Blue Sky Orange Lilies Barn

It has been a very strange and stressful time for my family. My oldest sister landed in the hospital about a week ago, and my family members have been taking turns visiting her. I had a strong sense of intuition that it was important that my baby sister and I go and visit her together on this day. And so on this morning, I met my little sister at my mother and dad's house, and she and I made a visit to our older sister in the hospital.

I think of my journey as following the rivers to see her. First, the blue Juniata leads me down past Lewistown. It flows into the mighty Susquehanna, which runs through Harrisburg and eventually down into the Chesapeake Bay. There are some lovely views along the river but sadly few places to stop safely to capture photographs.

We were encouraged to find my sister seeming much more like her old self, talking and eating again. I helped feed my sister her lunch, while my little sister sorted through the file folder of bills that needed our sister's attention, quietly organizing and prioritizing them, with those that need paying in the next few days sitting right on top.

As I've said once before, it's been a rollercoaster ride this past week, with alternating good news and bad news; sometimes all on the same day. For my sister, some days are better; others are worse. This was one of the good days and we were grateful to be there for it.

We are trying our best to maintain an even keel, some semblance of normalcy amid the worries and the stress. So we talked together like sisters do: a little of this, a little of that. Nothing big, just little stuff. Then we shared our "I Love You's" and left my sister's hospital room with a sense of optimism, hoping the trend would continue in a positive direction.

I also got to visit my parents and give them a plant I bought them to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary, which was last week. And my little niece who is 9 (whom my sister left with our parents for the few hours of our visit) just had her ears pierced, so I took her a small box of earrings suitable for a child. According to my parents, my niece spent the time we were gone sorting through them and preening over them, which made me smile.

And you know how I am: I must always stop somewhere along the way for pictures. And so on this day, my little sister obliged me by playing "driver" and stopping briefly along the roadside to let me get a few shots, including this one.

This photo was taken looking down into McAlisterville, in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, the town where I grew up. It isn't a very big town, and my family (all 8 of us: Mom and Dad, and their children, 5 girls and 1 boy) lived two miles from the edge of it, back on Shade Mountain. So we always considered ourselves more country than town. 

This scene speaks of "summer" to me, with its blue sky and green fields and pretty barn. In back are the gentle bluegreen mountains I grew up wandering through. And in the front are the orange daylilies that are ubiquitous this time of year along the roads.The orange lilies are also a favorite of my oldest sister, and so I wanted them in my shot for the day, as I thought the sight of them might make her smile.

I reflected as I left my parents' house and headed up the road for home that there are many things in life we cannot control. There are times that try us, that bring us to our knees.

But here is one choice we can make: we can choose to be fully present for those we love in life. We can follow the rivers to get to them if we must. We can whisper to the wild butterflies to watch over them. We can stand together; we MUST stand together, and stay strong, even if that simply means showing up and standing by their side. The song to accompany this day's image is Ben E. King, with Stand By Me.