It is “brrrrr-eautiful” out there in the buffet this morning. So far my guests have been limited to a couple of downy woodpeckers and a couple of cardinals. I see more birds off in the trees but I still haven’t gotten around to filling the feeders yet and they know it. I promise I’ll do that just as soon as I finish my blog and my coffee. It isn’t like there is no food out there, but they have to eat it off of the ground from where they have thrown or spilled it. I guess it is shameful to make them have to be like “wild birds” and do natural things. I told you that I went to Wild Birds Unlimited the other day and stocked up, so I do have everything they need. It is just a matter of taking the time and getting the job done.

I had a good practice session with Diane yesterday. Hopefully the number will go just fine. I’ll need to practice it again today. I don’t know why I keep volunteering to do this. It is a pain in the butt to get ready every time to play a solo. It doesn’t take any time at all for the lip to be out of shape. I guess I could practice very day, but to what end. No one is going to ask me to play. I mean, if someone else was planning this Christmas Eve service, they would have not come to me and asked me to play.

Along that same line of thought, Ms. Kate and I were talking last night about how we have gotten to the age where we have become “the forgotten generation”.  I think most senior citizens get to that point and it is harder to accept for some than it is for others. I see it at church all the time. Our senior generation comes and sits there and worships and a few people speak to them as they come and go, but no one expects anything of them. I realize that many probably feel they “have done their duty” and may not want to be called on; but the reality is that a new generation has now taken the lead and is doing things the way they want to do them. And frankly, it is the same way with our kids. We are loved and we know we are loved, but the kids and grandkids really don’t have time in their lives for visiting. They are busy working, and trying to make a living a having a life of their own. I fully understand it because twenty years ago we were the same way. To visit the parents took days of travel each way and then you had to spread your time out between families. It became a total hassle and we ended up not really enjoying our visit at all. I think I have come to the realization that maybe the reason I try to keep working is simply that I don’t want to become “forgotten”. From my experience as a visiting pastor to nursing homes, I think the worst thing mentally that can happen to an elderly person is to be “put in a nursing home”. They realize that they have now been “put away” to eventually be forgotten. I’ve done so many funerals for people like that and maybe only ten people show up. It’s so sad. So, —- my message is to remember our folks in the nursing homes and remember our elderly. You might be the first bright and friendly voice they have heard from in a long time. ——- Are you depressed yet?   Sorry.

Time to finish my coffee and then feed my birds and critters and make sure the back yard buffet  is open for businesss.  Have a most blessed day.