In case you are wondering . . . we did make it home.  And after 9,000 miles on the road, we find we love the beautiful Pacific Northwest most of all.  While it was hot when we returned on July 31, it was nothing like what we had experienced through the rest of the South and up the Central Valley of California.

Jacob is healing and trying to take things slowly.  He has rediscovered his hobby of covering bottles with Nautical line – an old seafarer’s hobby.  And he does quite beautiful work of it!

We’ve been resting and reacquainting ourselves with the beach just a mile from our house.  Last night while walking there we saw a family of beaver for the first time.  We have seen evidence of their presence, but we had never seen them before.

I love beaver.  Mostly because people think that beaver live in lakes.  But, I learned that they don’t live in lakes.  They live in streams and create the lake around them.  When I first learned that I thought “That is the story of my life!”  And, I have loved beaver ever since.  They are creative, hard-working, industrious and family oriented.

Tonight I might have to go back with my trusty camera to try and get a picture of the little critters.  All I had last night was my phone – and that simply wasn’t adequate.  He is in the picture here, though: he’s the two black dots in front of the log – head to the left, tail to the right.

Quite a grace to see them.  And to see how they have created a new landscape in our little corner of the world.