Happy 14 degrees! It turns out that snow shovels and 76 years of age isn’t the best combination in the world. I’ve been waiting for a John Deere worthy snow fall and we finally got it. But, living on an incline just doesn’t always work well with my JD. I really do need weights on the back end of that John Deere. The addition of the snow blade on the front end raises the rear end just enough that it will sit there and spin. I spent as much time shoveling the JD out as I did riding it I think. The snow was supposed to be “light and fluffy”. Somebody forgot to tell the snow producer. It was heavy and hard to move. I have a set of chains for the other John Deere but they don’t fit this JD right They are about an inch too short or something. I tried them last year and they kept coming off. And, using them tore my concrete up.  So, I shoveled and I shoveled, I used the JD when I could and I spent about three hours out there. To top it all off, I also lost one of the lens out of my glasses. I was sitting on the JD and the glasses had fogged up and was actually freezing the “condensation” on the glasses. I took them off and was going to put them in my shirt pocket but when I was folding them up, the lens popped out and for the life of me, I could not find that lens. Luckily, I still have my older glasses and they work pretty well. Things aren’t quite as clear as they should be but I’m doing okay with them. I can read and witch TV and see well enough to write. So today, I have a sore back, sore arm muscles, the wrong glasses and we are expecting more snow today. 

I talked to a couple of my parishioners yesterday by phone. One of the folks is my buddy, Bob. He was very glad to hear from me. Bob lost his wife several years ago and is 87 years old, and lives alone. He was really glad to hear from me and I was glad to know that he was safe. He’s one of the folks that doesn’t have a computer or internet and has to rely on personal contact via one method or another. Most all of my folks have the the internet and I talk to them via Facebook messenger. Others I call once in a while so they know someone is thinking about them. It’s a good thing to do, doesn’t cost anything and I think other folks should reach out like that too. 

I’m going to sit down and attempt a live broadcast today via Facebook and conduct a very short Ash Wednesday service. I’ve put it together, now I just need to get cleaned up and dressed up just a bit and try it. My friend and fellow pastor does these once in awhile and so do several of the other pastors. I reckon if they can figure it all out, so can I. I think I talk self out of trying technology things simply because I think I am going to mess something up. However, at the moment, I’m having to work from my IPhone Hotspot because the internet is out from Spectrum They are aware of it and are trying to fix it, but It is a area wide issue. 

That’s it for now. Have a blessed day. Stay warm, stay safe, and stay in touch with God.