Bright sunshine is flowing in through the windows of my sunporch this morning. It has already warmed the atmosphere and it is going to be a beautiful day. A little later I’ll be outside trimming back the peonies that I never got around to earlier. That is an end of September job but we were out playing with the buffalo and peonies were not on my radar of things to do. I also need to mow the front yard and drive around over the dang mole trails that are going through my front yard. I‘Ve had a mole once in a while in the past but this year this guys seems to really be aggressive and I have runs all over the yard. It is quite frustrating.

As I sit here having my coffee and listening to an Andre Reiu CD there are maybe six cardinals out there at the buffet with their bright feathers glistening in the sun. What a wonderful sight.  I’ve had the full range of my normal guests out here this morning. They come in and grab a bite or two and then they fly out into the fire bushes or trees for cover; then they come back in for another bite or two. It is just so enjoyable to watch.

Tonight is my 55th year high school reunion. It hardly seems possible that it has been that long but then, Ms. Kate and I have been together that long, conting our four years of dating. I wrote on my Facebook page that when I was a kid in high school, I had a five piece band and we would play for high school reunions etc and laugh at all of those “old farts” out there dancing. Now we have joined the Old Fart ranks. I know we have lost a lot of our class over the years and I suspect before we see a sixtieth, we will have lost a lot more. Life does go on and death is part of the rotation. I haven’t attended very many of the reunions. The first few are typically so obnoxiously boring with everybody trying to impress with their success. Then we were gone away from home and in the military for 32 of those years. But, by now most are retired and “what we were — is no longer what we are.” Now adays, I think we get together to compare medical plans and prescriptions. I’ve never been big on reunions because frankly I didn’t have that many friends in high school. I had a lot of acquaintances and people who knew me because of my music, but I never had any what they call today a BFF. And — while I can talk a lot, I’m not really very good at holding a conversation beyond the mundane. So, we’ll go tonight and we’ll hold some polite chatter, and leave early. Boy, that all makes me sound like a real “Dickie Downer” doesn’t it?  I reckon it’s why I love the solitude of my sunporch and the peace of life just basically being Ms. Kate and me. And frankly, there is nothing wrong with being all alone in a crowd and just enjoying watching and studying the people around you.

So, it is time to get off my chair and accomplish something today. I pray your weekend will be full of God’s peace. Shalomn.

Welcome to a blessed, bright new day, and a Friday the 13th at that! Does it being Friday the 13th bother you? Do you have superstitions about it being a bad luck day? I’ve never had any problems with this day on the calendar and I think we generally have maybe five of them a year. I’d say the worst part of Friday the 13th was the horror movie by the same name. I never quite understood how the main character of that movie allegedly drowned as a child and yet “came back” after years of being dead as an adult unkillable killing thing. But then I never understood its rival movie, “Halloween” either or the character from “Nightmare of Elm Street”. But, I went to see them at the time.

Yes, I missed another day of writing yesterday. I had an email/coupon from P.F. Chang restaurant yesterday that was good for one day only that was a buy one entree and get another free. Well, since that is one of Ms. Kate’s favorite places to eat we decided to go there for lunch. The only drawback is that it is on the other side of Louisville, KY —- about 125 miles from here. But — going to Louisville takes us by Julie’s house and work and we had a couple of things to take to her. So, we went to lunch, called her while we were there and asked her if she wanted us to pick her somethiing up for lunch, which of course she did, and then we took her lunch and the items that we had for her. We visited with Julie for a few minutes and then made the 125 mile trip back home. By then I was past being ready to write a blog. But, we had a great day and a great lunch of crispy honey shrimp and fried rice. And, — that is the kind of “day trips” Ms. Kate and I love to take.

The back yard buffet is full of customers this morning. I had a flock of starlings in here for awhile. They ate, they fussed at one another, they took baths and splashed water everywhere and they vigorously guarded their territory for awhile pecking at other birds that came on to eat. But they left and then came on the cardinals and finches, and chickadees, and woodpeckers, titmouse, wrens, doves, sparrows and a mockingbird. The only one missing today is the hummingbird. But as it warms up a little, they too could show up. So far the squirrels haven’t returned since I filled the feeders and that is fine by me. I feed will last a day or two longer. I need to go to Pet Foods and pick up another forty pounds of sunflower seed. I’m pretty sure I’m now over 800 pounds of sunflower seed for this year so far. The price has been holding steady at $18.00 for a forty pound bag so at least it doesn’t kill my billfold when I go in there. It’s all of the other fancy stuff that I buy at Wild Birds that makes my wallet try to seal itself closed.

This coming Sunday we have a “reunion” type of day at the church with a potluck meal. We hope to have a lot of members from the past and pastors from the past show up. My old friend Rev. Don Bernhardt will be giving the message. Don was pastor at Zoar for around fourteen years and he baptized my daughter Heather. I think he may have confirmed Julie too but I’m not sure. Too many years and too many places go through my mind when I try to remember.

I hope your weekend is filled with joy and blessings. I hope too thaqat you take time to give thanks to God for those blessings. While you are praying, please include all of the people affected by the horrible wild fires currently burning in California. The death toll to date has reached about 50 and there are currently 600 people unaccounted for. Between fires, floods, and hurricanes, and the terrible mass shooting in Las Vegas; we have thousands of people suffering devasting losses and pain, and they need our help and they need our prayers. They need to know that they are not alone in their grief and fear, and sorrow.  If you see an opportunity to help — please do. It is what Christ calls us to do.

Have a blessed day.

Cool and cloudy, 53 degrees this morning. It is going to remain like this all day although the temperature may go up another ten degrees. It’s all good though because I really need to go do some work in the yard today. Yesterday was pretty muuch a washout and we had other things to get done. I know I told you about our problem with the washing machine. Well, I called a repairman and $143.00 and a new switch later, the washing machine was working fine. I was impressed that they could and did respond that quickly. Our washer and dryer set were new back in 2001 so I was concerned that we might need a new one. But our repairman said it was an easy fix because out set was built when they were made to last. I’ve some of the prices on new ones and I hope ours lasts a long time yet. I’ve also stood next to some of the new ones and there is no way we “vertically challenged” people could get the laundry out of some of those top loading ones.

I filled the five bark butter feeders yesterday so my woodpeckers are happy with me as are the darn starlings. Today I will get the sunflower seed feeders all filled and then the whole gang can be happy including the fuzzy tailed rats. I see a couple of squirrels over in Margaret’s trees but they haven’t come over here because they know I haven’t filled the feeders yet. But, they are watching and waiting, and they will be here as soon as I start filling feeders.

We thought maybe the hummingbirds had moved on by now but yesterday afternoon we had one or maybe two out there at different times. One came to the door and was hovering and looking in. I thought it was nice of it to welcome us back home. There isn’t much left of the flowers at all for them to go to so I need to make sure we have food for them until they leave and move on to Arizona or wherever they go for the winter. I get amazed everytime I think that these tiny guys fly hundreds of miles to stay for the winter and then fly back up here for the summer. The minute details of God’s handiwork just never cease to amaze me. I think if someone said to me that “there is no God”; — I would simply say to them, “Then explain to me the lifecycle and colors, and migration habits of a hummingbird. Explain to me how and why it flies; and explain to me how all of that is “just an accident” of nature.”

Speaking of God; (which I often do), let’s take time today to pray for those folks in Southern California being hit by the wildfires. Our daughter Heather and her family live the next county over and they are hoping for containment soon. And — while you have God’s attention, let’s remember to pray for all of the folks in Texas, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, and other places affected by this seasnon’s hurricanes. And let’s remember to pray for this nation and the leadership of this and other nations to pull us back from the brink of war. And let’s pray for the people of our country that we can come together with a sense of unity and love instead of division over seemingly insignificant stuff. We have a lot to pray for and we are asking a lot of God. But God created us and only God’s love, mercy, and grace will sustain us. I fall back to the words in John 3:16; — “For God so loved the world” and I trust that God will continue to love the world and allow us to not just survive, but thrive.

Peace my friends.

Tuesday morning and I am sitting in the best recliner in the world, the one in my sunporch. We got home yesterday afternoon and as John Denver used to sing; “It’s good to be back home again.”. Our vacation took us right at 3950 miles and as I have previously said, we saw an awful lot of beautiful  country. It would be hard to pick out a favorite sight. Yes, the Grand Teton Mountain range is awe inspiring; — but so is the cardinal that sits on my bird bath every day. It was an awesome experience walking out of my quarters on FE Warren AFB and seeing five antelope laying out by my car.  But it is an awesome experience watching the hummingbird as it come to feed at my feeders and dart among my flowers. It is so peaceful to stand in the forests and listen to the wind in the pines and the rushing water in the streams; but it is also peaceful to simply sit and listen to a songbird out there on the limb of the Pussy Willow tree. The bottom line is that we can experience God’s handiwork at any place and at any time. One only need look and listen and open our eyes; and God’s beauty is always right there.

It is a warm kind of rainy morning and the bird feeders are empty and I have zero guests in the back yard as would be expected. After all I suspect they haven’t had food here for at least a week. However, I’ll go out there, fill those feeders, and I’d bet there will be birds on these feeders within the hour after I feed them. I’m glad I stocked up on feed though before we left.

Ms. Kate started the laundry this morning and the wash cycle went fine. However, — something has gone wrong because it wont’t go through any of the other cycles. So now it is sitting there full of water and dark clothes and we are now waiting on the repairman to come this afternoon and fix it. We can’t complain, — we bought that washer when we moved here 16 years ago. This is the first problem we have had with it. I’d hate to have to by a new one. I can’t believe the prices they get for new appliances these days.

I have a lot of leaves to rakes and blow off of the patio and sidewalks but it isn’t near as bad as I anticipated. It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow so maybe I’ll run the lawn mower over the back yard tomorrow. Yardwork gangs up on ya if you don’t stay on top of it.

I guess I better get busy with the things I need to do today. I hope your day brings you joy and happiness and if it does, — please share it with someone. Peace!

Sunday evening and I know it has been a few days since I wrote my last blog. I make no apologies though because we have been having a wonderful time on our vacation. We have  seen such wonderful beauty in God's perfect nature. And we have learned things as we drive along and stop and look at things. I wish I knew how to incorporate some of my pictures into this blog but, I have put many of them on Facebook and maybe folks are tired of seeing them anyway.

Thursday we crossed the Teton Pass over to Jackson, WY and drove into the Grand Teton National Park. One of the things that "grabs " you first about gong from Driggs, Idaho is that to get to Jackson you go through the Teton Pass. The road is a 10% grade which is pretty darn steep. And, it is also a narrow road with few guardrails. I guess the good news is that it is only about twenty miles long and we only had to cross it three times. I'll admit thought that even though it was a bit of a "white-knuckle" drive, it was beautiful. And on one of the trips we saw a moose.

Grand Teton National Park is maybe one of the most photographed park in the country. We had to the opportunity to go to the Chapel of the Transfiguration. It is a log chapel built by the Episcopalians and there is an altar built in from of a picture window so what you see is the cross and the mountain range in the back ground. It is indeed inspiring. I had been there maybe 60 years ago and it is as inspiring today as it was then. From there we went on to see Lake Jenny which is also absolutely beautiful.

Friday we took off from Idaho and headed out for Cheyenne, Wyoming. I had made reservations for us to stay in the Distinguished Visitor guest quarters  on F.E. Warren AFB at Cheyenne. FE is the oldest continuous operating military installation in the U.S. It is a missile base but began as a cavalry post was active during the "winning the west". One of the amazing things that happened was that I went out to my car at around 2300 hours to get something and as I walked out there were five large antelope laying out there about 15 feet away from my car. They just basically ignored me as I rummaged through my car and went back to my quarters. It was a neat experience.

Yesterday we drove from Cheyenne to Saline, Kansas which was about 550 miles and a very long day. By the time we got in, we were bushed. Today we made a short day of it and drove only as far as Columbia, MO. True, we could have driven another 250 miles and been home tonight but it is storming at home and by tomorrow we should be driving home in sunshine.

As I have said, it has been a wonderful vacation. I know not everybody has the opportunity to take a trip like this but the truth is that in order to find the wonders of God's world we don't really have to travel 4000 miles like Ms. Kate and I are doing. I see God's wonder as I set and look out my sun porch which I look forward to doing come Tuesday morning.

In the mean time, I pray your days will be filled with God's blessings. Peace.

Wednesday afternoon and we are in Driggs, Idaho. Our drive today was a relatively short one and it was a nice drive. The weather today thought has just been one weird thing after another. We were woken up this morning with a thunderclap that literally sounded like it was in our room. I got out of bed and looked out the door and I see one dark cloud mostly passed over us and all else is sunshine. It was cold out side though. I closed the door and we got up and slowly begin to get ourselves ready to pack out for the day. The next time I opened the door, it had snowed. The parking lot and the cars were covered but it was melting rapidly. So, we checked out of West Yellowstone and then headed on down to Driggs. We went through a couple of “snow showers” but most of the time the sun was shining or at least it was partly sunny. We stopped and had our lunch and then came on over to the Teton Valley Cabins to check in. It was sunny when we checked in and it was sleeting/raining when I went to bring in the suitcases. Then just like that it was sunnny again. It has been like that the rest of the day.

Tomorrow we plan to go see the Grand Teton mountains from the Wyoming side and if we have time, we want to go see an Elk Refuge that is over around Jackson. We learned about that place from the lady who is in the adjoining cabin.  It sounds fascinating.

This vacation has been a real chance to be in touch with God. We’ve seen the natural wonders of the earth such as geysers and waterfalls, and forests. We’ve seen many of God’s creatures up close such as elk, massive buffalo, lots of wild turkeys and deer and chipmunks and birds. I wish that everyone could do this type of vacation. The Holy Spirit would fill their heart with awe and joy. Ms. Kate and I both feel so very blessed.

Having said all of that, it will, as always feel great to get back home and back to my sunporch so I can watch my critters at the backyard buffet.

Until I write next, I wish you peace and joy in your soul.

I hardly know what to write tonight. I opened up my computer this morning to the story that ws rocking the country about the mass shooting in Las Vegas, a city we love and have lived in. I think tonight the number of killed rests at 59 and the number of injured from either bullets or being trampled by the horrified masses of people stands at over 500. I can sympathize but not understand or comprehend the panic and fear and horror of the crowd at the moment. Nor can I begin to understand the sadness and despair of the families of all of those victims. I can’t even begin to imagine what must occupy man’s mind to make him purposely plan to assassinate as many people as he could; people who were simply enjoying a concert in the warm night air. What would make a man work for four days carrying weapons and ammunition up to a hotel room with no other thought than murder on his mind? And — for the victims and their families — there will never be closer because the coward killed himself rather than be taken by the police. So, there will most likely never be an answer. I can at this point, only pray for the souls of the deceased, the families of and all of those injured, and for our nation as a whole.

On the other hand, I say I don’t know what to write tonight because Ms. Kate and I continued on our vacation and saw some absolutely beautiful scenery and buffalo, and elk. We crossed though snow covered mountain passes and down into beautiful green meadows, rushing streams where fly fishermen fished for trout. It was a constant reminder of the glory of God Almighty.

If I might ramble here for a moment, here are some of my thoughts. I have no doubt that Satan grabbed the mind of a man in Mesquite, Nevada this past week and convinced that man of something that required him to commit mass murder and destruction. But God was there too. God was with the hands of the first responders who saved more lives than were lost. God was with the police who were able to find the gunman before he could do even more damage. God has been in the hands of the doctors and nurses all day today and the hundreds of other unknown heroes who helped people escape the carnage and gunfire. Satan controlled one man and caused a lot of damage; but God protected 22,000 others and walks tonight in hospital rooms and with grieving families. And God was on the mountains with us today providing living proof that while some people may do evil things — God’s world is not evil. As Linda Randall sings, “The God of the mountain, is still God in the valley.”  God was in both places today, and I give God praise and gratitude. Peace.