The song, "Listen to the Rythmn of the falling Rain" is running through my head this morning as I sit out here. We are getting a blessed soaking rain which we really needed. It has been six weeks since our last measureable rain. So I'm going to sit here for awhile and just enjoy the sound. We are forecasted to get around 1.75 inches. We can use every bit of it.

Being glad about the rain for today is good. I don't, however, want rain tomorrow. I'm supposed to load the truck with furniture tomorrow morning to take to Julie's new home. So, I'm  hoping the forecast continues to be right and all of this will be out of here by tonight. We are just so excited for her and Jim. We are taking over a four piece bedroom set that had belonged to my mother. It isn't a great set but will serve them well in their guest bedroom no more often than they will have overnight company. It was the only set my parents ever owned, I guess, which means they must have bought it around 1940 or so. We are also taking over a curio cabinet that I gave to Ms. Kate back around 1985 or so. The tradition of living with "Early Relative" furniture continues on for the Heumann family. When Ms. Kate and I got married, we owned not much and what we did have was 90% destroyed in a car accident on our way to our first base. We initially rented a furnished apartment. Then we rented a partially furnished house. We even used orange crates for chairs in our little kitchen for some time, and had borrowed furniture from friends we made out in Yreka, CA. When my parents came to visit, we borrowed a couple of beds from the little Air Force Detachment where I was stationed.  They were not amused nor were they particularly fond of sharing in our "adventure". I guess one's vision is limited when you are only "looking down your nose" at people and situations.

Ms. Kate and I got all of the potted plants cleaned up, trimmed up, and brought into the sunporch yesterday. It's good that we did since it is raining today and we not only would have had to do it in the rain, the pots would have been heavy as the dickens to carry. I suspect the only one of my critter that will mind is the wrens who love to get down among the leaves of the plants and root around for something. But, it does change my view until next spring when the last frost should be over.

Thursday, we'll wait at Julie's until Josh arrives from Massachussettes, hug his neck, and then hit the road for our vacation. We need to make Asheville, NC by Thursday evening. Then, by Friday afternoon we'll be in Goldsboro, NC for a weekend visit with Lisa and her family; more neck hugging time.

A few birds have ventured out now that the rain has temporarily subsided. Even a squirrel came out despite the rain. Food is food I reckon. We have a lot of last minute stuff to get done, not the least of which is packing our suitcases and loading up the car. We have several things that we will be dropping off to Lisa so the car is going to be full between here and North Carolina.

I'm sending up prayers this morning for all my loved ones and friends. And, I'm selfish enough to save prayer or two asking for safe passage for Ms. Kate and I as we travel these next two weeks. My blogging will be sporadic for the next couple of weeks but check in with me. You never know what kind of adventures we may have along the way. In the mean time; may God bless each of you and pour His love upon you. Have a blessed day.

It's a very quiet morning out here this morning. The sky is overcast and it is 63* at the moment; no wind, no squirrels, and no birds. All I hear is the cricket somewhere outside the door. Maybe last night's celestial event  has something to do with that. We had a "Super Moon" along with what is called a Blood Moon, and a full lunar eclipse. The last time those thing combined was in 1982 and the bext time will be 2033. Assuming I'm still alive, I'll be 88 years old and most likely just won't care.

I was up at 0630 for "the morning trip" and decided to come on out here and start my morning cup of coffee. Yellow cat came through  but didn't stay which is good. I've started trying to run it off using the hose to get it wet. It was doing fine here until it started trying to snatch birds off of the bird bath. I'm afraid it will end up breaking a fairly expensive glass bird bath. So, it violated the rules and I'm voting it off of the island.

I think we might bring in some of the potted plants today or tomorrow at the latest. We are going to be gone for two weeks and could end up having first frost while we are gone. Mid to late October is generally the time for that. It will be interesting to see what the winter will bring this year; and believe it or not, we are only 90 days from Christmas. Hmmmm; at this late date how do I convince Santa that I've been good this year?? This could be a problem.

It was a "thin day" at the church services yesterday. Between the corn harvest, the bean harvet, and the annual Susan G. Komen "Race For a Cure" we had a lot of pur folks out. However, I didn't mind because the farmers were doing God's work bringing in the harvest that God provided and the folks attending the race were doing their part for cancer research and theere-by doing something for others. And the race has a worship service offered to start the day out. So it's all good. Speaking of all good; --- our annual Operaton Christmas Child drive is really going well. We have collected three large boxes of stuff already and have half filled a couple more. We will fill our OCC Shoeboxes come mid November and turn them in. In the past we have filled as many as 77 shoeboxes from the combined parish. What a great thing that is and it is a wonderful misson project. This project fills millions of shoeboxes every year to give to children around the world.

As I close this morning, I'm sending prayers that Byron has a good day and that he and Sheila can have a good quality of life together for the time they have left. So, I ask for God's strength and comfort for them. We also have several other people on our prayer list with cancer and I lift them up with prayers for comfort and peace too. That's why yesterday's Race for the Cure was such an important event. I also lift you up and pray you will have a most wonderful day. Peace!

A cloudy, cool, and windy Saturday morning greets me today. We have a very slight chance of getting a small amout of rain but not enough to talk about or measure. We could certainly use some rain but I suspect our farmers are jumping for joy because they are having perfect harvest weather. We are seeing some bringing in corn while other are already bringing in soybeans. Knowing there is no threat of rain should keep them from working at a desparate pace and working more hours a day than are safe.

Yesterday afternoon, Ms. Kate and I were sitting out here in the sunporch watching the birds etc and yellow cat came around to visit. It lay down out on the patio and watched the birds. We suspected it was in the area because all of a sudden the bluejay was raising a ruckus. Well, yellow cat was sitting there and along came a hummingbird and it flew right up in the cat's face and made it jump back. It was funny to watch. That cat never did try to bother that hummimgbird or anything else. I walked out there for a few minutes and cat came over and laid between my legs and tried to chew on my pants legs and shoe. It is very obvious that it is a family pet, but, I'll bet that family has some bite marks or scratches on their arms because it is a fiesty little thing.

Not much is going on out in the back yard today. We have maybe four cardinals out there  and an occasional finch or sparrow. My most frequent visitor this morning has been the wrens. There have been a couple of them flitting and hopping around here in and out of the potted plants. I don't know what they get out of the soil in those pots but they do seem to spend a lot of time digging around in the soil in them. Wrens have been known to build nests in our potted plants before and have even layed their eggs in there. They also tend to use the bird houses we have around here, especially out front. They seeem to like to eat from the feed cylinders the most. We have a few goldfinches here still but they are losing their color quickly which is yet one more indication that fall is here for sure.

I see a bit of blue sky breaking through so I expect our chances of rain are deteriorating rapidly. That will warm the day up as the clouds roll away. So, I reckon I better get on with my day. This is Saturday and that means tomorrow is a day of rest and worship. I hope you will take the opportunity to do both. Have a blessed weekend.

Sunny, sunny Friday has gotten here and the leaves continue to fall from the poplar trees. It looks as though I may have to run the lawn mower over the back yard again. Happy second day of Fall. I might as well get the rake out and pull the leaves out of the flower beds back her too. The south fenceline flowerbed is full and it is a beautiful day to work outside.

Yellow cat was here this morning first thing. It just kind of sat around watching the birds come and go at the feeders and the bird baths. Once in a while it would get up and get into a crouched position to stalk a bird, but then it would sit back down bored. As I've said, as long as it doesn't snatch a bird, it is welcome, other wise it will feel the ejection end of my BB gun.

I need to check the hummingbird feeder to see if there is anything left in it. Ms. Kate has some door decoration on a couple of the doors out here that are made of rubberized/jelled type of material that enables them to stick to the glass. They are translucent and the sun shines nicely through them. One of my buzzwings was just here examining them because they look like blooming flowers. So, I need to make sure those guys have food. I don't want them to break a beak trying to eat from something that isn't real.

I have an old Black and Decker leaf blower/sidewalk sweeper that I bought at a B&D outlet store down in Fayetteville, NC back in 1989. I think I may have paid as little as ten or maybe even twenty dollars for it at the time. It is called "The Broom" and has been out of production for years., but it has served me well for many years.  The 3.6v batteries were dead in it this year, and it took me some searching to find any at any store. I bought two, took them home and put them in the blower and it didn't work. I thought perhaps the batteries need charging before use.  Then, I couldn't find my charger for that kind of 3.6v battery and I ordered one off of Amazon, promptly got it and charged up the batteries. However when I put the batteries in --- it didn't work. I used the word "crap" over that situation a few times. Afterall, I had spent $50 on two new batteries and another $20 for a new charger and had nothing to show for it. So, last night I took the thing apart and fiddled around with the inner workings and low an behold --- I got it working again. I felt like a genius because I have zero mechanical skills and I have no idea at what point, I actually "fixed it". But it is working again and that is all I need to know. It is just proof that even a blind squirrel can find an acorn once in a while!

It is well time for me to get busy. I hope you have a very blessed day and are surrounded by friends and the love of God. Peace!

Thursday afternoon and naptime. So --- why so late you might ask. Well, this morning I was too busy pampering myself I reckon. We had early morning appointments for pedicures today. And, I will tell you, it feels rather indulgent to be sitting in a spa chair with the automatic back rub machine going up and down your spine and back while drinking your coffee and the young lady trims your toenails and massages your calves and feet and ankles. It is the absolute height of decadence in my world. It also keeps me from having to bend over my belly to do it myself. That's not fun at all.

We went to our local boat casino for lunch today and ate at Max and Erma's. We like their brat burgers and they have a new sandwich which is basically a cheeseburger or hamburger topped with a sunny-side -up egg. Ms. Kate orderd that and I had the bratburger and we split them and shared. Good stuff all around.

A phone call interrupted my blog writing so I took care of my birds before beginning again. I just filled the bird feeders and the bird baths. The bird bath they seem to gravitate to was next to dry either from the splashing or the drinking. About all that was left was some wet leaves in it. and yet the sparrows would go to that one instead of the pne that was half full. I think it might be an angle of the bowl and rim issue for them. The less used one is more decorative but deeper. I've been back in the house less than three minutes and there are birds everywhere coming for their evening feeding time which generally occurs from 1630 until 1730. I think I counted eleven cardinals bu it is hard to tell because they flit around from feeder to feeder so much.

Julie and Jim are now home owners for the first time in their life. They should be moving stuff in next Tuesday evening or Wednesday. Josh is coming in to help them on the 1st of Oct. (a week from today) and will spend the weekend helping Jim get the big stuff moved. I have a storage unit here with a bedroom set that belonged to my parents in it. We're debating when and how to get that over to them. It would have been so much better had the previous owners been in a bigger hurry to move out. I could have taken that load of stuff to them today or this weekend.

I had my annual physical yesterday and I'm glad to report that I'm good to go. If I was any healthier, --- you'd want to be me.  Of course, I could stand to lose some weight and I keep promising myself that I will. But, I also forgive myself for daily breaking that promose and telling that lie too..

Time for me to sit and watch my critters. The sun is going to reach that point in the sky where it smacks me right in the eye as I sit in  my recliner in about twenty-five minutes. So, I better enjoy the view while I can. Have a blessed evening.

Another happy Wednesday has arrived. I was up way too early today for no known reason other than maybe my brain just needed a coffee injection. The world is peaceful this morning with the exception of the clickity, clickity of the birds walking around on the sunporch roof. It sounds like an old time telegraph session going on up there.

It is 54* this morning and the sun has yet to crest my roof. Give it thirty more minutes and my yard will be engulfed in bright sunlight. I saw a picture on Facebook from my cousin Debbie of the sun breaking across their pasture and pond through the fog this morning over in southern Illinois. She has a great view to look at as she sits and has her coffee this morning too. Good morning Debbie!

We have several things on the agenda today. I have my physical this morning around noon. Then this afternoon we'll head to the church and do our bulletins and then stick around for choir practice this evening. The most exciting thing happening today though is that Julie and Jim are to close on their house first thing this morning. So, we are waiting to see how all of that went for them and whether or not the current owners have moved out yet or not.

It is interesting to sit here and watch the sun slowly devour the shadows that cover my yard. It reminds me of one of Stephen King's novels. "The Langoliers". In that story a group of airline passengers were caught in a dimension of some sort and everything was disappearing behind them. The rift they were caught in was the "passing of time" and as time passed, everything simply became dead and gone. So these passengers were in a constant panic to stay ahead of the point where they were consumed along with everything else. Watching the sunlight creep down my fence and across my yard is like that. OK, it's a little weird I know, but the book was good and I've only had one cup of coffee so far.

I'm glad to have my IPad keyboard working again. Yesterday as I was typing my blog something happened and I could no longer use it. It did nothing. So, I finished the blog using the IPad's internal keyboard. I thought perhaps the battery had died so I plugged it in to recharge it for several hours. However, that did nothing to improve the situation. But, if all else fails, read the directions, which I did and found out that it was a simple connectivity problem because somehow I had turned off the Bluetooth switch on the IPad. I love this external keyboard. It keeps me from having to hunt and peck with a stylus on the IPad.

The yard is getting brighter and the sun is adding to the brilliance of the red on the cardinals that are sitting at the feeders. It also shows me that most of the feeders are empty again as are the bird baths. Most of all though, it shows me that God has again presented us with a most beautiful day. There isn't a cloud in the sky and we are to warm up to 80* or so. As the sunlight floods the back yard; so my soul and my life is flooded with another day of God's blessings. It is great to be alive. I hope you have a most glorious day. Hug someone you love today. God put them them in your life for a reason.

Goldfinches, bluejays, and cardinals; I love the color variety of the birds that grace my back yard and feeders. Then there are the woodpeckers; three varieties, that come in routinely, all with drastically different markings and colors. On a normal partly cloudy day they all look great. But, when the sun pops over the roof on a bright day and highlights them, it is a beautiful sight indeed.

The hummingbirds are doing the dance again this morning. They buzz aroud each other, swaying this way and that, each in an attempt to get to the feeder themself while keeping the other one away. I can't imagine the energy it takes to be a hummingbird. Eventually, they will relent and seemingly take turns at the feeder and then it is right back at it. When I was out there the other day trimming out the last of the phlox, they were buzzing me. When they rest, they seem to find the tiniest if twig branches to sit on up in the trees.

I got much of my writing done yesterday but still have a few pages to finish. Unlike many of my fellow pastors, I can't just operate from a set of notes and do my sermon. I write my sermons out and read them. It isn't a great technique I know. But, my parishioners have been kind enough to not complain for the past eleven and a half years. I know a fifteen minute sermon takes at least four full pages of writing and I try to hold my sermons to fifteen minutes. It would seem that it would take a lot lesss than fifteen minutes to read four pages of dialogue, but it is all in the delivery, --- and the fact  is that I do add stuff as I'm delivering. I use the same sermon for both churches, but I guarantee you that on any given Sunday, they haven't heard the same sermon.

I've been surprised that my yard has not filled up with leaves again since I cleared it the other day. The wind has been much calmer these past couple of days. The yard has really gotten to a bland state as far as color is concened. Being a person who has a "green deficiency" with my color vision, most of what I see these days is just brown. A few red roses remain on the knockout rose and the geraniums still have a few nice pink blooms but that is about it. However --- I'll take the brown over the solid white alternative that we know will be coming soon enough.

The battery on my IPad keyboard has died so I guess that is my hint to abandon my recliner and get busy. I hope you have a wonderful day. If you happen to pass a rose bush today, stop and smell the roses on it. Take advantage of what God has done for you today and then reach out and lift someone else up. You will feel better for it.