For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Good morning everyone! It is a beautiful, sunny morning once again. With smoke. Lots of smoke. It is from the forest fires. It was terribly thick with smoke yesterday, like fog. By late afternoon it was hurting my eyes, really burning them. It was hard to keep them open for any length of time.
And my throat was sore, and it was actually getting hard to breathe. First time it has bothered me so much, I was kind of surprised. It will be very heavy smoke again this afternoon. Oh well. I went to see my new apartment yesterday afternoon. It is very nice and a little bigger than this one.

Above is my little friend Scramble the Red Squirrel.
It is on the sixth floor, which is the top floor in that building. And it faces south, which is perfect for me. I like having the sun, especially in the winter. That apartment was actually cooler than this one and there is no air conditioning in there. I might need to get a window A/C unit for summer use, but I will wait until next summer to consider that.

Above are Clintonia wildflowers.
There is a bit of a safety issue in that area, so I doubt that I will walk around carrying my camera with me. But there is a nice area out behind the building to sit, quite a large lawn area, some nice trees too, and benches to sit on. But, there are things I will miss for sure. Walking to the river and watching the ducks and pelicans.
That was always so enjoyable. Plus all the wildflowers along the path to the river. There are so many different species of wildflowers. Then there are the many species of mushrooms too. Some which are very plain, others that are very different. Some are quite colorful and some are not.

Above is a female Common Merganser napping on the river. I woke her up when I arrived, but she went back to sleep.
And all the amazing variety of insects I would find along that path, and even right here in the yard. There might be insects over at the new place too. There were certainly lots of grasshoppers. Everywhere. All over the place. Even worse than around here, and that is amazing.

Some unusual, but interesting, mushrooms.
I will miss all my chipmunks, and squirrels, and all the birds which have become so friendly over the years. I am so glad that I was able to get pics of birds that normally I would not even see around here without the aid of a bird feeder.
Like the Boreal Chickadees this past winter. What a nice treat that was! However, I am sure that new opportunities will exist in my new location. I will certainly be looking for them. It is always nice to explore new areas. And find new things. Well, time to go out and try for some pics again. Have a great day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve, good you got to see your new apartment. Your new place probably is mold free. All the birds will be missed but perhaps they will fly by and stop on your new balcony. Sorry you will not be able to take your camera with you. outdoors next to your new building. May God bless you abundantly with joy, love, and hope. God is with you and holding you close.
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Yes, it is a very nice apartment for sure. God supplied wonderfully with this. It is going to be a big change, but I’m sure things will work out for good. I have moved a great many times throughout my life, but this is the first time I have felt nervous about a move. Perhaps it is just because of the bigger change this time.š¤ššøāā
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Change is not easy, especially when leaving your place with the birds and animals for an urban space. Big change! You won’t have to shovel snow or take garbage cans to the curb. This move closes the door to the old and opens new undiscovered vistas.
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Yes, I need to think of the new road ahead more, and less of the old left behind. There are many advantages to the new place for sure. But getting there is the hard part, there is a lot of work to do and I’m just not up to the work load anymore. But it will get done, God will provide the strength.šš»
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Maybe there is a group from your church that could help you pack. Last time I moved, some years ago, I had a group to help pack and then others to help move the stuff into the new place.
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Our church is small and mostly older people now, so no help available there. I will have help for the actual move though. But packing is me.
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Well, doing a little each day, should be doable. Sorry your do not have any young people to help.
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With all of my stuff, it will require doing quite a lot each day. I will be sorting and tossing stuff too that I will not need in my new location.
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Packing blessings!
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ššø
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Sorry to hear about the smoke Steve
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Yes, it got real bad again today and my eyes are burning again now. It gets hard to see.
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Terrible š¢
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Lovely pics today especially the merganser ! š·šš»āļø
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Thank you very much Sharon! Have a good night!šš»šš¤š¤š·
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I pray abundant blessings on this new move, Steve! I know you will miss your wildlife friends. May you make new ones, as well. Not having to work as hard as you did, is an added blessing. šš¼šŗāļø
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Thank you Renee!š I am looking forward to the move in many ways even though it will be a big change for me. And I will miss all my little friends for sure. It will probably affect my blogging too, just not quite sure how that will work. We shall see.šš»āā
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Steve, God is asking you to relocate; you are more needed there than you think. So, instead of allowing negative thoughts to overwhelm you, take a deep breath and exhale, praising God that the new location is better and more purposeful.
You can do this!šŖ
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Most definitely, I really do thank God for opening this new apartment for me, sooner than expected and giving me a summer move instead of a winter move. Plus, it is a southern exposure which I really like, so God provided in every way! Change is sometimes hard, but it is always best when God is in it.
Thank you Katherine! Have a great week!šš»šāā
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Yeah, I agree. There’s a purpose in all of this, but when we’re in the storm is difficult to understand.
Stay strong and keep growing, Steve šŖšŗā
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Yes, sometimes the storms can obscure our vision a little, but we need to look beyond always, the sunshine of God’s blessing is right there.š
Yes indeed, a new chapter is opening. Now if I can just make it through the packing and unpacking…š¤šššø
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That’s true. OMG Steve, cheer up! I truly love moving and unpacking, I used to do that a lot during my college years since the owners would change tenants or we wouldn’t be happy with the noise/ issues.
But there’s always fun connected to that, of course, first you clean the new spaces and then you start unpacking and arranging things around. I miss a good unpacking š š„ā¤ļø
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I am happy, really I am, but packing is not as much fun as it used to be. This is my 28th move now. Unpacking is not bad at all, just a bit messy since I have so much breakable antiques that require a lot of paper and other packing material to make sure they arrive safely. Sometimes my helpers are not very careful, so it is best to pack well just in case.šššø
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