Tuesday afternoon.  It’s been a relatively quiet day, but is still pretty chilly. I think we are up to maybe 40 degrees by now. We started at 19 again this morning. We are supposed to be in a warming trend again. The roller coaster continues. I thank the Lord tat we are not experience in the weather that is still going on in the North East. Rhode Island got 37 inches of snow. I wouldn’t know where to begin clearing that kind of snow away. And I think that some places like New York are looking at least two more snow storms coming in. 

Here in Evansville, I have two crocuses blooming today. And my daffodils are all up and have buds on them. They won’t open though for maybe another two weeks. But the intermittent warm days are going to just get more frequent. And in 24 four days Spring will be here. I celebrated that today by ordering y tomato and zucchini squash seeds. I also ordered an indoor greenhouse for the sun porch. To grow my seeds in. It is time to plant the seeds  now and they should be big enough by the first week of May to plant out doors in the garden. I had not planned to do a tomato garden again this year but I gave in. And I guess I will try to grow some zucchini in one of my big flower pots. But, I need to get fresh potting/garden soil put in all of my pots and spread the old stuff out in the garden. As usual I’m going to be making extra work for myself. This year we decided to raise “bush tomatoes” and see how they work out. Generally I raise “regular tomato” plants that grow to about four feet tall or so. These are supposed to grow to about two and a half feet. The worst that can happen is that they won’t produce and I’ll just end up dropping by the local produce stand. And will have wasted money on seed. I still have okra seeds left over from last year. I guess I will see if it is still any good. Ms. Kate will want to plant a couple of cherry tomato plants too. 

Kate has an MRI tomorrow and I think needs to go have blood drawn again all before we go to the hotel. We can’t check in until 1600 so there is plenty of time. 

That’s my blabbering for today. I hope you have a blessed evening. Peace. 

 Winter is not going without a fight , that is for sure certain. I woke this morning to 19 degrees after us having 70 last week. But, —- we’re lucky. The upper north and east are currently under blizzard conditions. Travel has been basically suspended through New York and New Jersey, Boston and even Washington DC. Snow in some area is expected to reach 18-24 inches. I just read that there are currently 500,000 people without power. So, I’ll just put on my sweatshirt and enjoy what we have, —— and stay inside of the house. 

This is my “big week”. Thursday Kate and I celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary.  I know I have been talking about it for weeks but I’m am just excited to have reached this milestone. So many never get to and so many don’t even try. But when she and I make a promise, we do our best to keep it. I’ve conducted a lot of weddings and marital counseling sessions and I always remind my couples that at least when you are doing a “church wedding” you are making a promise not only to one another, you are making those promises before God, and therefore you are making sacred vows. I’m happy to say that I have only had a couple of my couples divorce. 

Have you gotten caught up in all of the “ICE vs NO-ICE” demonstrations going on across the nation. I guess I have some mixed feelings about all of this.  I think it is time all of the illegal aliens were moved back out of the country but I also think that the enforcement is over aggressive in some cases. I also think that the majority of the “NO-ICE” demonstrations are being funded by some very deep liberal pockets. I also disagree that students should be allowed to walk out of the schools to demonstrate without repercussions. And I especially get upset when I see teachers leading second graders out of the school to protest like happened in California last week. Those teachers should be fired for sure. If these high school kids want to protest, as is their right, they should do it after school. I’m betting the demonstrations wouldn’t amount to much then. But all of that is just my take on it. Thankfully we do live in a country where demonstrating and protesting is legal and allowed. I dedicated 32 years of my life to preserve that right whether I agree with their opinions or not. 

That’s it for today. Have a blessed week. Peace. 

 Good morning at a very early hour for us. I’m in the waiting room while they take Ms. Kate back for her Cardio version procedure. They are just doing about 45 minutes of preliminary stuff and then will come get me. The procedure is quick when they get ready to do it. They put her to sleep, do a hopefully quick shock of the heart and then wake her up. I have never had it done and hope to not have to have it done. But this is her sixth time. At least it is non-invasive as opposed to the other options she may be faced with such as ablation or pace maker. By the time you read this, we will probably be home taking a nap. 

It was 60 degrees when I got up at 0430 and the temperature is dropping. We have enjoyed a delightful couple of upper 60’s and lower 70’s. But typical of southern Indiana, when it is that warm in February, there will be storms and even tornados, and there was a tornado north of us. Now we are expecting snow flurries tomorrow. I doubt they will amount to anything but the roller coaster weather is great for spring colds. 

Our oldest daughter Julie and her hubby, Jim will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday. That seems impossible. But then, Kate and I will celebrate our 60th next week so I guess all is as it should be. But good for them.  

I’m not sure what I will do with myself today. It depends on how long we are here at the hospital and the weather. I think though that I will spend some time writing a sermon. I have my sermon for March 22nd to work on and also I have to write one for March 29th.

Gotta go, they are taking me back to her room. Have a blessed day. 

 Good morning on this foggy Thursday morning. I love a foggy morning as long as I don’t have to do a bunch of driving in it. It like the world still has its blanket pulled up under its chin. There is always a peace than comes with a foggy morning that just puts you in a whispered conversation with God. It’s extremely comforting. 

Well —- yesterday was a thing but comforting until about 8:00 pm. We decided that we had everything we needed to get our taxes done for the year. I hate doing our taxes because I find it so very frustrating. It stems from the fact that I am terrible at anything to do with numbers. But, I logged in to Turbo Tax and according to them it should only take me one hour and fifty seven minutes to complete the process. Let me say, that Turbo Tax is a good product, we’ve used it for several years. But also, regardless of their advertisements that “”you can do your tax’s for free’ —- by the time I had all of the “add-ons” and guarantees, I finished at $350.00. However, it is what it is. 

So, I started on my tax adventure determined to not let it get to me, just fill in the forms, drink my coffee and get on my merry way. Well, that two hours went by and one thing after another and soon I was in to hour four. It all circled around one simple entry. We own some property in southern Illinois that we rent out for farming. It’s a simple process. The farmer gives me a check for a certain amount to rent the ground and at the end he sends me a 1099 MISC. However, the forms kept insisting that I need a schedule C which I knew I didn’t need and did not have one. Eventually I asked Ms. Kate to come work on it because I thought I must be missing something, but she couldn’t get it to work either. All the rest of the taxes were complete but we couldn’t file until this was fixed. 

We stopped long enough to go to Sam’s Club and pick up our called in order and then came back and I started again. This time I pulled up the “Tax Expert” on the Turbo Tax site.  She called me back and we launched into the problem. I literally spent two hours on the phone and computer with her. She was tied into my forms and was trying everything she could and agreed that I didn’t not need the schedule C. To make a loooonnnnnng story short, she finally fixed it and I have no idea what she did. But the taxes are filed and Federal is already accepted. Today I’ll mail off the Illinois taxes because as a non-resident, they won’t let me e-file. Ms. Kate and I went to bed before 10:30 last night, mentally and physically exhausted, but the 2025taxes are done. 

That’s my sad tale and now I’m going to refill my coffee cup and set my self down in my recliner. I hope you have a blessed day. Peace. 

 It’s Monday night a little before 2200 hrs. Today has been a holiday, President’s Day. I’m not really sure why we continue to celebrate the birthday of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Yes, they were prominent in our Nation’s history but a lot of other people were too. I know I certainly didn’t dwell on their accomplishments today nor do I think I could find a quick fifty people that did either. Federal workers got a day off work but I don’t know of anyone else that did. Certainly anybody in the customer service business didn’t. I mean we have to have places to go on our day off and we need gas stations to fuel to get there and restaurants to eat at when we do get there. And then there are all of the “President’s Day” sales that are held so shop people have to work extra hard. Nah!!!! Stupid to call it a holiday. 

Kate and I didn’t do much of anything today. She did make an anniversary card for Julie and Jim for me to put in the mail that wouldn’t get picked up because it’s a holiday. LOL And I did some sermon writing for the three Sundays that I have to fill in at a church in March. I got one of them done and have a start on the next one. The fact that it is the Lenten season gives me a theme to base my messages on. The scripture lessons for the second of the two Sundays are vastly different. The first on is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. The second scripture is the story of the vision by the prophet being shown the Valley of the Dry Bones. They are vastly different messages as far as I can see. I am using the Lazarus scripture because it will lend well to the next Sunday which will be Palm Sunday. 

Okay, gotta quit. Have a blessed night. 

 Happy Thursday. I don’t understand how a week goes so fast when I literally don’t really do anything. Well, —- except go here and go there taking care of appointments etc. But here it is Thursday already so I guess we will just dal with it. 

It has been an easy morning but now I’m waiting for the Walgreens lunch hour to be over so I can go pick up Ms. Kate’s prescription. (See, that where my days go, doing stuff like that, which aren’t really anything but take up time.) Then I need to run by Walmart grocery and pick up a couple of things. 

Tuesday, (I think) I took my truck to my friend’s auto repair shop to get a new battery. I couldn’t believe how much batteries cost these days. My battery I replaced was bought in 2019 and was a “75 month” battery so it lasted its allotted time of 6.25 years. I don’t remember what I paid for that battery but the new one cost me $235.00 including labor for installation. I knew it would be high because as you might recall I replaced batteries in both John Deere’s this past fall and they were over $60.00 each. I have no idea what the “big cost element” is in making a battery but obviously something is. That’s why when my Prius hybrid gets another 20,000 miles on it I’m going to trade it in before I have to replace that hybrid battery in it. I’m told that comes with a 2000 dollar cost. But, my plan is to give my truck to my grandson Jon and this way he will have a great battery in it. I’m just waiting for him to get settled in to a lineman’s job somewhere. 

We took Ms. Kate for an appointment with one of her cardiac doctors and they verified she is in AFIB. She has an appointment now for another cardioversion on the 20th of February to shock her heart back into rhythm. I think this will be her sixth time for this procedure. Bless her heart. (Literally)

Our snow is 99.5% gone now. The piles from shoveling are diminishing each day. Even the ones in the parking lots are melting pretty well. Our current weather is a little cold but normal for us for a February, and when the snow melted, the daffodils were waiting to be seen. That’s makes me very happy. It tells me that a there really will be a spring again this year. A couple of weeks we weren’t really so sure. LOL

With that, it is time to head down the road to Walgreens. Then I need to get back here and do some writing. I pray God grants you a wonderful day and rest of your week. Peace. 

 Well good morning. It’s great to stop and write a note or two. First of all, let me tell you it is a beautiful day. We have had so much cold weather and snow and crap that a day of sunshine from start to finish with the temperature supposed to maybe get to 60 —- that’s some good stuff right there. 

How was your weekend ?  Did you watch the Super Bowl? We watched half of it. we neither one really cared who won although we have rooted for the Patriots for a few years just because we lived up in that area for five years; and I wouldn’t support anything out of the state of Washington state just because of their radical politics. The same goes even more so for Oregon. I always thought that I would like to live up there but, they are so radically left skewed in their politics, I couldn’t do it.  But anyway, then we had heard so much about the proposed halftime show and knew we didn’t want to watch that. I’ve seen some snippets since then and am so very glad I didn’t wast my time; I think it would have made me angry. So, at half time the Patriots were losing and not playing well enough to win, we turned it over to the TPUSA alternative halftime show. It was a decent show. After the halftime show was over we switched over to watch a movie. 

Yesterday Ms. Kate had two doctor’s appointments. First she went to her pain management doctor. He prescribed another medication that is supposed to help relax the nerves that are causing her back pain.  Then in the afternoon, she had to go to her cardiologist because she was fairly sure she is in AFIB. Her doctor is new to us and I think probably fairly new to the profession because she’s quite young. But she seemed to be thorough. She confirmed that Kate is in fact in AFIB. So that means scheduling another cardio version. Hopefully sooner rather than later. It seems as though we just go from one doctor to another but actually she had her last cardio version a little over a year ago so hopefully this will do the trick again for awhile. I really feel for her and hate that she has so many health issues and she gets so frustrated with it all. 

We are just 16 days from celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary. I am very excited about it because I feel it is a real life accomplishment. We received a two free nights offer from our local hotel/casino and we are going to take them up on it as a celebration. We also want to go to Cavanaugh’s for dinner which is a very upscale restaurant  at the casino. I think it will be a great couple of nights. It seems silly to stay at a hotel in your hometown but we made it 60 years by being silly. 

Okay, enough for today. Have a blessed week. Peace. 

 Thursday evening; where did the rest of the week go?? Well, it went with a bunch of “stuff” that we had to do. We’ve had some appointments to take care of. One of the things we had was to meet with our lawyer to do some estate planning. We have a will but the girls had said that we might want to consider putting our estate in a trust. So we met with a lawyer and were impressed with her and have decided to go with the trust. Of course we’ll not see the results because we will have passed on so I hope it all works well for them. 

Today I had a haircut appointment. My hair and beard had really gotten rough looking. I don’t think I have had it done since before Christmas. I feel so much better having it cut and the beard trimmed. I told my stylist (yes I go to a stylist. She is the lady that cuts Ms. Kate’s hair.)  that it even bothered me to sleep in the beard. I don’t know how people sleep with long beards. 

After my haircut we had to take Kate to get her blood work done. She has doctor’s appointments next week that require blood work prior to the appointment. One of her appointments is for her pain management and I think her doctor is going to be pleased with her progress. Her other appointment is for her heart. She has been in AFIB now for a couple of months and she finally got in touch with the right doctor. He changed one of her medicines and it appears that her heart rate has slowed back down to normal. But she needs to be seen and we were lucky that she was able to get an appointment this quickly. 

Other exciting events include me has a dental appointment to repair two teeth. It is amazing how exciting our lives are. I think most of our “friends” names begin with Doctor. 

Tomorrow Kate has her hair appointment. Then we will come home and probably do the laundry. (more exciting fun.) While we’re doing that Kate will probably work on Valentine cards and I will work on one of the sermons for the up coming Lenten season. 

That’s it. We’re hoping for some warmer weather but it won’t be here on Friday.  Forecasters say though that next week will be so much better. 

Have a great weekend if I don’t get back tomorrow. Peace. 

 Monday, February 2nd. I can’t believe I’m writing that date already. One whole month of 2026 is already gone. 

The temperature outside has risen to a balmy 32 degrees. I think it’s pretty bad when I celebrate getting up to freezing. But, this is the first day in eleven that we have gotten up that high. Heck, it might even go above freezing today. Wouldn’t that be something. 

I was supposed to preach at two churches yesterday, my former parish. Well, I did the 900 service at St. Paul’s but couldn’t do the 10:30 at St. Lucas because their parking lot still was clear enough to use. But a few of the St. Lucas folks did come up to St. Paul’s. It was really great to see everyone again. They are all good people and I feel like I’ve gone home for a visit when I go back for a service. Ms. Kate was going to go with me but I asked to not go because I was afraid that the parking lot might be too slippery for her to walk on and I didn’t want her to fall. In the past she has had two falls on that sidewalk and driveway and rally hurt herself during one of those falls. So, she agreed with me and stayed home. 

Today we have an appointment with a lawyer. We want to talk about whether we should put our money and estate in a trust for our kids to prophecy them from tax burdens later or just continue with our will. The girls all think we should put it in a trust but I really don’t know anything about a trust. But it is good to ask the questions because we aren’t getting any younger. I’ve known a lot of people that haven’t lived as long as I have. 

My kids and grandkids in North Carolina just got a heavy dose of winter. So they are dealing with between 4 and 10 inches of snow, depending where they live in that state. Guaranteed that they will have some messed up roads for a while. NC doesn’t have the snow clearing equipment like northern states have. I told my daughter that the closest thing they have to a snow plow is the sun. She and Gary are supposed to leave on a cruise to the Bahamas on Wednesday. I understand that the Bahamas are having  very cool weather too and there is no way I’d want to be on a ship during this kind of weather. A friend on mine is on a cruise and sent a Facebook post that said they were having 12 foot swells and it was difficult to walk on deck. No thank you very much!!!!!

That’s it for today. I pray you have a great week. Stay in touch with God on a daily basis. Peace. 

 I almost forgot to stop and write today. It’s been another day where we did things out of order. Ms. Kate normally has her hair appointment on Friday at 10:00 am. But she had it today because her hair dresser has a funeral tomorrow.  So, the snow storm has messed up all normal event s for the week and now today we had Friday’s events which will screw me up tomorrow. LOL

We didn’t do anything else today. I thought about maybe trying to go to breakfast but decided against. The roads are pretty good and where we went the roads had been cleared of snow. I hope it just keeps on getting better because I have to go up to Ft. Branch on Sunday. I’m preaching at both of my former churches on Sunday. I really looking forward to that and I don’t want the weather to come along and cause it to be cancelled. It will be wonderful to see the folks again, assuming they can get out of their driveways etc. It is supposed to be super cold this weekend so maybe it won’t actually snow again. This has been the winter that was predicted. I think next week is Groundhog Day. If that garment sees his shadow, it ‘s time to go hunting. 

That’s enough for today. Have a great night. Peace. 

 I am so very relieved. My driveway and sidewalk are cleared of snow. I was awake  most of the night wondering how I was going to get all of that snow off of it and finally this morning I put on my winter clotehes and walked over to the neighbor’s house and asked if their son’s might be interested in making some money by cleaning off my driveway. They could not have been nicer. I told them what I would be wiling to pay  and they didn’t want me to pay anything and said they would be right over and even apologized for not knowing I might need some help. Long story short, the dad and his two boys did come right over and it took them about an hour and a half and now it is clear and getting dry in the sunshine. I insisted on paying them what I said I would and the two boys were very thankful; (probably a new video game is coming.) I have several odd jobs in mind for young Lincoln, the oldest of the two boys. 

It is so great to have neighbors with kids that are willing to help. I have lived in this neighborhood 25 years and this is the first time I have seen any kids willing to help. They are all too busy being run to this or that activity or they are in the house playing video games etc. So, these neighbors are new and they dad and mom both said that we can call on them any time we might need some help. 

It’s very hard for me to ask anyone for help. I think I get that from my dad who always said “Do your own work. Don’t expect anyone else to do it for you.”  We were to be the one who helps other people, and that is just the way I am. 

I’m told that the roads in the subdivision are still terrible but that the main roads are okay. Luckily we don’t have to be anywhere till at least Thursday. 

So, with that worry off of my mind, guess who is going to take a much needed nap this afternoon?? THIS GUY!!!!! 

Have a blessed day. Stay safe and stay warm. 

 A few days ago I was grousing because it was 14 degrees outside. I apologize Mr 14, would you please come back? It was 3 degrees outside there this morning. That is unacceptable. —-And on top of that we have a foot of snow on the ground. This is the second largest snow storm this area has had this century. In 2004 we had 22 inches. Having said that, —- we were very fortunate, There are a couple of million people without power today because they got a lot of ice and wind which is a dangerous combination.

This is the Backyard Buffet and as you can see, the feeders have been cleaned out and with a foot of snow out there they will just have to wait a while. If I am going to spend time pushing snow, it will be out front so we can get out of the driveway. 

There was a snow plow truck that went down our street yesterday afternoon but I haven’t seen any cars go by at all. My next door neighbor to the north cleared his driveway yesterday afternoon. He has young boys and I saw one of them out there shoveling. I may put my boots on and go see if his son wants to make some money by shoveling my driveway. I don’t have their phone number so I’ll have to walk over. That sounds like a Brrrrrrrr idea. I know I always rely on my JD to move the snow around here b it first of all, the bade isn’t on the JD and even if it was, it wouldn’t be much help moving this stuff. I’d just end up in a bigger fix with a lawnmower stuck in the snow in the middle of my driveway. 

That’s enough for today. Since we’re snowed in, it’s a good day to get the laundry done.

Have a wonderful day, Stay safe, stay warm, and give God thanks for a beautiful world. Peace. 

 Good morning! I am just running through and dropping a note. The anticipated snow storm has arrived and it is really coming down and the wind is whipping. If is goes as predicted, this is just phase one and should amount to two or three inches. Then tonight the “real storm” hits us and will continue through much of the day tomorrow. I’m hearing all kinds of wild predictions. The latest said maybe 21 inches. I don’t believe that at all. I still think we’ll get a foot which is bad enough. But my weather guy did hit the “start time “ right on target. 

Y’all stay safe out there. 

 Like 1.8 million other people, I’m sitting here waiting for the snowmageddon to start but that won’t happen until sometime tomorrow morning. Then it will run through Sunday. The estimates are all over the place as you probably know. The latest I heard about ten minutes ago is that we could get as much as 15 inches at our house. But, sitting here worrying about it would be the most useless thing I could do at this point. What’s going to happen, is going to happen. I just pray that people can and will be safe.  I know that travel in and out of this subdivision is going to be impossible for at least through Wednesday. My only hope is that the forecasters are correct about the “type” of snow we are supposed to get. They are saying that we should get the “light and fluffy” kind that will be easier to move around. That would be most excellent because even though I’ll have to get out and shovel it out of the driveway, it will be much easier to just move little bit at a time. I’m hoping that we won’t get a lot of wind with it after the snow stops. I don’t want it to blow back over the driveway. But —- I think we are ready for all of this to unfold. I took Ms. Kate for her hair appointment. Would not want to have a snow storm with unkempt hair you know. From there we went to Walmart to fill the car with gas and to pick up the “call in” order we placed last night.  On the way home we jaunted out to one of our favorite restaurants for a brunch. (It wasn’t that great today. I ordered off of the Mexican menu and didn’t particularly like my selection. I will go back to my “Merican” steak and eggs thank you!) We came home, put way the groceries, and then I prepped the driveway with snow/ice melt and I brought the truck up to the house to get it off the street. Who knows, a snow removal truck might get lost and accidentally come through our area. It happened once before. 

I looks as though most of my family is going to get hit with this storm. Julie is just across the state and will get hit about an hour after us. They are looking at 15 “ too. Josh and family, Lisa and family, Amanda and family are all in the “ice zone”. Steph and Christ are in Oklahoma and will send it all to us first. Heather and all in California will just get a bunch of rain. Som no one is safe. 

That’s enough for today. I don’t expect any of our local churches will be having services this weekend. So, if you can’t get out for a service, take the time to stop and give God thanks in the privacy and quiet of your home. Sending you blessings until next time. Peace. 

 January 20th and another raw cold day, but so far no snow to shovel. 

How was your Martin Luther King Jr holiday? Did you think about his accomplishments. Did you attend any programs in honor of him? Did you reflect on what he did for the nation? Neither did I. Nor do I do any of that for George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, or anybody else’s birthday holidays. They are just excuses to have a holiday. And —- being retired, it’s not even a “day off” because I already have the day off. 

What the day did bring was a really great college football National Championship game between Indiana University and University of Miami. Had not IU been playing — I never would have watched the game. But, I had to support the home team. So, I have watched the Rose Bowl, the Peach Bowl, and now the National Championship game, all of which IU played brilliantly. That will probably be the last sports I watch this year unless I happen to be bored and decode to watch the Super Bowl. I guess that will depend on who’s playing; —— or has that already been decided?? I don’t watch other “playoff” level sports either like the baseball World Series. Just not interested in watching grown men playing children’s games and getting paid outrageous money to do so. Grow up —- get a real job. 

I got a call the first thing this morning from my dental technician saying she had an opening at 11:30 if I wanted to come in and get the left side of my deep cleaning done. So, that’s what I did. I’m sitting here with the left side of my face being numb. After the appointment I went to Dairy Queen and picked up a chocolate milk shake for my brunch. No chewing involved and the only danger is having milk shake running down the left side of my face and me not knowing it. LOL I’m really glad to have that done. I have to go back for a filling on the 3rd of February. 

I guess I’ll sign off/ Walgreens just called and I need to go pick up some meds for Ms. Kate. Have a blessed afternoon. Peace. 

 Friday evening and another week is winding down quickly. It has been an up and down week but I’m glad to say that Ms. Kate is doing so much better. Today we even went out for breakfast. It wasn’t a special trip but we were out already for an appointment and decided to stop for breakfast before heading home. It was our first breakfast run since before Thanksgiving. 

It has been a “warm” (42 degrees) day and the temps are heading back down because the sun is almost down and it is cloudy, a light rain and 4:00 in the afternoon. This was our warm day until next Wednesday. Sop what do you do with a rainy afternoon, —- laundry of course. Thank goodness the “hang the laundry out on the clothesline” days are long past us. This way all the laundry is done for the week. I do the laundry most of the time because I don’t really mind doing it. Kate has a hard time getting the clothes out of the bottom of the washing machine. She has to use a set of tongs to get the off of the bottom. Besides, I’ve been helping do the laundry since I was a kid. And in those days we did have a clothesline; outside for sunny days and in the basement for rainy or freezing cold days. In my youngest days my folks had a ringer washer with two tubs for rinse water. I wasn’t allowed to use the ringer washer. Then my folks got a new washer and dryer.  There is a lady across the way that still hangs her laundry out on a line and I think she does wash every day. She watches her three grandkids a few days a week and I guess she washes their clothes every day. 

Dis I tell you that I have a few preaching days coming up? I will be preaching at Ft. Branch at my former parish on February 1st. Then I got a call from a church on the east side of town looking for a pastor. Their pastor had suddenly retired due to health reasons and they were trying to fill Sundays especially during the Lenten and Easter season. I agreed to fill the last three Sundays in March. I’m really looking forward to that. They would have been happy if I would have agreed to serve as the interim pastor for awhile but I’m really not interested in serving in a full time position. And, I suspect that they would not have been real happy with me in the long run because I’m not in tune with the liberal policies of the United Church of Christ. I think they are an “O&A church”. Besides —— I have gotten real used to this retirement thing. LOL

That’s it for this Friday. I hope you will have a blessed weekend and I pray you will take the time to get in touch with the God that has blessed you all week. Peace. 

 January 14th; time to start thinking about Valentine's Day options. You only have a month. 

It’s really turned cold outside and I saw three snow flakes a few minutes ago. It isn’t supposed to amount to anything here, but of course up north they are going to get another bunch. I’m so glad I live in southern Indiana. Most of the time our weather is more of a nuisance than anything else. 

I went for session one of my teeth deep cleaning yesterday. It wasn’t bad to go through. They cleaned the right side on my gums, upper and lower. The worst past was getting the numbing injections and even that wasn’t all that bad because my technician made sure the topical numbing was good before she did the injection. I appreciated that. I go back on February 18th and have the left side done. Unfortunately, the dentist said I have the beginnings of a cavity on one tooth and he wants to take care of that on February 3rd. Kate and I are very lucky in that we have not had to spend a lot of money on dental work over the years. We both believe it is incredible important to take care of our teeth and we are lucky enough to be able to afford it when we need it. We have a dental insurance plan through the government but it really doesn’t seem to cover very much. But, it’s better than nothing. I smile every time I think about old people being able to keep their teeth their whole life. I remember my grandma and my mother always saying “Well, I still have my teeth!” It seemed to be a sense of pride for them. 

The contractors working on the house across the street have begun laying new brick. It’s a cold day for it but it needs to be done. I’m assuming that cold weather doesn’t affect the process. Their house is sure going to look different when they finish. I hope they love it. They have been out of it since the fire last January. I think I’ll walk down and take a look at how far they have gotten as I take the trash cans to the street. Got to be nosey ya’ know. 

I have a couple of sermons resting on Google Docs that I should maybe work on and have them ready should I get called to do a supply sermon sometime. Kate had a call from an old friend today wanting to know if I was still preaching or had a church because their church was now without a pastor due to retirement for health reasons. Kate told her friend that I was available for supply work but was not interested in doing an interim job. She gave them my cell phone number. We’ll see if anyone calls. I would love to fill in for them once in awhile but I’m not up to doing full time pastoral work any more as much as I think I could. One must be realistic. 

That’s it for today. In case you forgot; it’s HUMP DAAAAAAY!  Enjoy yourself. 

 Good morning on this the 13th day of January . We have another fairly nice day that promises to degrade rapidly tonight. But, I’ll take 45 nor now especially since it is supposed to continue on up to 58 before the day is over. 

We have cardinals and bluebirds out at the buffet and unfortunately we also have junkets too. Don’t get me wrong, the Junkets are cute and I like them but they are always a precursor to snow or so it seems. Hence, they are often called “snowbirds”. And yes, we do have flurries in the forecast and several days of cold weather coming up again through the weekend. 

Today I have an appointment with my dental technician that I’m not looking forward to. She is going to do the first part of my “deep cleaning”. It will require that she numb my mouth to do it. They do it in four appointments. Today I guess they are doing the right lower jaw. According to the internet, the appointment could take two hours. That’s a long time to be in a dentist’s chair. I think I have a total of three appointments to get this done. Not getting it done can cause loss of the jaw bone material. I guess I better grill these steaks for lunch and plan on Ramen for supper. LOL

I read this morning that my former parish will be discussing leaving the United Church of Christ denomination at their upcoming winter meetings. I guess I need to process this in my brain for a bit. I can certainly understand their logic and frankly I have mentally left the denomination some time ago because I can no longer tolerate the radical liberal stance they take on so many social issues. However that parish goes back to 1876 and they are walking away. I just think it is sad that the denomination has “left them”. I think they will face some unknown challenges certainly. And their pastor is very young with a lot of hope but not a lot of experience in taking two churches out on their own. I urge you to join me in praying for them. They are going to need a lot of prayer. 

I guess I better go get the grill started for lunch. Have yourself a wonderful day. Peace. 

 Welcome to Monday and the start of another week. It’s not a bad day here today. Temperature is hanging out in the upper forties today which is our winter average.We have a lot of sunshine which always helps with the “feels like” stuff. 

We just got back from an errand run. Kate and I changed the sheets on our bed this morning and we decided to get rid of the comforter from our bed. We have a program at church where we collect clandestine and towels for the local animal shelters to use. I know some puppy will enjoy snuggling up in that down comforter and the other blanket we decided to take too. This is the first time I have heard of this kind of a need and I think it is great. 

We had a quiet weekend here. We did “recliner church” again this weekend. Yes, I think we would have done fine going in person but it was 17 degrees yesterday morning and we just didn’t want to get out in it. It’s not like we are missing church because we faithfully watch it. In fact I not only listen to our church but often I listen to two other churches services too on a Sunday. I listen to the young pastor that replaced me in Ft. Branch Parish but I also listen to daughter Lisa’s pastor in North Carolina. He usually has a good service although he tends to preach longer sermons than I do. I usually am done in twenty minutes and Pastor Bill goes for at least 30 minutes. Pastor Adam, up in Ft. Branch goes longer than me too. I’m supposed to fill in for him the week of February 1st. The folks will probably appreciate getting a “short sermon” again for a change. Nothing at all wrong with longer sermons as long as you keep them interesting. Kate will tell you that if I start going long it’s because I’ve gotten off on a rabbit trail somewhere. 

 I’m happy to report that Ms. Kate just keeps getting better. She is mostly using her cane now instead of the rollator. She told me this morning that I could put the walker up now because she isn’t using it. We don’t take them with us now when we make excursions out like we did this morning. That’s great for me because it is a booger to get in and out of the trunk. 

That’s it for this Monday. Have a blessed day. 

 Hello January 9th. Nice to see you back again especially since you brought your friend “nice weather”. We’re sitting at 61 degrees right now with sunny skies and very little wind. We had a storm role through last night with a lot of wind and rain. The bottom is supposed to drop back up before the weekend is over so everything is as it should be. 

I don’t have any gossip to spread nor a lot of actual news tell. We did have one great event today. Today was Ms. Kate’s hair appointment and she was able to go with only relying on her cane. That is such a giant leap for her. I really hope she can get away from that rollator. But she’s responding very well to the pain management routine. It’s a lot of prayers answered. I can see her getting stronger every day. We haven’t made it back to the gym yet but hopefully by next week. Had to make a couple of Shopping runs in the past few days. We did Sam’s the other day and today we did Walmart. I really like the call and pick up program. It saves us a lot of time and effort. And —- by not going in the stores we only get what is on the list and don’t pick up any of those “eye catcher” items. We don’t have to grocery shop while we’re hungry and end up buying stuff that’s we really didn’t need. 

I’ve been watching the neighbors house rebuild progress. There has been electricians over there all week. I assume they had to have the entire electrical wiring done since it was an electrical fire that started it. Monday they had a guy out there tearing up the old sidewalk and a flowerbed. They have relocated the front door so they will need a new sidewalk to that. It’s interesting to see the progress being made. I wish I could peek inside and see what they are doing. But then, I have never been in that house so I don’t really know what it looked like before the fire. But I know they have made major changes to what the layout used to look like. They have been told they will be in by February 26th. I will be very surprised if that comes about. 

I’m currently working on what I call a “pocket sermon” which is what I call a sermon that I write ahead just in case someone needs me to fill in at the last moment. My friend Art says he is constantly writing sermons in his sleep. LOL I guess it is true that old pastors never truly quit. 

That’s it for today. The weekend is here and I hope your is fulled with blessings. Don’t neglect to take time for God. 

 Here it is, the 7th of January. In our neck of the woods it is going to be a fairly good day; I think maybe it is going to about 55 degrees which is not terrible for a January day. But, it’s not gong to last long. By this weekend we’re expecting maybe some severe storms and then the temps drop back down “normal”. But as long as we don’t get a bunch of snow or wore — ice — it doesn’t matter to me a lot. We are still three weeks from “Groundhogs Day” when that rodent will tell us that we have six more weeks of winter coming. Amazing how its prediction always happens to line up with the actual calendar first days of Spring. 

We “did a thing” yesterday. We had to pick up a prescription from Walgreens and also needed to do a call and pickup order from Sam’s. Also since it was Tuesday and Fresh Market always has ground chuck on sale on Tuesday, I wanted to go by there and get some of that. I used the last of what we had when I made my vegetable soup. So —- I told Ms. Kate I would take her out to Biaggi’s for lunch. It’s a favorite of hers and she has been getting around much better, and Biaggis is writhing the same area as Sam’s and Fresh Market. So, we went to Walgreens and picked up her medication and then headed to the east side of town and did all of our other stuff. It was the first time we have been able to go out to eat since before Thanksgiving. We considered it a real treat and she did well. The hardest part is the getting the rollator in and out of the car each time. I’m hoping that before long she can get to just getting by with a cane. We’re also hoping that we can get to the gym. I don’t know how Planet Fitness would feel about us going in there with her on a rollator. But when I think about it, they shouldn’t mind because it is physical therapy and we are working to improve her wellness. 

Have you noticed that television is coming back to “normal programming?” Swamp People is on tonight and some of my other favorites are coming back too. Kate watches so many shows that I just can’t watch. She likes murder mystery and crime shows and I just got tired of those years ago. And, she’s been watching some “series” shows on Netflix that have more violence than I want to see.  I like to keep my shows much more light and interesting to watch.  I watch a lot of the paranormal stuff because it is simply entertainment, and I know there is little reality attached to it. And I watch a lot of Josh Gates exploring shows. I have learned a lot of historical facts watching him. 

That’s it for today. I hope you enjoy your day and have a blessed rest of your week. Peace. 

 Good morning on this first day of the first full week of 2026. Yes, I know it’s been a few days since I wrote last but I’ve been a bit tied up doing “other stuff”. 

How was your weekend? Ours was routine since Ms. Kate is still not going out for much of anything. I had hoped to do “in person” church yesterday but it was 26 degrees and I didn’t want Kate to have to walk behind her rollator the distance from the parking lot to the ramp and then push it up the ramp. I do appreciate the church putting in that new ramp though. When she gets a little stronger we will be happy to use it. 

But, yes, we had a routine weekend that consisted of doing laundry, and fixing meals, watching some tv and playing our mindless computer games on our IPads. We did get out to the butcher shop. I picked up some frozen vegetables and I made a pot of vegetable soup.  It is delicious if I do say so myself. (Kate said so too). I’m getting better with my cooking although most everything I fix is simple stuff and I don’t do a lot of “meals” meaning multiple dishes. Mainly I just do no more than two dishes. I’ve watched Kate cook for many years now and she may have six dishes going at once. I guess most wives do that but it has to be an acquired skill that I’m far from learning. Although I did good at Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I did have some help from Julies and a lot of guidance from Ms. Kate. I don’t hesitate to ask Kate “how do I” questions. I think though that I’m no longer a candidate for “Worse Cooks in America”. LOL

We watched the Rose Bowl game this year. It was the first football game I have watched this year. We watched it because IU was playing and were thrilled to see IU win. They will be playing in the Sugar Bowl this Friday and I reckon we will watch that too. 

I finished up my sermon for February 1st. I think it is a good one. I also passed it along to my friend and mentor Art and he said it was great just like it is with no need for changes. It always means a lot to me when he declares one of my sermons “good”. He has been a pastor well over fifty years, has a Doctorate of Ministry degree and knows more than I will ever know about the Bible. I ask him to critique my sermons sometimes because I want my theology to be on point. I feel it is very arrogant of a pastor to just assume that he has the right interpretation of God’s word. Assumption can lead a pastor to preach his own thoughts, not God’s thoughts or word. I try to never assume. 

I was hoping that Kate and I would go to the gym today but she isn’t ready. I would like us to start slow again and work our way back up. 

I guess that is about all I have for today. I’m waiting on a call or text from Walgreens telling me that Kate’s prescription is ready for pickup. She has one more day of that particular medicine left. 

Have yourself a wonderful week. Peace. 

 Day one of the year 2026.  How was your New Year’s Eve? Ms. Kate and I did stay up and see the birth of 2026 but being up at midnight is a fairly routine habit for us. She and I have shared a lot of New Year’s Eves over the years starting with the 1963 new year. In the early years though, while we were together at midnight, we didn’t get to have that “first kiss of the year” at midnight because I was busy with my band playing Auld Lange Sign on my trumpet as we played for someone’s NYE party. Then there were the years that I was stationed with the Air Force somewhere else across the world like the Philippines or Turkey without her. Or — many times we were “together”, but I was on duty as the shift commander for the Security Police. But —- physically together or not, —- we still have celebrated many, many years of watching a new year arrive whether we were together or not. 

I was thinking about the celebration of New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve and wondered if mankind has always celebrated this vent. It turns out that the answer is “yes”. The earliest documented celebrations are dated back over 4000 years to Mesopotamia. There are many ancient sites built specifically for celebrating the event along with other solstice event. The rituals have changed over the years, (thank goodness, we don’t need any sacrificial rituals) but the acknowledgement is still real.  

While I was pondering that, I also began thinking about the actual event itself. What we are actually celebrating is the completion of the earth’s orbit around the sun. It is a renewal of seasons and patterns of growth and changes of weather patterns etc that have gone on forever even before God created man. So let’s think about that for a moment to get your year started. Many religious groups (creationists) will argue that the earth is 6000 years old. I don’t agree with them nor do I know where they get that number. Other people, (the evolutionists) will argue that the earth may be at least as old as ten million years. I don’t have a lot of faith in that number either but will grant them their belief. The point is that whether the earth is 6000 years or ten million years old, it means that the earth has completed that same trip around the sun at 67,100 miles per hour without deviation for the entire existence of this planet. Now, (bear with me) add to this the fact that each and everyone of those years has had 365 periods of  planet rotation at 1000 miles and hour, again without deviation, for the entire existence of the planet. Explain to me how all of that perfection can happen without Devine intervention. Tell me how all of that perfection can happen by accident or as the result of a “big bang” out in the chaos of the cosmos. 

And you know what? That same God cares intimately about you. If you have not developed a relationship with God, please do so today. Peace