SPLINTERS

I think my posts will be short for the next several days.  They are never earth-shatering anyway.  I am still stuck in the house.  I have plenty of food, but no milk for my coffee!

I am making progress in ambulating around the house.  Sometimes I forget about what I am doing and let out a few ouches and yelps.  However, it is amazing what you can do by just standing on foot.  Tomorrow I will try to get in and out of the shower.  Theses hit and miss sink baths just don't do it for me.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

The Dr. said that it would take 6 to 8 weeks for my foot to heal.  Well, I have a medical bulletin for him.  There is no way that I am going to be stuck in this house for that long, even if I have to slide out the door, down the porch and into my van...on my fanny.  So there. medical maniacs.

+++

 

LET US THEREFOR

COME BOLDLY

UNTO THE THRONE

OF GRACE,

THAT WE MAY

OBTAIN MERCY,

AND FIND GRACE

IN TIME

 OF NEED.

 

 

Hebrews 4: 16

 

We all have our times of troubles, ups and down, pain and sorrow.  I have had a few, as has probably most anyone that reads this post.  I turn to a Higher Power.  Even 'though I am hard headed, stubborn and willful, somethings must be left up to the Lord to solve in one way or another.  I just hope I don't get to many splinters in my fanny.

 

END

A rolling cart

OK.  This my mantra;  Better every day; Better and better in every way.  Or...if you don't use it, you lose it.  Or "With God all things are possible."

Today I have been having slight chill now and then..  I won't take my temperature-I don't want to know.  I have a deep bronchial cough.  The Doctor gave me notta.  I have a small pharmacy in my med. cabinet.  I am doing far better with simple aspirin, but I know that I will not be out and about this week-end.  No church.

Also, "Where there is a will there is a way."  I am using a rolling cart for support on the left side and a cane on the right side. I hope to be up and "at em" by this time next week.  The rolling cart is good for transporting dirty cloths to the washing machine, too.  It just won't fold for me!  Well, that's OK.  I can fold standing on one foot.  Look! I'm a stork!

Again, this a short. There really isn't much to say or write about when your confined.  This just isn't going to last long.  I won't let it.

+++

 

EVERY GOOD GIFT

AND EVERY

PERFECT GIFT

IS FROM

COMING DOWN

FROM THE FATHER

OF LIGHTS

WITH WHOM

THERE IS NO CHANGE

NOR SHADOW OF

ALTERATION

 

James 2: 17

 

God doesn' change.  We do.  Try to change for your betterment and the betterment of all you see, speak to or interact with.  Not easy as it is the road less traveled.

 



End

Dr. Dr. You don't know...

Again I am posting a short missive.  I spent most of the day "out."  I was at the outpatient clinic for several hours.  Then to the hopital for x-rays.  Then back to the outpatient clinic for the Dr. to do nothng.  What does he know.  He told me to stay off my feet for 6 to 8 weeks.  Right.  Like that's gonna happen.  I don't  suppose he is going to come cook for me, wash my cloths, go shopping for me and  do all that needs to be done.

After I got home I went to bed.  I really had to.  Sleep is my best medicine, esp. when the Dr. give me nothing for the pain.  So, I will be "in" for six to eight weeks.  No, I  Won't.  I will keep sliding and rolling along with my office chair.  It has wheels!  Yea for wheels!

This a very non-informative blog.  Maybe in a day or so I will do better.

 

+++

AND SO,

AFTER HE

PATIENTLY

ENDURED,

HE OBTAINED

THE PROMISE.

 

Hebrews 6: 15 

.



I too, shall endure.  Sometimes we have very little choice and must accept whatever comes our way.  I accept it. That doesn't mean I am going to like it.

I am going back to bed because it is the best place for me.

END

IS IT THIS OR IS IT THAT?

This a very short post. Here is the reason why.  I was picking pears from the tree in the back yard.  I had a big bag full.  I went back out to pick some more.  A low branch swiped my face as I was reaching up for more pears.  I lost my  balance and down I went.

At this time I can not bear weight on my left foot and it is painful and puffy.  I have been sliding and hobbling around with great discomfort.  I am having a hard time getting to the bathroom and it is one of my favorite places.

I can't get to the phone without difficulty and pain.  In the morning a friend is coming to take me to get my little foot/ankle checked out.  In the meantime I have taken a half tablet of Hydrocodone and am going to bed.  I will not drink any fluids as it so difficult to get to the b.r.

So here is the deal.  Don't call.  I will call the right people at the right time.  So, it a broken or is it a bad sprain?  I don't want either one.  Come help me pick pears!   LOl's!  Waaa!

THE LORD TOOK HIS EYES OFF ME FOR JUST ONE SECOND AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED! AND THAT IS ALSO HOW QUICKLY WE CAN FALL FROM GRACE,TOO.   IT ONLY TAKES A SECOND

END

IT RAINED AND RAINED SOME MORE

It rained and it rained and it rained some more.  Good.  We are about 14 inches below normal.  We will probably get more rain as the hurricane comes inland and up into the Ohio Valley.  While a deluge will be bad in other places, it is just what we need in mid-America.

This day I have a headache.  It is probably caused from the changing weather and humidity.  My sinus are misbehaving, too.  I will accept it, because we need whatever rain and moisture we get poured down upon us.

OK, I stayed in where it was nice and dry.  I didn't get much done again.  Washing and drying cloths is no big accomplishment in the greater scheme of life's achievements.  Especially as I remember how my mother had to heat water on an old wood stove and scrub cloths out on a scrub board.  Now, that was an accomplishment.  Mothers seldom get credit for their hard work.  It is just "expected."

As I do have a headache, I will wind this up and go to bed.

The following is from the daytime prayers of the Liturgy of the hours.  Read it as you will.

+++

Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak; for a man's anger does not fulfill God''s justice.  If a man does not control his tongue imagines that he is devout, he is self-deceived; his worship is pointless.

James 1: 19b, 20, 26

 

 

The very last four words have me wondering.  Is worship ever pointless?  Is there not a small glimmer of worth in a vain person's prayers, public or private?  I think of all the real, last moment conversions of body and spirit, and of the thief on the cross.  If I....or  anyone, worships with conceit, self-imagery of importance, lack of apparent verbal discipline or anger, does that mean that his/her worship is without merit..value...pointless? I think that anytime someone can give GOD praise, it does not fall on HIS deaf ears.  There is always hope for true atonement for the spirit to ignite, flare and become a light in the darkness, leaving the ash of a former self behind.  What do you think?



END

GOT PEACE? SEEK PEACE.

I don't know what the weather is going to do and really don't care at this point.  I went ahead and mowed the backyard "just in case."  I don't go by predictions anymore because I can predict that they will be 99% wrong

It was hot and now it has cooled down.  I like the cool nights.  I sleep better.  I don't look forward to "cold" weather, but I can deal with it.

There are a lot of outdoor tasks that I would like to get done if the days were just a little cooler.  These are jobs I have put off all summer because it was too hot.

The farmers are bringing in the corn now.  This the earliest harvest on record.  The crops are down, but I think they said it was worse in 1971.  I don't remember that far back!  We survived and will again.  It just drives the price of food up and we will survive that, too.  Families will have a hard time, 'though.

As I stayed home and minded my P's and Q's I really am void to thought, deed or news.  That's what happens when you stay in and I don't watch a lot of TV.  It is so boring or so violent.  Not good like it was in the '50's and 60's and even into the '70's.  I need a couple of good books.

The library is offering free language courses and I am thinking of singing up for one.  Lets see...what will I take, what will I take.  Oh, I know, English!  Better yet, spelling!

OK, enough drivel.  I am tired and want to go to bed "early."

+++

 

I WILL BOTH

LAY ME DOWN

IN PEACE,

AND SLEEP,

FOR YOU, LORD,

ONLY

MAKES ME

DWELL IN SAFETY.

 

Psalm 4: 8

 

Can you say-pray- that?  Do you believe that?  I do.  There is so little peace in the world these days.  We need the peace and security of a loving God.  Oh, I know.  You will say what about those that die through the violent hand of man, or of hunger or disease?  These conditions have existed since Cain bashed in Abel and will do so 'till the end of time.  Christ wants us to rise above and beyond these human failings that plague us.  Seek peace and you WILL sleep well and be refreshed.  Christ never raised a hand to his fellow man.  We should not, either.  Seek peace.

 

END

 

 

 

 

 

LIFE'S LITTLE CHALLENGES

I don't know why I am still yawning.  I overslept this morning and my watch stopped.  I certainly put in enough hours of sack time.  I just made it to church and my hair was still wet in the back from my shower.  Still, I did get there.

I am going to bed early...well, early for me, anyway.  It just seems that occasionally I must sleep, whether I intend to or not.  Nature just takes over and sleep, I must.

This has been another day that has gone astray for any number or reasons.  I guess I will have to gather up all these good intentions and lost opportunities and lock them up in a suitcase, a closet or stuff them into a little box.  I will keep the keys 'though.  I might need to retrieve and salvage all the best of these high ambitions and lofty intents. I just hope I can remember where I stash all of them  away.

+++

 

HAPPY IS HE

WHOSE FAULT

IS TAKEN AWAY,

WHOSE SIN

IS COVERED.

 HAPPY THE MAN

WHOM THE LORD

IMPUTES NOT

GUILT

IN WHOSE

SPIRIT

THERE IS

NO GUILE.



 

Psalm 31:1-2

 

How many...besides me, of course, have these times when you think you will accomplish deeds and activities, and find that nothing you plan turns out to be God's plan.  I have learned to take it as it comes and not to stress out over the things that I can not change and try to live accordingly.  And I don't look for challenges.  They seem to find me.

 



 

END

 

 



GLORIFY THE LORD

This day kind of got away from me.  I have been on the phone a lot due to an illness in the family.  I also went out late to look around the new store.  I was a little disappointed in the new store.  It's OK, but it could be better.

So, I have not really thought about this blog at all.  Nothing springs to mind that I want to write about. Which means that this will be a short blog.

I just finished up a load of cloths.  Pretty late in the day, but it is done and they are dry.  As I didn't get myself off to mass today I guess I better make up for it tomorrow.

+++

 

CALL UPON ME

IN THE DAY

OF TROUBLE:

I WILL

DELIVER YOU

AND YOU SHALL

GLORIFY ME.

 

Psalm 50: 15

 

Yes, most of us only call on the Lord in times of trouble, distress and need.  We are thoughtless creatures, aren't we, only thinking of how to worm our way into God's good graces.  This day, I call on the Lord, not for my sake, but for the health and welfare of my brother...his needs and intentions...and for all those who suffer in sickness, pain and deprivations.  Heal them all, if you will, Lord, that they may glorify Your Name.  Amen.

 

 

END



TWO DEAF-MUTE MEN

I want to tell you a story.  This a true story.  It is in essence a little miracle story.  It can be read as modern parable in a small sense.  Here goes:

Once there was a young woman who had several small children, including a small baby.  One day she went outside to hang cloths on the clothesline to dry. She had her small son with her, but he slipped back into the house and locked the door and she couldn't get back in.

The small boy had a fascination with matches and fire.  He set the house on fire.  Being just a small boy he didn't know what to do and his mother tried, but couldn't get back into the house.  Of course, she was frantic and the situation was beyond her control.

Two men were working in a field nearby.  They looked up and saw the fire and smoke.  They rushed to the burning house and were able to gain entry.  They were just in time as the flames had spread to the couch where the baby lay sleeping.  They were able to save the baby and put the fire out.  The two men were brothers.  They were deaf mutes...both of them, but God directed them to look up from their work at just the right moment. 

The reason that I know this to be a true story is because it was my own mother.  The sleeping baby was my sister who married, raised a family and now has grandchildren.  The boy was my brother.  He had this love affair with fire.  Later he set another fire and set the sandbank and brush on fire.  He was finally cured of his penchant for fires after he dropped a burning match into a kerosene tank.  The fumes exploded backwards and he was badly burned. It was his last experiment with flaming matches.

 I met the two deaf-mute brothers when I was around 13 or 14.  I didn't understand why my mother treated them so nicely and with such respect.  Now, I do understand.  They were in the right place at the right time and looking up from their work, gave my sister a chance to grow old and my brother another opportunity to learn that if you are not very careful you will burn your fingers badly.

I don't know all the pertinent details of that fire.  I can't ask as my sister was only a small baby and my brother is deceased, as are my parents.  I only know that it is a true story...no, not a story, but an incident of many years ago.

The reason I tell you this story is because everyone has a value, a worth in God's eye.  We may not know our value or worth, but God does, and that is why He put us here.  He uses us to glorify His name.  Those two brothers certainly did live up to His expectation in that instance.


We are like those two brothers in many ways.  The difference is that we do not always follow the path that He has set us on for one reason or the other.  We have a choice in picking the direction we want to travel.  Still, the choices we make may be exactly the options that God wants us to chose in life.  There may be times that we run out of options, make the wrong turns, or just plain get run over by a Big Mack Truck, so to speak.  God only knows what He wants and has in store for us.  Sometimes we need to take a deep breath as we walk the road less traveled.  We need to see, to hear and view the world in a new way.  We should try to look upon our neighbors, brothers and sisters with corrected lenses.  No, I don't have all the answers and I often make detours, but I keep moving along and pray that you do, too, and that I don't trudge along by myself.

+++

 

O LORD

YOU HAVE PROBED ME

AND YOU KNOW ME;

YOU KNOW

WHEN I SIT,

AND WHEN

I STAND.

YOU UNDERSTAND

MY THOUGHTS

FROM AFAR.

MY JOURNEY

AND MY REST

YOU SCRUTINIZE.

WITH ALL MY

WAYS

YOU ARE FAMILIAR.

 

Psalm 138: 1-4

 

END

 

 



A day to make the whole world glad

Well, I wouldn't call this a lazy day, but I have been out most of the day and didn't get home 'til about 3 P. M.  by that time I was ready for a good nap.

I went to the Red Lobster with a friend and we over-ate.  It was an all you can eat shrimp promotion and I love shrimp.  My friend had salmon, but we both needed to be rolled out of the Red Lobster in a wheelbarrow.  It is a good thing we don't do that too often.  It was good.

Tomorrow I need to get serious about a few things around the house and do another load of cloths, do some vacuuming and go to the store to get some minor things.

A new grocery store is about to open here in town and that is good.  Our grocery store is owned by Food Giant and there just isn't any competition.  Maybe the new store will help lower some of the prices on food.  It is called Rule and I know they have stores in other areas.  And we are about to get a new restaurant called Tokyo.  That might not be a good thing for me as I know that I will just have to go and try it out. 

When I was out I went to the music store and got some new guitar strings and a recorder.  I don't know how to play a recorder, but it might be fun and they are inexpensive.  Cheap entertainment for me.

What else is new...nothing.  Debts incur and money disappears.  Mystical loss of buying power.  While I am mostly out of debt and intend to stay out of debt, there is never enough money to really call "disposable funds."  Of course...I could stop eating out.  Um...maybe.

+++

WE KNOW

ALL THINGS

WORK
TOGETHER

FOR GOOD

TO THEM

THAT LOVE

GOD,

SO TO THEM

WHO ARE

CALLED

ACCORDING

TO HIS

PURPOSE.

Romans 8: 28

I suppose as one reads my post they may assume that I have money to burn, nothing to do, and am a glutton.  Actually I am pretty sedate.  I don't drink, smoke, run around and I try to stay on the straight and narrow path.  Occasionally I splurge as I did today, but as the saying goes, "Man does not live on bread alone."  Everyone needs to get out and about and enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life.  We need to unwind and free ourselves of the stresses and anxieties that we face daily.  Yes, I have a few manic moments, too.  We all do.  We all need to find some simple releases from the world that gives us headaches, heartaches, soul-aches, unrequited dreams, or whatever ails us as a person or a people.  Life is often hard and difficult even for those that are in the best situations of their journeys.  So, on occasion, I seek to forget the cares of the day and just enjoy each breath I take.  Life is for the living and we are to appreciate some of the finer days or activities enhances the spirit within.  Christ enjoyed the wedding at Cana.  Let every day be a wedding day in some small way.

As I write this I am well aware that there are nations and peoples and individuals that are so ground down, that live in sorrow, pain, affliction, hunger and such deprivation that they feel no hope, that would think that I am rich, which I am not,  yet I am, for God is my life, wealth and tower.  I can only say that I am richly blessed to live where I am and wish and pray for the same blessings for all.

END



CORN CHOWDER AND THOUGHTS

I'll bet you were wondering what I was going to do with all that creamed corn that I stocked up on.  Well, here is a fairly simple recipe that I have posted a while back and have recourse to post it again.  Enjoy.

CORN CHOWDER

1/2 LB. OF DICED BACON

1 MEDIUM ONION, CHOPPED

1//2 CUP CHOPPED CELERY

WITH THE TOPS

2 TABLESPOONS OF FLOUR

4 CUPS OF MIlk

1 CAN CREAMED CORN

1 CAN OF SMALL

TINY WHOLE POTATOES

OR DICED POTATOES

1/2 TEASPOON OF SALT

1/8 TEASPOON OF PEPPER

SNIPPED PARSLEY

PAPRIKA

In a large saucepan fry bacon until crisp, remove and drain.  Pour all but 3 tablespoons of the drippings (bacon fat) from the sauce pan.  Add onions and celery to the drippings, cook and stir until the onions are tender.

Remove from the heat and blend in the flour.  Cook over low heat and stir until the mixture is bubbly then remove from heat.  Stir in the milk and heat until boiling stirring all the time.  Boil and stir for one minute.

Stir in the corn, potatoes, salt and pepper.  Heat thoroughly and stir in the bacon.  Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and paprika.

This should be about six servings.

If you don't have bacon you can use diced ham or canned  fish or fresh fish if you have it. If you use fish it becomes fish chowder.  Drain the liquid from the canned fish and use it for something else. You could also use diced chicken, pork, or even diced hot dogs, according to your pocket book or pantry.  Just be sure that the chicken or pork are well cooked.  Use what you have.  Often good food or good recipes are the result of necessity and imagination.

OK, I got nothing done today.  I am really good at that.  Actually I did go out and get a haircut which was badly needed.  My hair seems to grow fast.  And I did wash a load of cloths and dry them.  I hope that sounds a little less lazy.  I keep forgetting where I placed my  box of ambition and my cup of energy. Has anyone seen where I put that stuff?

+++

MANY ARE THE PLANS

IN A MAN'S HEART,

BUT IT IS THE

DECISION

OF THE LORD

THAT ENDURES.

Proverbs 19: 21

I don't make too many long range plans anymore.  I can't see that far into the future.  I don't know if that comes from getting older or wiser or the combination of the two estates.  I am more apt to take things as they come and accept the flow of what I am given.  I look ahead, of course, but next year is not yet on my calander or penciled in.  I will turn the pages over as we exit from one month into another.  When needed I will start a new calander or a new year and ooz my way along at a leasurly pace, according to HIS will and not mine.  If HE wants me to "pick it up" a little bit or just slow it down , I can do that, too.  Remember the quote of "Stop and smell the roses?"   Remember to do just that.  If you adhere to that addage, then you are also praying to that tune and the music is gentle, sweet and hypnotic to the spirit. So, I don't make many big plans for the future as the future will unfold itself.

END





DOVES AND HAWKS AND PEOPLE

Today was a minor work day.  The backyard looks a lot better than it did yesterday.  It has been the new habitat for Morning Glories which have sprung up all over the yard.  You may think of the Morning Glory as a pretty flowering vine, and it is until it takes over the fence and yard.  It is an aggressive, invasive "weed" when that happens. That is exactly what has occurred after the dry spell sent the vines into a seed state to lie dormant for the next good rain.  Pop, pop, and up they come, everywhere.

I watched a Dove perched on the edge of the birdbath for a long time in the twilight.  I don't know if it was waiting for its' mate, sleeping or just being an odd Dove.  Also, I have not noticed any pidgins around this summer.  Strange.

I have a craving for something good again.  I don't know what I want.  I fixed another steak with fried potatoes, green peppers and onions for supper.  While it was pretty good, I still hunger for something else.  Candy-I want candy!  Which isn't on a proper diet for someone trying to lose weight.  I want it anyway!

Even 'though tomorrow is Sunday I may be compelled to to do a little indoor work or cleaning, to catch up with what I have let slide these past few days while I was on "bed vacation."  That way on Monday I can try to really tear into all that needs to be done.  Also, I hope to get some painting done soon.  I'll let you know how that comes along. I really, really need a maid or two.  Like that is gonna happen!

+++

BEHOLD,

I AM SENDING

YOU FORTH

LIKE SHEEP

AMIDST WOLVES.

BE THEREFOR

WISE AS SERPENTS

AND GUILELESS

AS DOVES.

Matt. 10: 16

I think that anymore we are among the wolves on a daily basis, esp. if we are encountering the Wolves of the World and they are knocking on our doors.  There are plenty out there.  Don't throw stones; you will probably hit one-two-or many.  We don't meet too many Doves.  They get get picked off easily all too frequently as often as they are not aggressive, but docile.  I often relate people to flocks of birds and the hierarchy of the two different species.  The Doves  are amiable and  peaceful, but can show strength and determination when necessary.  Do you know a Dove kind of person when you meet one?  Or do you see such a person as easily intimidated,  quiet, easily run over?  Would you follow the Dove or would you rather fly with the big boys, the eagles, falcons and the hawks?  I'll bet I can guess.  Sometimes the weakest are the strongest.  Look twice and look for the Dove, for the Dove is LOVE.

END

Arise!

and then some!

I have risen-like Lazarus of old. I am back among the living.  I guess I am over my reaction to bad medication and am up and about.

I got to the store today and got another case of creamed corn.  That gives me about 30 or more cans of corn. That should be enough for me.  I also got a large bag of rice and a couple other things that were not of the stocking up genre'.

People are really stocking up in this area.  One man got a case of green beans and various other goods.  I also got another gallon of milk for $1.99. The women are going hyper over the sugar which is still $.99cents a bag.  The women are probably thinking of the holidays ahead when the price of baking goods go up. I think that anyone who is half-ways aware of the politics and the economy do see the handwriting on the wall.  Now if only the price of gas would go down...sigh...

I cooked a steak with onions and green peppers for supper.  I haven't had a steak for a while.  By having the steak I am reminded that I could add some canned ham to the larder.  I am a meat eater 'though I try to curb my desire for red meat.  Every once in a while I let my inner animal out to snarl and growl over a nice juicy steak.

Tomorrow should be a work day for me.  The back yard looks terrible.  It went suddenly green happy and out of control while I was in "recovery" in my bed for the last couple days.  Now it is time to catch up with some of it.  Some sweat equity is on tomorrow's menu.  Fortunately it will be a nice day and not too hot. And another day has passed.

+++

THE LORD

IS YOUR GUARDIAN;

THE LORD

IS YOUR SHADE;

HE IS BESIDE YOU

AT YOUR RIGHT

HAND.

THE SUN SHALL NOT

HARM YOU

BY DAY,

NOR THE MOON

BY NIGHT.

Psalm 120:5-6

END



MY WILL OR THY WILL...

Well, I didn't get anything done today or even go out of the house.  I slept most of the day away as I am still feeling the aftereffects of that %$&# Endocet that I took yesterday.  My intentions were good, but that is as far as they took me-back to bed.  Sometimes you just have to do what your body tells you to do.  As I am feeling better this evening, tomorrow is bound to be a better day.

I wanted to get back to the store and get another case of creamed corn.  I hope to do that tomorrow after mass.  I especially want to get very serious about stocking up as I just read that long-range whether predations are for a very cold, snowy winter.  The forecast says that the East Coast will be especially subject to cruddy weather.   So stock up on the necessities, if at all possible.

We had a pretty good rain this evening.  We need more, but I guess we are doing better now as most places have lifted their burn bans and bans on fireworks.  They could leave the ban on fireworks on forever, as far as I am concerned.

My neighbor got rid of their big boat which they have never had in the water.  Now they have a small tow-behind camper.  I can now see to get out of my driveway.

As I stayed in today and only watched some of the news, I really don't have much to share or offer. 

+++

TEACH ME

TO DO

YOUR WILL,

FOR YOU

ARE MY

GOD.

MAY YOUR

GOOD SPIRIT

GUIDE ME

ON LEVEL

GROUND.

Psalm 142: 10

OK, Do we do God's will?  Do we know or recognize the will of God?  Most generally we follow our own will or desires.  We are vain creatures, after all.  We can all do better.  I wish to do better.  How about you?

END



SICK, SICK, SICK-YUK

Sick, sick, sick.  I could never be a drug addict; my system just can't take it.  Yes, I took one Endocet tablet for a slipped disk/pinched nerve.  The cure is worse than the bite.  I'll stick to Aspirin or Tylenol.  The reason I took the medicine is because I needed to go to mass and then shopping.  Yuk, did I get sick.  Yes, I have a perscription so don''t anyone get excited.

After mass I went shopping again.  Today I got a case of canned corn(12 cans) for $4.98.  Tomorrow I will get another case.  That should be plenty for the winter.  While corn is cheap right now, I doubt that it will be later.  I would have shopped more , but I felt nausea coming on and just made it home.

I had intended to add some corn recipes to this post, but didn't get to it.  Instead I went to bed this and afternoon in an attempt sleep away and alleviate my stomach's reaction to bad medicine.  It did help a little.  I will try to add a couple recipes in my next post..

So, you see, I am not yet up to par and will not write much tonight.  Endocet has numerous side effects an I think I had most of them.

 I HEARD MY GOD

CALL TO ME

IN THE DARKEST,

DEEP OF NIGHT,

WHEN I LAY MY

HEAD IN SORROW,

WHEN I LAY MY

HEAD IN FRIGHT.

 HE LAY HIS HAND

UPON ME

TO TAKE AWAY

MY PAIN

TO BRING REST

DOWN UPON ME

OR WAS IT

JUST A DREAM?

+

A VOICE CALLED

TO ME GENTLY,

YES, I HEARD HIM

CALL MY NAME

AWAKE MY SOUL

AND LISTEN

FOR HIS VOICE

TO COME AGAIN.

 END/MEB

or maybe I was hallucinating.

 +++

"I AM THE LIGHT

OF THE WORLD

HE THAT FOLLOWS

ME

SHALL NOT WALK

IN DARKNESS

BUT SHALL HAVE

THE LIGHT OF LIFE"

John 8: 12

END

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LOVE IS WHAT??

"Oh No! Look what you did; locked yourself out again!"  Yes, that was me ...grumbling to myself.  Fortunately I had an extra set of keys.  Yes, I have done it before which is why I have extra keys-a couple sets of them.

After I dug out my keys, got back into the house and retrieved my car keys...I went shopping-stocking up.

I found a big can of Maxwell House Coffee for $6.00.  It was the last can on the shelf.  I also got a few boxes of raisins for $1.00 per box.  That may sound like a good bargain, but the boxes are getting smaller.  I found TP for $7.50 for 24 rolls.  The rolls are also getting smaller.  There is about a 2 inch gap when you put the TP on the roller and  it is only 1 ply.  Not the best, but you take what you can find on sale.  I did get a few other items, but not much more or interesting, although I don't know just how interesting toilet paper a can be.

That pretty well covers my day...non-eventful and lazy

+++

HEREIN IS LOVE,

NOT THAT WE

LOVED GOD,

BUT THAT HE

LOVED US

AND SENT

HIS SON

TO BE

THE

PROPITIATION

FOR OUR SINS.

1 John 4:10

Can anyone define love in the human sense?  A mother loves her children, but can it be described?  Do you think that love is an abstract that can be painted, boxed, canned, put into words or truly comprehended?  Is love chemical, biological or spiritual...all three?

We "know" that we "love," and if we are fortunate, we are loved in our lifetime, yet we do not fully understand it.  We know that love can start from nothing and grow, expand and encompass, become a raging fire, preserve or even burn itself out.  The love that we are aware of is flawed, but seeks perfection in our time.  We stumble, scrap our knees, pick ourselves up and continue the search for unblemished love; that steady, unwavering flame.  Only God has and gives us untarnished, unvarnished, unfailing love.  We fail in our humanness to quite grasp what SPIRITUAL love is, but we will take it, and try to give love in return.  "Love one another as I have loved you."  Who said that?  Oh, I know...I hope you do, too.

END









MONDAY, MONDAY, PEACEFUL MONDAY

MONDAY!  It's Monday-all over again.  Although the sky is dark and overcast, it is not a "blue" Monday because we received rain and plenty of it.  The grass is starting to green up and I don't need to fill the bird bath by hand.  The tomatoes are looking healthy, but I think it is too late to expect many tomatoes.  The temperature has become "normal" again and that makes sleeping at night a lot more pleasant, too.  We will love it while we have it.

I have been thinking about PEACE.  The kind of peace that is born and nurtured from within.  Some people have a great epiphany and their hearts and spirits are filled with peace in an "instant" with God's grace and gift.  I don't know anyone like that, but I am sure there are many that are filled with the serenity of peace and the Holy Spirit.  I am not one of them although as I get older I find more peace in the everyday happenings of life.  I struggle to find PEACE in my daily affairs, as I think most of us do.  I'm no saint, but have "improved" over the years(I hope).  Perhaps PEACE can never be found in this world of the flesh and bone, but only a fragment of it in our hearts, just enough to entice us to search for such a mystical condition/union within the soul.

I have read that the secret of PEACE is in the surrender and recognition that we do not belong to ourselves, but to God, who has redeemed us through HIS sacrifice upon the cross.  "INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT, O LORD."  I don't know that we ever fully understand what that means or if we do give ourselves to God, without reserve.  The Saints probably came closest to this mystical embrace of calmness and serenity, yet even so many found it a hard road to travel.  The path can be pretty tough at times.

I strive to find PEACE or a good semblance of it while I am on this journey.  I hope that I can pass on a little of God's good graces and acceptance of the gift of serenity in all things.  It is a work in progress...a slow one at that.  Let the Holy Spirit Rule.

PEACE I LEAVE

WITH YOU,

MY PEACE

I GIVE UNTO YOU.

NOT AS THE WORLD

GIVES,

I GIVE UNTO YOU.

LET NOT

YOUR HEART

BE TROUBLED,

NEITHER

LET IT BE AFRAID.

John 14: 27

   "LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH

AND LET IT BEGIN WITH ME"

PEACE...WE COULD USE PLENTY OF IT.

END

MANY BLESSINGS

KENTUCKY-HOME OF BEAUTIIFUL HORSES AND FAST WOMEN

SO THEY SAY...

I am so pleased that so many of my Russian friends read my poor blog.  I also enjoy all the visitors from so many other far places around the globe.  I hope all of you find something of small value in this little blog.

I am back to the subject of stocking up.  I encourage all that can, to put food back/store, for a rainy day.  We had a dry winter here and then this dry summer.  The corn crop has been "devastated." and food prices are rising fast.  Do what you can to prepare for what may be hard...or harder times.

For anyone who is not experienced in stocking up or putting food aside, go for canned goods, dry staples and be sure that you have or will get salt.  You do need salt in spite of all that you have been taught.  If you get dry goods such as pastas, dry beans or rice, be certain that the goods are well wrapped and sealed in order to keep all the little gremlins out of your food. These are just the basic rules if you are stocking up.  Be self sufficient for when everything or anything fails or goes wrong.

I did buy extra coffee and I intend to get extra tea bags.  While I have loose tea, tea bags are nice.  And I have extra water on hand, also.  Do you know what I don't have and should stock up on?  TP-toilet paper.  Who wants to run out of that!

There is much you can  do and set aside for rainy days, just as our grandparents and even our parents did.  Stocking up should not be an alian concept to us.  We are so used to having a gas station on every corner and a grocery store down the street; we are so spoiled, but things change and change is coming along at a faster clip.

OK.  This turned out to be a beautiful day.  The temperature was in the 80's with low humidity and a nice breeze flowing.  I got out and did some mowing and cleaned off some of the fence line.  The Morning Glories take over the whole fence and cause rust and a nice place for mosquitoes to bred and hid.  Yes, they got me.  There is a lot of chain link fence to clean off so I still have a lot to do.  I just couldn't let this day pass without putting in some good work time.  A few more days like this one, please.

+++

LIFE'S PRIME NEEDS

ARE WATER,

BREAD

A HOUSE, TOO,

FOR DECENT

PRIVACY.

Sirach 29: vs. 21

It's interesting that what is taught in Psychology 101 these days, was well known in the days of the prophets.  Intrinsically we all know this and don't need to be told(I hope).  Even a new, tiny baby knows that it is hungry, cold or needs to be warmly coddled.  They let you know it, too.  However, there are so many in this world that don't have food, water, shelter or clothing.  I am not a rich person, but in this country I am wealthy in comparison to those that live in desperate times under disparate conditions.  And I know it.  My peers might consider me poor or near poor, but I feel enriched by the many blessing that I enjoy.  If I am financially low on the scales of income or the Totem Pole...it's OK.  I have what I need and more.  I am blessed.  I hope all my readers, family and friends...are blessed as well. 

END

VERACITY OF SELF

CELTIC  IRISH CROSS

For some reason this has been rolling around in my head since last night.  It is about the veracity of self.  I know I have touched on this before, but it just won't let me go and keeps rambling through my thoughts.

When I speak of veracity of self I am thinking of knowing one's self.  I think we can never truly know ourselves because there are many layers in our deep wells of id or personalities. We know of the first three; only God know all the rest of our subtleties. We go through life trying to define ourselves and  who we are and what, to others, but not to ourselves or God.

Again I will say that we have three layers that we are aware, and semi-aware of.  There is our exterior selves that we present on the usually daily regimen of our lives.  Then there is that sneaky-devil self that we try to hide and keep under cover the best we can.  This is the personality that can creep out from under the rocks of meanness, cruelty, selfishness, jaulosness, wanton behavior and other petty traits that reside just below the surface of our face or skin.  We know that there is also somewhere a spark of spirituality that is waiting to ignite and flame into light in most of us, if not all of us. That layer of veracity is just waiting for a match to set our souls or spirits ablaze.  It is all the little substrates that keep the fire from burning.

I think that we all thirst and hunger for the fire inside to burn away the layers of punk and debre' that holds most of us back from who we could truly be and want to be.  There are exceptions to this desire to be inclusive to the Spirit.  Call it what you may; some call it Satin or the devil or evil spirits that hinders our journey to a higher self.

I personally would like to peel away all the layers of self and be a better person, as would most of us, I think.  I don't know why these thoughts keep rattling around in my somewhat empty noggin, but they do.

I did get to the store and started stocking up a little.  I didn't overdue it.  After all, I have to carry it, unload it, find a place to put it, and do a mental inventory of it.  I will go back to the store again, but the store was crowded because everyone else was stocking up as well.  Some were buying large amount of sugar.  I have sugar and don't really use a lot of it, so I passed it up.   I guess I will wait 'til Monday to go back and get a few more things.  I really don't need a lot.

And I was very good about my diet, too.  I didn't go out to eat after mass, but the temptation was there.

+++

THE PROMISES

OF THE LORD

ARE SURE,

LIKE TRIED

SILVER,

FREED

FROM DROSS,

SEVENFOLD

REFINED.

Psalm 11: vs. 7

If we are aware of ourselves and our many limitations, then we will try to refine ourselves like the silver that has been been through fire seven times and all the impurities found and strained away.  Most of us are not that cognate of the need to go through the process of fire, yet there are many that do on a daily basis, often without choice.  Most of us, I included, just shuffle along, kicking the can down the road and thinking, there is always tomorrow.  I'll change tomorrow.  What if tomorrow never comes?

END





LET IT RAIN...LET IT POUR

Hello World.  I just got an e-mail from Canada which was interesting.  I won't go into details, but I am happy that people in other countries actually do read my blog, such as it is.  A Nobel prize winner in literature I am not, so it doesn't take much to make me happy. 

I did get myself up and going today.  R&R is over.  I still didn't get a lot done, but at least I did get myself to mass.  Tomorrow it is supposed to be cooler so maybe I will get a few more things accomplished.

I want to get myself to the store and get some pasta sauce for 99 cents a jar and a few other things that are on sale.  It's August and it is time to stock up on non-perishables.  We have had such a strange summer that we could have an equally weird winter. With the economy doing its fits and jerks and dubious behaviour, I want to be ready to "hole up" for the duration. 

Very little to write about other than to say that the  temperature only got up to about 93 degrees today.  That is far better than what we have been enduring all summer long.  The humidity was a little high, but not too bad.  I can live with it.  The rain that we had on last Thursday sent my tomatoes into overdrive and now there are little tomatoes all over the vines.  I hope the good weather will last long enough that I get a few ripe tomatoes before fall.





+++

I WILL GIVE

THANKS TO YOU

O LORD,

WITH ALL MY HEART;

I WILL DECLARE

ALL YOUR

WONDROUS

DEEDS.

I WILL BE GLAD

AND EXULT.

IN YOU;

I WILL SING PRAISE

TO YOUR NAME,

MOST HIGH.

Psalm 9A, 2-3

Thanks for the rain, Lord.  We really needed it and a lot more.  If I could sing, I would sing your praise.  I might try a rain dance, 'though.  Most of us do not give thanks for the little things, let alone the big blessings.  We kind of take it as it comes after all the moaning and complaining that we are so prone to do.  They say the beans and the soybeans might benefit from the late rain, which is good. However, unlike the  grasshopper, I will try to be like Moses of old...and fill my "granaries" for leaner days ahead. 'Though I trust in the Lord, I know that He gave us the good sense to think ahead with.  Use your head, too.  'Though we are not to store up our earthly treasures, Moses prepared his people and we should do likewise.

END

Peace I give you...

Umm, I took the day off....literally.  I was tired.  I slept 'til 9:30.  I didn't get dressed until noon.  I usually am not this lazy, but every once in awhile I need to pamper myself or just re-charge.  I think everyone should do the same, if possible.  I know that most can't for one reason or another, but it is soooo good when you can.

This day of non-productiveness was just that; I got nothing done and I'm not even sorry.  Well, I take that back.  I did make a Pasta Salad...does that count?

+++

STRIVE FOR PEACE

WITH ALL MEN,

AND FOR THAT

HOLINESS

WITHOUT WHICH

NO MAN WILL SEE

GOD.

St. James, Ch. 12: 14

END