I think I got lost somewhere. Here it is, Tuesday afternoon and I'm just now getting around to writing a blog entry. I happened to think about it this morning as I sat down with my cup of coffee and couldn't remember if I wrote yesterday or not. So I checked and sure enough, I had not. But then I had to get ready and head out to an all morning meeting with the clergy circle. I might have blown it off but it will be the last one that  attend so I didn't want to miss out on it. And, I'm glad I went since there were so many that didn't come today for various reasons like funeral etc to do.

Ms. Kate and I had several things on our list of errands yesterday, not the least of which was a major shopping trip to Walmart, having lunch out, and doing the laundry. I never cease to be amazed at how we can go in to Walmart for a "few" things and have to hand the clerk over $200.00 before we can leave. Part of that because we had to pick up a bunch of meat which always raises the bill, but will keep us eating at home; the other thing we did wrong was to go grocery shopping when we were hungry. We should never do that because stuff that looks good just keeps jumping in the shopping cart. The next thing you know, you have a cart full.

The weather continues to be wonderful and I should be out there doing yard work and I haven't been. I still have peonies to trim off, lilies to deadhead and the garden to clean up. It is time to pull up the tomatoes and put away the tomato cages. Since it is dry, I also need to go get a scoop of horse poop and put on the flower beds. And I should go ahead an till the garden for winter. Just too much to do. I keep telling myself that next year I won't have to work so I can get to all of this stuff but the reality next year I won't have an excuse to put it off.

I've talked to my daughter Lisa concerning the leftovers of  Hurricane Matthew. The water is still high and the rivers are still rising. She says she thinks they are to crest this afternoon. It is effecting their business because they are having trouble getting parts for the cars that Gary has to work on in the shop. And it is having the same kind of effect on her other job. But, they are safe and that is all that counts. Granddaughter Amanda ended up with the motor of her car under water and will need a new motor. Again --- at least they are safe.

That's it for today. I hope your evening is a peaceful one. God's blessing to you.

One just never knows about us two. Some days we are just dull and don't do much of anything and other days we are totally random. Yesterday we ere random. I finished my blog and went in an checked on Ms. Kate who was working at her desk. I mentioned to her that next week is our Heumann Family Reunion over in Giant City State Park, at Carbondale Illinois. I suggested that perhaps we could go the day before and spend the night at the Harrah's Casino in Metropolis Illinois which is some what close to Carbondale. She countered with --- let's just go today. So, she made the call and got us a room for free, I packed an overnight bag for us and away we went. The drive over was perfect and weather was wonderful and it was a good trip. We got back home around 1300 today.

We've been anxiously watching Hurricane Matthew. It has by now passed most of our Florida friends and some of our South Carolina friends. But daughter Lisa and family are in the brunt of it today. She has had 10 inches of rain today and it is still pouring. I just looked at her weather radar and they are in for an all-nighter yet. So far they have lost one pine tree and another is leaning severely. The one that fell though "fell-perfectly" and the other is leaning in the right direction too. They just had I think nine of those tall pines removed from their yard and a brand new roof put on. Any one of those nine could have taken out the house. This thing is still headed north and tomorrow will affect my granddaughter Lauren and her dad. She is in Maryland for a Motocross race that is supposed to happen tomorrow. We will see if it actually does. So many people have lost their life in this thing and many more have lost everything they own, especially in the country of Haiti.

My daughter Heather just told us that three police officers were ambushed today in Palm Springs, CA by a mentally disturbed guy. Two officers have died and one is critically wounded. The shooter was mentally disturbed and said he wanted to go out and kill police. His father was the 911 caller. So much sadness in the world, and in this country. So far they haven't captured the shooter in this incident.

On much happier thoughts and news --- tomorrow morning i get to do an infant baptism. I am really looking forward to it. I guess it is kind of a cycle completion event for me. I confirmed the dad, I married the couple, and now their child will be my last baptism of my pastoral career. I find that very neat.

Ms.Kate and I need to discuss what's for dinner so I'm getting off of here. Please keep our country and its people in your prayers. We need the calming grace of God in our lives. Go to church tomorrow and sit with a friend or make a new friend. Share God's love and peace.  Shalom.

Friday at last??? Yeh, I know I missed out on Thursday. But, I was a bit occupied yesterday. But today looks a lot better. It is going to be another beautiful day full of the Lord's wonderful sunshine. I think the temperature is going to the mid eighties today.

Yesterday started off with my annual physical with Dr. Jackson. As I told Ms. kate, sign me up for the Kentucky Deby cause I'm healthy as a horse. When you can go for a physical at seventy two and yur only complaint is a skin rash, --- life is perfectly blessed. Oh sure, I could stand to lose some weight but other than that --- my asthma is under control, my high blood pressure is under control and my cholesterol is under control; and my PSA was only a 1.2 which is super.

Yesterday afternoon Ms. Kate and I had to go to the church to finish up running the bulletins for Sunday. We also wanted to go to Princeton, IN and attend the Women's Guild meeting. I had asked the ladies if I could come to the meeting and share communion with them. Several of them had not been able to attend church last Sunday when we served it and this gave them a chance to have communion. So, we did that and had communion with a dozen people. I really enjoyed being able to do that.  

I've been watching the coverage of Hurricane Matthew. What a devastating and powerful storm. The country of Haiti, which was already still a long way off from recovery from the earthquakes that hit them several months ago got pounded again by this hurricane. I think at last count there were 348 fatalities in Haiti. Now it is running up the coast of Florida to Georgia and South Carolina. I've heard of one death so far in Florida. I certainly lift them all up in prayer and would ask you to do the same. We have several friends in Florida and South Carolina that are in the path of this thing. So far as I know, they are still safe. I don't know if they evacuated or not as I have only seen sporadic posts from them on Facebook. Again, prayers are in order.

That is my post for today. I need to decide what I am going to do today and get on with it. As lovely as it is, I can't just sit here. As I look out the porch I can see that I need to clean bird baths again and fill a couple of feeders. So, I guess I maight as well get on it. Have a blessed Friday. Peace.

It is Wednesday afternoon after a busy morning. In about an hour we need to be at the churches and get our admin work done for the week; running the bulletins, setting the churches up for Sunday services, and the sticking around for choir practice. Such is life for a couple more months anyway.

As I told you, I had a funeral to do this morning. It was fairly well attended; maybe fifty people or so. That isn't a bad attendance for a ninety seven year old person, especially one who has been in a nursing home for several years. But, this lady was still fairly active and the family was well liked. There were several people there from her church, (well, actually it's also my "home church" too)  that I knew. The family was very satisfied with the service which is my goal everytime I do a funeral.  But --- today was a first for me. I had done almost all of the service and was down to the Benediction. The entire time I was standing there doing the service, there had been a couple of gnats flying around my podium because I was standing next to aa n arrangement of lilies. Just as I opened my mouth to give the benediction --- a danged gnat flew straight into my mouth and throat, causing me to choke and gag!  I overcame it but my voice through the benediction sounded like I was choking, which I partly was. I have never had anything like that happen before and I hope not have it happen again.

We went to the funeral home yesterday afternoon for the visitation. We had thought about going to the Fall Festival and grabbing something to eat but there we're literally thousands of people already there and we didn't want to have to go find a parking spot for five dollars somewhere and then get in the middle of all of those people. One of the things I wanted was a kuchen from one of the booths. Well, the church that was selling those is less than two miles from my house and on the way to and from anywhere we go. I texted one of the folks I know front that church and asked if they were selling the kuchen at the church too and he said yes. So on the way to the funeral this morning I stopped and picked up a cherry kuchen and a couple of cinnamon mini-kuchens from the church. I tried one of the mini-kuchens when I got home and I thought it was just what I wanted it to be.

Ms. Kate and I did make it to the movie last night and watched The Magnificent Seven with Denzel Washington. As I told people on Facebook today, it was a great remake film and I think much better than the older version. I'll buy the CD when it comes out and watch it again a time or two.

I just finished my nap and Ms. Kate is now awake from hers so I guess we better think about putting myself back in gear and getting busy again. It's not too late to wish you a good day though and that is what I do. Have a peaceful evening. Shalomn.

Good morning on this bright and brilliant Tuessday morning. It's 67 degrees so some of you will want to put your light sweater on, but you won't need it for long. We are going to move up to the mid 70's today and that is a perfect fall day.

I have a couple of things on the agenda for today. One of the first things though is to fill some bird feeders again. The hummingbird has been to the door and is looking in at me. That tells me its feeder is empty and I better be getting some more made up. My sister-in-law's hummers will actually peck on the window when her feeder gets empty. How did we get to be their servant?? But looking around I can see that at least four of the other feeders need filling. I don't have a lot of birds here this morning; mostly cardinals. Their main feeder has safflower seed in it and they really seem to like that. The good thing is that so many other birds don't like it.

I have to be at the funeral home at 1400 hours today to meet with the family before the official viewing begins. I finished up the funeral service writing last night and I think it will bring the family comfort. After we finish at the funeral home we'll walk around the block and get us some fall festival food. It should be past lunch time and before kids get out of school. Maybe we can slip in there between crowds. There was local television coverage about the Fall Festival last night and the place was packed. It always is on opening night because people are just so anxious to get there after a year's wait.

This evening I think we will go to the Royal Suites for the 1830 showing of The Magnificent Seven. It is a remake of a remake actually. The movie was originally from Japan and was called The Seven Samurai. That was I think in the early 1950's. Then in the early 1970's it ws made as a western starring Yule Brenner. It will be fun to watch the new version I reckon. Besides, The Royal Suites theater has recliners for seating and they serve dinner along with meal.

Tomorrow morning I have the funeral to do, then in the afternoon we'll go to the church and run bulletins and then stay for choir. Ms. Kate has a doctor's appointment while I'm at the cemetery so she will miss the funeral. I was wondering what we were going to be doing on Thursday but that question got answered last evening through a text. I have my annual physical on Thursday morning. I still plan to go to the nursing home on Thursday afternoon and serve communion to the ladies of the Women's Guild. The Guild has gotten down to about four or five members and they are all in their late 70's and 80's. The one member is a resident of the nursing home so they meet there. It is wonderful that they do that for her.

The cup is empty and I need to be moving around and getting a couple of things done including getting dressed and feeding those silly birds. I hope your day is full of God's blessings and warm thoughts. God loves yu and I pray for you. Peace!

What say we start a whole new week and just make it the best we can? Sounds like a plan to me. I know it is going to be a busy one for Ms. Kate and me. Today doesn't have much on the agenda out side the house but I have a funeral to put together today and I think Ms. Kate is going to be working on greeting cards. Tomorrow will be funeral visitation. Wednesday will be the funeral and a doctor's appointment for Ms. Kate. Thursday I guess we will run the bulletins and I need to do communion with some parishioners. That will get us to the weekend again. Time just kind of zips by one event at a time.

Maybe tomorrow afternoon we will have time to walk over from the funeral home to the Fall Festival and pick us up a llittle festival food. This festival is the second largest street festival in the USA, second only to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The big difference being that our festival is totally a family affair. The street is lined for about six blocks on both sides with food booths. It is the major money maker for all of the non-profit organizations from the area. Some run food booths, others simply rope off their parking lots and charge for parking. At the far end of the festival is the carnival rides where tweenagers and teenagers have been going for years with their girl friends and boyfriends trying to win prizes and having fun. The entire affair is run by an organization called the West Side Nut Club and the money they rake in goes directly back into the west side community. There will be talent contests, entertainment from local bands, and the finale' is a parade. It is Americana at its absolute best. We've known people who take a week of vacation and eat every meal at the fall festival.

It is a beautiful morning. It's sunny and 67 degrees and not going to get much warmer than that. Too bad I need to spend the day down in my office. But --- that's the job. The funeral is for another lady from my home church. She was 97 when she passed and I have known her almost all of my life. How can I say "no"?

Church services went well yesterday  and we had a fair attendance. There must have been a couple of reunions or something going on though because we were missing a couple of entire families.

Well, I have enough work to do that I need to make this  short today. I pray your day is as bright with the Holy Spirit as the sky is out side my windows. Take time and look around you. God created a wonderful world and you are one of the special creatures God created. Take the hand of the Master and walk in peace this week. C' ya' !

Saturday, October 1st! Wow, this year just keeps rolling on doesn't it? It looks like an October morning out there. I took the mail out to tthe box and the air is damp this morning. It is 62 degrees and just a tad foggy. Everything is wet this morning out side because apparently it rained again through the night at some point.

The backyard guests are here; plenty of cardinals and finches and a couple of downy woodpeckers.  The hummingbird is busy. I think we may be down to only one again. I haven't seen any aerial battles the last couple of days between hummingbirds. It is possible that the others have already migrated to warmer climates. I can't say that I would blame them for getting started. Most of our hummingbirds allegedly migrate from northern Mexico and Arizona. I find that fascinating that they do that twice a year. I think that would be the equivalent of me walking to Russia twice a year. God's creations are amazing. I watch a lot of National Geographic and Animal Planet shows and I'm amazed at the migration of the animals in Africa. For a thousand years or more, these animals have walked the same paths, crossed the same rivers following the rain and the grass. They cross the same streams where the crocodiles have been waiting for centuries. God certainly created a wonderful world. I just hope man doesn't destroy it completely. Where there were thousands of elephants there are now only hundreds due the destructive and greedy nature of mankind. But --- everybody and everything is safe here in the backyard unless a hawk or a cat comes through. Heck, I don't even mind the possum that comes here at night at all because they will kill the voles that like to come out at night as well as other things. I'd prefer the skunks went elsewhere but they don't bother much' and I certainly don't bother them. As I have said before, my only concern is that when the girls bring their dogs here that they will run into one of them when they are let out at night to pee.

I don't think we have much on or "to do" list today. I know we are going to Target and do a little shopping. We have a list of things that we have been putting off going to the store for simply because we didn't want to go shopping. But, I think today is the day to get it done. Maybe this afternoon we'll catch up on some of the shows we have recorded. We also have several movies that we have bought and never watched. Kind of silly of us, isn't it. And there is a movie on at the Royal Suites Theater that we want to see, so that is a possibility too. One just never knows what we are going to do. I should maybe go down to my office and start putting together the funeral that I have to do next week, but I can do that tomorrow afternoon and Monday. I need to take advantage of having a day off before I retire and don't get anymore days off!

That's it for today. Time to refill the coffee cup and check on Ms. Kate's coffee cup status to see if she need a refill. I hope your day is fully blessed. Take time tomorrow or today and attend your church. Gathering as a congregation to give praise to the Lord just adds volumes to the experience. And --- if you don't get there; know that I have prayed for you. Peace.