Good Morning!
On this day in 1776 Richard Henry Lee’s resolution that the American colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States” was adopted by the Continental Congress.
In 1850 B.J. Lane patented the gas mask.
In 1881 Charles J. Guiteau fatally wounded President James A. Garfield in Washington, DC.
In 1937 American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart disappeared in the Central Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world at the equator.
In 1939 at Mount Rushmore, Theodore Roosevelt’s face was dedicated.
And in 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.
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Quote of the Day
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
C. S. Lewis
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Yesterday I completely missed Canada Day. Again, my apologies to our Canadian friends. I know it’s a day late, but this one is for you folks, from one of my favorite Canadian singers. I saw her perform on my only trip ever to Toronto.
Today is Paul Williams’ birthday. No, not him, the other one.
And also Dave Parsons’ of this band. My wife and I went to a concert of theirs at Hershey Park years ago. They are one of the few bands that sound as good live as they do on the radio. Most of their music is on the loud side, so here they are covering a more mild song from the Stones.
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Anyone have a QoD?
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And if you see Mumsee or Mike around today, be sure to wish them both a Happy Anniversary. 🙂
Wandering Views 
Greetings, or G’day mate!
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Amelia Earhart was last seen in Lae, Papua New Guinea
AJ, I trust you were able to sleep and are feeling better
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😦 6 Arrows won’t be here today.
🙂 Mumsee got 8 bags of dirt for her anniversary. I don’t know what Mike got. And I’m not asking. I like practical gifts too.
Reminds me of the Christmas of 1962 when Elvera and I gave each other a snow tire for Christmas.
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Happy Anniversary Mumsee and Mike.
It looks like it is going to be a long, busy day for me. We leave tomorrow morning for Annapolis. I have lots to do before I leave work today.
The leader of our team has paid for coaching for the entire team for six months. I am really looking forward to that except that the coach wants us to keep a journal. I have trust issues about keeping a journal. Everyone can see what is written by everyone else. That is just too raw and exposed for me but I will give it a whirl.
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My previous post didn’t take. Let’s try this.
We got three inches of rain in Hendersonville last night. I wish it were in Arizona or Colorado. It doesn’t hurt anything, but we don’t need it. Eighty percent probability of more today. They’re monitoring the French Broad River for flooding.
I was sitting out on the back porch last night watching it rain. I enjoyed that.
When I was a kid, about 1942, we lived in a tent house for a few months while dad built a house. Later, Elvera and I lived in a house trailer. I liked to hear the rain fall on the roof. With the mobile home, it was the wind I hated. And we had plenty of that in Texas.
But I enjoyed just sitting there enjoying the rain. I also used it as an opportunity to be thankful to the Lord for blessings, and to mention to him many of you who have had special requests, and some who haven’t.
I happened to think. This is the first house I’ve lived in, that I can remember, with a porch. Our houses in Virginia had large front steps, but no porch. In Annandale, I had a large concrete patio in back. But no place to sit and watch the rain.
Elvera, OTOH, always had a porch that was the length of the house until she moved to Columbia. They may not have had a bathroom, but they had a porch with a swing.
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Kim, you won’t get much information in a journal that’s open to inspection. I never kept a journal of any kind. At work, I wrote trip reports and Memorandums for Record MFR) for significant events. But they were just to cover facts as I saw them.
I doubt that anything will come of that. Keep us posted.
And have a nice trip to Annapolis.
Elvera and I are going to Columbia on the Fourth; just to visit around. We went down to Chuck’s graduation, and Mary’s; but we haven’t been to Columbia just to visit since we left in 1957. We met and courted there. We will visit FBC Columbia before returning home Sunday. It isn’t the same building though. They have a large new church and the old one has been restored to it’s original historical condition.
If you didn’t know, FBC Columbia is where SC voted to seceed from the Union.
But the important event was the Sunday in October 1955 that I met Elvera Collins while descending the stairs from the balcony of FBC.
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Good morning all,
Happy Anniversary Mumsee and Mike!
We finished our sports camp, what we like to call VBS on steroids, with enough “coincidences” to make Random’s head spin. 😉
I also finished it with a minor heart episode, so that now that I have time I can’t go surfing for awhile 😦 And the waves have been fantastic.
I have always written in my journal openly, honestly, but with discretion. My journal, along with my Bible travels about the house depending on where I am using it. I have caught more than one kid sneaking a peek, though I never let on. On more than one occasion my honest prayers addressed to God have had an impact on my kids. One particular time one of our daughters assumed I thought a certain way, but when she read my prayers for her she was amazed at how wrong she had been. And how the best path looked so clear in that prayer. It took it beyond a parent child struggle to a spiritual plane. I don’t leave my journal laying around for that purpose, but it has been funny how my lack of re-shelving it has had its advantages. 🙂
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Elvera is reading in the paper that July 4 is the deadliest day of the year on the highways.
I don’t know why. The day before Thanksgiving is the most traveled.
I will be careful.
It reminds me; the knitting mills in SC used to shut down on the week of the Fourth and everyone in SC went on vacation that week. It saved the mills a day. You
didn’t want to go the beach or lake on that week if you could avoid it.
I don’t know when that changed. I supposed when all the mills moved to China. Or Bangladesh.
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Kim should look at this journal as an opportunity to make enemies and drive away friends… 😉
Seriously, you could have some fun with it. -> “I caught the director picking his nose today.”
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I see I’m talkning to myself here. And I have things to do.
So, you guys have at it.
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Good morning all. Tim didn’t stay for the fish fry, so I can’t answer the questions from yesterday.
AJ: Celine!?! ugh. Beautiful voice, annoying person 🙂
Today we rip off fascia and soffits and begin the renewal of the outside of our home.
Happy anniversary Mumsee! I totally understand the gift of dirt. I could use a gift of a load of manure for my garden come the fall.
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Oooh, just checked the weather forecast – high of 93F today, yippee!!!
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Chas, a porch is very nice! We have a carport where we can view the rain from. We have a tiny front porch that we could use in that manner, too, but it is so small that if the wind is blowing it would not give much protection from the rain. The front porch is usually only used by a stray cat on a hot day because, all I can figure is that, it is the coolest spot in the neighborhood.
Adios, sorry to hear about your heart episode and how the waves will have to wait for your return. If they wait long enough it may appear as the parting of the Red Sea—can you imagine someone riding tha wave when God let the water loose again?!
Once I carried in a stack of prayer journals for the VBS children to see as an example since they were to write their own prayers in little notepads. The room was totally quiet as they were allowed to flip through the journals for a few moments. After that they were very serious about writing their own prayers.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MUMSEE AND MIKE!
I hope Mike gave Mumsee pure dirt without any grubs in it!
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¡Muy buenos días! Happy Anniversary, Musmee and Mike. Hmm, I wonder if an M&M cake would be possible. Nah, the candy would melt in the oven. So I guess a cake with M&Ms scattered in the icing would be better.
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I use to make a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate frosting and M&Ms all around the top and bottom edges for my son’s birthday. It was a really good cake! It’s almost B/D time again so thank you for the idea Peter L. That is an excellent thought for the MM’s anniversary, too!
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We never had a front porch growing up. In our neighborhood, all the houses were ranch style. We had a back porch, though, that was added on after the house was built. We spent a lot of time back there. We had a ping-pong table that got used for playing the game or for other purposes. And we didn’t get a lot of rain in Arizona, but when it did, we could sit on the back porch and watch.
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Then again, I have heard of dirt cakes which do have those candy worms and grubs in them. Hmmm…
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I read a book several years ago about the history of front porches. It said the concept came with the slaves from Africa, that they would have a tarp-like overhang to sit under in the rain and visit with their neighbors in the evenings.
I love the concept, but have never had a porch. Maybe I could add that to the list of what I’d like in a new house that is driving my husband c-r-a-z-y. 🙂
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We’ve had weird weather this year and after the second driest on record, have moved into scorching heat. I sat outside in the cooling air last night and wondered if perhaps God finally is passing judgment on my state.
Only God controls the rain, contrary to the belief of many. I’ve been praying for rain all year; but we’ve had so very little. Reservoirs are very low, it’s only July and we haven’t even had the water release from the dams for the salmon run. There was no snow pack in the Sierras this winter. Where will the water come from?
I know many folks think derisively of California, but there are plenty of Christians here and plenty of people who need help.
Lord, have mercy on us all.
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I don’t use the front porch, which has two chairs, but is unused. The back porch is the one I spoke of. Elvera’s dad sat on his front porch almost every day. He visited with the people passing by, who would stop and chat.
That used to happen often in American culture, so I understand. As I said, we never had one.
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The back patio replaced the front porch at least in California. Quite nice, but not as neighborly. One of our neighbors set up a seating area in their garage and another neighbor put a bench on their front lawn. Whenever they are sitting there it’s their way–they have said as much 🙂 –of saying, “We are open for visiting.” It has done a lot for prompting spontaneous get togethers. We are trying to figure out a front yard seating area for the same purpose.
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I grew up in a house with just a tiny front porch. Now I have a very big one that’s covered & has a railing around it. I really should spend more time out there.
Adios, sounds like a very successful summer gathering for the kids.
Off to work … Yesterday I covered a ribbon cutting for a redone stretch of park. All the city folk came down from LA to speak and congratulate each other. At one point the city engineer was talking about the ADA-accessible water fountains and how they’re even usable for dogs.
I’m dutifully standing off to the side of the crowd taking notes when the city councilman, sitting in one of the chairs next to the makeshift podium, looks my way and says: “Oh, Donna will like that!” Needless to say, I have a rep for being a dog person. The city engineer then added that his own golden retriever would like it, too. Thumbs up!
No ribbon cuttings today, I’m on my own to find a story. And we have a fill-in editor as ours is taking a few vacation days.
Chas, regarding the road hazards this week: The 4th of July is basically a big, summer party holiday. So I suspect there’s just a lot more drinking and driving that accounts for a fair number of accidents.
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We have a back deck for watching the deer and coyotes and a front porch for watching the rain and lightning. I prefer watching from indoors. We have a tin roof for listening to the rain fall. Did I mention that I really don’t know how God will improve on my life to make Heaven, but I am certain He can.
Thanks for the good wishes. We used to make dirt cake before, for birthdays, neatly set in a flower pot with a flower or two standing up.
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Interesting, I became involved in a conversation on fb yesterday with an atheist (whom I don’t know — we were both commenting on a link posted by a mutual friend). He was so angry. Then I saw a post from one of our ministerial staffers at church today about how anger is so often a characteristic of atheists, especially those who are on a mission to wipe God out of the public square.
Anyway, it was a good challenge for me to find ways to respond to this person that didn’t “hit back,” but rather would advance the conversation while also, in small bits, shared the gospel with grace and gentleness.
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Some may recall my last experience with a peach milkshake for my husband. Today I went again to Chick-fil-A to pick up our lunch. The guy asked if I wanted a drink holder and wanting to be “green” and not wasteful of paper products I said no. I put the milkshake, small size, in the drink slot in the car along with my small unsweetened tea in the other slot. I got everything out of the car but left the milkshake for my husband to get. He was on the phone so I had to go back for the milkshake. When I reached down to get it, the plastic top covering the whipped cream and cherry came off and milkshake oozed out around the edge and got all over the cup holder and then dripped across the leather pad I sit on and came on dripping out into the parking lot. My husband had to sip out of it to stop the dripping and that was without a straw so he had whipped cream all over his mustache. It was not so bad as last time when I dropped the whole thing and most of it spilled out in the parking lot. At least this time he got to drink it for all it was worth. I told my husband he could do one of those ads, “Got Milk?’ only he would be doing, “Got Milkshake?” And the answer would be, “Not if my wife has anything to do with it!!”
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As it turned out, it was much better that my husband did not get the shake out of the car because if the same thing had happened to him there would have been a lot of words spilling out that would have been much worse than some dribbles of peach milkshake!
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Re porches: they’re really at their most useful if your neighbors have them too! At least if you want to be neighborly. When your neighbors are all pulling into garages and entering the house from the garage, a porch might not be much use.
In Chicago I lived on a street with porches . . . well, my house didn’t have a porch, but nearly all the other houses did! On hot summer afternoons, I’d drive my car down the street (esp. when I owned the red car without a.c. and had my windows down) and hear choruses of “Hi, Miss Cheryl!” People who might not know me would wave and I’d wave back. One day the power went off in the summer, and we went outside and so did everyone else. Even though I was the only white person on my street (except for the three years I had a white housemate), that neighborhood felt so companionable. And for several years we had an annual block party. I’d take a nieghborhood with porches over one with back decks any day!
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In case you missed it over on the prayer thread, I will not be participating in the team coaching. I am no longer a member of the team. What hurts the most is that my honesty and integrity was questioned.
Guy I Used to Work With told me I was greedy, but I wasn’t dishonest. He has set me up an interview with someone next week. He also told me if I wanted to do some independent work for him to put myself back on the clock.
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We went to a funeral this morning for a man who was a pastor for quite a few years, at the church he used to pastor, now pastored by men who grew up under his ministry . . . and it was about the saddest thing I’ve ever experienced. I suppose a funeral for an atheist, held outside a church, might be even sadder. But for a church funeral for an old Christian man, with at least three hundred people present, the loss of any Gospel hope was incredibly sad.
It’s not that God wasn’t mentioned; He was. The decased man was mentioned more, a lot more, with all sorts of funny stories and profound stories. And finally they got around to mentioning God. (Fortunately most of the songs were good, but the talking wasn’t.) The hope was that God is always with you (with no mention that this is true only for those who are in Christ). And then the “sermon” was all about hands, mostly the hands of the man who just died, with some transition into talking about God’s hands. I thought great, now he is going to talk about Christ’s pierced hands . . . but he didn’t. He talked about God holding out His hands for you, and you can take them or not, your choice. But you need to take hold of God’s hand and not let it go. (Later he repeated that same phrase, saying it as though God were saying it: Take My hand and don’t let it go.) There was no mention of sin or the cross, just some nebulous god who I suppose isn’t strong enough to hold onto us.
In the days leading up to her husband’s funeral, my sister said she wished she could die too, that she wanted to have her children be enough to keep her here, but realistically she envied her husband and had no more desire for life. Immediately after the Christ-centered funeral, she told me that she had hope again for the first time.
As we left today’s funeral, I told my husband that if my sister had endured that funeral, she wouldn’t have left with newfound hope. There is nothing “hopeful” about a god who doesn’t save us or keep us, a god who needs us to hold onto him!
My husband has told me repeatedly that when he knew his first wife was dying, he also knew that if she did die, he would need to preach her funeral. He isn’t a preacher, but he knew that was the only way people present would hear the gospel, since they wouldn’t hear it from the pastor. (It was the same church where we attended today’s funeral.) After she died, my husband and the girls left the church, since he had come to realize it didn’t preach the gospel. May God save us from “god lite” churches!
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Here, maybe this story will help, since I’m so full of doom and gloom today!
http://ricochet.com/main-feed/Forgiveness
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I enjoyed that story, Michelle.
That is a sad funeral, Cheryl.
I have a book I put out in our office waiting area, On the Porch: Creating Your Place to Watch the World Go By, which I thought would be nice for people to look through during the summer season.
When I was a girl I loved being out on the front porch of my mother’s parent’s home sitting in the swing or in the old rocking chairs. It was way out in the country and so different from the suburban area where our home was.
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California is not the only place where back patios replaced the front porch. Newer houses in the Midwest have no front porch, but most have a deck in back.
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Where we are in the Atlanta vicinity there are open carports unless they have been enclosed as a room addition, and people have put decks on the back with perhaps some overhang for a porch effect. We have a patio instead of a deck. Before we had our son we had talked of putting in a deck and maybe even a gazebo but once we had our son, then our lessened finances could not support the improvements. We have rarely used our patio. The neighbors tend to use their decks for entertaining so it feels a bit awkward to go into the back yard if they have folks over because it seems almost like intruding into a party to which one has not been invited. The difficulty with sitting out on the front side is that sometimes people might come by trying to sell something or get yard work or even talk to you about becoming a Jehovah’s Witness or Morman. The most likely time for neighbors to interact in my neighborhood is when people go to their mailbox or when doing front yard work. But these days about half the folks have a yard service so even that is not a contact point with those people.
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I know, I should be more enthusiastic abou witnessing to the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormans 😦 🙂
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I used to talk with Mormons and JW’s. I had the philosophy that I would listen to anyone who would listen to me. Still do. However, after years and dozens of discussions, I have decided that none of us would pursuade the other, so I don’t waste time anymore, Mine nor theirs. I politely tell them I’m not interested.
Judging by what’s on TV news, I suspect I’m the only person in America not following the Zimmerman trial. I didn’t follow OJ either, until the verdict.
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This is funny. And we all need some humor today, I figure.
Here’s a teacher who wore the same outfit for 40 years. 🙂 Not that anyone here would ever do that.
http://ht.ly/mBHoA
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Donna, that is funny, but I like the pictures, you can really notice the differences. I think about the same thing, what outfits have been seen, since we do a class picture. Also, as a missionary, I send out newsletters and wonder if I am always in the same outfit. I am getting lots of spring/fall clothes, but haven’t had any new winter clothes since I don’t need them here. So.. whenever I am home in the winter, it is the same three or four outfits.
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like the porch discussion. However I want a screened in porch as all sorts of bugs just love me. Finding new ones here in Australia.
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Happy anniversary, Mumsee and Mike! I have friends in Wyoming who got dirt for their garden for their 23rd anniversary this spring. 🙂
I grew up in an old farmhouse with a big side porch. We spent a lot of time there in the summers. We didn’t have near neighbors, but our house was the gathering spot for all the kids/teens in the ‘neighborhood’, so it was quite a social spot!
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Jo, I have one dress that really travels well (doesn’t wrinkle) and it’s sleeveless but paired with a sweater I have “layering” options . . . so people in other cities who see me for church once a year or so may well begin to wonder just how limited my wardrobe is! (Actually only one church has seen me wear it more than once, my Nashville church, and I attended there for eight years before I moved. So hopefully if anyone notices they’ll just figure it’s my travel outfit.) I did wear it both to my brother-in-law’s funeral and to worship at my sister’s church the following Sunday, but that’s only because it hadn’t occurred to me on the “short notice” with which we packed that more than one dress might be a good idea! The bigger problem was that her church is ultra-conservative, and I hoped I didn’t offend anyone when I took off the sweater at the hot (Alabama in June) graveside! Since the dress goes to my neck and right up to the edge of my shoulders, and well below my knees, it shouldn’t offend anyone, and is definitely modest, but I did notice I was the only one with uncovered shoulders since it was technically sleeveless once the sweater came off. Oh well.
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We have a Latin-Mass Catholic church in my town — women are turned away if they’re not wearing a dress without sleeves or a head covering. Awkward for those who don’t know in advance because they will literally tell people to leave.
I loved the longish “jumpers” when they were so popular in the 1990s. You could wear them with Tshirts & sandals in the summer, turtlenecks & boots in the winter.
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I realized the other day while looking at photos of my first born as a toddler, that I was wearing the exact same sweater as appeared in the picture. I’m torn between wanting to throw it away–31 years is long enough–and hanging onto it because it was a gift from my mother . . . It doesn’t look ratty, just a little dated. 🙂
Like me, maybe? 🙂
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I have lots of old favorites in the closet and cedar chest. Sweaters especially seem to hang around for decades. 🙂 Michelle, I still have a sweater I bought at the Swedish import shop in Ports O’ Call many years ago. I don’t think I’ve worn it since 2-3 trips ago back to NY in late winter, but hey. It’s a quality import.
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Hmmm. I don’t think I have any clothing that old. I do hang on to a ratty Northern Exposure, Cicily, Alaska sweatshirt.
I am off to Annapolis today. There is a Sweet Baby Boy waiting on his Grandpa and MeMe to take him swimming. Grandpa got new swim trunks yesterday—it was beyond time.
I did get to take a yoga class yesterday and focus on something other than my latest blow. I dreamed about work all night and didn’t sleep well. I just keep telling myself it’s going to be OK.
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Old clothes you want to wear out? Come here, and the hand washing and sun drying will do them in for you. I have a skirt that I made last year, almost new when I brought it here. Today, I accidentally put my hand through it, it was so worn in one spot. That isn’t the only item. I’m starting to wonder if I’ll only have traditional clothes to wear when I return. Well, it would be a colourful contrast to my typical wardrobe of black or dark blue 🙂
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