It’s cloudy and cool (62) tis morning as Tuesday opens up to the world and becomes a brand new day. The rooster beagles are up and that means the world has to get up or pull the covers over your head. Sigh! But, I have enough stuff on the list to get done today that I need to be up with the beagles so they get a pass this morning.  (I SAID YOU GET A PASS! NOW SHUT UP!!!)

It has been and continues to be a busy few days. Sunday afternoon I talked to a parishioner about her mom. She and her sister left church before the service because they had gotten a call that their mom had taken a turn for the worse. I had just visited with her on Saturday and it was evidenced that her passing was going to happen soon. I made plans to go back to the nursing home on Monday. Well, yesterday afternoon the lady passed. She was 90 years old and a sweet lady. Her husband of 69 years was right there holding her hand. So, I went up and sat and visited with him yesterday afternoon for awhile. Last night I started working on her funeral service. It will be Thursday, I think. Thankfully, I had finished up this next Sunday’s service on Sunday night. 

So, yesterday morning, Ms. Kate and I “did a thing”. We sold her Cadillac back to the dealership. Actually we did that on Friday but we took the car to them and picked up our check first thing yesterday morning. We got a very fair price for it so we’re satisfied. We had gotten to the point that we just didn’t need a third car and it hasn’t had 2000 miles put on it in the last two years. It was becoming harder and harder for us to get in and out of it because of our age and health and the height of the car. And the Caddy got 23 mpg while the Prius gets 54 mpg. Old short people don’t do well climbing up in a buckboard wagon or an SUV. But it did look weird this morning walking out into the garage and seeing that little Prius sitting there instead of the Caddy. Maybe someday, if I ever retire, we’ll get us another Caddy. But then again, by that time, it could be that the only Cadillac I’ll ride in then is a hearse. Who knows what the future holds. Certainly not me. 

We also “did another thing” yesterday. We went to the appliance store and bought a new set of double ovens for the kitchen and a new refrigerator. The double ovens we have were put in when the house was built in 1977. The self-cleaning part has never worked since we owned the house and the thermostat was off so you had to kind of guess about your baking temperatures. Our refrigerator is maybe 15 years old and is a “side-by-side” which gives no actual space in the freezer portion. So, —— Merry Christmas to us.  And that is about when we will get the appliances. Everything is on back-order of course so we don’t know when we will actually get the new stuff. But we are told to expect the refrigerator in mid November and the ovens could actually be in December. 

Okay, we have more running around to do today, I have a funeral to finish putting together, and I haven’t started on the service for the 24th yet. I’m so far behind I think I’m ahead because i can’t see anyone in front of me. 

Go have yourself a blessed day. Give someone a hug today. You will feel better for it.  Peace. 

 I hope you will pardon me this morning but, I have a bit of a rant this morning. I know there is nothing you van do about the situation and frankly, neither can or should I, but I will feel better writing it and getting it off of my chest. 

I used to live in a quiet neighborhood. For twenty years we have lived in this house (hard tp believe) and it was peaceful. My yard is fenced in so there are no stray dogs running through my yard, although as you know I do have the occasional wandering neighbors cat that I have to pop in the butt to keep them from catching one of my Backyard Buffet guests. 

I told you that the house immediately behind me sold, and the first thing the new owners did was put up a six-foot privacy fence all the way around their back yard so that no one can look in. That’s okay, it is their property and they have a right to their privacy, regardless of how rude it might seem. I have introduced myself to the Lady that lives there one day as I was driving by the front of their house and she was out by her mailbox. I welcomed her to the neighborhood by explaining that I lived on the other side of her fence. She said they put the fence up because they have dogs. There-in lies the problem. 

 I don’t know how many dogs they have but I suspect there are two and they are Beagles, and Beagles, by their nature, bark —— a lot! Beagles bark at everything; other animals, sounds, smells, cars going by, hearing me walk in my yard —— they bark. They can’t see what they are barking at because of the privacy fence, so they just bark. And I doubt the owners even realize it because they both work. 

My neighbor to the north has a dog, Lilly. Lilly will bark when I go outside, if she happens to be out. But Lilly is just waiting for me to talk to her and pet her. My neighbor to the south has a dog, a huge one named Max who will occasionally bark and again I talk to it and he will come romping up to me for petting. The neighbor to my southwest also has a dog. But if it starts yapping, they will quickly make it stop. So it isn’t as if we have a dog free zone around here. And in all fairness, the beagles don’t constantly bark  —— just enough and long enough to be aggravating every day, multiple times a day. Neighbor Dan and I call them the “Beagle-roosters”, because they like to greet the morning.  

So, I guess my rant is that the new neighbors have shattered the peace and quiet of my neighborhood. It just seems very rude of people to move into a neighborhood, throw up a privacy fence so no one can see them, with a couple of dogs that bark all the time and the people have no regard for their neighbors. And. The real problem is that I don’t like them, —- and I don’t like not liking them because that makes me seem petty. So how did their irritating, barking dogs become my guilt??? I mean , what the heck???? Oh well, I feel better now that I have said it. Rant over ——- Have a wonderful PEACEFUL day. 

 Is it going to rain or is it going to just look gloomy? My weather app shows rain on and off again today and there isn’t a hint of sunshine so far today. The Backyard Buffet is certainly busy this morning with all variety of guests except for Stretch and Fat Bob the squirrels. One came through but didn’t stay which is fine by me. But I must have at least a dozen and a half cardinals out there. They are flitting from feeder to feeder and are also gleaning the ground too for spilled sunflower seed. I’m always glad to see them clean up after themselves but they become easy prey for the wandering cats. The cardinals don’t seems to be as aware of predators and they aren’t as quick to get away as some of the birds. That’s one reason I appreciate the squirrels being up in my trees. They are really good at sounding the alarm when a cat comes in the yard. They will sit up there and bark and chitter at them. I’ve seen that black cat go straight up a tree chasing a squirrel many times. I think were a battle to ensue, —- the cat would be the one to get whipped. Squirrels are just fuzzy tailed rats and they are aggressive and mean. 

Today is a better day than yesterday. Ms. Kate was sick all day, I assume from a residual effect from her COVID. Booster  that we took on Tuesday. I don’t think she ate more than a couple of bites yesterday. No matter what I offered to fix for her, she didn’t want it. She slept almost all day and then she slept through the night too. I was concerned enough that I brought my work upstairs to the kitchen table so I could keep an eye on her. I am so glad she is feeling better today. Hopefully that’s the last of the dang COVID crap that we have to deal with. I have heard that one of the pharmacy companies is coming out with a pill alternative to the shot. Anybody want to argue that the Pharms aren’t making a killing off of this whole thing????  Yesterday I heard a news report that some company has developed an Anti Malaria. Malaria is a major killer in Africa, especially of young children. Tis would be a major breakthrough if it actually works. But the catch is that they reported that the vaccine was only about 30% effective and requires four shots. Next though for Ms. kate and me is the flu shot but I think maybe we’ll try to do that one early in the week next week to give her time to get over any after effects from it. Although, we usually don’t have a problem with flu shots. 

Since I didn’t get out of the house yesterday, I need to go to the churches today and run the bulletins etc. I also want to go to Gibson General Hospital and see a parishioner  that is there for physical therapy from his hip replacement. So, I guess I better get myself busy. 

Have a great day. Stay in touch with the Lord. When you do, you are never alone. Peace. 

 Rainy, windy, 64 degrees this morning. Not the kind of morning that makes you want to run outside. It has been raining on and off, nothing strong, just enough to be uncomfortable. And with that —- Happy Wednesday. 

No, I didn’t write yesterday. Instead Ms. kate and I went to St. Vincent’s hospital and we got our COVID booster shot. We are well over the age of eligibility (65) and Dr. Jackson had advised us to get it when it became available. I guess it isn’t a big deal although I hate all of the hype that goes along with this whole situation. Hopefully this will be the last one although I’d bet a dollar to a donut that COVID shots are going to become an annual thing just like the flu shot. Which by the way,  I still have to schedule our flu shots. We have ben taking the flu shots for as long as they have been offered and I can’t think of a year that we actually got the flu since we started taking them. Yes, we’ve had a few colds over the years and the occasional virus but all -in-all we’ve been pretty healthy in that department. I don’t seem to have any after effects from the vaccine yesterday with the exception of a sore muscle where I had the injection. Ms. Kate, on the other hand says she’s feeling bad, says she is cold and having trouble breathing. But. In reality, she feels that way most of the time. So I don’t know if it is normal of shot after effects. 

Monday afternoon we went for a ride down in Union Township here in the county. That is the area where Kate was raised. It is “the bottoms” and goes along the Ohio River. It is all farm land and she loves going down there and reminiscing about who lived where and looking at the “old homestead.” Her sister like to do that too. Karen says that driving around down there is like being on another planet. I think the drive around the area is about 25 to maybe thirty miles and we only saw a couple of cars and only one farmer working the fields. We were able to just “mosey” along at 20 mph with the windows down and enjoy the warm day. I take her down there generally in the spring when the planting is going on and then again in the fall while the harvest is in progress. I can’t imagine why there were no farmers out working the fields. I guess that the fields are maybe 2/3’s harvested. That’s about the same as the guys up in Ft. Branch. They are about 2/3’s done too. The great news is that the crops have been really good this year and the prices have held up so far. 

The rain is back again. I don’t know if I’ll go run the bulletins today or not. We are supposed to have this kind of weather through tomorrow so maybe I’ll just wait until Friday to run them. Part of it will depend on how Ms. Kate gets to feeling. She’s my bulletin folder/stuffer in chief. 

I’m working on my sermon for the 17th and it is on Job. I worked quite awhile last evening and got very little done. That’s because I got wrapped up in my research and reading. The Book and story of Job is interesting, so much so that I ended up ordering  Biblical Commentary and Bible study on the Book of Job. I really needed something else to distract me didn’t I? But, if I find it interesting enough, I may do a Bible Study with the church on Job. We can never learn too much or delve too deep into our scriptures. 

Time to pack it up for today. Have a wonderful day. Peace. 

 Hello Monday. It’s great to see you back again. You are a nice looking morning. It’s sunny and 65 degrees this morning. My weather app says it is going to rain around eleven this morning but I don’t see a sign of that at the moment. All I see is a blue and cloudless sky. I can deal with that. 

How was your weekend? Our’s was good. We had our normal excitement stuff, you know like mowing the lawn, doing the laundry and of course going to church. I am agitated about one thing though. My “backyard JD” won’t start. I just spent $300.00 having it taken to the dealership and a servicing done on it. I had told them that it didn’t want to run when they picked it. Well, they had it a couple of weeks and returned it and I used it. It started right up. But, then I didn’t mow for a couple of weeks back here in the back yard and when I try to start it, it turns over, but it just won’t start. I don’t know what the problem is of course because I know nothing about combustion engines or mechanics in general. I have a parishioner who works at a different John Deere dealership. I talked to his mom yesterday and asked if he could maybe stop by my house sometime and take a look at it. I won’t take it back to my original dealership. I’ve said before that I don’t trust them and their customer service totally sucks. But they are local. In the meantime, I can slide one of my fence panels to the side and drive my other JD into the backyard and do the mowing and mulching. It’s a total pain in the wazoo but it works. i think I may just leave that fence panel open for the meantime. I will have to close it if Julie brings the pups over but other than that, it is no big deal. 

Church services went well yesterday, We are back to our separate worship services again. I really appreciated the churches allowing me to go the extra month with combined services. With the anniversary celebration at St. Lucas, it worked out well. Yesterday was World-Wide- Communion Sunday and of course we celebrated communion. We are still doing altar communion and I really like that. I think some do and some don’t. I know it is harder for some of our more elderly congregation member  to walk down the aisle but so far no one has complained. And it keeps us in a COVID-free mindset. My home church is still just using the refilled cups and it is so hard to get those things open. But, they served a purpose and still do if people want to use them. 

Time to wrap this up. I’ve been back and forth to it too many times. Now, I need to move on to something else. Have a a wonderful week. God has opened up a new chapter in the history of the world yet again today. Do your part to make the best of it. Peace. 

 A wet street with fallen leaves on it, a grey dull sky that is driveling a few rain drop, the neighbor’s deflated plastic Halloween yard decorations —- yeah, it looks like a fall day out there. But it is 70 degrees and will still climb a bit today, not that I’ll be out in it today. I have other things I need to get done, and one of those things is to reach over and grab that bagel and pop it in the toaster, and grab the Creme cheese. I do love my bagel and Creme cheese, I love them for breakfast or just for a snack. 

So yes, today is going to be a rainy day, although if it is going to9 actually rain it needs to do a bit more than it has done so far today. I was having coffee in the sunporch and I could almost count the rain drops as they fell. It certainly wasn’t bothering the guests at the Backyard Buffet. The place was full of cardinals this morning as well as several varieties of woodpeckers, goldfinches a few starlings, doves, hummingbirds, and of course a fat squirrel or two. It’s been a blessed morning out there. 

What’s on your agenda today? I need to go downstairs and finish next weeks sermon that I am working on. I have at least another page of text and a pastoral prayer to add to it. But my subject is good and I think it will flow pretty well if I just get down to it. If I get this one done, maybe I will start on the one for the 17th. I’m trying to think a few weeks ahead and come up with something to write for Advent and a Christmas presentation. So far I have been stumped. It does me no good to try to write a play because I have no players. But, I did have a a wonderful lady tell me that she would love it if I would come up with another something and that she would even take part in it. Of course, I can’t let that opportunity go by so I’ obligating myself to the task. But it is not easy. I’ve written several plays over the years that we have used at my current parish and at Zoar. I wrote a produced an Easter Play one year that they still talk about and that has been a couple of decades ago. But I think they talk about it because of the impact it made on the kids who participated in it. I still have \\\\\people tell me how much that play meant to them. But — I hope to come up with at least a dialogue for a couple of them to do. I just have to pray harder and let it flow and not force it. 

IT’s time for a fresh cup. Ms. Kate has headed to the sunporch to listen to the rain drops and I think I’ll join her. I wonder which of us will doze off first!!!!  Have a blessed weekend. Peace. 

Well, the morning is almost shot  It is 1130 already, and I just got down to my office downstairs. I was up early enough this morning to do a little more than I have but I tend to get distracted. I got my coffee and ent to the Sunporch and sat down. There were several cardinals a out there and I sat and watched them for awhile. The hummingbird is still jousting with the sweet bees for a position  or territory at the hummingbird feeders. The wrens showed up and they are always extremely cute to sit and watch and before you know, it, an hour or maybe two has gone by. 

Next, I decided to call my fellow pastor Al Schmitz. I caught him before he actually got too busy. He's a farmer and of course is in the middle of harvest; a harvest that is going extremely well for all of our local farmers by the way. But, Al was in the process of moving the combine from one field to another and has Blue Tooth connection on the machine so he can hands free talk. So we talked about our churches and how things are going in general. Al and his church have left the denomination over the liberal policies and practices of our denomination. Their explanation is that they did not leave the UCC, the UCC left them. I fully understand what he is saying. I feel it too but so far my parish is hanging in there, but if the denomination gets much more radical, well, ---- I just pray it doesn't. Unfortunately, I can see a path where the two churches decide they have had enough. But, Al and I had a great talk. Ms. Kate says I am worse than an old woman when I get to jabbering with a couple of my friends on the phone. LOL

Next it was time to shower and get cleaned up for the day and finally, I had to stop in the kitchen and divide that last piece of pie with Ms. Kate for breakfast. We had two bananas left too and I peeled one for each of us. They were perfectly ripe and ready to eat. So, I'm set until a mid or late afternoon lunch.

Yesterday we went to the churches and ran the bulletins and set the pulpits up for this Sunday. On the way up, we stopped at the local orchard and picked up a couple of bags of Golden Delicious apples so we can make a few more pies. Then on the way home we stopped at Dewig's Meat market and picked up a pork roast and some porkchops. I suspect I may be grilling some pork chops for supper this evening. I've been hungry for them. We have some sour-kraut left from the other night that would go good with the chops. I would say mashed potatoes but I want to wait and savor them with the pork-roast. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Sounds like we have Sunday dinner all planned. 

I also got my leaves raked in the back yard and got the front and back yard mowed. So now, I'm backed into the corner and I must make myself sit down and write a sermon. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Take time to stop, breathe deep, and give God thanks for another week of life and blessings. Peace.