filling up space

Blowing up several hundred balloons is a fun Saturday experience don't you think? That's what I spent part of the day doing...Fortunately not by hand. The invention of the air compressor was more wonderful than I ever could have thought possible. Even so, it was time consuming and hard on the fingers. Tying the knots was trying. My hands turned blue (the color of the balloons). It takes a LOT of balloons to fill up an empty space! More than I would have imagined. I'm sure the kids we're doing this for will love it, but will not in any way appreciate the amount of time and effort that it took. They will be done with them way quicker than the time it took, too. Ah well. Such is working with kids. Someday one can hope that they will learn, and say, wow, I never appreciated how much grown ups did for me when I was a kid. Ha!

Guests at the house

Well, as I told you we've been enjoying an owl family in our yard for the past several days. We made a startling discovery about them last night. It seems that they actually nested IN the house! Screech owls are cavity nesters. We made a discovery the other night when we noticed that the vent over the attic was gone and a gaping hole to the whole outside world was there. We could have squirrels or bats or any other kind of creature up there. Hmmm. Ron fixed it last night and when he shined his light inside he discovered a big nest! Owls. No one was at home and he proceeded to take the nest out and put the vent back in. The owls had fledged anyway and they had no doubt enjoyed a warm, dry nesting place. They had probably made sure that no squirrels or bats had taken up residence. So for that they were more than welcome! They were not too messy and they were certainly quiet. Good guests. (I guess) see more here

Owls and fireflies

For the past 3 days we have been enjoying an owl family in our back yard. We have the parents and four babies fluttering around our backyard pine trees. The neighborhood birds go crazy when they're around so we know about when to look. Babies sit in the tree and bob back and forth. Parents flutter around encouraging and trilling. We've decided that they're Screech owls-an owl that generally lives in town. It's a thrill to watch them.

The fireflies are out and about, too. So you can tell we've been sitting outdoors on our back deck taking in the summer.

light the fire

Sundays have come to be fairly self serving. Since there's a 'no work' policy in place here, it seems it's a "what can I do for myself" but not be work policy instead. So, let's see: sleep in late (7 am) read the paper, an hour or so of church (habit), take plenty of naps and, there, I've filled the "Keep the Sabbath" rule. I think I'm getting cynical or something in my old age, but I'm coming to realize that this somehow isn't quite what the rule was in place for. Sure I need the rest physically, but even more than that I need to rekindle-spiritually. I need to lay to rest the worry that is dogging me, to refire the zealousness that used to be mine at the beginning. I am in a major state of burnout and I need more fuel for the fire that's there. So for everything I "do" today I want it to be that my heart and mind focus on my creator: ride my bike? so that the wind in my face is a reminder of the fresh wind of the holy spirit. Nap? that the power of his spirit is present whether I am asleep or awake. take a walk? that every step I take should be steps that draw me closer to Him....refiner's fire, my hearts one desire is to know you...