92 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 8-19-17

  1. Good morning Debra. Don’t apologize for being first.
    Blame it on all the sleepyheads around here.
    But it’s SATURDAY!
    Everyone can sleep in.
    I think Peter has to be out early, but I can’t think of anyone else who has to be out.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I just woke with a horrified gasp–I missed attending a 60th anniversary party last night for one of the sweetest most affirming women in my Bible study.

    She’s been longing for ME to meet her family and I’ve been looking forward to it. I cannot believe I missed the party.

    Other than write an email apology, which I’ve done, I don’t know what else to do–switch churches?

    Maybe I could show up at the house with flowers this morning? Where is Kim when I need advice?

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I wouldn’t crash breakfast, but you could drop in a little later in the morning.

    The hordes descended yesterday evening. Third Nephew’s sweet voice has been heard asking all manner of questions since he arose this morning. He wants to understand everything from the secrets of making pancakes, in which he is assisting his grandmother, to which is the biggest continent on the map.

    Liked by 4 people

  4. Don’t worry, Chas. We don’t. His mother said contentedly, as we listened to his stream of question, that he was ready to learn. They homeschool.

    Like

  5. I’ve shaved, showered, had coffee, and got a haircut from my barber down the street, roused a teenage girl from her slumbers, and am heading out to the Boro yard sale. All by 10AM. I’ve not been laying about all morning, like some of you slackers. 🙂

    I’ve been a busy 🐝

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Michelle,

    Flowers, and a visit would be nice. So would a signed copy of your book with a personalized belated Anniversary note inside, when you can…… 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  7. What I am about to write could be seen as a complaint from me, but it is rather humorous if you recognize it for what it is.
    We have a woman at work that “owns” more that she should. I wouldn’t quite call her a gas lighter, but she is something close. She has signed agents on to the company without the Team Leader ever meeting them. TL is required to meet with 40 prospects per month. This dilutes her number. I have felt from the moment I walked in the doors that she didn’t want me stepping on her turf.
    Thursday she called me at 12:30, knowing I live 45 minutes away to “remind” me I had a class to teach at 1. I ended up cancelling the class and rescheduling it for 10:30 Friday morning. I told her I had a conference call at 10 I needed to be on. She sent out an email to the entire company telling them the class was at 10. I asked her when I got to the office what happened. She insisted I told her the class would be at 10. I know I told her 10:30.
    There is another woman, younger, in the office. She had some things to do yesterday and didn’t make it into the office until 2. At 4 she told this woman K that Panera Bread would be delivering food. Well that started an inquisition. When Panera showed up K directed them to the wrong place then when they said no one was in that office she apologized to them for wasting their time and said the younger woman must have left again. I know this because the younger woman called me laughing about it.

    What do these kind of people get out of doing this sort of thing to others?

    Liked by 2 people

  8. My husband is falling behind on the job. Unbelievable but I actually had to go out to the pantry this morning, to refill my oatmeal container myself. Did I mention I am totally spoiled?

    Liked by 7 people

  9. “Sweetest most affirming woman”…..Michelle she will understand….go over with flowers…AJ’s suggestionof a signed book when available is a nice touch….❤️

    Like

  10. Another sixteen year old here. Last year she refused to have a birthday so we ignored it. She seems to want one this year. I am baking brownies and plan to give her the sewing machine I bought for her though she insisted she did not want one when she was on one of her difficult times. She will enjoy it.

    Other sixteen year old never showed up for his birthday so we had it without him. I did not expect him though so we had fun.

    Liked by 6 people

  11. Good morning. Have been down to cafeteria for edible food. Texans are so polite! Met with the trauma team. White count is down to 14, from 16. Improvement! Got proper size of bedside commode. He is a big man. Managed that transfer without help.

    Liked by 10 people

  12. Kim, it makes them feel big and important. They feed off of other people’s perceived incompetencies, even to the point of making them happen themselves.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Husband decided to come up the Montana side to avoid the eclipse crowd and the construction with one lane roads but found highway 12 from Montana is closed due to fires so had to go up to Coeurdalene, adding another five or so hours to his trip. Oh well. should be home in time for brownies.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. It is. Unless you are in a hurry, but anything faster takes longer. Makes you slow down and smell the roses so to speak. Motorcyclists come from all over to enjoy it as do bicyclists. And kayakers. And fly fishermen. But it does close due to fires or snowfall or avalanches or rockslides. Some woman was riding down while her husband drove a few years ago and a tree fell and went through her neck. They had to continue the drive and she was fixed up and did fine as far as I know. The strangest things…

    Like

  15. My husband and I discussed that route yesterday, Mumsee, when I told him about the crowded road. I’m glad he’s home, can he stay home for the rest of the weekend?

    In my saga, Liz laughed, was full of delightful grace and my equilibrium is restored. God is good but I sure missed a great party. She said she’d show me pictures.

    Sigh. But grateful to no longer feel condemned–which she never would have done anyway. Liz has already bought five copies of my book for her family for Christmas . . . but it’s a great idea, otherwise! LOL

    Liked by 3 people

  16. Nope, he is not home. He is in Coeur d alene. taking the scenic route. The highway 12 route is as quick as the ninety five route unless 12 is closed. He had driven all day yesterday to get down there and was planning to drive all night to get back but with the added drive, I suspect they pulled over for a nap. I hope so.

    Liked by 2 people

  17. Yes, I will take FMLA for the time he is non weight bearing. I think in reality, once we get situated, I could probably work a night here and there, but that remains s to be seen. A regular shift meet 16 hrs away from home. I don’t see that happening any time soon.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. We are moving eleven year old into eighteen’s old room. Back to boys and girls wings. Dicey but we will give it a try. That means new sixteen will move into eleven’s old room, where she used to be and could not behave. Ah well. She may like it better than being behind a cardboard wall, now that she is older.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Everyone’s so busy and chatty this morning around here. I remember Coeur d alene, my aunt lived in Sandpoint.

    We need a Highway 12 around here. Going up to see my girlfriend in “the Valley,” as we locals call it (as in San Fernando Valley, the northern tip of LA proper), I hit bumper-to-bumper traffic through the hills. Turned out there had been an accident. The drive up there normally takes almost exactly an hour, maybe a little bit more. This time it was closer to 90 minutes.

    Coming home (late, after midnight) I took a wrong turn out of the backside of her neighborhood, could not orient myself to where the fwy onramp was from there, so used my phone GPS google maps app which had me going home in a very different way — wound up switching around on 3 different freeways before finally hitting the 110 south just north of downtown LA. At least there wasn’t a lot of traffic. But there’s always traffic, no matter what time.

    I finally feel caught up on my sleep after 9 hours of sleep last night making up for the night before (when I had maybe 4 or 5 hours + a short afternoon nap yesterday).

    It’s so good to hear about Miguel’s progress and Kim back at work, the good and the bad of that 🙂 . And Idaho Mike heading for home.

    It’s eclipse fever here, even though we won’t be able to see the full effects from where we are and the beaches will be socked in so that will be worst vantage point. I’m sure the Griffith Park Observatory will be packed. People are excited.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Please pray for my attitude today. I am grouchy and tearful. I am a person who spends the majority of the day outdoors, if I am not at work. I have not had my thyroid meds since Sunday, nor the herbal stuff I do for menopause. I miss my son. I have never left him for more than a day. He always has one of us. I need to breathe some fresh mountain air. Sorry to be a whiner. I really am thankful and blessed. I just need an attitude adjustment.

    Liked by 7 people

  21. US-12 was the main route from Detroit to Chicago until 1962, when I-94 took its place along more the same route.

    Then they re-numbered old US-112 to US-12. That also runs from Detroit to Chicago, but on a more southerly route.

    Along I-94 you can find stretches of the original road named “Old US 12” or some such, much as you can see stretches of old Route 66 along I-40.

    Like

  22. Rkessler, you have been under a great deal of pressure. Realize that. Realize the blessings you enumerated in rants and raves. Then, try to think of it as a vacation from your normal stuff. I know that is hard, but it helped me when I was in Boise helping husband with the knee surgeries and arthritis stuff. I will continue to be praying for you. Did you notice I asked how you were doing a couple of days ago? That is because I knew you would be missing your life.

    Liked by 7 people

  23. RKessler, you’re allowed if anyone is. You’ve been through so much, a life-altering event, in such a short period. How much longer is the hospital stay? Any chance of transferring him closer to home at some point if he has to remain hospitalized much longer?

    Meanwhile, I’ve become aware of some “attitudes” in me this week that need work.

    Related, sort of: I saw Real Estate Guy at the dog park yesterday and he said the roofer has ‘disappeared’ again — my first reaction was ‘What?! What about my foundation!?’ Then REG explained that it was issues at home and I remembered that roofer’s wife has breast cancer and they have a son who is disabled and requires a lot of care. That’s clearly his more important priority, to be there to take care of his family. The foundation will wait. House isn’t sliding down the hill just yet … 🙂 It’s all about me, right? Sigh.

    Liked by 3 people

  24. RKessler, I haven’t been through long hospital stays for a husband, but have for three parents, and I know how draining they can be. It helps a little sometimes to remind yourself this is just a season, you’re here to love this person, and God is in control. I do understand, though, that being stuck inside is hard, and I try to find ways to get outside, even if it is only walking to the mailbox and going slowly to pull a few weeds along the way, or going outside to eat lunch because the patient is sleeping anyway . . .

    Liked by 2 people

  25. Thank you for your concern. It is a vacation of sorts, as we have both been nonstop with work for over a month. The one fun break I had was meting Peter and M rs. L. The rest has been work. We are thinking maybe monday to get out. It is almost 6 hrs home. I wish I could make sure all the n eeded devices were there and set up. We can’t transfer from bed to anything without the trapezius bar.

    Liked by 6 people

  26. rkessler, your life has been turned upside down. Find little breaks for your self. Just go outside for a few minutes. Is there a patio anywhere for you to sit and breathe? You need to take care of yourself, too.

    Liked by 3 people

  27. A couple questions:

    Is the surgery to remove wisdom teeth (that can’t merely be pulled) considered “major surgery”?

    How do single people with full-time jobs (or married couples where both work & the kids are in school) handle having a puppy? Is the puppy in a crate all night, then most of the next day? Or maybe they just don’t get puppies?

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Kizzie, I doubt wisdom teeth surgery is considered major. Probably that is reserved more for things like heart bypass, removal of a dangerous tumor, and the like. But I am not sure what the distinctions mean or how formal they are. But the removal of wisdom teeth is definitely minor surgery, I would say. (And I say that as one who had two removed that way and had some after-effects for several days.)

    I would think that people who work full-time outside the house should not get a puppy. Personally, I’d also say they probably shouldn’t usually have a dog (and certainly should choose the breed carefully–a collie would be a bad choice, for example, as it is such a “people dog”), but if they really want a dog, then having two dogs and considering the installation of a doggie door would make it work. But I only got a puppy because I worked from home, and even then I considered it carefully. It’s just that I had wanted a collie my entire life, and wanted to have the whole life of a dog once. But I wouldn’t be inclined to get a puppy again, even though Misten was fairly easy and it was a decently good experience as puppies go. (She was housebroken extremely easily, but chewing was a bit trickier and required confining overnight for some months.)

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Just not taking thyroid meds will mean a change in emotions. Plus, all that stress makes that worse. Hard times, indeed.

    I know people who do keep a puppy in a kennel crate when they cannot be there during the day. Then at night they will put it to sleep in it. Eventually, a puppy will grow up and be able to be trusted, hopefully. I don’t like to see people who are gone a lot have a dog home alone all day, either.

    Liked by 2 people

  30. When Keva was a puppy, I only worked 3 days a week, but was able to go home for lunch to let him out of the crate and play with him. I’m not sure what people who work full time and can’t go home at least once during the day would do. It sure doesn’t seem fair to the dog, does it? Keva survived those days and we made sure to play with him and as he got older he started running with husband everyday. Dogs need exercise and if they’re in a crate all day and then all night, it means a very, very long walk or run in the other hours.

    Like

  31. I’d never get a puppy since I couldn’t be home to raise it and I currently don’t work close enough to home to dash back even on an hour-long lunch break — but dogs that are 1-2 years old have worked fine for me (and definitely with 2 at a time and access to a doggie door and backyard).

    Like

  32. Eldest daughter got a puppy when she first started working as a nurse. That is twelve hour shifts so puppy was in the kennel a lot of time though she had a roommate to let him out sometimes. The puppy grew up and is a very well behaved well mannered well loved dog. They got a second as he was getting older and she went through the same. Both are fine dogs who get lots of attention and don’t hesitate to go into their kennels.
    Daughter was especially concerned because she would do her twelve hours and then sleep for eight so puppy spent lots of time in the crate. But then, wild dogs don’t spend all that much time walking around. Researchers claim they sleep about twenty three hours a day. So, the pain of kennels is more in the mind of the owner than the dog. Obviously I am not recommending people keep dogs in kennels twenty three hours per day but if you take the time to observe, you might notice it is fairly accurate.

    Liked by 1 person

  33. Pet Rocks are perfect pets.
    They are well trained. You say “STAY” and they stay.
    They jump in your lap every time you want them to.
    Same for licking your face.
    They can be left alone for long periods of time.

    Liked by 5 people

  34. I got out of the hospital for a couple hrs today. A friend of Miguel came by, as did my daughter and the boys. I snuck off to walmart a stocked up on pillows and draw sheets for the trip home. I think now, if they discharged us tomorrow, we would have what we need. I know there will be no shopping on the way home.

    I bought shaving supplies while I was out,and daughter gave him a good shave. He had time to get to know the boys better.:)

    Thank you for your continued prayers.

    Michelle, we are in Odessa, which is several hours east of El Paso. Thank you for the offer.

    Liked by 5 people

  35. I saw that same butterfly in our own butterfly garden a couple months ago, so it looked familiar to me. It’s a really large species, and rather cool.

    Like

  36. Mumsee, our doggos sleep most of the day while we’re gone and then are very happy to get back to their beds after we let them out when we get home from work and are very ready to go to bed at night. Duke will often be in his kennel as we are turning out lights and doing the bed time routine. Of course, they are well exercised each morning.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. I’m tired, but it’s a good tired. We left the house at 6:15 to go to the zoo in St. Louis. D1 and family, along with D3 came last night so the trip to St. Louis wouldn’t be as long (1 hour 40 minutes, as opposed to 3 or 4 hours). D2 and her husband met us there. It was hot (95° or so), but not too humid. It felt like Arizona at 100-105°, except the perspiration doesn’t evaporate. Tomorrow after church I’m taking Mrs L to D2’s house in Columbia, MO, for the eclipse. I have to teach on Monday, so I need to be here. It’s only a 3 hour round trip, so I won’t get home too late. Someone else will bring her home Monday evening after the traffic lets up. I-70 in Missouri is crowded enough with out the extra traffic the eclipse is bringing in. D3 works at a hotel 90 miles North of Columbia and says it is all booked up with people from up North who want to go on down the last 90 miles for the eclipse. You’d think something like this didn’t happen once every 40 years or so!

    Liked by 2 people

  38. I, too, doubted that having one’s wisdom teeth removed would be considered major surgery. I asked because YF has been commenting on one of my posts, & mentioned that she was weary from having had “major surgery”, & I knew that she had had her wisdom teeth removed. But then Chickadee told me they had to cut into her jawbone. Ouch!

    On that same thread, she replied to a comment from another friend of mine that she didn’t know him, & based on his previous comment, didn’t want to change that. (The only thing “wrong” with his comment was that she disagreed with him, & thought he wasn’t taking something seriously enough.)

    I told her that was too bad because he & she had a lot in common. In fact, he is as passionate about certain matters as she is. The other friend wrote a couple really good comments about communication, seeking to understand each other, & not putting people into boxes (although that is my wording, not his).

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Chickadee & I have been dealing with a sick puppy this evening. Janie has diarrhea, & has thrown up two or three times. We’ve had to clean up accidents off the floor a few times. We have her down here with us since she kept whining in her crate when she had to “go”, which was frequently, so it was easier to keep her down here. Hoping Nightingale is not late tonight.

    Like

  40. Beautiful day for weddings. Neither that we attended were outside, but both were nice ceremonies.

    And 20-year-old daughter caught the bridal bouquet at the second one. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  41. Trauma team came in this morning and said the might want to give Miguel a blood transfusion. His hemoglobin has dropped from 7.4 to 7. He had a restless night. His H&H are 7 & 22 if Phos is reading this. I really think he would feel better if he gets it. That’s the update for now. 🙂

    Liked by 7 people

  42. Kare – The problem with a crate downstairs is that we don’t have much room for one.

    But happily, Janie is feeling much better today, & doesn’t seem to have the issues she had last night.

    Liked by 1 person

  43. Even with my hearing aid on, I missed some of what the preacher was saying.
    Those of you who speak in public, don’t ever whisper, even into a microphone. It doesn’t carry well.

    Liked by 2 people

  44. So, rereading the to of this thread, I wonder why Chas thought I needed to be up early on Saturday?, since I hadn’t mention going to the zoo beforehand.

    Like

  45. Big rant ahead that I typed up before my 2:41 post. I suppose it could go in R & R, but I typed it in a different open tab for Our Daily Thread. (An addendum to my prayer thread results I posted last week regarding the lumps in my shoulder/clavicle area. I didn’t want to rant on the prayer thread.)

    Anyway, read my next post at your own risk…

    Liked by 1 person

  46. I didn’t say a lot on the prayer thread last week regarding the physician assistant’s thoughts that my shoulder/clavicle area protrusions are arthritis, but I’m not completely satisfied with that answer. Now today, in skimming part of a book I have checked out of the library, Pain Free, by Pete Egoscue, I read this in the “Shoulders” chapter:

    As you can probably tell, I’m impatient with this word tendinitis. I don’t like the suggestion that shoulder or joint pain is a disease, something a person catches like the flu or TB, or is predisposed to genetically, or comes down with by accident. Pain and swelling in the shoulder are symptoms of musculoskeletal misalignment…

    [Bold emphasis mine.]

    The PA basically told me, you’re aging, your parents have arthritis, just take Aleve or ibuprofen and accept that there’s nothing else that can be done, except surgery if it gets really bad.

    Drugs, surgery, accept your heredity. Blah blah blah. Sorry, but no, I think there are better alternatives than going that route. Reading that part I quoted above was a lot more hopeful (and true, I believe) than hearing that I’m a victim of my heredity. Predisposition doesn’t mean I’ve necessarily got a problem, or will develop a problem, that only drugs and surgery can help.

    Bah.

    Please excuse my rant.

    He didn’t have a good explanation for why those lumps popped up so suddenly, either. He told me to avoid lying on my right side (I’d already been doing that after they started hurting), and not to press on them, it’ll just make it hurt more. But HE PRESSED ON THEM NUMEROUS TIMES as he was talking to me Thursday, and I’ve been in more pain since going to see him than on the days before I went in!! Arrrrgh!

    Anyway, time to read that book and see what I can do for myself.

    No offense to medical practitioners here (or relatives of yours in the medical field). Some in the field have been truly helpful and wonderful to my family. Others have just about made me tear my hair out. The anger would eat me alive if I couldn’t vent.

    End of complaint. Thank you for bearing with me, if you read it.

    Liked by 3 people

  47. 6 arrows, I have had a problem with my ribs, one overlaps another at times. Last year I went into the chiropractor and he took care of it and agreed that it was exactly what I thought.

    Then I returned to PNG and it happened again and I didn’t know what to do. It was beginning to depress me and I felt that should have asked what to do.

    Then I went to a physical therapist on centre. She studied the problem, took care of it and showed me exactly what to do. and an exercise that I can do daily to help it not continue to happen.

    So I was very pleased with going to a physical therapist, which I had never done before.

    Liked by 2 people

  48. I am home from the retreat. It helped me to learn I need more action beats in my writing. I did feel sad about one person’s writing being so heavily critiqued. Her work does need a lot of work, more than anyone eles’ s. I made some new friends which makes me happy.

    I did pray for you good people on here as I had some free moments. I got up last night at 3 a.m. and looked out from the seventh floor window onto the expressway nearby. I prayed for the people on the road at that wee hour.

    We hope to go to a viewing area for the eclipse tomorrow. It is difficult for me to leave Miss Bosley again. At least she is older and not so energetic now.

    Liked by 2 people

  49. I met an older man (there were only two guys there) who is retiring from the newspaper business. He sounded like he was repeating your story, Donna. He said one person he had worked for was keeping it running with no staff and that the guy works till after midnight and goes in at 8 a.m. He told the man I spoke with that he could only pay him 25.00 (as a freelancer) for articles. And another person had just been let go after working at the same place for 17 years (not newspapers). She was worried about insurance since her husband is disabled.

    Liked by 2 people

  50. If you didn’t know what it looks like for dogs to play with each other, you’d think they were trying to kill each, as they grab each others necks & such. Janie & Heidi really go at it, especially Janie. She’ll have a chunk of Heidi’s neck skin between her teeth & jerk her head back & forth. When she bites too hard, Heidi lets her know, & then they go on with their play.

    This afternoon, after the doggies had been playing for a while, I noticed blood on Heidi’s neck. That didn’t alarm me too much, because it wasn’t active bleeding I was seeing, but I had Chickadee help me take a look. We realized there was no wound, but a bit more blood smeared on the other side of her neck, too. We figure one of Janie’s “baby teeth” must have ripped out a little prematurely, & the blood got on Heidi.

    Like

  51. Janice – I will be the doggie daycare. I’m not too happy about that, but I also don’t want Janie cooped up in her crate all day. She needs to eat & go potty during the day sometime. I will keep her in her crate most of the time, though.

    When she’s older & house trained (I almost said potty trained), I’ll have no problem letting her hang out with Heidi & me. But she’s still too much for me to handle for a long period of time. (It’s not that I can’t handle her, as if I’m not capable of it, but that I don’t want to have to handle her.)

    Like

  52. Remember the nineteen year old? She moved out at seventeen so she could be situated to get into the medical field. Lived with eldest daughter until she turned eighteen and could not stand the restrictiveness. We told her not to get a dog until she was settled. She bought a horse and boarded it elsewhere while living with eldest. Sold it without telling eldest she had even bought it. Went on to buy and sell two more. Got herself a dog this past year, decided to join the Navy, and gave the dog to eighteen year old son a couple of days ago when he moved out. Hard to be saddled with somebody else’s dog. But he is giving it a try. The pup is only about ten months old. She is fairly well trained but has some red flags. She barks a lot and is aggressive toward small people and over protective of her person. I hope he can train her out of those issues or she may not make it far.

    She also bought herself a new car about the same time and is going to have to leave it somewhere during her absence until son gets out of the Navy and can take care of it. What a complicated life some folk lead. Somewhere along the line, they are supposed to get married.

    Liked by 1 person

  53. Jo, glad to hear physical therapy helped with your ribs. I had a few months of PT for my frozen shoulder a couple years ago, and I think it helped me get back to normal quicker than the other time (before that) that I suspect I had frozen shoulder, but left it to resolve on its own.

    Last I heard, the physical therapist I had seen had also hired a massage therapist. So I might just head over there, and possibly make use of both therapists, incorporating Jo’s and RKessler’s ideas. 🙂

    Thanks for those comments, ladies. And most of all, thank you all for the prayers.

    Liked by 2 people

  54. My husband and I went this afternoon to our favorite state park. We haven’t been for several weeks, and August wildflowers are wonderful in this area, so I was itching to go.

    On the home front, three years ago common milkweed sprouted in my backyard. I didn’t plant it, but since it’s food for monarch caterpillars, I allowed it to grow to see what I could see. I had one or two caterpillars on it last summer. This year mama butterflies have gone crazy. They generally only lay one egg per plant, and they avoid plants that have aphids or other pests. The wild plants around me have quite a few pest insects, but I’ve worked to keep aphids away, moved the one milkweed tussock moth caterpillar that somehow ended up there (they usually get laid in multiple eggs on one plant, so I don’t know how I got just one), and even moved the mantis that was hanging out nearby, though I like mantises, since they are one of the few creatures that will eat a large monarch caterpillar, from what I’ve read. (Other things will eat little ones if they see them, before they build up a lot of milkweed toxin in their bodies.) So even though I have just one big plant and several smaller ones, I’ve counted as many as eight caterpillars and two eggs on the big plant, plus seeing others on the smaller ones.

    And this evening I saw something I’ve long wanted to see, and that should give me something I want to see even more tomorrow–one of my monarch caterpillars preparing to pupate! I had one or two caterpillars last year or the year before that, and they got big and probably made chrysalises, but they can travel quite a few feet away to make the chysalis and it is green and thus blends in with foliage, so I never saw them. This year I have at least a dozen caterpillars, and figured the chance was pretty good I’d see at least one of them pupate, but I prayed that God would let me see that. So tonight I went out and there was one hanging ready to go, and it brought tears to my eyes. It’s in a good spot to see it, and it’s on a plant (I’ve been looking on plants but also the underside of the roof, air conditioner, etc. since they don’t always stay on plants–but I’d far rather take photos of one on a natural object). I was surprised how moved I was just watching that silly caterpillar hanging there. Butterflies are so often used as a symbol of new life, and I couldn’t help but think, “I’m watching the death of a caterpillar, and if you offered the other caterpillars the chance to hang motionless upside-down for hours and then basically die, they would say no. But this isn’t the end–he’s gonna get a chance to fly! And he’ll go from eating leaves to drinking nectar!” I realized our own change from death on this side to life on the other is many times more splendid–we just don’t see it yet.

    KBells has had her metamorphosis–ours is ahead.

    Liked by 1 person

  55. Always unnerving when you hear hysterical screaming and shouting at midnight followed by neighbor’s son out front calling police to report his brother has a gun and is threatening to kill their mom and he just managed to get out

    “Come out with your hands up!” — incident seems to have ended now with no one hurt, thankfully.

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

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