend of course - a little spark plug named Remy that he danced the night away with at a local concert we went to on Sunday night. They have a great venue here that they have musicians at twice a month. This time it was the Sophisticated Cavemen - a total hoot.

And last but not least my oldest kid - Ken. He was sooo nervous before school started. But now that we're in the second week he's having a great time, enjoying the kids and staff. Each morning he gets to sit in the music room with his students working out classic rock songs. Talk about a great fit! And as always he's making people laugh - he's a gift to the staff and students. I can see God's kindness in him being here this year as Richard Godson, the man who was on leave and that Ken was filling in for, passed away as a result of cancer this last Thursday. I didn't even know the man and I was in tears. He was obviously an amazing man who has had an incredible impact on the community. Brenna came home and said she'd seen high school boys crying in the halls. That says something about the kind of man he was.

Life is good. There's so much more to tell but supper has to be made. Now that we have internet I'll be able to blog more frequently.

Jesus,

You are my delight. In the midst of all this beauty I sing, "How Lovely You Are". I love you.

The clouds have lifted and the mountains show off their new coats of white. They look so proud of their new outfits. They definitely believe that it's okay to wear white after Labour Day! The air has a bit of a chill but I'm cozy and warm and grateful... oh so grateful.

'til next time,

Dianna