It’s the first day of May in 2021… I recalled what this day was like in 2020 when we were up in Show Low AZ as camp hosts at Fool Hollow State Park. We could only have RV’s in who were contained as all the bathrooms/showers were closed, and tent camping was still closed. We were the camp hosts for the tent sites so what could we do until the state opened them up? Al likes to be busy and he couldn’t stand the Nature Trail which was so “nature over-grown” that one couldn’t find the trail! Picks, shovels and sledge-hammers, heavy-duty gloves and determination to get this done was his goal and I agreed–goodness sakes what was I thinking? Our other fellow host joined in with us and he was sure Al was going to kill us all–this was hard work. But as we kept at it it got exciting! We cleaned out the brush, used the forest floor detritus to fill in and spread onto the trail which we also widened and WOW! Day after day we put in hours on that trail and the scenery was incredible! More than that, the folks that were there or had come for a day use to fish or picnic were ecstatic. Of course we loved the kudos, but one thing stuck in my heart: these people were so tired of “pandemic cabin fever” that to get out into God’s creation was a release from captivity! Walking the beautiful lake and enjoying the wildflowers, geese, eagles, ospreys, and yes even the abundant skunks gave them hope that life would continue, not in the normal we knew but some kind of new normal.

Now we are hosting 6 months at Lake Abiquiu, an Army Corp of Engineers park which is beautiful. We are working at a smaller capacity for the campground because the pandemic is with us yet, but the outlook is much more promising than a year ago. The governor in NM is loved and respected and trusted. She has cared for her people and we feel it here, a good feeling for the future. The campers coming in share their stories, but the most popular one is still “Ah, outside freedom!” No wonder God created so much for us to revel in. From forests to mountains, meadows to flowing rivers and lakes and all filled with creatures no human mind could have ever fathomed, all of this for us! For us to revel in, and take care of.

So, on this May 1 – whether you are dancing around a Maypole, or smiling as spring blossoms her colorful buds, I hope you are praising the God who made it all just for you!

God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
    God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
    Professor Night lectures each evening.

Their words aren’t heard,
    their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
    unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. -Psalm 19: 1-4 The Message