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Our Daily Thread 5-13-14

Good Morning!

This morning I went fishing. I saw this bird fly straight down and whack a beautiful butterfly I was trying to photo. Landed in the tree and ate ’em. 😯

I was only fast enough for one pic and then he was back to hunting. What is he?

And I caught one fish, this one.

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On this day in 1821 the first practical printing press was patented in the U.S. by Samuel Rust. 

In 1864 the Battle of Resaca commenced as Union General Sherman fought towards Atlanta during the American Civil War.

In 1865 the last land engagement of the American Civil War was fought at the Battle of Palmito Ranch in far south Texas, more than a month after Gen. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, VA.

In 1867 Confederate President Jefferson Davis became a free man after spending two years in prison for his role in the American Civil War.  

And in 1927 “Black Friday” occurred in Germany. 

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Quote of the Day

“Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love, and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.”

Stevie Wonder

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 Today is Arthur Sullivan’s birthday.

And it’s Darius Rucker’s.

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Anyone have a QoD?

66 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 5-13-14”

  1. Good ___________ (morning, evening and afternoon)!

    Waiting to see the photo for today. Time to see what Mouse is up to and say,”My how she’s grown.”

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  3. 6 Arrows, Stop by the drugstore today and buy a bottle of Melatonin. I use the 3 mg pill. Not expensive.
    Take one at 9 p.m., or thereabouts. It helps me to sleep when I get those nights. It isn’t really a sleeping pill and I don’t have a hangover that sleeping pills give. A little groggy at first, but by the time I get dressed, it’s gone.
    It’s not addictive, but everything can be habit forming. So I use it sparingly. My Bro-in-law takes one every night. I wouldn’t do that.

    Everyone else? Good morning!

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  4. Good Night all. I am about ready to sleep and good night is the greeting given here any time after 6pm. It always sounds strange to me, like I am asking someone to leave.

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  5. Did I say that we had a nice Mother’s Day service at Friendly Avenue BC in Greensboro.
    They baptized six people and dedicated six babies. And the little children sang. Our Addison (AddiLiz to us) was in the children’s choir.
    Friendly Ave. BC has a Karen or Karn (or somesuch) church they sponsor. Actually, a sister church. Their pastor is on the staff of FABC. These are a bunch of Burmese who fled the country and settled in central NC. They baptized three adults. FABC baptized two adults and a child. It was a long service, but nobody seemed to care. I was sitting up front, right next to the trumpet player. So, I didn’t enjoy the music, except the children.

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  6. I also learned that my Ranger will go 70 mph and the cruise control works. I hadn’t used cruise control or gone that fast since we took JennyK to Boone (for Appalachian State U.) about ten years ago. Elvera says it doesn’t miss a bump. Not a smoothe ride, but it got us there.

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  8. Thanks, Chas. I’d forgotten I still had some melatonin (3 mg) in the cabinet that I might have been able to take without a problem. I was taking it regularly in the past, when I had often had trouble sleeping a couple years ago, but quit taking it after I started having nightmares from it. Eventually, I started sleeping better without it. So I forgot I still had some left when I had trouble sleeping the night before last. (It doesn’t expire until July 2015, either.) I imagine I probably could take it only on an as-needed basis, when I have nights like the one I had night before last, without the nightmares starting up again.

    Using it sparingly sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the advice.

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  9. Because I received the Essential Johnny Cash for Mother’s Day you got to hear Hey Porter yesterday off of disc 1. Today I will share more of a poem off of disc 2. I credit Patriotic Songs for my love of history and my wasted degree in the same subject. Sometimes I can’t help but get teary eyed. This one is quite dated to late 60’s – early 70’s. Luckily I was stopped at a light when I heard it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnivJb3Rv5A

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  12. Hmmm, I used evening primrose very briefly quite a few years ago, for I don’t remember what purpose, but not as a sleep aid. I’ll have to read up on that herb again.

    BTW, Mumsee, I think you used the word “effect” correctly in that context. Cheryl can come along and verify or clarify. 😉

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  13. One would think that after homeschooling fifteen children, one would begin to grasp it. And somebody, I think it was Janice, laid it out quite clearly for me, but my brain is a concrete wall, nothing permeates it.

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  14. Hey y’all!

    Do you remember all those debates we had over on World Mag Blog on whether more people were killed in the name of Christianity or in the name of Atheism/statism etc?

    Remember how the Crusades came up a lot? And how Christians were the evil provocateurs in those wars? And how it made the Muslims hate us so they justified the 9/11 attacks and other terrorist acts?

    Well. History remembers it different. The Muslims had been the violent aggressors for a LONG time before the Crusades came along. The crusades were the belated and futile pushback from a longsuffering population. There are a LOT of popular misconceptions about the Crusades..

    Read a good debunking about those myths here:

    http://www.intercollegiatereview.com/index.php/2014/05/12/you-thought-the-crusades-were-evil-until-you-read-this/

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  16. MiM is correct. Christianity was spread by preaching the gospel.
    Islam is spread primarily by the sword. They use other means to convert if possible. but it has been spread by conquest historically.
    Some of those young girls who were kidnapped have been converted to Islam, so they say.
    We don’t know that, but if so, they can’t reconvert or they will be killed.

    People will bring up the crusades of the purges of non-Catholics, especially Muslims and Jews from Spain, during inquisitions. But that was the established church and politics. Not Christianity.

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  17. I believe Mumsee used effect correctly. To me, “effect” is a cause and “affect” is a result. “The effect of the clashing colors affected my vision such that I was momentarily blinded.”

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  18. Day 2 of our heat wave. The peak is supposed to be Thursday.

    Today I’m off over the bridge to the Coast Guard headquarters to cover a dedication ceremony. It’s situated right near a federal prison where all kinds of interesting folks (some only briefly) have been guests over the years, including Al Capone, Mikey Cohen, Charles Manson, Timothy Leary, Charles Colson, Sara Jane Moore (who tried to kill Ford), and Larry Flynt.

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  24. Effect is generally used as a noun and affect is generally used as a verb.

    The infection affected my abillity to breathe through my nose.

    The effect of the antihistamine was to open up my nasal passages.

    The nose knows the difference. 🙂

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  26. Actually, tomorrow is AJ’s birthday. I remember that because it’s the same day as Second and Fourth Arrows’ birthdays.

    But, hey, let’s start the party a day early! All in favor, say “Aye!”

    And Happy Birthday to Kare’s son!

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  29. A little bird told us we have a birthday to celebrate.
    Yippeeee! Cake, ice cream, streamers, balloons and banners. 6 Arrows on the piano doing duet with Roscuro and Michelle on the clarinet. I imagine MIM has some wooden drumsticks, or if not, Mumsee might have left over chicken drumsticks. We all have voices to sing!
    “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AJ…”

    “CAN YOU HEAR US NOW?”

    I think Mouse ran away from all the virtual noise we are making.

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  31. Actually, Janice, I’ll play the violin this time. So seldom do I have someone to accompany me on the piano that I would be glad to take the opportunity 😉

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  34. Just wanted to share the “God wink” I got yesterday. In the morning I was talking to Him about writing. Later as I was checking email I got an ad about a women’s retreat curriculum program. I had never seen anything like it before so I started looking around the website to find out about the publisher. Never heard of them, but I noticed they had writer’s guidelines available. Later I decided to browse my 2014 Christian Writer’s Market Guide for possibilities for article submissions. I flipped randomly to the midsection of the book and the very first publisher my eyes landed on was the one I had seen in the ad earlier. I will soon have an article that I started yesterday ready to submit. I never get use to these God surprises. He is so good! That Market Guide is almost 400 pages long!

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  38. Lovely concerto by Sir Arthur Sullivan – the classical radio station of my childhood often played it. But Sullivan is more popularly known for his collaborations with poet and satirist W. S. Gilbert to produce those series of comic operas known as Gilbert and Sullivan. The announcer on the radio used to say that Queen Victoria liked Sullivan, whose classic style reminded her of her favorite composer, Felix Mendelssohn; but she could not understand why he worked with the irreverent and cynical Gilbert. Sullivan and Gilbert apparently could not stand each other and communicated only by correspondence in working on the operettas. This particular song, sung by the Lord High Executioner from ‘The Mikado’ has had its lyrics updated to suit the social annoyances of each decade, but Sullivan’s comic tune remains the same:

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  39. Ha, I was wondering because I thought I would have noted that AJ’s birthday was the same as my son’s. Oh well, we can celebrate for two full days! 🙂

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  40. All 8 min, 51 sec of that was lovely, 6 Arrows, and it would be a joy to play. I was just having a hard time believing it was written by Shostakovitch, since there were none of his characteristic discords in it; maybe it is from his earlier years.

    I noticed the performers trying to keep a straight face whenever the audience started clapping in between the series of pieces. It reminded me of a performance I attended of a local orchestra. Four of the members were performing a string quartet. When they paused at the end of the first movement, the audience clapped. The concertmaster, who was playing first violin, turned to the audience and said, in his European accent, “There are still three movements left!”

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  42. The Real, I think I have identified your bird. He is a male Common Yellowthroat, characterized by the black face mask bordered with white. According to my source, the Yellowthroat can be found “skulking” (that’s the word which is used) in grass and weeds near water.

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  45. We were talking about nonsense rhymes and such yesterday. I thought of two more.
    My father once asked if I wanted him to tell me about the bird and the bees. His profound advice?
    Never walk under a bird
    Or sit on a bee!
    Which led to this little ditty:
    Birdie, Birdie in the sky
    Why did you do it in my eye?
    You sure make me glad
    Elephants don’t fly.

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  46. A friend from my church posted something on Facebook a while back that kind of flabbergasted me, as this man has a very deep faith in, & love for, the Lord.

    He wrote that God is not all-powerful, & is not in control, not until Jesus comes back to rule. He posted a couple verse “addresses” (chapter & verse numbers) without quoting them, but I didn’t have time to look them up at that time, & I’ve forgotten what they were. One was in one of the Timothys, & I think there was a 6 involved (chapter or verse).

    (I think he may delete posts that have been up for a while, because his posts don’t go back very far, so I couldn’t find it when I decided to look further into it.)

    Is anyone here familiar with that kind of thought among otherwise fairly orthodox believers? There was a website that he linked to, too, that he often links to, so maybe I should check them out to see what they have to say.

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  47. Last night, after I was off the blog, someone mentioned the saying ” “I see,’ said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer & saw.”

    Yup, that’s another one Lee quotes.

    I forgot to mention the campfire in the “dark & stormy night” thingie.

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  48. Roscuro, I was surprised by the consonance of the Shostakovich piece, too — I’d never heard of the piece, and almost didn’t click on it, because I don’t generally care for music with a lot of dissonance, as is typical of him and his contemporaries. I agree that it must be an earlier work of his, but I can’t find it on any lists of his compositions.

    Speaking of “lists”, that “Little List Song” you posted was hilarious! Oh, and I laughed out loud at your “There are still three movements left!” story. 🙂 That’ll learn ’em!

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  49. MIM, thanks for the link about the Crusades. I’m going to get that on my high schooler’s reading list.

    Janice, your affect/effect link was good, too. I always understood affect to be a verb, and effect to be a noun, but the exceptions (described on the second page at that link) would throw me off.

    I had to laugh at these sentences, though: “The arrows affected Aardvark. The effect was eye-popping.” I think I’d better go check just what those arrows are up to. 😉

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  51. Re affect/ effect: One thing that makes it tricky is that even if you know the basic rule, some usages defy the rule. (Kinda like the “i before e except after c” rule is “usually” but not always true.)

    Generally, however, “affect” is the verb and “effect” is the noun. You can remember them this way: You affect something, causing an effect; “affect” is the prior one alphabetically and logically. The problem is, there are some usages in which “affect” is a noun (someone with no emotional expression might be said to have “a flat affect,” though this is rarely used), and some in which “effect” is a verb (to effect a cure). But that’s rare enough, and excusable enough to get it wrong, that if you can remember affect/effect, affecting causes effects, you’ll be right 98% of the time.

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  54. Silly dog caught a muskrat this morning. Now there is a dead muskrat lying under an old milk crate with wood piled on it until husband comes home to take care of it. Poor muskrat. 😦

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  55. Your birthday is just beginning here Aj. So go ahead and celebrate. The foggy morning is clearing and the mountains in the distance are appearing.
    We will celebrate with you as you bless so many

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  56. Taking a break from mowing on this hot and humid day. Blue Bell strawberry bars are really good while I wait on that birthday cake!

    Bosley is not use to seeing me out of breath from mowing. This is a new year of seasons and funny people ways . We are always doing something to pique her curiosity. Husband was noting last night that as we go from one location to another that she guesses where we are headed and she runs fast as she can to where she thinks we will end up. Mostly she gets it right, but sometimes she gets fooled. 🙂 I keep trying to teach her to talk but no luck yet, but I do know she understands some words other than her name and “No!” I am trying to get her use to being brushed to cut down on hairballs. I think she knows the word brush now.

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  57. So what, are you all saying I was wrong? It would be the very first time, you know. 😉

    I picked up a dead rat in my backyard yesterday after I got home from work. An Annie special, I’m sure, but at least she didn’t bring it into the house while still alive.

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  59. Just spent an hour or two transplanting seedlings. Doesn’t look like I will be planting my garden this weekend. There’s still 95% snow coverage just north of us in the park. No wonder it’s still so cold out.

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  61. Janice,

    No, it’s a rainbow trout. You can tell by the blunter head than most trout, and the pink line thru the center. Feisty, and fun to catch. 🙂

    Roscuro,

    Thanks. He was pretty, but gone too quick.

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  63. I thought you’d enjoy it, Michelle. 🙂 Roscuro too. I thought the whole piece was great, as well.

    Janice’s first comment today, starting with “Good __________” could be a QoD. Fill in the blank. Could be morning, evening, or afternoon, as she said. Or how about:

    Good heavens!
    Good grief!

    Or…

    Well?

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  65. Sixth Arrow is feeling better tonight. (See prayer thread.) Still has a little sore throat, but the fever is gone, and she is much perkier. Thanks for the prayers.

    We have three big days in a row, starting tomorrow with 2nd and 4th Arrows’ birthdays (though the older won’t be here), continuing Thursday with 2nd Arrow’s graduation from the Vet Tech program, and moving onto Friday, with a little party at my mother-in-law’s house to celebrate our daughter’s graduation. My husband’s youngest brother, along with his wife and young son, are driving about 10 hours to come see our daughter graduate. Very thoughtful and supportive of them.

    Though 2nd Arrow’s graduation ceremony is Thursday, she still has one month left in her internship. She’ll “officially” be a graduate of the program after her internship is complete. She’s doing very well in the program, and has been approached by more than one of her internship overseers, encouraging her to apply for a job at the veterinary hospital where she is completing her program. She works very well with animals, and her supervisors have taken notice. She really is a natural in this field, and it’s been her dream to work at this particular facility, a major veterinary hospital in the Midwest, so she is quite pleased and we are very proud of her and what she is accomplishing.

    And we are so thankful that she gets both Thursday and Friday off from her internship this week. The graduation ceremony is back in the city where she had most of her schooling, more than four hours away from where she is doing her internship now. She really wanted to be able to attend the graduation, but originally they only allowed her one day off to go to the graduation, and she would have to drive back to her current city that night. With the ceremony being at 7:00 pm (for the whole tech school, not just her program), then time to visit with friends from her program and others who would be there, her four-hour drive would be quite late at night, and she’d have to be up and out the door the next morning at 7:00 am for her internship.

    Thankfully she won’t have to do that now, as she was also granted Friday off. Thank you Lord! She’ll stay overnight Thursday in the city where she graduates, go Friday to Grandma’s house an hour away for the party, spend Friday night at our house, and head back to her current city of residence on Saturday during daylight hours. Whew!

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  66. Since I won’t be around here tomorrow, then, I’ll wish AJ a Happy Birthday a little early! Have a great day, all of you, and save some cake for me. 😉

    (Happy Birthday to Mumsee’s sixteen turning seventeen, too.) 🙂

    Blessings.

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