Living in a wild country........Yes I say living in a wild country because Marble in many ways is just that. You have heard of my adventures and mishaps with bears. You have heard of what it was like to be lost in the wilderness. But this country is always unpredictable and demands respect.

Today I took Starbuck on a walk and of course ran into many of the neighborhood dogs, a couple of which had actual people with them. It is always interesting as they decide which one is the alpha. But hey, it gives Starbuck a little extra exercise. But as I was walking, I heard heavy equipment on the Quarry Road (again let me remind you -- roads in Marble are not actually paved except for one). I looked over and saw that an avalanche had covered the road. One of our mountain men was walking along and said that, sure enough, at 5pm yesterday the avalanche came down. Thus the heavy equipment to clear it out. And that is not the first avalanche to hit the Quarry Road this winter.

Yesterday our mail lady stopped to talk with us as we were walking. She is actually sort of a neighbor in that she too lives year round in Marble. The day before, an avalanche came down behind her house. She said it was cool to watch but was glad it did not cross the river. Her house would have been in its path.

I came home with Starbuck to find Jon and a parishioner on the roof shoveling the snow!! It was well above their knees on the roof. First time shoveling off our roof.

This place is a place that demands respect. It is beautiful beyond belief and peaceful with its "songs of silence." But if you take it too casually, there are dangers all around. It is not a place of fear as some would define fear but a place to be taken on its own terms. This place moves me with its many wonders and even with the awareness of its dangers.

Our Maker woos us with His unfailing love and with beauty beyond belief! Yet let us not forget that we are reminded that His ways are not our ways and that fearful reverence should be part of our relationship with Him. He calls us to intimacy but within that intimacy, we know that He is God!

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm." Psalm 33:8-9