Happy Thursday morning! I'm having a hard time getting moving this morning for some reason. I sit here and watch my birds and the next thing I know, my head is drooping down and my eyes are closing. Not that there is a rule against it or anything. But, -- I won't get much done at that rate.

It is another beautiful morning. It's cool outside and the sun is shining brightly. One squirrel sits on a feeder munching away. The blackbirds, bluejays, cardinals and mockingbird are all vying for position on the peanut feeder. They get pretty nasty with one another sometimes and peck one another on the head etc. But the feeders are all pretty full this morning yet so theere is plenty of food out there.

I had a great time having lunch with my friend Ron yesterday. I've known Ron since I was five years old. We went to the same church and schools together. He and his twin brother, Randy, were about the only two kids that I really knew as I was growing up. Randy was killed in Vietnam. When I was just a kid in grade school, I organized this little German Band and Ron and Randy played the clarinet in it. We played at Farm Bureau events and the fair, and for chuch events. There was me on the cornet, Ron and Randy on clarinet, Lonnie Lindsey on the tuba, and Mike Derrington on the slide trombone. That has been several decades ago;   wow!  But, it was great talking with him yesterday. It is the first time we have had a chance to sit and talk since his wife, Sandy, passed away eleven months ago.

I didn't get any sermon writing done yesterday. I got a call yesterday from a parishioner who needed to talk for awhile. So, after my lunch with Ron I agreed to go to the church for that. That took two hours away from my afternoon. But, it was a good counselling session and I pray I helped the person deal with their situation. I'm certainly not a trained counselor and I always explain that to folks, but I can listen, suggest, ask questions, and pray with folks. And, sometimes just allowing folks to get things said to someone outside their immediate circle can help them. In this case, I have some follow-up to do to find some better resources to provide professional guidance.

Ms. Kate and Kaaren are doing well in Las Vegas. Lat night they went for their Lobster dinner. There is a certain resturant that we like to go to that has a lobster dinner special every Wednesday. We try to make sure we get that anytime we're in Vegas. As for me, --- my great neighbors, Dan and Minh, called me yesterday afternoon and saaid they were grilling for the whole famiy yesterday eveing and would have a steak and potato for me too. That is two nights in a row they have fed me. Ya' see why I don't mind mowing their yard??

Speaking of yard; --- I can now see my black raspberry patch again. I took four lawn and leaf bags full of mulberry tree branches and limbs and other weeds out of that little six by twelve patch. I had to get it done yesterday because the trash man came this morning early and I wanted them to carry it all away. Maybe that is why I'm a bit lazy this morning.

It is time to refill the coffee cup and head downstairs to the computer and get busy writing. I hope you have a blessed day and that you take time to see the joy that is in your life. Love one another and treat each other kindly.

Blessings and shalom.