39 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 1-3-17”

  1. I didn’t expect to be up this early, Aj.
    Good morning everyone. I don’t even have both socks on.
    I come in first thing to check mail, then I check the blog. Didn’t expect to be up this soon.
    🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Good morning. It’s back to school this morning and Scott’s first day back since Christmas Eve….it’s been so nice having everyone home–the house is going to feel empty today!

    Liked by 3 people

  4. Good morning!! Hubby has been home, so have not been on computer. Trusting that you all had a good Christmas and New Year. I am very thankful we do not have crocs or gators here. 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Good morning all. :–)

    Janice, where did you see that HUGE alligator?! Is that Florida? Shudder…it makes me want to hold Samster a little closer. [Of course Samster, being an alpha male and overly cocky, is not the least put off by its size. All he sees is a years supply of rawhides and maybe a nice handbag for mama. Shame on him.]

    Liked by 7 people

  7. Back to real life after a crazy . . . 2016?

    Gym, grocery store, and then to a day focused on a list full of things to do. I’m happy.

    Especially because I’m not worried about crocodiles, though it is raining again! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Good Morning all….that guy up there looks menacing indeed!! We had those things in SC and in FL….I like living in CO….we only have mountain lions, and bears, and coyotes! 🙂
    I awakened having a disturbing dream about my Dad…I was being called home because he was ill….when I woke I thought to myself “but he’s been gone for 5 years”….then it hit me…today, 5 years ago he went to be with our Lord…it was a Tuesday morning….sobering start to my day…..I miss him…and I am so thankful he is where we will all be one day for he knew the voice of the Shepherd…..

    Liked by 9 people

  9. Nancy Jill, 2014 was 30 years since I lost my dad, and my husband (who is several years older than me) still has his. I couldn’t help but think of all the decades of my life my dad never got to witness. Even my mom (gone 13 years this past fall) saw a photo of the home I had just bought, but she never got to see it, never knew I was a foster parent, never knew about Misten, didn’t see the publication of my second book, and wasn’t there to see me married and becoming a stepmother–or to see the death of a daughter-in-law and son-in-law, marriages of two other of her children (one of them the widower), the weddings of multiple grandchildren, adoption of two additional grandchildren, or any of her now ten great-grandhchildren .

    Death is such an enemy. I truly look forward to the land of “no more goodbyes.”

    This April will be the 100th anniversary of my father’s birth. I ordered a calendar from Shutterfly, and on it when a family member has a birthday, I put a photo of that person on that date. I had to include my father on this one, though he will have been gone for fully one-third of that 100 years.

    Liked by 8 people

  10. Just don’t try to put him in a sweater.

    Back to work for me, but we only got the two 3-day weekends, no time off in between, so my return is not too jarring. 🙂

    We had a glorious sunrise this morning, the sky was streaked with orange and red as I opened my eyes and looked out the open bedroom window just past 6:30 a.m.

    Liked by 3 people

  11. “I sometimes wonder whether Disney movies featuring talking animals are responsible for the sentimentalization of nature at the heart of popular environmentalism.” ~ Steven Hayward, powerline

    That’s what coyote researchers have told me, in so many words.

    Anyway, good post on how naive we’ve become about the wildlife predators among us, from polar bears to crocodiles who really don’t like posing for our selfies, thank you anyway.

    http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/01/its-a-dog-eat-dog-world-out-there-oh-wait.php

    Liked by 1 person

  12. We had one of those amazing sunrises yesterday morning Donna….firey oranges and reds in the eastern sky….I don’t have a camera that could capture the majesty of it all…but I do still have eyes that can behold the beauty!
    This morning we have a cold icy fog rolling through…it has flocked the pines with a wintry white ice…it is so beautiful!!

    Liked by 2 people

  13. DJ, I thought this quote from 10:38 was interesting. Three polar bears had to be removed from the property after eating dogs, and the owner says: “The owner of the site, who raises the sled dogs, told the network that the slaughter had occurred on ‘the only day we didn’t feed the f—— bears, the only night we didn’t put anything out.’” Um, okay, you live among bears, and you don’t understand that feeding bears habituates them to humans? You didn’t know that feeding bears allows them to see your property as a restaurant, and when you didn’t put other food out, they naturally saw your dog(s) as the entree of the day?

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Does anyone know how to pull a list of something FOR FREE without slogging through all the pages and pages on the internet and manually putting it into a spreadsheet?

    Like

  15. In some ways, it seems so harmless to toss a piece of leftover meat out to the neighborhood coyote or whatever. I was reading a novel recently (set in the Hollywood hills and written a few years back before the coyote problem became so rampant in LA) in which the main character, a detective, would toss out meat scraps to the coyote hillside inhabitant below his house. But as we’ve all learned, it really does set up a dangerous habituation in which people (you) are then associated with food and feeding. That doesn’t end well.

    The added challenge in more urban areas (and part of the reason those neighborhoods have become so attractive to wild animals) is trying to eliminate all “unintentional” food sources as well (garbage, barbecue scraps, fruit & vegetable trees and gardens, backyard pets …). It’s a near impossible task, but even those set up the connection in the animals’ minds that equates people (and their properties, fenced off or not) with meal time.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Kim. Ain’t nothing free. If it’s free to you, they are gathering information, or some such.
    There’s always a reason for “free”.

    Elvera always threw uneaten food out “for the critters”. I told her that it was OK to put bread and stuff out for birds and squirrels, but do not throw meat out. Grind it up or throw it into garbage. We do not want to attract anything that eats meat.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. We often have partridges (or more specifically–grouse) in our crabapple trees. This morning is the first time I have seen a turkey in the crabapple tree. We recently heard of a guy a couple of miles away who has a flock of 13 in his yard regularly. Now that would be a sight in the apple tree!

    Like

  18. That alligator was on the other side of water beside the trail we hiking which was on the perimeter of the Sea Pines Nature Preserve on Hilton Head Island. I felt concerned that it was so close to the houses which might contain young children who might venture outside unaware.

    Like

  19. I got a call from Karen at 7:15 this morning that her daughter was sick and could not take her for her doctor’s appointment at 8:15. I rushed around and got her there on time. Traffic was surprisingly light which probably means a lot of people are still on vacation. Karen is doing some better but still not where she longs to be.

    Like

  20. Well Chas, I did find a list for $35 from the State Board of ______ but I was told that if he paid for a list every time he wanted something he would go broke. Make it happen he was tired of arguing with me.

    Like

  21. Kathaleena, FYI, turkeys are one bird you don’t want in large numbers in your yard. Some people feed them, but that’s a mistake. Not only are they very large birds, but they can become quite aggressive, and the males have spurs that can do considerable damage. A couple of years ago my husband forwarded me about a story about a mailman who couldn’t deliver mail to a couple of houses on his route since turkeys had started hanging out there, and the 30-pound birds weren’t letting him deliver the mail.

    Turkeys also decide whether an individual is male or female . . . and their decision may or may not line up with your actual sex. But based on what they have gotten it into their minds that you are, they can become combative or amorous, and I’m not quite sure which would be worse, a male turkey that thinks I’m another male or a male turkey that thinks I’m a female of his species. ( http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/preventing-conflicts-with-turkeys.html )

    Liked by 2 people

  22. Peter, did I miss every selection on the bowl selections? I can’t think of a single one that I chose as a winner.

    Like

  23. I like the heron better than the crocodile.

    I need some help from you all. I’m spending January getting organized for my launch of the Biddy book next fall–yes, it does take 10 months to prepare for a good launch.

    As part of that launch, I’m going to be writing stories each month for my newsletter, telling about all the amazing “coincidences,” that happened in the writing of both Biddy and Poppy.

    I need 12–one for each month–and while I have a list, I suspect I’m not remembering everything.

    So, if anything stands out in all the stories I’ve written here on WV about the writing of the books, could you either send them to me, or post them here?

    I’ve got things planned like getting an email asking for info about Oswald Chambers the day after I wrote about his burial–from someone whose grandfather had attended the burial service and had photos!

    Do any other stories stick out in your mind?

    Anything would help.

    Thank you.

    Like

  24. Who was the connection in Japan? You were sitting on ready to go talk to them. Hmmm. A quick Google search pulls up Michelle _____, Author as the first one.
    Who was the person who knew Kathleen Chambers?
    At one point you were asking for someone who knew short hand. Did you have something that was written in short hand that you were trying to read?
    I think I told you that our new mayor (who owns an independent bookstore and wants to host you) told me that the July 4 (I think) changed her life.
    What about the phone call you were waiting on from someone regarding it a month or so ago?
    I remember talking to you about it and how Biddy had become such a real person to you. You spoke almost as if she were alive and simply living in another place.

    Those are just off the top of my head.

    Liked by 1 person

  27. I’ve got the connection in Hong Kong story. The phone call is the final post–it’s the blessing I got from England. I’m trying to remember the stories from a couple years ago when I wasn’t paying attention–rather than go back and review ALL the WV from 2013 . . . !

    Thanks, Kim, that was helpful. My husband had a couple, too.

    Like

  30. What about Pinterest or some other site show you as the authority on Biddy or perhaps it was Oswald. It was a year or so ago that you said something laughingly about it.

    Like

  31. With you in my thoughts and prayers, NancyJill, on the anniversary of your dad’s passing.

    Nice to see you back, RKessler. I’m not sure if you saw it, but I announced last week that my oldest daughter got engaged Christmas Eve. 🙂

    I had a nice chat with her fiancee two days ago at the extended-family Christmas gathering for my husband’s side. Daughter and fiancee are both the second of six children, and both really want to have children.

    They both got some extended time holding my niece’s 3-month old daughter on Sunday, which was a sweet thing to see.

    Today I am thankful for a good re-start to school. All three of the kids displayed good attitudes about resuming schoolwork after Christmas vacation.

    A very nice day it has been.

    Liked by 4 people

  32. 6 Arrows, it is so sweet to get to know the beloved of one’s child, and to watch her bloom as she prepares to be a wife. For us the process wasn’t always easy, but overall it was very good, and all the relationships are good (including our younger daughter feeling like she finally has a brother). I hope it’s really a lovely time for all of you.

    Liked by 2 people

  33. Cheryl, so true. I’m looking forward to seeing how the journey to marriage unfolds for them. Though they live in different parts of our state than we do, we do see them fairly regularly, and I can already see a difference between the pre-engagement dating period, and now. He seems to have grown more tender, for one thing. A real blessing to see a young man become more nurturing and protective toward his future bride, and to see a daughter respond to that.

    Liked by 2 people

  34. More good news! Regarding my prayer request yesterday, the mom I mentioned who sent out an email January 1 to me and a few other local teachers, looking for an accompanist for her son and a piano teacher for her daughter, called me just a little bit ago — I am meeting them tomorrow!

    Thank you for your prayers, and continued prayers that tomorrow’s meet-and-greet consultation and mini-lesson show a good fit are greatly appreciated! Mom is very enthusiastic, and reports that daughter is quite excited to start lessons, having gotten a good instrument for Christmas that she enjoys playing on. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  39. Made it safely home to Ukarumpa with a massive amount of luggage. With my back hurting, I asked folks for help. In Moresby they stopped a long ways from the building and put up stairs. I asked for help carrying my bag down the stairs and then up the stairs at the other end of the tarmac.
    Back is feeling better, but I think I need a nap.
    But I am invited to dinner and then have a class.

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.