Candee Fick's Blog, page 32
March 24, 2014
Winding Roads and Scenic Views
There are two ways to climb a mountain. One way is to charge straight up the slope in a direct line to the destination. But this path can be extremely steep and often treacherous. The other path to the top of a mountain winds around with numerous switchbacks. This allows the traveler to gradually gain altitude while avoiding dangerous spots.
So, how do you know which route to take? Those who thrive on a challenge may be willing to take the risk and plunge ahead to the summit. On the other hand...
March 17, 2014
Tunnels Revisited
Every year,my family heads into the Rocky Mountains for a Spring Break trip in Breckenridge, Colorado. With sledding and hot-tubbing on the agenda, the kids are more than excited. The two-hour drivetakes us up winding canyons, beside rippling creeks, and through seven tunnels. (The whole car counts them thanks to my daughter’s autistic characteristics.)
Some tunnels were quite short. One stretches for over a mile and a half and crosses the Continental Divide at over 11,000 feet elevation. All...
March 10, 2014
Taking a Road Trip
In the past four days, I’ve taken two road trips. One was work related to pick up a giant project (3300 pages) that is due tomorrow. The other crossed the Continental Divide to watch my oldest son play basketball in the regional round of the high school state playoffs.
Long or short. For funor work. Both trips had several things in common with each other … and life’s journey in general.
First, was preparation. A full tank of gas. Cash from the ATM. Hotel reservations. Check the weather forecast...
March 3, 2014
Am I Enough Without A Medal?
I love watching the Olympics and celebrate with those whose dreams come true. But for every athlete who stands atop the podium and has a medal draped around their neck, there are countless more whose dreams ended earlier. Some missed out on making the team completely due to injury while others recorded a personal best performance but still ended up without a medal. Then there were the favorites who fell or crashed on their final run, but stayed around to congratulate the new champions.
Inspire...
February 24, 2014
Write Your Story
“I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” ~ Mother Teresa
I have this quote taped on my desk near my computer to remind me of why I began this writing journey in the first place. Then, I recently heard a new song by Francesca Battistelli titled “Write Your Story” that echoes the truth that my life is an empty page in an open book and asks God to write His storyon my heart.
Three applications immediately come to mind. First, my deepest desire...
February 17, 2014
Frozen in Siberia
After coming inside from the bitter cold with numb fingers from chipping ice and snow off my driveway, I turned on the television to the Olympic coverage… in time to find them doing a spotlight on the region of Siberia. Seriously? As if I wasn’t cold enough and tired of staring at white piles of snow, my screen was blanketed with images of ice while the reporterbundled up like an Eskimo.
What’s a girl to do? Get a big mug of hot chocolate and slide into my fuzzy slippers before curling up unde...
February 10, 2014
I Feel His Pleasure
I’ll be the first to admit that I absolutely love watching the Olympics (and am having a VERY hard time concentrating on the things I need to get done when I could watch live streaming of events during the daytime hours!) While I enjoy the romantic artistry of figure skating and the intrinsic tension of racers trying to beat the clock, my favorite part is hearing the stories of the athletes.
Where did they come from? How long have they been training? What obstacles have they overcome along the...
February 3, 2014
Driving In Circles
Our smallish town in northern Colorado seems to have an infatuation with roundabouts. Areas of new growth get the circular intersections installed from the beginning while road improvement projects seem to add at least one per year.
For those without first-hand experience, a roundabout is like coming to an intersection but only being able to make a right-hand turn. If you had wanted to turn left, too bad. You have to go right and circle around three-quarters of a revolution before exiting onto...
January 27, 2014
Climb The Mountain
Since I live in Colorado within sight of the Rocky Mountains, I know a little about climbing mountains. Especially enough to know there are two extremely different types of hikes.
Last fall, my youngest son and I took a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park. I carried a small backpack for our light jackets, water bottles, a few snacks, and our cameras. While we covered three miles roundtrip to seeseveral scenic lakes, the trail was fairly level and clearly marked. The only hazar...
January 20, 2014
600 Blogs And Counting
How long should a journey take? There is no easy answer to that question because it depends on how far away the destination is, how fast you travel, and one cannot predict all of the unexpected delays along the way.While driving the kids to school the other day, it dawned on me that I started this writing journey almost ten years ago. While I was an avid reader and had a few story ideas floating around in my brain and on scraps of paper for “someday,” I felt God’s not-so-subtle nudge toward s...
