Wow, I just noticed that I am down to 26% battery life left here on my IPad so I better get busy and write this, especially since I also have my music running in the background which wil take the battery down a little too. But, welcome as I sit and write and The Talley’s sing some great southern gospel in the background.

It is after noon already. I had my semi-annual physical this morning at 0900 so we have have been out for that. Then of course we had to go out for breakfast. It is a fact that we don’t eat breakfast very often around here but just tell us we can’t have anything to eat because of a “fasting” physical and food is all we can think of. The good part is that I drink my coffee black so I can have my coffee at least. And it helps me when it comes to “filling the little cup”. But, I’ve gotten all my test results back already and everything was perfect with the exception of my blood sugars which were a tad bit high. But — apple pie and Cold Stone Creamery and pasta: —— I make no excuses. And the doctor isn’t concerned because it wasn’t that far out of tolerance. My PSA was perfect so at my age that could be a concern. It was good to know that there isn’t anything to worry about. So, flu shot done, physical done; I’m good to go for another six months.

Today is Halloween and in about five and a half hours I’ll need to be in costume so I can pass out my treats to all the little hooligans that will be coming by “trick or treating”. Every year I say I’m not going to do it anymore but then every year I bring out the monkey costume and sit out there either on my John Deere or in a chair and wait to have fun with the little ones and scare the screams out of teeny boppers. There is always the few young boys that come all full of bravado and chatter; they are my favorite to scare. The Stephen King movie “It” was the hit borrow movie of the year and I suspect there will be a few “Pennywise the Clown” costumes coming by.

After our breakfast out this morning we went by the grocery store so I could pick up some ready-made Pillsbury Pie Crusts. We still have apples to make another apple pie or two. And Ms. Kate is going to fix up a pot of clam chowder in a few days so I had to get some half and half. She does spoil me. Generally if I ask for a special dish she will make it and I got really hungry for clam chowder last week. When we went to the casino last Friday night they had clam chowder on the buffet and I thought maybe I would get my fill of it. But — it was terrible. It was obviously from a can of concentrated clam chowder and it wasn’t mixed up very well nor was it hot. It was just “Yuk”! So, Ms, Kate is going to make me some.

OK, the battery is down to 19% so I’m going to close. I hope your day is full of blessings once again and I hope you have a heart full of the love of Jesus Christ. May the combination of the two bring you nothing but peace and joy. Shalomn.

Good morning and a happy Monday. It is 42 degrees and windy this morning. The leaves are swirling around on the sunporch roof. Thankfully there are not a lot of them up there but they do make a racket when a gust comes along. It is a cloudy day although looking through the trees I can see one little square of blue peeking through.

This will be an interesting week. We change months on Wednesday and November comes riding in. And — next Sunday we change the clocks back from Daylight Saving Time. That means it will be dark by 1700 hours.  Tomorrow night is Halloween. I need to go to Sam’s Club and buy my supplies today. I think I’ll buy a couple of those large boxes of Chex mix or Cheetos or small cans of Pringles. That way, we’ll have what ever is left for us and it won’t be candy. I haven’t decided whether I will bring out the annual monkey costume again or not. The poor thing is about worn out but the kids always seem to get scared by it. Gosh, I’ve been using that thing since about 1994. I think I bought it at a costume shop over in St. Louis L&N Depot shopping center. Over the years I have had a lot of kids refuse to come to me and better yet I’ve had a lot of parents shy away. My kids learned to love Halloween because of the antic we used to do. Julie has become the “haunt queen” at a local Halloween scare house in a former morgue in Louisville and her sone Josh is just as in to it as Julie is.
Heather and her family like to go to Halloween parties in costume but Lisa and her family belong to a church denomination that speaks against Halloween masking etc based on theological reasons. So they just have a “fall celebration” at the church, which is absolutely fine too.

Friday, Ms. Kate, Karen and I went out and had lunch wth Bob and Brenda and then we took off for Metropolis, IL and spent the night at the casino there. It was a good road trip, I lost a few dollars playing penny slots, we had a buffet dinner and called it a night.m. Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then went into Paducah, KY and Ms. Kate and Karen went to Tuesday Mornings and did a little shopping. Then we headed on back to home. The weather was fairly good and the leaves are turning so the drive was pleasant. Sunday, we did church and Sunday school, then out to lunch and then home for nap time. We do lead an exciting life. That gets us caught up for the weekend and by now, the sun has just broken through the clouds and my guests are flying in from all over. Every feeder has one or two birds on it and two feeders have the fuzzy tailed rats on them. I guess that means we are off and started for the week ahead.

I hope you have a wonderful week and I hope that you take the time to stop and give thanks to God for all of the blessings that are coming your way this week. Never forget that Christ walks beside you and even carries you when the times get difficult. God has filled you with an immeasurable amount of love and you are supposed to share it. have fun doing so. Peace.

It is flat out chilly this morning at 40 degrees. But this is supposed to be “the pick day of the week” according to my reliable weather dude. It is supposed to go up to almost 70 degrees and with the sun shining like it is, it will feel pretty good out there.

The buffet is busy again this morning. But today’s visitors have to contend with the sharp-beaked bullies; the starlings. They not only drive other birds away from the feeders, they drive themselves away from the feeders because they are so greedy and fight so much. I still haven’t filled the feeders like I need to but they are doing a pretty good job of cleaning out the last of what is out there. I may need to run down to Pet Food Center and pick up another forty pound bag of sunflower seed or two today. We’ll see, after I get everything filled up.

I got up earlier than usual this morning for no reason other than I guess my body had all the sleep it felt it needed. When I beat sunrise and the garbage man — that’s early. But it will give me some xtra time to get some things done today. Yesterday I did get up on my roof and walk the gutter line, blowing out the leaves. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be. The wind had taken out a lot of them but I got everything cleaned up. Today I need to rake again and mulch up what has fallen. I did take care of the leaves out in the front yard yesterday and drove across the street and mowed and mulched Dan’s yard. I don’t know whay I think I have to do that. It isn’t like he has ever asked me to. . I guess it is just because I like to drive my John Deere. Maybe if I had an acre or two of my own to mow I’d feel differently about it. I’m doing a fairly good job of keeping up with it all as far as the leaves are concerned. I still have to get out there in the flowerbeds and clean out weeds. I seem to have now come up with a bunch of what I’ve always called “wild cabbage”. I never had that before so it’s just another thing to do and other thing to try to get rid of. I also have to cut out an Azealia that has died out front of the house and I need to take out the four-o’clock plants.

Tomorrow we have lunch with Bob and Brenda. It is our periodic “mushrooms and beer” luncheon. We all look forward to those and they seem to be therapeutic for Bob. It has been six months now since Georgia Ann passed away and he is slowly letting his grief subside and is moving on. He misses her terribly as do we all.

I’m preaching the sermon at my church on the 19th of November so I have been working on that. I had a good start on it when my computer crashed last week and I lost all my files. But, I’ve rewritten it and have it just about done. Between now and then I’ll probably read and re-read it and tailor it some more. That’s what I do. But, I’m so glad to have an opportunity to preach again. This year off for “retirement” has done wonders for me as far as relaxing and slowing down. But, I firmly believe that God isn’t quite done with me yet. I’m not ready to pitch my name out there to take another full time pastor’s job but I do want to be available for some “supply” work or maybe a short interim pastorship. Our denomination logo is “God is Still Speaking” and I firmly feel that God has more for me to say.  In the meantime, I’m just glad to be preaching on November 19th and want to do my best.

That’s it for today my friends. The sun has topped the roofline so I think I’ll pour aother cup of coffe and watch the starling beat one another up. Then I’ll throw on my jacket and go out and fill feeders. God has presented me yet another day of beauty and I need to be outside and enjoy it. I hope it is a beautiful day wherever you may be and I hope you have time to get outside and let the warmth of the sun and the power of Christ’s peace warm you throughout your entire body. Peace.

Happy Mid-week. It is a breezy 45 degrees out yonder and the sun isn’t quite making it through the clouds to warm it up much. The nights are getting a little more chilly and there wasmention of wide spread frost before week’s end. That of course means re-arranging the sunporch so we can bring in the potted plants. I don’t like doing that because it makes the sunporch look so crowded but it is necessary if we want to keep them. I don’t want to lose my little orange tree tat I brought back from Florida. And we have the geranium that we have been babying for a decade cause it blooms year around. We have cut down on the number of plants we bring in though. At one time we used to put a Christmas tree out here too but I think we have added a chair or two out here or something because we certainly can’t put a Christmas Tree out here now. I love our home and it is a large home, about 3000 sq. Ft. Of livable space; but it is wall to wall full of furniture from dead relatives. Some of it is from Ms. Kate’s family, some of it is from mine. The sad thing is that when we pass, I doubt seriously that our kids are going to want it because they all have established home and no room to put our stuff. I read an article on day called “No one wants Grandma’s China” and it talked about that very thing. But, we could furnish a couple of homes with what we have around here.  

I have a lot of company at the buffet today. Yesterday afternoon I threw out most of a loaf of bread and today the finches and sparrows are having a field day grabbing little pieces and flying away and then flying right back again. It looks like a very active runway out there this morning. The cardinals have been busy flying in and out of here today too. There has been a steady half a dozen doing touch and go maneuvers chasing one another around. The downy woodpeckers are busy having suet for breakfast. I think the bark butter feeders may all be empty. In fact, I have a bunch of feeders that need filling again today. I was noticing too that the goldfinches have now lost all of their summer yellow and have turned a dull color for the winter. 

My tulip poplars are about 65% done dropping their leaves. When the sun does shine, it brightens up my back yard a lot more.  I may get on the roof today and walk the edges with my blower to clean out the gutters and clean off the sunporch roof. The way the wind has been blowing I was hoping that I’d get “nature’s help” but, it looks like I have to go do it myself. The silly part is that I have to get on a ladder to get my other ladder down from where it hangs in the garage. 

I did finally get to my class yesterday and it was everything I expected it to be. At least the instructor comes right out and says that they hold this for insurance reasons. That doesn’t make it anymore interesting, just more honest. 

Time for me to throw on my jeans and get busy being productive. I hope your day goes well and now your work week is half over. May the second half be your best half! Peace.

Don’t you just hate it when you go to a meeting or a required class and you get there in plenty of time, only to find out that the time has changed by four hours!!!! That is how my morning started. I got up and ready and went to a meeting that was supposed to start at 0830 only to find out the time had been changed to 1230. So, — I’m back home again and will try again in another three hours to attend a class that I really didn’t want to go to in the first place. Yeh, I’m a bit grumpy about it.

However, — Now I can sit here and watch the cardinals as they come in for breakfast at the buffet. The sun is shining on them and they look beautiful. There is a squirrel making circles around the tree out there with his taillswishing like crazy. I don’t know what it sees tha it doesn’t like. Or maybe it sees another squirrel and is sending an invitation to come over and play. The woodpeckers and the titmouse and the wrens are all here too so it is a great morning at the backyard buffet. I do need to fill a couple of the feeders again but they have another nine to chose from yet, so there is no hurry.

It rained on and off most of the day yesterday until about 1700 hours and then the sun popped out from behind the clouds. I took advantage of the break and went out and spread my fertilizer on the back yard. The wet grass and ground will help disolve the granules rather quickly coupled with the showers that came again in the evening. I can check off another “fall job”. I finished up with the spreader and put it in the shed for the winter and started to drive the JD back over to its parking spot. But — about fifteen yards from where I needed to go, I ran out of gas. So, I pushed it over to its spot and covered it up. I’ll need to put some gas in it this week yet so I can finish my leaf mulching for the season. But, I don’t want to put too much in there and it end up sitting with gas in it over the winter. I also need to clean out my yard barm again to make room for winter storage of  my “backyard JD”. The other one goes in the garage.  I also still have a lot that I need to get done in the flowerbeds.

Are you caught up in this stuff about football players “taking a knee” during the national anthem? I grew up being taught that when the national anthem is played you stood still and placed your hand over your heart. Now, people are using the national anthem to protest the perceived “oppression” of Afro-Americans by police officers. I have heard their rhetoric and can somewhat understand their skewed point of view. But I don’t understand how they expect to solve the problems or expect people to gain a better understanding of their side of the story by alienating the country. It makes no sense to me. Yesterday several black football players from around the league who obviously deem themselves to be the best at their job, went on record saying they won’t negotiate new contracts until the country or the football league or white people do something or another. Well you know what? I don’t care if they play or not. Take the millions they have made playing a child’s game and go home. I just find it all so ridiculous. — ‘nuff about that.

As you have your talk with God this morning, don’t forget to include prayers for all of those who are pout there trying to rebuild their lives and homes from the natural disasters. The rains are over, — the suffering is not. Lift them all up in your prayers. Have a blessed day.

Welcome to a brand new week. Just think of all of the opportunities, known and unknown, that lie ahead of you this week. Have you checked your calendar yet? Are there little windows of time that maybe you could call an old friend you haven’t seen for awhile and just say “hi”? Do you have a day that maybe you could just spend in reflection or reading a book or maybe even baking some cookies or an apple pie? Life goes on and on and so often we forget to step off of the treadmill and just sit down and rest. That’s part of the reason I love to sit out here in the sunporch every morning and just enjoy the peace and quiet that I find out here. All my critters fly in and I love sitting and watching them and their antics. (Okay, do you now have a mental image of Snow White with a bluebird sitting on her finger?)

It is a cloudy day and we have already reached our temperature high for the day of 55 degrees. There is a breeze too and that will bring the comfort level down. We expect to have showers on and off fo the rest of the day. A cold front has settled in and we are looking at only one day this week where the temperature might go to the upper sixties or maybe even seventy. But, it is late fall after all. Before you know it we’ll be in November.

I’ve only had one or two birds here today; I guess they are out in the fields or eating seed from other plants. Either way, the buffet stands empty this morning. I do have a couple of chickadees out there and I had a woodpecker here for a few minutes.

I did finish up putting the broadcast spreader together and used it Saturday afternoon on the front yard. I plan to use it today on the back yard and finish up spending the fertilizer/winterizer on the lawn. It really works well and I’m glad I bought it, despite how much time I had to take to assemble it.

We had another good church service yesterday. Pastor Art gives a great sermon and he does it with such ease. But then, he has been doing it for several decades. He always stands out between the pulpit and the lectern (Baptist Seminary training) and it looks like he is giving his sermon off the cuff. I’ve never been able to do that. I’ve been one of those guys that stands behind the pulpit and reads from my written sermon. Both methods work, but his style just looks so much more at ease. I wish I could learn to do that.

Tomorrow I have to spend the day in my “Boundary Training”. You know, I could teach that class in about ten minutes max. But we pastors will spend seven hours learning AGAIN how to keep appropriate relationships and keep our hands and other body parts off of members of the congregation  and the staff. We’ll be told again about proper use of social media etc., etc., etc. It is a “CYB” class required by the denomination so that if a pastor does get in trouble, they can’t say they weren’t trained better. So, if you don’t hear from me tomorrow, you know where I’ll be.

I pray your day will go well and I pray your week will be filled with God’s glory and blessings. If you are facing challenges this week, remember where to turn. Challenges go so much better when you have peace of mind. Shalomn

And a very happy Saturday to you! It is a calm, cloudy 57 degree morning out side. I’m starting to get some guests in for the backyard buffet. One of the local cats was sitting here in the yard for awhile so none of my customers dared come around. But it has now moved on and a few small birds have begun to appear. I haven’t had an abundance of birds this week and my feeders aren’t being depleted very quickly either. I think most of the birds are eating from the fields because harvest is in full swing and in many cases around here, the farmers have already brought the harvest in. I was talking to my buddy Bob yesterday and he said he thought that they had gotten a record harvest. That wold be wonderful if they did. On the other hand a record harvest usually mean the price drops out of the bucket. It is a plain fact; the farmer never wins.

We had another long and busy day yesterday. We began with Ms. Kate’s physical and we both got or flu shots while we were there. By the time her appointment was over, we were both hungry so we went out and had lunch. From there we went to Staples and had my crashed computer checked out and it was as bad as I suspected it would be. So I had them throw it in the recycle bin and bought a new one. The really bad thing is that I have lost every computer file I ever had. I have no backup of anything. So, I now have a brand new 1TB computer that is totally empty of any of my data. I’ll have to build everything from scratch. Oh well, there are worse crisis in life. Luckily, the one document I had on a flash drive is a book that I have started writing and have about forty pages written.

Anyway — I digress, Next I brought Ms. Kate home and I went to Ft. Branch to see Bob. He had called and asked if we could use some rest turnips and of course I said yes. So, I drove the 25 miles up there, visited for a bit and then came back home. I had just set down in my recliner and Staples call and said that my new computer was all set up and ready for pick up. So, I drove out there and got it and on the way home I caled Ms. Kate and told her I was on the way and she met me out in front of the house so we cold go to a birthday dinner at the Log Inn. We got home close to 2100 hours and I got my computer all set up again in my office, and watched a couple of my television shows. We turned out the light about 0130 this morning.

Today I need to finish putting my new broadcast spreader together and get the winterizer weed and seed fertilizer put down in the yard. Stuff to do, stuff to do. But, you know; — as hectic and worrisome as the last ten or eleven days have been, we still woke up every morning with a life full and overflowing with the blessing of Almighty God. We didn’t get up with a home destroyed by weather. We didn’t get up having lost a loved one. We didn’t get up facing some terminal illness except for getting older each day. We woke up looking at each other with the expectation that we will go to bed tonight doing the same thing. Our life is blessed and I give all praise and all glory to God for those blessings. I hope you will take time to look at your abundance of blessings today and then go to your house of worship and join others who want to share their blessings. God is so good!

Peace.

Good morning to you! Yes , I missed another day on the road to Friday. Yesterday was another one of those crazy days that had lots of activity but seems that I got nothing done. I have been back from vacation now for eleven days and every day has been weird. Much of it has dealt with Ms. Kate. I think I told you that she was really hurting for several days and we thought it might be a pinched nerve in her neck. It turned out to be an arthritis flare up, which she has never experienced before. But we only found that ot after spending a morning in the emergency room. She was scheduled for a colonoscopy for yesterday so that has thrown off not only her diet, but her medications and what she could actually take for the pain. But I’m glad to report that her procedure went well and she got an all clear report from her procedure. However, today she has her physical exam from our family doctor so it is a fasting appointment with no coffee for Ms. Kate morning.

In the mean time, Wednesday afternoon I decided that I needed to get a pull behind broadcast spreader for my John Deere.  I have a Scott’s spreader that I push but it is so flimsy and sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. So I called neighbor Dan and asked him if he wanted to ride along to “man-land”. He said yes , but could we also take his humongous TV to Best Buy for disposal. Sp we loaded that monster in the truck and did that and then went to Lowes. I had researched the spreaders and knew I wanted the John Deere one (actually made by Agri-Fab) and they had it in stock at Lowes. All of the reviews on it said it was difficult to assemble, but that it works well. But, Dan said he would help assemble it hursday afternoon after I got home from taking Ms. Kate for her appointment. Wellllll — that didn’t happen. He busy doing something for his kids until maybe Sunday, so I started on it late yesterday afternoon. The reviewers were right; — it is a bitch to put together. I might get it finished today.

In the meantime, (yes my sad story goes on forever), Wednesday night I was doing some stuff on my desktop computer down in my office and it crashed with hard drive failure. Not, a virus. — just quit. I can’t open it up to retrieve files or anything. It is a 2011 with Windows 7 and I guess I just wore it out. That means of course, I need to go get a new one and spend the time required in setting that up. Fortunately, Heather, and John bought me a Microsoft Suurface Pro in July and I can do most things with that. I even downloaded my printer to it so I can use that. I had the PC partially backed up but had unplugged the external hard drive for some time so I don’t know what is on that. But, I’m going to take the PC to Office Depot and see what can be salvaged and see if they can rip any files from the PC to my external hard drive.

So, I’m glad to see Friday get here. Maybe next week will go better. The good news is that after Ms. Kate’s appointment today, she’ll be done with doctor’s and feeling bad etc. And this morning, I heard my first Pilated woodpecker up in the tree. It has been gone since spring. So, it was a wonderful sound. (See, — God sends little blessing all the time.).

I pray your day is going well. The sun is peaking over my roof now and will soon be lighting up the back yard and moving the temperature from 52 degrees on up to almost 80 today. It is a great day to be alive and a child of God. Enjoy it!  Peace.

It is Wednesday isn’t it? I sometimes lose track of days and just can’t remember. And we have had so many things going on around here since we got back a week ago yesterday, (I think), that I have really lost track. If the trash man picks up my cans in the morning them I’ll know it is Thursday.

Regardless of the day in the week, it is beautiful outside. The temperature has moved up from 49 degrees to 63 degrees by now. That will be the high for today. The sun is shining bright but there is a breeze that will make it feel a little cooler than that. When I eventually get outside, I may stick to wearing my sweatshirt until I see how it feels when I get busy out there.

Neighbor Dan and his wife are home from another trip, this one to Texas. They don’t mind making that trip in one day and it took them fourteen hours. Ms. Kate and I just don’t like to travel like that. I’ll pay for a hotel room and get a good nights sleep and a breakfast, thank you very much. But, the good news is that he brought me back two cases of Lone Star Beer from Texas. I will be very stingy with that beer. I don’t drink much beer when I’m at home. Ms. Kate doesn’t drink and can’t drink because of certain medicines that she takes and I’m not one to just sit and drink. If I have more than two beers a months, it’s unusual. So these two cases will go a long time. I was surprised that he said he had a hard time finding it. Lone Star is officially called “The National Beer of Texas”. But now it is brewed by the Pabst company in California. It’s a sad story when you can’t find Lone Star Beer in Texas. LOL

Ms. Kate’s neck pain is getting better and better. She is on Extra Strength Tylenol through today but has to not take any more until after her colonoscopy tomorrow. So she has that to contend with yet today and tonight. Bless her heart, — it has been a rough week for her.

I guess I beettter get out of this chair and into my work clothes and get out in the yard. I got side tracked with talking to Dan for almost an hour so I’m really running late. I hope where ever you are is as beautiful as it is here today. If so, I hope that you have time to get out and enjoy it and feel the warmth of the sunshine that God is putting on your face. Take time to give God praise today and to pray for your fellowman. Peace.

Let’s start off the day with the great news. Ms. Kate is feeling lots and lots better today. She had a good night’s sleep in the bed instead of in a recliner or a straight back chair like she has tried unsuccessfully to do the previous two nights. So, I must begin my day with giving God praise for providing His healing touch by providing doctor’s and nurses who knew how to treat her. I must also give a shout out to Deaconess Hospital emergency room personnel who were very caring in taking care of her.

We are in day two of a week of promised beautiful weather. The sun is shining brightly with no clouds to filter through. Although, we have reached a point in the year when bright sun will not always equal warm days. I think though today it is supposed to get to about seventy degrees which is perfect fall weather and the cool nights will bring on the color to the leaves before they come floating down to the ground for me to rake up. I stayed in the house yesterday after we got home from the ER just in case Ms. Kate needed something. Today I’m going to go out to the yard and get some work done. Lord knows, there is plenty to be done.

It would appear that my buffet guests have also added to my list of things to be done today. I see several feeders out there that have fairly depleted. I had to laugh though this morning at a blackbird that was trying to get some of the bark butter. This particular feeder is about eighteen inches long and hangs horizontally with four holes drilled out on the bottom to put the bark butter in. It is designed for the woodpeckers to eat from because they have no problem clinging to and eating from the bottom of branches etc. The feeder is hanging from a double hook iron pole with a baffle on it to keep the raccoons and squirrels from climbing it. The top of the baffles sits about two feet below the horizontal feeder. The blackbird saw that there was food up there but can’t cling to the feeder. So it would sit on the baffle and try to jump up and flutter long enough to grab a beak full of food. It was literally wearing itself out trying to snatch some of that food. Finally it just gave up and went over and ate some sunflower seed. It reminded me of times that I have tried to reach something that was just out of my range and no matter how hard I might try to jump up and get it, my only achievement is a little exercise.

California firefighters are slowly gaining on the horrible fires that have so far taken forty one lives and destroyed an untold number of homes leaving hundreds of people with nothing to return to. I pray they can finally get these fires put out and people can return and start rebuilding their lives. I wold ask you to join me in prayer today for all of the victims of the fires and hurricanes and floods who are still without homes or power or water or food. I’d also ask you to remember that while we so often ask God to take care of them, remember that God relies on us to be the instrument of His peace and to be the hands that do the work.

Take advantage of this beautiful day. Share some love with someone whether you know them or not. Peace.

Happy Monday! I hope your week has started off better than ours around here. This morning first thing I had to take Ms. Kate to the emergency room for the pain in her neck and spine. She has been in a lot of pain since Friday but has tried to tough it out. I tried to get her to go to the ER yesterday but she was having none of it. But after her second night of not being able to sleep, she gave in. (Dang stubborn German.) It turns out that what we both thought was a pinched nerve was actually a severe arthritis flare up in her neck. It is the first time that she has had anything like this. Well they gave her pain medication and nausea medicine. However, while the pain has subsided she has been throwing up ever since they gave her the meds. I have her home now and she is finally sleeping peacefully. But bless her little stubborn heart, she could have avoided a night of pain if she had let me take her to the ER yesterday like I asked to. Unfortunately the arthritis runs in her father’s side of the family and our daughter Julie really has it bad with Rhumatoid Arthritis and goes through these horrible flare ups frequently. The stubbornness however—- that is from her mom’s side of the family. LOL

So, I attended my 55th year high school reunion on Saturday night. It was everything I expected it to be; mundane  meaningless conversation, faces I no longer recognized, edible (I didn’t say good) food, and a too long and boring program. I don’t know why I give in to going to those things. I had several people ask me if I was going but I didn’t get to sit with any of them. Remind me in five years to say “no”.

Yesterday was Homecoming Sunday at our church and it was very well attended. There were people there that have since moved on to other churches and people that just haven’t attended for one reason or another. The church was about three quarters full. The new organist played beautifully, the choir sounded wonderful, and the guest pastor gave a geat sermon. He had been pastor of our church for eighteen years. The meal was typical “church carry-in” which you know mean “yummmm!” Ms.. Kate wasn’t up to going or fixing a vegetable for me to take for the meal so I fixed up a pot of green beans with ham pieces and a little opinion soup mixed in. There was one helping left when I brought it home and Ms. Kate had that for her only meal of the day.

That’s it for today my friends. Please say a prayer for Ms. Kate. We need her to get to feeling better. Until next time, stay in touch with God; I promise you that God is staying in touch with you. Peace.

Bright sunshine is flowing in through the windows of my sunporch this morning. It has already warmed the atmosphere and it is going to be a beautiful day. A little later I’ll be outside trimming back the peonies that I never got around to earlier. That is an end of September job but we were out playing with the buffalo and peonies were not on my radar of things to do. I also need to mow the front yard and drive around over the dang mole trails that are going through my front yard. I‘Ve had a mole once in a while in the past but this year this guys seems to really be aggressive and I have runs all over the yard. It is quite frustrating.

As I sit here having my coffee and listening to an Andre Reiu CD there are maybe six cardinals out there at the buffet with their bright feathers glistening in the sun. What a wonderful sight.  I’ve had the full range of my normal guests out here this morning. They come in and grab a bite or two and then they fly out into the fire bushes or trees for cover; then they come back in for another bite or two. It is just so enjoyable to watch.

Tonight is my 55th year high school reunion. It hardly seems possible that it has been that long but then, Ms. Kate and I have been together that long, conting our four years of dating. I wrote on my Facebook page that when I was a kid in high school, I had a five piece band and we would play for high school reunions etc and laugh at all of those “old farts” out there dancing. Now we have joined the Old Fart ranks. I know we have lost a lot of our class over the years and I suspect before we see a sixtieth, we will have lost a lot more. Life does go on and death is part of the rotation. I haven’t attended very many of the reunions. The first few are typically so obnoxiously boring with everybody trying to impress with their success. Then we were gone away from home and in the military for 32 of those years. But, by now most are retired and “what we were — is no longer what we are.” Now adays, I think we get together to compare medical plans and prescriptions. I’ve never been big on reunions because frankly I didn’t have that many friends in high school. I had a lot of acquaintances and people who knew me because of my music, but I never had any what they call today a BFF. And — while I can talk a lot, I’m not really very good at holding a conversation beyond the mundane. So, we’ll go tonight and we’ll hold some polite chatter, and leave early. Boy, that all makes me sound like a real “Dickie Downer” doesn’t it?  I reckon it’s why I love the solitude of my sunporch and the peace of life just basically being Ms. Kate and me. And frankly, there is nothing wrong with being all alone in a crowd and just enjoying watching and studying the people around you.

So, it is time to get off my chair and accomplish something today. I pray your weekend will be full of God’s peace. Shalomn.

Welcome to a blessed, bright new day, and a Friday the 13th at that! Does it being Friday the 13th bother you? Do you have superstitions about it being a bad luck day? I’ve never had any problems with this day on the calendar and I think we generally have maybe five of them a year. I’d say the worst part of Friday the 13th was the horror movie by the same name. I never quite understood how the main character of that movie allegedly drowned as a child and yet “came back” after years of being dead as an adult unkillable killing thing. But then I never understood its rival movie, “Halloween” either or the character from “Nightmare of Elm Street”. But, I went to see them at the time.

Yes, I missed another day of writing yesterday. I had an email/coupon from P.F. Chang restaurant yesterday that was good for one day only that was a buy one entree and get another free. Well, since that is one of Ms. Kate’s favorite places to eat we decided to go there for lunch. The only drawback is that it is on the other side of Louisville, KY —- about 125 miles from here. But — going to Louisville takes us by Julie’s house and work and we had a couple of things to take to her. So, we went to lunch, called her while we were there and asked her if she wanted us to pick her somethiing up for lunch, which of course she did, and then we took her lunch and the items that we had for her. We visited with Julie for a few minutes and then made the 125 mile trip back home. By then I was past being ready to write a blog. But, we had a great day and a great lunch of crispy honey shrimp and fried rice. And, — that is the kind of “day trips” Ms. Kate and I love to take.

The back yard buffet is full of customers this morning. I had a flock of starlings in here for awhile. They ate, they fussed at one another, they took baths and splashed water everywhere and they vigorously guarded their territory for awhile pecking at other birds that came on to eat. But they left and then came on the cardinals and finches, and chickadees, and woodpeckers, titmouse, wrens, doves, sparrows and a mockingbird. The only one missing today is the hummingbird. But as it warms up a little, they too could show up. So far the squirrels haven’t returned since I filled the feeders and that is fine by me. I feed will last a day or two longer. I need to go to Pet Foods and pick up another forty pounds of sunflower seed. I’m pretty sure I’m now over 800 pounds of sunflower seed for this year so far. The price has been holding steady at $18.00 for a forty pound bag so at least it doesn’t kill my billfold when I go in there. It’s all of the other fancy stuff that I buy at Wild Birds that makes my wallet try to seal itself closed.

This coming Sunday we have a “reunion” type of day at the church with a potluck meal. We hope to have a lot of members from the past and pastors from the past show up. My old friend Rev. Don Bernhardt will be giving the message. Don was pastor at Zoar for around fourteen years and he baptized my daughter Heather. I think he may have confirmed Julie too but I’m not sure. Too many years and too many places go through my mind when I try to remember.

I hope your weekend is filled with joy and blessings. I hope too thaqat you take time to give thanks to God for those blessings. While you are praying, please include all of the people affected by the horrible wild fires currently burning in California. The death toll to date has reached about 50 and there are currently 600 people unaccounted for. Between fires, floods, and hurricanes, and the terrible mass shooting in Las Vegas; we have thousands of people suffering devasting losses and pain, and they need our help and they need our prayers. They need to know that they are not alone in their grief and fear, and sorrow.  If you see an opportunity to help — please do. It is what Christ calls us to do.

Have a blessed day.

Cool and cloudy, 53 degrees this morning. It is going to remain like this all day although the temperature may go up another ten degrees. It’s all good though because I really need to go do some work in the yard today. Yesterday was pretty muuch a washout and we had other things to get done. I know I told you about our problem with the washing machine. Well, I called a repairman and $143.00 and a new switch later, the washing machine was working fine. I was impressed that they could and did respond that quickly. Our washer and dryer set were new back in 2001 so I was concerned that we might need a new one. But our repairman said it was an easy fix because out set was built when they were made to last. I’ve some of the prices on new ones and I hope ours lasts a long time yet. I’ve also stood next to some of the new ones and there is no way we “vertically challenged” people could get the laundry out of some of those top loading ones.

I filled the five bark butter feeders yesterday so my woodpeckers are happy with me as are the darn starlings. Today I will get the sunflower seed feeders all filled and then the whole gang can be happy including the fuzzy tailed rats. I see a couple of squirrels over in Margaret’s trees but they haven’t come over here because they know I haven’t filled the feeders yet. But, they are watching and waiting, and they will be here as soon as I start filling feeders.

We thought maybe the hummingbirds had moved on by now but yesterday afternoon we had one or maybe two out there at different times. One came to the door and was hovering and looking in. I thought it was nice of it to welcome us back home. There isn’t much left of the flowers at all for them to go to so I need to make sure we have food for them until they leave and move on to Arizona or wherever they go for the winter. I get amazed everytime I think that these tiny guys fly hundreds of miles to stay for the winter and then fly back up here for the summer. The minute details of God’s handiwork just never cease to amaze me. I think if someone said to me that “there is no God”; — I would simply say to them, “Then explain to me the lifecycle and colors, and migration habits of a hummingbird. Explain to me how and why it flies; and explain to me how all of that is “just an accident” of nature.”

Speaking of God; (which I often do), let’s take time today to pray for those folks in Southern California being hit by the wildfires. Our daughter Heather and her family live the next county over and they are hoping for containment soon. And — while you have God’s attention, let’s remember to pray for all of the folks in Texas, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, and other places affected by this seasnon’s hurricanes. And let’s remember to pray for this nation and the leadership of this and other nations to pull us back from the brink of war. And let’s pray for the people of our country that we can come together with a sense of unity and love instead of division over seemingly insignificant stuff. We have a lot to pray for and we are asking a lot of God. But God created us and only God’s love, mercy, and grace will sustain us. I fall back to the words in John 3:16; — “For God so loved the world” and I trust that God will continue to love the world and allow us to not just survive, but thrive.

Peace my friends.

Tuesday morning and I am sitting in the best recliner in the world, the one in my sunporch. We got home yesterday afternoon and as John Denver used to sing; “It’s good to be back home again.”. Our vacation took us right at 3950 miles and as I have previously said, we saw an awful lot of beautiful  country. It would be hard to pick out a favorite sight. Yes, the Grand Teton Mountain range is awe inspiring; — but so is the cardinal that sits on my bird bath every day. It was an awesome experience walking out of my quarters on FE Warren AFB and seeing five antelope laying out by my car.  But it is an awesome experience watching the hummingbird as it come to feed at my feeders and dart among my flowers. It is so peaceful to stand in the forests and listen to the wind in the pines and the rushing water in the streams; but it is also peaceful to simply sit and listen to a songbird out there on the limb of the Pussy Willow tree. The bottom line is that we can experience God’s handiwork at any place and at any time. One only need look and listen and open our eyes; and God’s beauty is always right there.

It is a warm kind of rainy morning and the bird feeders are empty and I have zero guests in the back yard as would be expected. After all I suspect they haven’t had food here for at least a week. However, I’ll go out there, fill those feeders, and I’d bet there will be birds on these feeders within the hour after I feed them. I’m glad I stocked up on feed though before we left.

Ms. Kate started the laundry this morning and the wash cycle went fine. However, — something has gone wrong because it wont’t go through any of the other cycles. So now it is sitting there full of water and dark clothes and we are now waiting on the repairman to come this afternoon and fix it. We can’t complain, — we bought that washer when we moved here 16 years ago. This is the first problem we have had with it. I’d hate to have to by a new one. I can’t believe the prices they get for new appliances these days.

I have a lot of leaves to rakes and blow off of the patio and sidewalks but it isn’t near as bad as I anticipated. It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow so maybe I’ll run the lawn mower over the back yard tomorrow. Yardwork gangs up on ya if you don’t stay on top of it.

I guess I better get busy with the things I need to do today. I hope your day brings you joy and happiness and if it does, — please share it with someone. Peace!

Sunday evening and I know it has been a few days since I wrote my last blog. I make no apologies though because we have been having a wonderful time on our vacation. We have  seen such wonderful beauty in God's perfect nature. And we have learned things as we drive along and stop and look at things. I wish I knew how to incorporate some of my pictures into this blog but, I have put many of them on Facebook and maybe folks are tired of seeing them anyway.

Thursday we crossed the Teton Pass over to Jackson, WY and drove into the Grand Teton National Park. One of the things that "grabs " you first about gong from Driggs, Idaho is that to get to Jackson you go through the Teton Pass. The road is a 10% grade which is pretty darn steep. And, it is also a narrow road with few guardrails. I guess the good news is that it is only about twenty miles long and we only had to cross it three times. I'll admit thought that even though it was a bit of a "white-knuckle" drive, it was beautiful. And on one of the trips we saw a moose.

Grand Teton National Park is maybe one of the most photographed park in the country. We had to the opportunity to go to the Chapel of the Transfiguration. It is a log chapel built by the Episcopalians and there is an altar built in from of a picture window so what you see is the cross and the mountain range in the back ground. It is indeed inspiring. I had been there maybe 60 years ago and it is as inspiring today as it was then. From there we went on to see Lake Jenny which is also absolutely beautiful.

Friday we took off from Idaho and headed out for Cheyenne, Wyoming. I had made reservations for us to stay in the Distinguished Visitor guest quarters  on F.E. Warren AFB at Cheyenne. FE is the oldest continuous operating military installation in the U.S. It is a missile base but began as a cavalry post was active during the "winning the west". One of the amazing things that happened was that I went out to my car at around 2300 hours to get something and as I walked out there were five large antelope laying out there about 15 feet away from my car. They just basically ignored me as I rummaged through my car and went back to my quarters. It was a neat experience.

Yesterday we drove from Cheyenne to Saline, Kansas which was about 550 miles and a very long day. By the time we got in, we were bushed. Today we made a short day of it and drove only as far as Columbia, MO. True, we could have driven another 250 miles and been home tonight but it is storming at home and by tomorrow we should be driving home in sunshine.

As I have said, it has been a wonderful vacation. I know not everybody has the opportunity to take a trip like this but the truth is that in order to find the wonders of God's world we don't really have to travel 4000 miles like Ms. Kate and I are doing. I see God's wonder as I set and look out my sun porch which I look forward to doing come Tuesday morning.

In the mean time, I pray your days will be filled with God's blessings. Peace.

Wednesday afternoon and we are in Driggs, Idaho. Our drive today was a relatively short one and it was a nice drive. The weather today thought has just been one weird thing after another. We were woken up this morning with a thunderclap that literally sounded like it was in our room. I got out of bed and looked out the door and I see one dark cloud mostly passed over us and all else is sunshine. It was cold out side though. I closed the door and we got up and slowly begin to get ourselves ready to pack out for the day. The next time I opened the door, it had snowed. The parking lot and the cars were covered but it was melting rapidly. So, we checked out of West Yellowstone and then headed on down to Driggs. We went through a couple of “snow showers” but most of the time the sun was shining or at least it was partly sunny. We stopped and had our lunch and then came on over to the Teton Valley Cabins to check in. It was sunny when we checked in and it was sleeting/raining when I went to bring in the suitcases. Then just like that it was sunnny again. It has been like that the rest of the day.

Tomorrow we plan to go see the Grand Teton mountains from the Wyoming side and if we have time, we want to go see an Elk Refuge that is over around Jackson. We learned about that place from the lady who is in the adjoining cabin.  It sounds fascinating.

This vacation has been a real chance to be in touch with God. We’ve seen the natural wonders of the earth such as geysers and waterfalls, and forests. We’ve seen many of God’s creatures up close such as elk, massive buffalo, lots of wild turkeys and deer and chipmunks and birds. I wish that everyone could do this type of vacation. The Holy Spirit would fill their heart with awe and joy. Ms. Kate and I both feel so very blessed.

Having said all of that, it will, as always feel great to get back home and back to my sunporch so I can watch my critters at the backyard buffet.

Until I write next, I wish you peace and joy in your soul.

I hardly know what to write tonight. I opened up my computer this morning to the story that ws rocking the country about the mass shooting in Las Vegas, a city we love and have lived in. I think tonight the number of killed rests at 59 and the number of injured from either bullets or being trampled by the horrified masses of people stands at over 500. I can sympathize but not understand or comprehend the panic and fear and horror of the crowd at the moment. Nor can I begin to understand the sadness and despair of the families of all of those victims. I can’t even begin to imagine what must occupy man’s mind to make him purposely plan to assassinate as many people as he could; people who were simply enjoying a concert in the warm night air. What would make a man work for four days carrying weapons and ammunition up to a hotel room with no other thought than murder on his mind? And — for the victims and their families — there will never be closer because the coward killed himself rather than be taken by the police. So, there will most likely never be an answer. I can at this point, only pray for the souls of the deceased, the families of and all of those injured, and for our nation as a whole.

On the other hand, I say I don’t know what to write tonight because Ms. Kate and I continued on our vacation and saw some absolutely beautiful scenery and buffalo, and elk. We crossed though snow covered mountain passes and down into beautiful green meadows, rushing streams where fly fishermen fished for trout. It was a constant reminder of the glory of God Almighty.

If I might ramble here for a moment, here are some of my thoughts. I have no doubt that Satan grabbed the mind of a man in Mesquite, Nevada this past week and convinced that man of something that required him to commit mass murder and destruction. But God was there too. God was with the hands of the first responders who saved more lives than were lost. God was with the police who were able to find the gunman before he could do even more damage. God has been in the hands of the doctors and nurses all day today and the hundreds of other unknown heroes who helped people escape the carnage and gunfire. Satan controlled one man and caused a lot of damage; but God protected 22,000 others and walks tonight in hospital rooms and with grieving families. And God was on the mountains with us today providing living proof that while some people may do evil things — God’s world is not evil. As Linda Randall sings, “The God of the mountain, is still God in the valley.”  God was in both places today, and I give God praise and gratitude. Peace.