Another Thursday has arrived and it is a beautiful one. The sun is shining brightly, spotlighting the brilliant red on the cardinals and the orange breast of the robins. Yes, the robins are back this morning. One was siting on the bird bath as I came out to the sun porch. I think it was debating as to whether it wanted to get in the water or just drink some of the water. It is fifty degrees out, I wonder if birds actually feel cold when they experience it. The robin was all puffed up against the cold but I suspect that is an involuntary reaction that God built in to them, as opposed to any kind of thought process. It finally just took a drink and flew off.

The wind is calm today for the most part. The sun should warm the air fairly quickly to our forecast 72* today. Ms. Kate and I only got a couple of iris planted yesterday and a couple more peonies. But -- we got most of our other stuff on the "to do" list done and best of all ---  she made two apple pies. Hopefully today we will get most of the iris moved that she wants moved. I should wear a sign that says: "Will work for pie!"

Choir practice went fairly well considering that we had as many people missing as we had there. We'll be singing this Sunday for the 10:30 service. We've also begun working on the songs for the Christmas Cantata. This year we pulled out some old music that the choir last sang in 1974. It isn't a cantata per se, but we are going to turn it into one. I will write the narrative for it and I'm sure it will go fine. I hope to find a way that I can work in our few young children to be a part of it. We always do the Christmas Cantata as a combined parish worship service, and one of the things my old mentor taught me me was to do things that will give people a reason to come to the service. Having children participate is one of those things that brings in the family and relatives. It might be a bit of a shameful "tactic" but a full sanctuary raising their voices in praise to God is about the best sound on earth. It rates right up there with the first cry of a newborn child or the belly laugh of a toddler. You just have to smile and have good thoughts during any one of those events.

I have to get back to practicing my trumpet today. I was doing good with it until we took off for vacation and haven't been back to it since. I have promised myself that I will play sometime during November and plan to play "My Prayer". It is a little difficult for an asthmatic with an out of shape lip. I've asked our organist to bring her music for it next week and we will give it a go before choir practice just to insure we are both thinking the same way about it.

My coffee cup needs to be refilled and I must go have a piece of apple pie for breakfast. Ms. Kate is having her leftover chicken gizzards for breakfast. We went out to the Log Inn for dinner last evening before choir and she brought half of her plate of gizzards home.  That girl has always loved her chicken gizzards. On our wedding day we took off for our honeymoon to Nashville, TN and stopped for the night in Madfisonville, KY. We had supper in the resturant in the hotel. She ordered gizzards. I convinced the waiter to bring us a glass of champaign since it was our wedding night, even though she was only 18 at the time. I don't recall what I had, --- but she had chicken gizzards and champaign.   That's the way it is with us "fancy folk".

Have a blessed day.