Time to rise and shine as people used to say back in “the old days”. I used to hear my Grandma Rath say that when I was a kid and we would stay over night at her house, or she would come over and stay with us. But, the good thing about her “rise and shine” was that it came accompanied with a hearty breakfast of eggs, gravy, bacon, biscuits and gravy. And —- her biscuits were home made, not from some canned product. She made a great pie crust too and passed that recipe down to Ms. Kate. I think just maybe that is where I developed my love for a “big breakfast”. It certainly wasn’t from my mother. I guess my mother cooked to my father’s taste. I never knew what a good steak could taste like until I started dating Ms. Kate. Meat around my house was always “wellllll done.” My Grandma Rath was a good cook but she didn’t really pass any of those skills down to my mother. My mother’s sister Dorothy however was a great baker and she made the best kuchens I ever ate. Maybe it was the only kuchen I had ever had, I just remember how good it smelled while it was baking and and how good it tasted. My Grandma Heumann made the same thing for a meal every time we ate there, or so it seems. She always made a pot roast with browned potatoes, peas, and whatever else I don’t remember. I’m sure she cooked other things but her pot roast is what I remember because it was always so good. My mother-in-law’s specialty was fried chicken. Again, I never knew what really good fried chicken could taste like until I started dating Ms. Kate. I didn’t know it was supposed to be crispy because my mother always kind of steamed hers.

I have staff meeting this morning at the church and then I’m going to do a hospital visit with a lady that had a knee replacement yesterday. I didn't know she waas having it done until the last moment. The secretary texted both Art and I. Art was able to get there before she actually had the surgery and say a prayer with her. That is one of the great things about have co-pastors; we can pretty well cover all bases. I was out with Ms. Kate having breakfast when I got the message. So today I’ll go see her. Bless this lady’s heart; she has had more surgery and problems than I’d ever want to deal with. But, she is a trooper and keeps on plugging along.

We made it to the orchard yesterday and picked up some peaches. They smell heavenly but aren’t ripe enough yet to use. But, I see a peach cobbler in my future and maybe even a peach pie. Ms. Kate does spoil me.

It appears it rained just enough to get most of the sidewalk wet at some point during the early morning. It is a cloudy day and I wouldn’t mind if we got some more rain. The temperatures are supposed to drop a little for the next week and stay below the ninety degrees mark. I’m saying prayers this morning for all of the folks in California who are losing homes and property to the out of control fires in that state. My daughter Heather lives out there and they can see the smoke etc from them but are not in any danger. She said they caught one guy purposely setting them in her county. The guys was just driving down the road throwing out flares into the dry grass. I can’t imagine what would make someone do somethng like that.

Time to quit and get ready for work. Have a most blessed day.