Thirty six degrees this morning as I sit here for Cardinals and Coffee time at the Backyard Buffet. But it is a far cry from yesterday’s snow and stuff. It is a beautiful morning. The sun is shining, the sky is a clear brilliant blue with no clouds to be seen. And if the forecast is correct, it will be going up to almost sixty today. That would be nice.

This morning my guests include woodpeckers, cardinals, goldfinches, robins, mockingbirds, starlings, a dove or two and a couple of squirrels. My feeders are all full so everybody has plenty to eat. I’m just about out of the very last of the product they call bark butter paste. I still haven’t found a good substitute and I refuse to pay the price they want to buy it on line. Four tubs of it with shipping would be $75.00. I was at Pet Food Center last week and asked them about it and they said they are trying to add it to their product line but it is from a different supplier than they normally use. They have had a lot of calls for it since Wild Birds closed down here in town. There are Wild Birds Unlimited stores over in St. Louis, Nashville, and Indianapolis; but I don’t know that it is economical to drive three hundred miles for bird food. So, if I want this product, maybe on line will be the way I end up going. It’s a quandary because so many of my birds really like it. Somebody needs to step up and buy this local franchise just to make me happy. LOL

I finished my sermon for this Sunday. My next Sunday to preach will be Mother’s Day. So, — I have a couple of weeks to think about what I might want to write. Certainly it will need to be homage to mothers everywhere but it needs to be Biblical too. Perhaps I need to read a little Catholic theology since they put much more emphasis on the mother of  Jesus than we Protestants do. I’d like to get beyond the “Honor thy father and Mother” commandment. I guess I’ll just have to first see what the liturgical calendar calls for for that Sunday.

What to do with myself on this non-event day is the question. I have a Board of Christian Education meeting this evening but the rest of my day is free. It is still too wet to be working in the flower beds and yard. And frankly, it is still too chilly  out there too. Maybe I’ll open up one of the Stephen King books that have been sitting here partially read for about four months and do a little reading. That would be a change of pace and thinking for a while. Or, I’ll waste some time playing bingo and Criminal Case on the computer. A person needs a non-brain  engaged day once in a while. I don’t do enough of those. Within clergy circles those are called “personal health” days.

First though, as I look at all of my backyard buffet guests and the joy and beauty they bring me, I must stop and give thanks. I’m a fully blessed person and I’m extremely grateful to God for that. I hope and pray you have a wonderful day. Keep your heart close to God. Peace.