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...

Big sister

My Big Sister Is So Bossy She Says You Can't Read This Book...I think I should be giving this as a gift to my younger siblings. (that's all of them since I am now and will probably be for awhile, the oldest) I have discovered within the last few years that they all think I'm bossy and a 'know it all'. Funny, I have never viewed myself like that, so this has been somewhat of a shock. I'm not quite sure I can even over-come this view since it has taken more than 50 years to establish. When really I only spent 19 years with them as boss, or shirker of duties, or mean big sister. I really am not the same person that I was that many years ago. But my reputation is still out there and it's not appreciated any more today than it was then I guess. Where do I go to get a new image? Help!

4 generations

I have a picture taken in 1970 of my cousin and her young son, mother, grandmother and great grandfather...a 5 generation picture. It's been 37 years since that picture was taken and we haven't been able to replicate it. It's rare that you can have that many generations in one place together! Still, I feel really blessed to have this picture of 4 generations together: Great grandma H. Grandma K, Daddy Nathan and the two grandbabies Isaiah and Phinehas.

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD...Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

Klutz

So I'm sporting a whole colorful leg full of black and blue bruises, scrapes and cuts. At least I can cover them up with a pair of jeans. I remember as I sailed over the top of the bike handlebars thinking, "well, I'm going to remember this one" (as opposted to being knocked unconcious after the last one) I planted my face in the mud, my arms stuck out instinctively, had a bit of give anyway, because of all the rain. It could have been worse. The whole neighborhood could have seen me, but everyone was inside because of the rain. I sat there and bawled a bit, because, after all, it really did hurt! I had trouble sleeping that night as my shoulder, legs and arms were pretty sore. I'm on the mend right now and back to pedalling full bore down the street. Guess i should dust off that helmet again. Oh, and if you want to see my face print...it's still there in the mud next to the neighbor's garage.