Life's Little Outtakes

 

San Francisco~September 6, 2012

This is one of my iPhone, Drive-by photos

 on the Bay Bridge.  This has become one of my

 favorite things to do while Jim drives. 

The trick is to get between the cables

 that are in the frame about every half a second!

Speed 50 mph...can you say pure luck?

I love this one!

Don't you just love outtakes or deleted scenes on the special features of DVDs?  It is fun to see what they just didn't want to include.  And yet they do include it in the features.  They do it because sometimes even though the editing to shorten the film requires deleting something, they realize that people could gain something from them.  That is kind of how I view some of the things in our lives.

We had one such experience yesterday. One thing Jim and I always do is we pray for safety before we go on a car trip.   We have done it forever and it is just part of our routine.  Happily those prayers have always been answered as we have hoped.  Yesterday was no exception.

For the past week we have made a trip on the freeway everyday to Oakland for one thing or another, two trips to the airport, a couple of days of work, ward temple day, etc.  It just seems our car is beginning to think we live there almost.  Yesterday we went to the Temple grounds and dropped off the kids' rental car at the Temple parking lot and then we took, Jen and Lowell with us to San Francisco.  It was their 15th anniversary and it was a beautiful day we had some fun plans.  The weather was outstanding and it was fun to see them relaxed and childless for the first time in nearly 14 years.   We missed their kids but also enjoyed the peace and quiet and whole uninterrupted sentences, even paragraphs exchanged.

Our  first stop after Oakland was in Marin county.  We took that beautiful, meandering, canopy-covered road down into Muir Woods.  It was delightful in every sense of the word.  I wish we could start every day with a stroll through the redwoods.  They are so majestic and such a reminder of how large God is and how small we are.  There is a reverence felt there by one and all. People just naturally whisper in the presence of those magnificent trees.  No matter what state of mind you are in when you arrive, it will be transformed almost immediately into something elevated and edifying. The air...full of pure oxygen, the scent of the redwood forest, the stunning beauty,  the quiet, the reverence all make you new again.  It is truly one of the most beautiful places on the earth.

 Muir Woods

From one of the wooden bridges
 gazing down at the stream.

 15 memory-filled years of marriage today!

I think this picture of Jim is so cute. 

 He always says women only

 include photos when they think
 they look good no matter how the
 rest of the subjects turn out!

 Just for the record...Mr. M...

 This is proof positive that just
isn't the case.

 If only two dimensional photos 
could really capture this in 3-D

After the redwoods we went to Muir Woods Overlook
 for a quick panoramic view of the Pacific.

The water was pretty calm and a gorgeous teal. 

The breeze was refreshing and there was no one there.
  We had a tiny snack-type
 picnic on the redwood table by the sea cliffs.  
H E A V E N.

Point Lobos

Then we wound our way back to San Francisco and went to the De Young Museum.  We got the best parking place in the park...amazing.  We went in and enjoyed some of the current exhibits and then headed to Point Lobos for a view of the ocean from our favorite perspective near Seal Rock.  Jim kept the car running while the rest of us got out for some pics.  We ran out and checked out the sea...turned around and found this street vendor selling the most amazing earrings.  Jen and I snagged a pair and jumped back in the car.  The day was magical!  Next we went to our favorite Pizzeria.  Pasquale's in the Sunset district on 8th Ave and Irving Street near where we once lived.  For this:

We have been patrons for over 44 years.  

 The quality never disappoints.  Jim practically

 has his own table there, he has been there 4 times 

in the past five weeks with various visitors.

After we ate it was time to head back across the bridge. We thought we'd never get to the on-ramp of the bridge the traffic was fierce.  Once on we started moving at a pretty fast clip and all of a sudden Jim thought we should stop at Treasure Island for one last photo op and also to see the naked lady called Bliss. Don't worry it is just a giant wire sculpture that is worth seeing for its immensity if nothing else.

Here is Bliss...check out her size compared 
to the palm trees. Jim at just over 6'1" comes just
 below mid-calf when standing beside her.

As we start off the bridge Jim can hear something weird going on with the car so he rolled down the window and he could hear some hissing.  A minute later we had a flat tire, it could have been a blow-out traveling at high speeds on the Bay Bridge during computer hours or on a sleepy deserted lane on Treasure Island where he could easily change the tire without getting run over. 

It was a miracle, an answer to our earlier prayer for safety, a tender mercy of the Lord.  It was the first thing I thought of and I am so grateful.  It wasn't a big, big thing...but a very tender gift.  We were safe.  It could have happened at any time the previous week when we were traveling much faster on the freeway going back and forth to Oakland, or on the mountains going down to Muir Woods which would have been dangerous.   Or on the bridge which would have been extremely inconvenient and dangerous and would have caused major delays for a ton of people eager to get home.

So what could have been a deleted scene in this lovely day is taking center stage.  I include it  because it increased our testimony of God's awareness of all of us and the prayers we offer each day.  We just don't leave home without it and this is the reason.  God lives and he hears and answers our prayers.

We had a wonderfully bonding time with Jen and Lowell and when all was said and done, we were filled with gratitude for the perfection and protection of the day.  Glad you could come along!