Month: June 2022

Field of Free Foxglove

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I came home Thursday evening and as it had not rained in the past three hours and no rain was expected for another three, I took the opportunity to mow the grass. The next rain break could be more than a week away and the grass would be two feet tall by then.

As I cruise around my 3.5 acres of lawn (moss and grass) I am in awe that almost the entire yard is flanked by fields of digitalis purperea commonly known as foxglove. It is not native to the Pacific Northwest; originally from Europe and Turkey it grows well with our cool temperatures and rain.

Digitalis purpurea is poisonous to both wildlife and humans but it is the source of the medication digitalis that is prescribed by doctors to strengthen the heart and regulate its beat.

I have over the years encouraged the spread of these tall beauties but never really managed more than a few patches scattered around the yard. Until this year, when several large fields appeared all around the edge of the forest. As I mowed, I stopped to admire them and took several photographs but none really captured their awesome beauty. After years of hoping for such a full display, seeing them brought joy to my mowing task.

I find mowing therapeutic, it doesn’t take a lot of thought and it is satisfying to watch the wild overgrown sections turn into an organized evenly trimmed lawn. Often when I mow, I use the time to sort out my thoughts and try to put to rest things that are troubling my heart. This week there was a lot on my heart. My ‘Old Friend’ who I wrote about a few weeks back, had lost her son in a tragic way just two days prior.

The pain and heartbreak is overwhelming. We can’t understand why but I want to see these beautiful large fields of foxglove as a sign that God cares for our hearts even in the most difficult times. I want to believe that even though our hearts are weak and broken right now, these free fields of foxgloves standing tall are a sign that even though it may take time, our hearts will be strong and the irregular beat that this sorrow, pain and grief has caused, will in time, return to a normal beat. It may never fully heal, the scar will remain, but we will go on and find beauty in life again.

The Mountain

emyloom 1 Comment

I once lived 15 miles from this mountain on the outskirts of Redmond, WA. To reach our home we would drive down Union Hill Road and as we approached our turn we could see the mountain. It looked as if it was sitting right in middle of the road and even at that distance it appeared majestic. When my youngest son was just a toddler and he saw the mountain on the road, he would say, “There’s the mountain of my home.”

This mountain is Mount Si. It is located on the edge of Cascade foothills near the towns of North Bend and Snoqualmie and now I live in its shadow.

It rises 4167 ft and was named after a homesteader Josiah Merritt known locally as Uncle Si who in 1862 built a cabin at its base.

In the early 1990’s, the mountain, along with with the smaller peak Little Si, and the community were made famous by the quirky David Lynch TV drama, Twin Peaks. In the summer the community is filled with fans of the series following self guided tours of the landmarks around the area and taking pictures of the mountain.

Yes Si is famous, however, most of us locals just think of Mount Si as our treasure. We have photographs upon photographs of this magnificent mountain and it’s ever changing faces; sometimes shrouded in the clouds, frosted with snow or bathe in the evening sunlight.

That’s the way it was tonight. There was a colorful sunset and the light hit Mount Si and covered it in a golden glow.

So for about the 4000th time in the last 35 years, I captured another face of “the mountain of my home.”