So, I got to WA on Friday, and first thing Saturday morning, I was able to go to the temple with Veronica and her husband, Alan. I've implemented a tradition in my life. Every year since I received my endowments, I go to the temple to celebrate that anniversary. It was a remarkable day three years ago, and since then, the temple has definitely been a haven for me. It so happens that I was endowed on my birthday in 2005, so it's kind of a birthday present to myself to have the opportunity to go into such a wonderful place. As I was in WA on my birthday (which happened to be a Monday this year), I was privileged to go to the Seattle Temple. What a truly wonderful experience.
The San Antonio temple is one of the many "baby temples" throughout the world, so when I saw how large Seattle was, intimidation set in (See, I can't even get the entire temple in the frame!). I was endowed in the Mt. Timpanogas temple in American Fork, UT which, while bigger than San Antonio, seems dwarfed by Seattle. How grateful I was to have dear friends in accompanying me, as I would have surely gotten lost. I had a great experience in the Seattle Temple, and after the session, had a lot of fun playing the tourist.
In a truly sad commentary, I discovered one thing really quickly. I have NO idea how to stand on ground that is limestone free. Having been brought up where I was, rock is everywhere. In WA, there was no rock unless on the road or a sidewalk, so walking in heels was quite a fun learning experience for me. As demonstrated here, standing became quite the challenge. I sunk! Ah, wonderful soft ground. I can't wait to go back so I can walk around barefoot in the grass again! Back to the days of my early childhood-only without the pokey gumballs littering the ground. It will be soooooo much fun.
Have I mentioned yet how much I loved this temple? It was one of the many things we made sure were relatively close when we looked into moving to Bellingham. While it's about an hour-and-a-half away, it's a gorgeous drive down. And hey, what's ninety minutes compared to three hours (when we went to Houston) or five (when there was only Dallas "close" by)? So, we're excited to be close to a "big" temple again. Just pray that we never get lost in it-PLEASE! After all, I'm extremely directionally challenged, so that may be the only con to a rather long list of pros.
Can you believe that it really is that green in the middle of October? Considering it's not that green in TX at any point during the year, I was constantly amazed at how vibrant everything was. There were so many different colors to see,of which only a portion are in this picture, and it was extremely easy to get visually overstimulated. If the steeple hadn't been undergoing its scheduled cleaning, I'd have had the almost perfect temple picture. But alas, the chance passed me by-this time. Thank goodness there will be many more opportunities in the future.I have to thank Veronica for being the photographer on all of my "tourist shots." She was such a trooper as I tried to get as many pictures as possible. After all, as Dad says, you can take a million shots and wind up with only a few acceptable ones. Thanks Veronica for improving that ratio! You did great and I really appreciate it! We had a lot of fun that morning.
The plants that covered the temple grounds were beautiful. There were even hidden gardens throughout the grounds. Seeing the temple landscaping when I did made me really excited to see the grounds come Springtime, when everything is in bloom. I think it was a mixed blessing that I saw everything during the "ugly time" because it was hard enough leaving as it was. I can't imagine how I would have hated leaving when everything is coming to life. As it was, I got a little taste of the joy to come. Being that I'm not a botanist, I have no idea what plant this is, but it was purple, so I had to capture it! Maybe it's lavender, just in a stage far beyond any I've ever seen. Who knows? But it did smell wonderful!
Has anyone seen a burning bush lately? When the wind blew, this thing literally looked like it was on fire. I'd only ever seen this plant once before, and it was during our Nauvoo trip about five years ago. I thought of the analogy then, but seeing this move in the wind completely reminded me of it. Funny how they seem to pop up on church grounds isn't it? It makes me wonder, was the bush Moses saw really burning, or was it one of these? Just kidding, but at the very least, it's a great way to remember the story.
Everything from giant burning bushes to delicate little flowers were at the Temple. While I know that's not where the Garden of Eden was, it was definitely easy to imagine. I definitely felt like I was in a place that could be Heaven on Earth. From the gorgeous temple to the smallest plant, I was grateful that Heavenly Father created this beautiful world for me!I was reminded how much I love nature on this trip, and this was one of the many reasons why. It's rare in TX to have such nice days, so I tend to stay inside, where it's cooler. I am so excited to know I won't have to do that anymore, and I can once again go play in the wild outdoors! Who wouldn't want to do that when you can see such beauty all year round?
Remember the hidden gardens? They were in a miniature forest right on the temple grounds. Now you know why it's called the Evergreen State. Even in October, the everything was so green. This is Veronica, who we met down here in TX. She moved up to WA three years ago when she got married, so we caught up with her. I was thankful to have my own personal tour guide. But anyways, she showed me the wonderful forest, that had a winding sidewalk path through it (YEA! I could walk without worrying about getting a grass stain on my dress) and we had fun wandering through that. I was sad to leave that place, but knowing it wasn't the last time made it easier. Thanks for sharing such a great morning with me Veronica!
