A Crane, a Creek, and a Park

I live in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen!  We have Grandma and Grandpa Escalante here for a visit, so we took a short drive over to Crane Creek Park.  Really, though, the area all around us is like this.  It is breathtaking! You've got wide rolling hills and old, old, scraggly oak trees standing in the middle of a dead field outstretching their twisty arms to their sides; behind you are row after row of grapevines, vibrant green rows that hug the landscape of rolling hills while still maintaining perfectly even lanes.

I'm a country bumpkin at heart--born and partially raised in the plains of Kansas.  Flat prairies as far as the eye can see make my heart go pitter-patter.  The smell of dusty, dry dirt and the sweet scent of husky weeds and summers as hot as the dickens--and humid, too!  Makes you miserable, but in a comforting sort of way.  Looking out over these hills stirred up that farm girl in me. I wanted to show you the beauty.  Wide, open spaces, beautiful earth, and the things that spring forth from it. Amazing.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great:
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.

He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind,
Who makes His angles spirits,
His ministers a flame of fire.
You who laid the foundations of the earth,
So that is should not be moved forever,
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters stood above the mountains.
At Your rebuke they fled;
At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
They went up over the mountains;
They went down into the valleys,
To the place which You founded for them.
You have set a boundary that they may not pass over,
That they may not return to cover the earth.

He sends the springs into the valleys;
They flow among the hills.
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
By them the birds of the heavens have their home;
They sing among the branches.
He waters the hills from His upper chamber;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of You works.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth,
And wine that makes glad the heart of man,
Oil to make his face shine,
And bread which strengthens man's heart.
The trees of the Lord are full of sap,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
Where the birds make their nests;
The stork has her home in the fir trees.
The high hills are for the wild goats;
The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers."
[...]
O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all,
The earth is full of Your possessions--
[...]
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord rejoice in His works.
He looks on the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the hills, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord.
[...]"
Psalm 104
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