Good Morning!
Today’s header photo is from Janice.
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On this day in 1861 Robert E. Lee was named commander of Virginia forces.
In 1864 the U.S. Congress passed legislation that allowed the inscription “In God We Trust” to be included on one-cent and two-cent coins.
In 1914 Babe Ruth made his pitching debut with the Baltimore Orioles.
In 1915 the New York Yankees wore pinstripes and the hat-in-the-ring logo for the first time.
And in 1970 the first “Earth Day” was observed by millions of Americans. Tree-hugging Hippies. Fixed it for ya’. 🙂
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Quotes of the Day, but only because actions in our current political climate bear a striking resemblance to what he had in mind. Many today employ his methods. I believe it helps to know what your adversaries think, and what motivates them.
“The press should be not only a collective propagandist and collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.”
“Give me four years to teach the children and the seeds I have sown will never be uprooted.”
“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”
Vladimir Lenin
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It’s Glen Campbell’s birthday.
And it’s Danny Stephens’ birthday.
From ArdentMusic
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Wandering Views 
Good morning! I had a severe migraine yesterday and went to bed at 8:00, so I’m up early. I feel so much better today! Have to finalize arrangements for our trip to South Carolina in May this morning. My nephew is getting married on Daufuskie Island, a small island off Hilton Head. There are few cars on the island–everyone uses golf carts instead. Ironically, the golf cart rental rate is higher than the car rental rate!!!
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Congress, in 1864, didn’t realize that it was unconstitutional.
But that’s when we were a Christian nation.
It that a daisy? It’s pretty.
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I remember Glen Campbell. That’s my generation.
Only had 9 students in my class today as 3 were absent and one may be gone permanently. Very peaceful.
However I had decided to let my haus meri go and she was not happy. It was okay at first, but she came back two hours later and was angry. Enough said.
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Jo: What’s a haus meri?
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meri is woman, so it is a woman who works in your house or a house cleaner. Though here they may help with childcare or food preparation too.
My place is so small that I don’t really need anyone, which is what I told her.
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Mornin everyone.
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I’m glad the O’s got equal footing in the headlines; maybe because they beat up on Boston yesterday?
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Jo: Thanks for clarifying! I’m guessing jobs are hard to come by in your area. I know my sister and her husband employ quite a few people, partially out of necessity and partly out of compassion. They have a cook and a clothes washer and a gardener.
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Morning Aj, Chas and Linda!
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The picture is of a weed, among all the others, in our front yard. It will be mowed down today if the weather holds out. The tall daisy weeds have taken center stage in our yard now. If I had been able to mow before now I would not have been able to share this picture of the beauty of God’s creation.
Our neighbors have a For Sale sign up so I can’t wait any longer on the lawn mowing. I have never waited until after April 15th to mow.
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Bosley is having her surgery today. We were at the vets around 7:30. She did better in the cat carrier. Maybe the lack of food and water after midnight took away her energy to yowl in the carrier.
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I am expecting Peter to be singing the Bicycle Built forTwo song later considering his mood yesterday and the picture.
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🙂
I got an e-mail from a friend about “Do you remember these?” I’m sure your have seen them; keys to open cans, old hair styles, car seats that just hang on the back, etc. One of these was a bunch of electronics that a guy was carrying 20 years ago that can fit in your pocket now.
Made me recall the boom-boxes that kids used to have. The smallest kid had to carry the heavy boom box that had 110 db of racket booming from it.
I haven’t bought anything from iTunes in a long time. I don’t know if they let me download in CD format anymore. I think it’s MP3 now.
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😦 Both Elvera and I have dental appointments today. Different times.
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Chas, misery loves company at the dentist office, too. 🙂 😀
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Morning all….that looks like an aster to me. If I had weeds as beautiful as those, they would be keepers! 🙂
So speaking of house cleaning…QOD….who gets in the mood to clean clean clean when the weather turns warmer? I’ve been cleaning out closets, drawers and the basement…the garbage pick up guys are just going to love me today when they see what awaits them at the end of the driveway!
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Just wondering if the predicted rain will save me from taking that guilt trip with the lawn mower. I don’t wanna mow down my beautiful weeds. At least I can remember them by taking their pictures.
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Probably is a wild aster. I have not looked it up to identify.
I finally got my bags of clothing to give to charity taken to their destination over the weekend. Now I need to do more weeding in the house. I really thought son was going to take more when he moved but he is in a furnished apartment. So I still don’t know what to keep that he might need later. 😦 He may later even get Bosley. 😦 🙂
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I love a fresh, clean house in the Spring. I just don’t have the energy or motivation to do anything about it. I was fantasizing this morning about calling Miss Velma and seeing if she had a day or two a month available for me. Of course it would be difficult. Mr. P doesn’t understand that here in the South you suck up to your housekeeper. I would have to buy her favorite cleaning products, and make sure I had real sugar and half & half for her coffee. She will also need a decent lunch if she comes. I am thinking it could be my Mother’s Day present to myself.
Saturday night BG cleaned out my closet and organized it. She culled the clothes she deemed unacceptable. They are in a bag awaiting a final trip to the Ecumenical Ministries Thrift Store.
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Soon I have to start the end of term cleaning! :0 Every 4 years whether it needs it or not! My friends will gladly receive my castoffs, even the stuff that I would deem trash. Jo, it’s hard to fire house worker! If there isn’t a problem with her, could you keep her once or twice a week to do laundry and stuff? Maybe not now that she’s angry. We have to do laundry by hand so we all have a houseworker at least for that. The dust here is terrible too, so it’s nice to have your house swept and mopped every day. If it were up to me to do it, I would need a bulldozer before I got to it.
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Ajisuun,
Are you feeling better? I hope so. 🙂
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Linda,
You know I like anyone who beats Boston. 🙂
And I must confess, it was more about the Babe than the O’s. 🙂
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This is not the question of the day but I have a question. I am reading a book which I am liking a lot. At one point it is talking about Jesus being in the garden and knowing what he has to go through. And it indicates he sang a hymn. Am I forgetting that from somewhere in my reading of the Bible? A little later it makes mention of Hebrews 12:2. Any help on this would be appreciated.
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Janice, the only time I know that Jesus sang is in Matthew 26:30. At the last supper in the upper room, Matthew says they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
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Hebrews 12:2 doesn’t have anything to do with singing.
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Thank you, Chas. I am still confused by the author’s wording. It must have been referring to singing at the Last Supper but it says in the garden. It threw me when I read it. The Hebrews part is referring to the joy Jesus sought for His suffering on the cross. I am reviewing this book after I read it so I will see if there are other encounters like this in its pages.
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It seems that the study is trying to combine the fact that Jesus sang a hymn and that he faced with joy what he knew he must go through. However, the hymn was sung by all of them, according to the ‘they’. It was most likely a hymn regularly sung at the Passover meal.
The gospels each relate the story according to the purpose of each, which would be in line with the literature of the day. (That also is how we relate eye witness accounts to each other.) We know Jesus spoke to them of many, many things, because John records a lot of that. John also gives us some of the prayer. Probably none of the accounts give us everything. John says that would be way too much.
Combining Hebrews with all that, we can conclude that Jesus focused on the goal, just as Paul tells us to do. The joy is in the goal; not in the suffering, par se. Songs can help us focus on that and remember important facts, when we shrink back.
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Yes, Janice. I think that would be confusing, since I do not see anywhere that any singing was done in the garden. Not that there wasn’t any, but it would seem strange, since they were not exactly trying to attract any attention.
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No, I have no desire to clean when the warm weather comes. A warm day is good for cleaning up the yard or gardens. A cool basement is a good place to cool on a hot summer day. Otherwise, all deep cleaning should be done in the winter. In fact, one of the reasons I do enjoy winter is to do the things that I need to do, so I don’t have to do them on beautiful warm days. Of course, we don’t have as much warm weather as several of you.
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Ann: I am also wondering how your daughter and her friends are doing after that horrible event. Also, how is the perpetrator doing? I suppose all those legal wheels grind slowly, but let us know what you can, please.
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I have a bunch of tiny yellow weed-flowers that have popped up in my front yard. The gardner is due this week sometime so thy’ll get mowed down.
I’m debating what to do out there, I’ve wanted to plant drought resistant plants (but with color) that are gaining popularity in our area — I’ve finally warmed up to the look and am just tired to battling to maintain a ‘lawn.’ But in the meantime I may buy a bag of grass seed instead. It would be easier to keep the lawn limping along at this point. I’m not feeling the energy it would take to start all over out there, unless my gardner would do it for cheap. The city offers some rebates to homeowners right now for purchasing the drought-resistant plants.
Long day yesterday, 2 stories with an early-evening meeting to cover, still following up on the arson from last week with tips on the person investigators are looking at. And there was a mutilated pelican picked up that will have surgery at the bird rescue center here this week. 😦 Poor baby.
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Speaking of the garden, our Pastor had an awesome sermon on Good Friday that started in the garden but went on to explain the significance of the forehead and sweating. It was all Biblical, of course, and fascinating. If anyone’s interested, you can listed at aisquith.org (click on “audio sermons” and find it by date).
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When the weather is warm warm…I’m outdoors planting, moving plants, dividing plants, raking pine needles etc….but, when we have weather such as we have now…warm enough to open the windows, but the ground still too frozen to plant anything, I’m cleaning, dusting, putting away the blankets and throws…putting away the bazillion candles I have set out for winter months…I have a big ‘ol pile of stuff to take to Goodwill 🙂
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I don’t see how the garden experience and joy can be mentioned in the same sentence. (except here.) 😉
Luke 22:44 “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. ” NIV
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“For the joy that was set before Him . . .” I think that was long-term joy, not joy in the garden or on the Cross. (If I remember correctly, the rest of that is “despising the Cross, enduring its shame” in KJV.)
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Good morning (afternoon or evening for some)! Yesterday when I walked up the driveway after getting the mail, I realized that the snowbank next to our front porch was finally gone. I walked around to the back of the house and saw that the last two snowbanks back there had also melted. Finally! Even just a couple weeks ago, two of them were still at least a foot high, but we’ve had several 60-degree, and even one 70-degree day recently, so spring seems to have finally arrived here!
And along with that, birthday season has come to our house. The first four arrows are all spring babies. First Arrow (older son) turns 24 today, and Third Arrow (D2 in Peter’s terminology) turns 17 tomorrow. That’s it for this week. Three weeks down the road, two more.
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Funny that the current discussion is of joy and sorrow. I was reading Jeremiah’s lamentations today and discussing with my mother how Jeremiah had absolutely no hope for his life ever getting better, yet he remained faithful. His words about God’s faithfulness in the third lamentation became the foundation for one of Christianity’s most beloved hymns, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” The author of Hebrews spoke truly, when he said that of such, the “world was not worthy” (historical sources indicate that Jeremiah was probably the one who was “slain with the sword” in Hebrews 11:37).
It reminds me of a sermon our former pastor once preached on I Peter 1:6-8, about how we find “joy unspeakable and full of glory” even in the worst of circumstances. I do see how the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and joy can be spoken of in the same sentence, for that is what Hebrews 12:2 is talking about; “…Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross…” Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, faced the terror of pain and death in the Garden so that He and His Church might have that joy. As we share the suffering of Christ in our lives, that joy endures even under the most terrible circumstances (2 Corinthians 1:5). I cannot imagine a worst place to be a Christian than in North Korea, yet the reports that leak out are of a Church content and stayed upon the Lord, no matter what physical and emotional torment is inflicted.
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We are told to be joyful in affliction, James 1:2, because of what it gains for us. Matthew 5:11 tells us similarly: the reward will be great. I believe Jesus trusted his Father, as we need to also trust our heavenly Father. Joy is a fruit of the spirit and yet, like the rest of them, we can keep from developing and using that fruit.
It is a paradox to suffer and have joy at the same time. It is possible with the Lord. Our eyes are not fixed on the suffering, though, but on the end goal for ourselves or others. Many times we will not see what it all involves until we are with the Lord ourselves.
We cannot trust someone we do not really know, however. In some small way we have to know the one we trust is faithful. Bible study, prayer, fellowship and sharing what the Lord has done for each other all can build that trust. It is also built up in us like it was in those in scripture who grew and matured, learning to trust more and more. Abraham comes to mind.
How much prayer? Jesus sure prayed often and deeply. The disciples had no clue how much they needed it, at least at this point. God is so good to show us that.
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Lawn is finally moved. The neighbor with the For Sale sign passed by as I was mowing so we could smile and wave. The lawnmower helped with grace and guilt relief from that angle, but for shame, I mowed all my beautiful flower weeds down. They have all been greatly diminished in size but not in number. 😦 🙂
Still waiting to hear from the vet.
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I moved much of the lawn from the grass catcher into the garbage can in case anyone was wondering how you manage that chore. 🙂 Typos!!!
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Thanks to you all for helping me with my understanding of what the author wrote. I don’t see how he could have gotten the fact wrong, but it appears he did. I think I will check what other reviewers have written to see if it has been mentioned. I usually don’t look at other reviews before writing my review.
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The vet just called. Everything went fine. She said Bosley was in heat so the uterus was enlarged making the surgery a little more complicated. Bosley will be on pain meds for a couple of days Thanks for your prayers.
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For Janice: ♪”Daisy, Daisy, … on a bicycle built for two.”♫
To tell the truth, I hadn’t thought of that song until you mentioned it.
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I have seen a real bicycle built for two. But I didn’t ride on it.
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The wildflower seen in Janice’s picture grows here every summer. I knew it wasn’t a daisy, as a daisy’s petals are larger and more oval shaped, but I never learned its name. So, today’s picture inspired me to track it down. It is called fleabane, apparently because the dried plants were used to repel fleas.
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Yesterday my husband and I took a walk in a nearby state park. We’d barely been “outside” all winter and I really needed to get out and needed to spend some time with my husband. In addition, I knew I might get some good bird photos as spring starts but the trees don’t yet have leaves. And indeed, I got photos of displaying redwing blackbirds, singing cardinals, and a redheaded woodpecker that seemed to be looking at nesting sites. I also got a chipmunk, a baby squirrel (smallest I’d ever seen), and a few other birds. And the unexpected treat of purple, pink, and white wildflowers (three to five colors/shades of the same variety, plus some white flowers in a second variety). Then we stopped on the way home to get some ice cream.
April is almost over, and I’m happy to see hints of spring (bulbs, singing birds, some early wildflowers), but I am so ready for the trees to have leaves that I’m about to go out of my mind. This is the time of year I really hate the Midwest–especially after a brutal winter. One shouldn’t have to wait till May to have spring. The reason I moved back here is more than worth it, but I still detest the long, dreary winters.
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No flowers here yet. I did see some pussywillows, but we still have a foot of snow over most everything. Some places the ground is showing through and should melt fairly quickly with our warmer temperatures now 🙂 We heard a robin this morning – a lovely sound. We also discovered a dead tree just shredded by the woodpeckers – big chunks of wood taken out with lots of insect holes inside the trunk. We trimmed the spruce trees and the junipers and burned the trimmings and had our first wiener roast of the season. It is just gorgeous outside today, but we won’t have to worry about mowing the grass for another month (my guess).
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Well, Cheryl, today after mowing or moving the lawn I have the terribly itchy eyes of spring. Just wanted to give you something to be thankful for today!
We are still haggling with Aetna and the doctor’s office and the pharmacy trying to get husband’s med.
Healthcare is really suffering lately. And so are the patients.
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Glad to know we have fleabane. We need to collect it and send it to Jo. I guess because it is a weed it is hardy in the south as well as pretty far north. Just like fleas, I suppose.
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Chas,
Yes. It’s a ten inch plate turned from beech, and extensively pyrographed, front and back. Took 12 hours just for the burning on the back design.
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I’ve not only seen a bicycle built for two, but I’ve ridden one.
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Aijsuun, not too much dust here in my corner. All is green. And I have an automatic washer, so mostly liked to have help with the ironing as there are no dryers, we just hang dry. She only came one day a week for three hours.
Janice, I can relate. I usually stay inside and hide in the spring as hayfever is so bad.
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Out on the front porch, lying in a basket which was for the cats until she booted them out, a turkey is setting on an egg. Well, yesterday she was setting on an egg but we have been collecting turkey eggs from the turkey pen, where there is a tom turkey, and I had seventeen year old (quite the turkey keeper) put them under the turkey. She also lowered the turkey and basket to the ground as it was up on the top of the shoe shelf. We considered that rather dangerous for any hatchlings. In about a month we will learn if she was successful with her mission.
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Oh, Mumsee, how exciting! If I could get my brother on here he might have some tips since he majored in Poultry Science. Hmmm…makes you wonder how he got to be a pharaceutical rep for the industry that meets the needs of humans.
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Kathaleena: my daughter is doing fine–no residual fears that are obvious. The little girls whose dad shot the guy are having a harder time. Lots of fear at night, mixed with some crying spells during the day. The homeowner wasn’t charged; the burglar is out of the hospital. I don’t know if he made bail. I’ll keep y’all updated as the facts roll in.
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AJ, Yes, I’m feeling much better. Pain and fatigue are back in the normal range and so is my temp. I was able to work today just like I had never been sick. That was a blessing straight from God. Yesterday was a planned day off from work, but I need all the rest of my days to get everything done before I go home.
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MiM, it’s a beautiful piece of work.
Ann, at least the thief knows what house not to go back to.
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Thank you for the report, Ann. I can understand why those who live there are fearful. That is very unsettling for everyone. It will take a long time to feel secure again, I would imagine. Praying that will come quickly for them. Glad the homeowner wasn’t charged.
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Peter, one of my brothers used to take long, long bike rides with his wife. (They’d sometimes do 30 or 40 miles, maybe even 50, and they once flew to another country–I forget which one–and took part in a communal multi-day bike tour.) Well, his first wife died and he married again, and his new wife thought that bicycling sounded like fun, but she was a 50-year-old woman who hadn’t been on a bike in decades, and she soon found that biking with a man who was used to biking 30 miles was way, way outside her idea of fun. They ended up buying a tandem bike, and as far as I can tell they are both enjoying it.
My husband also has a story from his childhood (he was six or seven, I think, definitely well under ten) when his parents rented tandem bikes on vacation, and his three-years-older sister refused to do any pedaling, so he had to pedal for two, one of them older and heavier! That’s definitely where parents need to be aware of what is going on. In most homes, it would be the younger kid who’d get away with that nonsense!
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6 arrows, I was behind a van the other day with a personalized plate that had a heart followed by 4 ARROWS. Though of you. 🙂
It’s supposed to be a pretty severe allergy season this year, I guess because of the long, hard winter.
I can’t imagine riding 30 miles on a bike. 🙂 But cruising easily along the path near the port or on the beach is fun.
Spent the day working on the arson story, trying to connect enough dots to turn in something I was working on, but in the end I didn’t get the dots connected well enough. Maybe tomorrow.
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🙂 That’s how many I’ve got that aren’t adults yet. In one year and one day, half of my arrows will be adults. Scary how old I’m getting. 😉
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Ha, looks like it’s one year exactly now, since it just turned to April 23. But I’m not in the Eastern time zone, so we’ll just ignore that time for about an hour. 🙂
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Interesting. I got 62 without trying!
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Hubby and I one time, in the early years before arrows arrived, rode our bikes on a scenic highway in the Midwest. It was about 14 or 15 miles to the next city from the place where we lived at the time, and we did the trip up and back in one day, enjoying some time at a lake at the city we rode to before returning. So that was pretty close to 30 miles that day. Pretty fun, but much easier to do in one’s twenties than it would be now. 🙂
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Looks like I’m talking to myself.
Good night, ma’am.
Good night.
🙂
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I’m home from work now. Not really sure if it is worth it to post now. Everyone is asleep.
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I am not asleep, Jo.
It is nice to make contact with someone, a special someone like you, from all the way across the globe. We take it for granted now, but if is almost like a major miracle when you consider all thd people sho lived before us who were limited at best to telegraphs and snail mail.
I am curious about the length of the furlough. It seems they would give it to coincide with the summer break so it would give more consistency for the students.
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Janice, we are on a modified year round schedule, to match up with school schedules here. We have five weeks off in June/July and in Dec/Jan and 2 weeks after term 1 and term 2. That is not enough time for a furlough. I teach for 2 years and then take a break. Most have a three or four year term on the field, but as a single that doesn’t work for me. My first year here, my first three grandchildren were born. Plus I don’t need a year at home. So I do two years here and then six months at home. I literally spend all my time on school while I am here.
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