Monday morning and it is going to be a hot and sultry day. The heat index is supposed to reach 105 degrees today, yuk! I'm writing to you from the Deaconess Surgery Center waiting room. Ms. Kate is scheduled for a cardio-vascular Doppler test this morning. It shouldn't take a long time to do and is totally non-invasive. They are just checking her blood flow. This appointment is a follow-up to one she had some months ago. That one came back good but we don't take chances.

Today is the day of the "Great American Eclipse". We are going to have a total eclipse of the sun today around 1330 hours. Evansville is in the 90% zone and the area for totality for our region is about eighty miles south of us. The news is showing that the interstate south of us is bumper tpo bumper traffic with people trying to get to the "zone of totality". The actual time span for totality is only about a minute and a half also the duration from beginning to end is about two hours. It --- the nation is going silly over it. I understand part of the excitement because celestial events are something thata I love to watch too. But -- I'll be satisfied to stay home. The sky will get darker for a bit, and then it will get bright again. I heard last night on the news that if a person uses their phone and turns on the camera so that they are taking a picture of themself, it is said that they can watch the eclipse over their shoulder.

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Ms. Kate finished up rather quickly and we went to Denny's for some breakfast. I love their strawberry and crime pancake breakfast.  Now we are back home and Ms. Kate is folding laundry. I had started a couple of loads this morning before we left. She and I routinely share doing the laundry. I've been doing laundry since I was a young kid. I remember when I was real young we had a wringer washer with a dual washtub set up in the basement of the house. There was a clothesline down there that we hung the clothes on to dry during the winter and we had a triple clothesline setup in the back yard that my father made out of pipe. That's where my mother hung clothes until it got so cold that they would freeze on the line. I remember thaat you had to be careful when feeding the clothes through the wringer or you could get you hands and fingers caught in the wringer.

We attended a very good church service yesterday. We went to Crossroads Christian Church. I'm not crazy about the praise and worship music that they do. There is no recognizable tune to follow and they repeat the same phrases over and over. But the sermon was dynamic. I told Ms. Kate that I admire people that can stand there and preach like that; seemingly without notes and so at ease and enthusiastic. It's not an ability that I have; but --- I thank God for allowing me to share The Word with my style for over a decade.

Time to move on to other things. I pray your day will be filled with joy. I pray for those who aare having a rough day today and I also pray for all of the travelers on the road today who have ventured out to areas to witness the eclipse. Until next time --- Shalomn.

Saturday afternoon and Ms. Kate is sitting her in the sunporch with me. She is busy making Christmas Cards. I think she plans on making all of our cards again this year. She does such a great job making her cards and I love it when she even makes my birthday or anniversary card. Me. ---- I hand write a note to her that says "I love you", and that is about as talented as I get.

We spent the morning at Raben Tire and Service having new tires put on the Cadillac. What with new tires on both the car and truck this week and buying a new IPhone, I have spent some money this week. But --- my spending comes in spurts like that and then I don't buy anything else for a long time. Oh --- and let's not forget the cost of a root canal and crown in the past two weeks. Yikes. I may have to go back to work so I can afford Dairy Queen or Cold Stone Creamery stops.

Yesterday we met with our good friends, Bob and his daughter Brenda for lunch at St. Joe Tavern and Inn. The waitress knews that when the four of us show up, she automatically starts two orders of deep fried mushrooms. They make the best around. We sure miss Ms. Georgia Ann at the table but are thrilled that Brenda encourages and brings her dad. It seems to be helping him return to some semblance of a new-normal now tat Georgia Ann has passed away.

After we had our lunch, we went to sister-in-law Karen's house and watered her plants and garden for her. She is in Vegas for a few days and she always looks after our place when we are gone so it is the least that we Cana do for her. She had asked me to picked the produce in her garden and I did. --- Anybody need eggplant????? She only has four plants but they are overflowing with eggplant. I don't know what we are going to do with it. One can eat only so much eggplant Parmesan.

The blackbirds and starling have certainly gotten the word that the buffet was refilled yesterday. I filled fifteen of my twenty-one feeders and today I have birds everywhere. Some one must have "tweeted" the news. (OK, even I know that was lame.)

That's it for today. I pray you will have a wonderful Holy Spirit filled weekend and arrive at Monday ready to take on life. Until then; ---- Peace.

Happy Friday morning! The sun is shining and Ms. Margaret's lawn crew next door is busy after it already this morning. Actually I can't call it a crew today, it looks like the dad is out there by himself today since his boys are obviously back in school. But he is knocking it out pretty darned fast. It iss a pretty easy mow. There isn't a lot of flowerbeds or things to mow around. A couple of weeks ago they trimmed up that flowering crabapple tree so now they walk under it with hitting their head on a bunch of branches.

I told you that I might not get a chance to write yesterday and I didn't. I did get to Sam's to have my truck headlights lens buffed out and treated. It only cost $40.00 and they look like new. I'm anxious to see how much brighter it will be at night. They advertise that it will improve vision by 50%. That would be good because my night vision isn't as good as it used to be.

Ms. Kate and I cleaned up the electric bird bath yesterday. It had really gotten gnarly and it took a lot of scrubbing to get all of the stains out of it. But -- it is beautiful this morning as it glistens in the morning sun and it has had several visitors too. Of course we don't plug it in during the summer but it is really a lifesaver to the birds during freezing weather. I absolutely must fill all of the feeders today. I've let everything get empty of sunflower seed and of bark butter too.  And the starlings and blackbirds have moved to someone else's yard I reckon. Of course if I fill everything up today, by tomorrow afternoon they will all be back. It's a game we play I think.

Today we are meeting buddy Bob and his daughter Brenda for lunch. I'm going to cut the okra when I finish this and will take the okra to Brenda. I don't have a lot but it will make a nice mess of fried okra for her and her husband. Ms. Kate sometimes fries up okra for us but mainly she uses it in vegetable soup.

Buzzwing, the hummingbird is busy out here this morning and at the moment I have several bright yellow goldfinches at the birdbath. It is amazing how God just drops those little blessings in on ya' unexpectedly. That is just one of the myriad things that makes me enjoy life so very much. And, --- I'm so grateful that I have finally reached a point in my life where I take the time to recognize the blessings that God send constantly. Maybe it takes getting old to make you slow down and look around. I'm not so busy working and worrying about making a living and putting everything else first before God these days. I think I have always been "aware" of God's blessings but I haven't always just stopped and given proper honor to God for them.

Time to get ready and start my day. Have a most wonderful day. I'm including you in my prayers today. I hope that knowing someone has included you in their prayers will make your day a bit better. Peace.

Good morning on this hot and sultry Wednesday morning. It's eighty degrees already and the humidity is in the "very humid" range. But the cicadas seem to love it as I can hear them out there in the trees doing their summer thing. They have been here for a couple of days now and I suspect I'll be hearing them for about another week or maybe even two. The forecast calls for scattered storms today to bring down the humidity and heat just a little. Generally by Wednesday the weather folks are looking at what the weekend will be like but this week all the talk is what is it going to to be like on the 21st of August. On that day there will be a total solar eclipse and people all over the country are getting prepared to watch it. I think here in Evansville we are supposed to be able to see about a 90% eclipse. Ninety miles south of us it is supposed to be 100%. I guess if it is a cloudy or rainy day, it will just get dark for a while, I don't know. I hope to observe some part of it because there will not be another one in my life time.
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 Did you miss me? It is now Wednesday afternoon. I had gotten an offer for a free entree' at PF Chang's with the purchase of one and that is pone of Ms. Kate's favorite places to eat. However, it is east of Louisville, KY, 125 miles from here. But -- we are retired and wild and crazy so up and drove over there for lunch. We added to the pleasure of the trip by also picking up a "to go" order for Julie who lives and works in New Albany, IN just across the river om Louisville. After we ate we took her her order so she can have it for her dinner since she has to keep her store open late because the college kids all move back to campus tomorrow, and she runs the college bookstore. It was a very pleasant drive over and back and always good to see one of our girls when ever we get the chance.

It never did really rain yet today and it is really hot and sultry by this afternoon. But, we won't be going back outside except for me to get the trash cans to the curb.

My afternoon crew of buffet visitors are here now; a few cardinals and finches and a squirrel or two. That is about all. The birdbath is a popular spot as I would expect it t be. I'll be late writing tomorrow, if I do write. I have to take the Dakota in for the cleaning of the headlight lens. So, until next time, have a Holy Spirit evening and take the time to give thanks for your blessings. Peace.

Tuesday Afternoon and I'm just getting around to writing my first blog of the week. Part of the reason for that is that we have been busy doing some things around here that needed doing. Yesterday we did some shopping and took Ms. Kate to the doctor to get her poison ivy infection treated. They gave her a prescription for some strong creme and it seems to begin having some good effect. It certainly got nasty and whether it was poison ivy or poison oak --- she is certainly allergic to it.

Today we took my truck to Sam's Club for new tires. The tires on it were the original tires put on by the manufacturer ten years ago. I still only have less than 44.000 miles on the truck but the tread was below the "Lincoln Head" test on a penny and frankly they might have started to dry rot by now. So, I put new shoes on Big Red. On Thursday I'm taking the truck back to Sam's and having then refinish the headlight lens. I told Ms. Kate it will be like having Big Red's cataracts removed.

Sunday we went to church at our home church and the pastor gave a great sermon. The service was held in our outdoor chapel and during the service, Pastor Art was holding his Bible and giving his sermon and a butterfly landed on his Bible. I thought it was an awesome event.

I've been having a hard time putting my thoughts together about an incident that happened in Charlottesville, VA on Sunday. A large group of Neo-Nazis and white supremacists  were holding a demonstration in the streets. They were carrying Nazi flags and shouting their particular brand of hate speech. They were allegedly protesting the removal of statues of Confederate War Generals. Then another large group of demonstrators charged them with clubs and iron pipes etc and a huge violent demonstration broke out. At some point, one of the white supremacists got in a car and drove into the crowd and killed one person and injured 23 others.

The President of the United States has since been under fire for not "immediately condemning" the white supremacist. Instead he came out and said there is no room for hate and violence of any kind in our society and that there is blame for this incident to be shared on all sides.

My take: ---- First of all, I hate the thought of anybody marching and chanting hate and crap under any flag, let alone a Nazi flag. We had a world war  to stop that. I don't believe in White Supremacy and actions that support it. On the other hand, I don't believe in counter-groups like "Black Lives Matter" because I don't believe that black lives matter any more than any other color of people. I believe that President Trump is correct; there is blame for every side and this country will destroy itself if we don't learn that fairly quickly. I found it also repulsive that reporters wouldn't even let the President finish his statements without shouting interruptions because they didn't like the words he was using. What happened to common decency and respect for the office?  No wonder he calls the reporters "fake news" because they twist every word he says.

As I said, I have no room for violence  and hate and repugnant behavior such as destroying personal and public property. There is a proper way to handle all of these issues facing our country. Unfortunately,  we have a generation and a half of people that refuse to be held accountable for anything and believe that they can hide behind mob violence.  If they were willing to be held accountable for their opinions they wouldn't be out there with their face covered so no one recognized them. This happened from both the Left and the Right sides of the political stream. Just because your side loses an election doesn't mean you now have the right to reject the election by violence.

Let me step off of my soapbox with this. Prayer, kindness, peace, love, caring about our neighbor, respect for life and other people's opinions and property, and open dialogue have to become the watchwords of this nation. I bid you peace my friends. If you disagree with what I have said today, I'm okay with that. I will still love you and I will still pray that God gives you a boatload of blessings each and every day.

Sunny Saturday, yay!!!! It is beautiful out there this morning. I can already hear lawn mowers running in yards around the neighborhoods. Folks are maybe wanting to get their yard work done early so they will have the rest of the day to do other things. We need to do some running around today too. We did go out yesterday for lunch and then to a grocery to pick up milk. Today though I need to take the truck to Sam's and maybe buy new tires for it. Sam's is running a bit of a sale on them, so we'll see what the damage is going to be. I need to get tires for both vehicles. My truck is a 2007 and this will be the first set of tires that I buy for it. No more than I drive it, I don't need to go real expensive. So, I'll most likely get Goodyear tires for it. The Caddy on the other hand will get Michelin.

We also are going to buddy Bob's place this afternoon. He called and said he had tomatoes for us. We have a few here that we have raised but his are so nice and so good and he is willing to share with us. In return, we area going to take him a couple of quarts of Ms. Kate's vegetable soup. I'm told that he has lost a good deal of weight since Ms. Georgia Ann passed away and we want to keep him healthy. I know his daughter brings him food but left on his own, I'll bet he just eats sandwiches. I only say that because that is probably what I'd do.

We went out to that new (old) tavern for lunch yesterday. I told you about it. Well, the food was "Okay" but not worth the drive all the way out there just to eat. If we happened to be geocaching in that area and got hungry --- yeh, it would be alright.

It rained most of yesterday so we limited our stops. So today we also need to pick up the sunflower seed for the birds, and I may go ahead and get a new IPhone today. I did stop at the AT&T store and check them out and I liked what I saw. The new IPhone 7plus fits in my hand nicely and has bigger number for me to use when I need to type on it.

But, I'll not get any of this done as long as I sit here drinking my coffee and watching cardinals on my feeders. So, I hope your day is blessed. I hope you have the time and opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ with someone today. Until next time --- Peace.

Welcome to Friday and all that a weekend has in store for you. It is seventy four degrees this morning and cloudy. I just checked my radar app and there is a large mass of green just west of the Illinois border and it is heading this way. So, we'll be getting some rain fairly shortly I reckon.

First of all, let me thank you for your prayers for my granddaughter, lauren. Her mom sent a picture of her last night and she at least is able to smile, even if her face is a bit distorted from the swelling. It looks like maybe she won't have a black eye. Lauren was still woozy and incredibly sore, (all to be expected according to the doctors) but she's up and walking around which is great. I give praise to God who obviously protected her. The number of falls and scrapes and breaks she has had over the few short years of her life are bound to take a toll on her at some point. Her body is going to feel old at twenty four at this rate. But --- she's tough and determined and I just pray God will always hold her in God's hand as she flies through the air jumping from one hill to the next at high speeds.

Speaking of feeling old --- I'm having a hard time getting moving this morning. Ms. Kate was up way early today because she was restless and I'm just the opposite. I got out of bed and went to find her, saw that she was fine and went back to bed for another half an hour. Then I came out here tot he sunporch and promptly dozed off for another ten minutes or so. I think my eyelids are rejecting the day for lack of sunshine. And --- there isn't a lot going on in the back yard this morning either. One squirrel is out there and a couple of finches. That is about it. Maybe we all have the snoozes today.

We need to do a little running around today and pick up some stuff. I need to get a couple of forty pound bags of sunflower seed; my can is about empty. We need to go to Target and pick up a few groceries and maybe to the Farm Bureau Co-op and buy a little turnip seed. And then I think maybe we need to find a new (old) tavern and have lunch. I love country tavern food. I read about a place last night and the reviews say it has really good food. We have been by that place several times over the years but never really thought about stopping there. For you locals who might read this, it is St. Phillip's Tavern. If Ms. Kate is up to the challenge, we'll try it. I'm much more bold about trying new places than she is. I'd stop at a truck stop for a meal in heartbeat; but Ms. Kate, --- not so much. I always figure the worst that can happen is we don't like it and don't go back. The best that happen is that it becomes a new favorite place. Life is all about the journey.

If the weather holds this Sunday we are supposed to be having church in the outdoor sanctuary at Zoar. I hope it will be a nice day; I love to worship out there.

That's it for today my friends. Stay in touch with God today and know that God is ever present in your life. Take advantage of the blessings that you are being provided and share them with others. Never forget that you just might be the helping hand that God is sending to someone in trouble. Reach out and share your love. Peace.