120 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 9-21-17”

  9. Better. I finally got the storm door removed, the post on the porch moved, walkway extended, and yard gate widened, so he is no longer a prisoner to the house. We went to our pcp to follow up on the blood work he had done last week, and he is doing great on his diabetes and building back up his iron levels. I was so happy to hear that. He has been doing some therapy at home. The ortho surgeon has him bending his knees to certain degrees, so they don’t become frozen. He is making good progress. The large recliner I ordered for him, says it will be in this week. That will give him more freedom rather than the uncomfortable wheelchair.

    Liked by 9 people

  11. QOD:
    What do you do with a long awaited book? Do you “savor” it wanting the experience to last or do you “gobble it up” because you have been anticipating it?

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Great to hear RK. You’ve been busy

    There’s a giant bug in my bathroom. I got up early (at 4) with a headache & have been worrying about Carol so I suppose I may not get back to sleep before it’s time to get up. I picked up several office goodbye cards on the way home last night to hopefully cover all our departures in the next few weeks. 😦

    Tonight I need to haul a load of stuff down to the curb for the city ‘bulky pickup’ I scheduled for Friday morning.

    Like

  14. Two things to report on today. First of all, I have discovered that I do not like Home Owner’s Associations and the people who generally step forward to run them are tyrants. We have our first neighborhood meeting tonight to discuss and form the HOA. I am one of the three founding board members. Two are old men busy bodies. One is a bully and the other is a yes man. Thankfully my husband has been doing damage control on my reputation in the ‘hood and people are still kind to me. Being the ever dutiful and submissive wife (you can stop laughing now) I have given my vote to my husband. He will speak for our household.
    Recently, Yes Man had assured Bully that he would get one neighbors proxy vote thus assuring another vote in their favor. That neighbor has cancelled a business trip to be here to vote for himself. The meeting is scheduled for tonight at 6:30 which was going to cause one of the most vocal opponents not to be able to attend as her daughter is a middle school cheerleader. She has decided to miss one game tonight and send a relative to the game while she defends her rights.
    What is funny is that Bully, against my advice, is holding the meeting at his house. I guess he thinks that gives him more authority and control, but there is going to be an over throw of power tonight. It was all planned on Tuesday night in a neighbors front yard, which brings me to my second story.

    Liked by 3 people

  15. In the South if you talk to someone long enough you might be kin…
    During the above mentioned Gathering of the Opposition, I started talking to a neighbor’s “gentleman friend” who was visiting. He said something about driving down from Choctaw County. Oh really? My ears perked up. Where do you live I asked. Silas. I went in with my standard, ‘I am related to most of the residents of Brightwater Cemetery”. His response was, “So am I”. We discussed who my people were and who his people were. We are about the same age.
    We discussed hunting and he told me he has lost interest in the sport which is highly unusual for a man in that county. It is hardly a sport anymore when you can set up portable cameras that will send a feed to your cell phone so you can just walk over and shoot something.

    Liked by 4 people

  16. The very first thing I saw in that photo above was a tusk, then I saw an elephant about to knock over or scratch itself on a termite mound, so I was going to give that as my clever answer while I waited for the real one . . .

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Well, silly me, I did se the tusk but completely missed the elephant it was attached to.

    Big elephant controversy here this week when a couple had an Indian wedding, complete with groom riding in on an elephant, outside the local venue they’d rented. The venue, a crafts warehouse, apparently had their own photographer taking photos of the outdoor parade and the bride and groom now are in an uproar over it, saying they were using their wedding for the venue’s “publicity.”

    Then the animal rights folks jumped in, shocked by it all.

    Everyone loved the video posted on Fb, though.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. they’re filming a movie (Hallmark? I think) here this week and our waterfront shopping area is decked out for Christmas 🙂 “The Trouble with Mistletoe”

    Annie’s sitting out in the rain in the backyard, though I don’t know that there’s actually rain coming down right now. I keep an eye on her, don’t want to ever see a coyote back there. Of course, since I can’t seemingly see an elephant, I suppose I’d miss the coyote too.

    Liked by 3 people

  28. With a new book I’ve particularly wanted, it depends on whether it’s a book of photos, a novel, a nonfiction book, etc. Let’s say it’s a biography, complete with photos in the center. I’m likely to read the cover copy, look through all the photos, maybe read the Introduction, and then put it aside until I get a chance to read i. If it’s a book of photos, I’ll flip through them at random when I get it, but later I will start at the beginning and look at every photo. If it’s long, then I’ll go to page 100 or so and make a mental note of where I stopped.

    I rarely “savor” a book of text one or two chapters at a time. It may take several days to read it, but I’m likely to read it in one or two days, especially if it’s fiction or biography. If it’s nonfiction, then I may read a couple chapters at a time–I’m just now reading A long Obedience in the Same Direction right now, for instance, and that one has been a chapter or two at a time, but not as much because I’m “savoring” it as because that is enough in a sitting. I actually have a bunch of books in my library that I haven’t read (no surprise there) but that I’m trying to red before we move–reading on “downtime,” like when I’m too tired to do any more packing, or on Sunday afternoons–and decide whether or not to keep. This one I probably won’t keep, as much as I’ve heard about it. So far it just seems like true material but nothing particularly new. But sometimes I have thought “no” until I get to the last half of a book, so we’ll see.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. Lots of dogs in the plot for “The Trouble with Mistletoe,” apparently.

    I used to read books much faster than I do now. I’m a plodder these days.

    Time to feed the dogs and get ready for work. Already. Sigh. I sure could go back to bed if allowed …

    Coffee isn’t even helping this morning.

    Like

  35. I always love to read who the author thanks. I enjoyed this morning seeing something that I felt like I had contributed to somewhat…not much, but I did find an example of it for the author. It was a simple Google search AFTER she had done multiple searches. 😉

    Like

  36. That does not look like one of my goats. Looks more like some sort of African deer type thing. With a large moat between it and the lionesses. And a hose.

    Like

  38. The 2 lioness’ never took their eyes off the goat. There was a moat, but it had large rocks which I suspect they could have easily crossed to get the goat. But since they’re well fed they don’t even bother to try.

    I didn’t even see the second one on the right until I looked at the pics at home.

    Now the game will get a little harder.

    Like

  40. Good noon time! And I was looking for Waldo the lizard who escaped my field of vision.

    Miss Bosley sits in the window looking for birds which do not escape her field of vision.

    Today is kitchen rearrangement day. The power company has a deal that they will pick up a second running refrigerator for recycling and pay the owner $35.00. So I have to move table and chairs out to move the old refrigerator to a new locale in the kitchen. Life use to not be so difficult. But it adds excitement to Miss Bosley’s life to see her world changed for a few days. To think that for a short while her kingdom will include two refrigerators. What a Queen B!

    Like

  41. Kim, I am friends with a lady who was President of her condo association for awhile. I heard the stressful details of the shenanigans. She eventually had to give it up to save her sanity.

    Like

  49. I just passed by my front door and could see The Bully’s front door Yes Man was entering. I suppose they are having a strategy session now. I am over it. I don’t have time for this and my secret weapon is that I did speak with the attorney who set this whole thing in motion because the original developer realized he was still paying the property taxes on our common areas.
    There wasn’t an active HOA when these homes were built and sold because it all happened during and after the market crash and was overlooked. None of us can be FORCED to join. It is all voluntary. Hehehehe. I will pay my share to keep common areas mowed and drainage working but I won’t allow someone else to tell me what color I can paint my house.

    Liked by 2 people

  51. I see the lizard, and I saw it before I saw the other posts. It is well hidden.

    I have to take breaks from the manual labor today. I just got the heavy wooden round table moved out with the captain’s chairs. I utilized the wheel effect to roll the table. Other than doing that, I could not have done it alone. Now, I hope the refrigerator can be moved out easily. I do not look forward to seeing the floor under it and cleaning that. Then I will have to hope the refrigerator can run plugged into another receptacle. Miss Bosley is in awe.

    Like

  55. My daughter tried to call me the other day, like on a telephone. But my phone does not work. Phone line is probably down somewhere. I tried to phone a neighbor a few miles away to tell her UPS had delivered her package to me. Anyway, I thought maybe it was the phone, one of those modern models we bought about twenty years ago, with batteries. So I tried an old princess phone we have. Ten year old looked up from her schoolwork and said, “What is that??” Hmmm. Somebody has been neglecting her daughter’s education.

    Liked by 3 people

  62. I’m sorry, you guys all had to go in as Whirled Views, there’s simply too many of you to mention. OTOH, it was hard with some of the folks-do I put them in, take them out? I should have done a little more culling and adding, but it’s hard to know in the thick of it.

    Liked by 2 people

  63. Kim, I’ve probably told this story before, but it’s why I’m wary of HOA’s and condos (well, condos I’m wary of from having lived in three apartments and therefor understanding that if you share walls, you share roaches, music, and noise).

    One of my co-workers lived in a condo, and they had recently voted on saying that owners could not rent out their units. The vote had been narrowly defeated, and she told me that fellow owners had turned up the heat in explaining that if they allow people to rent out their units, it might soon become a dump. So they were going to vote again, and she was considering voting “yes” the second time. (She voted yes, and it passed.) I told her that if you cannot rent it out, then you do not actually own it, that it is not fair to make such changes “after the fact” of purchase, and a family might really be in a bind if they transfer to a job in another state but take a while to sell, or if they are going to another state for two years but expect to be back and want to keep the unit. Now, I personally don’t want to be a landlady. But if I cannot rent out the unit in which I’m living, then I do not own it. And I don’t want someone coming along and changing the rules of my ownership after I have bought, telling me how big a dog I may have, for instance.

    Now I admit it might have been nice to have someone enforcing some guidelines with my next-door neighbors, who traveled on business for weeks at a time and wouldn’t bother paying someone to mow their lawn if they were gone five or six weeks in the summer, and sometimes added a couple more weeks to it if it happened to be raining on their two days back home before they’d go for another two weeks. But since I myself had a heavy self-propeeled mower that left ruts in the yard if I used it two days after a heavy rain, I was sometimes a bit overgrown, too–everyone else on the street could mow a day earlier after a rain than I could, so sometimes they would catch the lull between storms and I would not–I was happy enough just to tolerate a wild and crazy yard next door. (It did bug me, though, since the house often looked abandoned, and I didn’t like having that next door for safety reasons.) One time the neighbor on the other side, who was retired and kept his own lawn perfect, mowed theirs at dusk a day or two before they got home. They asked me if I knew who did it, and I told them, and their next question was “Why?” The thought that it was a neighborhood eyesore, and even a safety issue, never occurred to them.

    Liked by 1 person

  64. Interesting changes in BSF — notes online! Wow. Though you may need be belong to a class to see?

    That was one of my pet peeves, the organization’s odd (to me) secrecy, especially telling people the notes were not to be share with anyone, even one’s pastor.

    I spent 13 years in the organization, probably 10 of those as a discussion group leader for the local night class (catering to working women), and well remember the strict discipline that included the dress code and punctuality 🙂 Leaders’ meetings were held separately every week which required very early morning calls on Saturdays (or, during one of those years, on a weekday at 5 a.m.! before we all went to work).

    Some of it was grueling, but it was a great way to focus on sections of Scripture in a very structured way.

    An older woman at my church is a discussion leader in one of the day groups so I get updates on BSF from her (I’ve been gone for probably 15 years or so now). From talking to her, it sounded like things were getting a bit more relaxed. If I ever retire, I’ll probably check out a day class again to get back into it (but only as a member, the leadership portion was too rigorous!). I had some quibbles about the organization, but perhaps some of those are being addressed with a bit more openness allowed.

    Anyway, thanks for sharing that article, Jo.

    Liked by 1 person

  65. I would not do well with an HOA but I don’t live in Lewis County where there are no codes. Though I would have enjoyed living there as well. This place turned out to be perfect for us though. I am grateful for God’s oversight. Now how does that fit with God being involved in the details or not?

    Liked by 2 people

  66. I am surprised how many people have heard of it or belonged to it. I never did though I think I went to a group once to see what it was about. I don’t remember so it must not have made much impact. As I recall it was when I had four under ten year olds. Busy days those.

    Like

  67. From an article on urban coyotes:

    ___________________________

    Top dog: Coyotes in Minnesota are “loners” who like to occupy areas where they can be at the top of the food chain. “Coyotes do occupy areas that have residences and the like,” Snavely said. “That’s because these are areas that don’t have a lot of other predators present. There’s also a lot of wild game available to coyotes in urban areas, with the rabbits and squirrels and whatnot.”
    ___________________________

    “Whatnot” being your cat.

    Liked by 2 people

  68. My refrigerator grew roots and refuses to let me move it. It is a large capacity refrigerator that fits with only a little space to spare. I found a rope and wanted to lasso it to try and pull it out, but decided to not try that stunt alone because I could topple it on me or Miss Bosley. Some great ideas are best left in the head so you don’t lose your head.

    Liked by 3 people

  73. Not having read the thread yet, I’ll guess that the current “Waldo” is a walking stick, and the previous one is an elephant. At least that looks like an elephant trunk center-right.

    Like

  75. Cheryl last night asked” “Peter, are you the pastor of your church? You’ve never said. How many families/ households?”

    No, I only get to sign checks. The church funds go to needy saints that we know, or organizations like Heartcry (Paul Washer) or Thirsty Ground (a relief ministry based in Texas). The small church consists of the pastor and his wife (both in their 70s), Mrs L and I, and a young family with two small children and a 13 year old they are guardians of.

    Liked by 1 person

  80. I have a friend who went into BSF as a leader. She told me of the dress code which surprised me. I was also surprised that she got to be a leader without more knowledge of the Bible. I also knew of an associate pastor or perhaps some other unofficial leadership position who attended a BSF group in my former church. They did not really advertise the group so it seemed rather exclusive when Bible study should be offered to everyone. Funny that my phone changed BSF to BAD.

    Like

  81. I cannot see the lizard. But then, I left my glasses at home, so the screen id slightly blurred unless I get back several feet. Then the picture is too small to see details.

    Like

  83. Janice, good call on the fridge.

    A number of years ago I saw some list of statistics (might well have been in Harper’s magazine, since they had a page of rather random statisitics in every issue), and it told how many men had been killed by Coke machines in the previous year (3, I think). I don’t know if it said “men,” or “people,” but I definitely pictured a man shaking it and kicking it, “Give me my pop, you stupid machine! I paid my money!” And then the machine has the last word.

    I wouldn’t want to be widowed that way, partly because it seems so pointless, and partly because I really wouldn’t want to have to tell people for the rest of my life just how he died. Too many would be trying not to laugh, or actually laughing because they think I’m joking, I suspect.

    Liked by 2 people

  84. Janice: The “teaching leader” in BSF gives the weekly lecture but the small, break-out “group leaders” specifically do NOT teach, they serve mainly as facilitators to make sure all the questions on the lesson get answered in the time allotted. They also call group members each week and generally try to stay in touch in between classes. But they don’t teach the Bible, that only is done by the teaching leader who is also under the general BSF leadership (so I presume they have helps and outlines to work with in preparing lectures).

    And, yes, BSF used to be an “invitation” format — you had to be referred to a class and show up on the introductory night (usually the tail end of the current study year — classes break for summer and return in fall when a new lesson begins); so they don’t put notices in papers or church bulletins. But that may change. But yes, I can see where that made it seem pretty insular (which it was). It’s been a word-of-mouth kind of thing.

    Liked by 1 person

  86. I attended one year only and learned how rebellious I am. 😦

    Wore the dress, did the homework, tried very hard not to go off on rabbit trails and would have returned but I had a baby the next year and was therefore ineligible. By the time she was old enough for BSF childcare, we were in Hawai’i and too many unchurched women asked me to lead a Bible study, so I did. I’ve not been back but suggested it to my one daughter-in-law with a lonely four year old.

    She didn’t think she had time to do homework, so declined. Meanwhile, the working daughter-in-law joined the night program. Can’t imagine how she has time, but she knew she needed it.

    Liked by 1 person

  87. DJ, reading that BSF article only strengthened my growing conviction that BSF would not interest me at all–along with your saying that you weren’t supposed to show the notes to anyone, even your pastor–because it really sounds like they pretty much see themselves as the church, or at least they take on themselves exactly the same place and calling as the church, minus the sacraments! They exist to teach, fellowship, evangelize, and disciple. They may do so in same-sex groups, but isn’t all of that best left to the church (which is not a secretive organization)? And they’re realizing the connections within the group aren’t strong enough, so they are trying to strengthen them . . . for people who presumably already have families and local churches with which to bond.

    I’m not saying no group other than a church should every hold a woman’s Bible study, but they really look like they have stepped into an organizational role given to the church, not just out there generally for anyone to take. And they exist as an independent organization, not accountable to the church, and all of their presidents have been women? It doesn’t look like a red-flag problem like, say Bill Gothard, but like a yellow-flag problem with many of the same issues of unaccountability, secrecy, and even control.

    Liked by 1 person

  88. Cheryl, yes, the secrecy and usurping the role of the church (by way of cautioning people not to share notes with their pastors) bothered me, more and more the longer I was in the group & especially after I became Reformed. There was a lot to commend it, for sure, but when I decided to hang up the dress and nylons and leave, it was time. I’m hopeful some of the changes they’re instituting will do away with some of those valid objections to it.

    It’s specifically non-denominational so being accountable to “a” church would not work, of course. They did have a good board of directors that included Boice, of course, who also wrote a number of the lesson notes.

    Liked by 1 person

  89. And they did always encourage members to be active in their churches (or, if they didn’t have one, to find one).

    There was an interesting mix typically — mostly evangelical protestants but also some Roman Catholics, nonbelievers & a Christian Scientist in one case I knew about (though to be invited into leadership one had to belong to a recognized church that reflected BSF’s general teachings, which were Protestant).

    Like

  91. So I made myself chocolate brownies for my birthday but it would have been dangerous to keep all of them here so I sent some to my eighteen year old. But I could not just send them. I carved out a small section and inserted one of the mice. He called today to thank me for the brownies but he did not mention the mouse. Now I am curious…..

    Liked by 1 person

  92. Mr P wanted to go to a place he saw where they have these unbelievable milk shakes. His was salted caramel cheesecake with chocolate sauce, maple syrup, whipped cream and bacon with a donut on top. It was served in a quart mason jar.
    Me? I had a butter pecan milkshake served in a child size.

    Liked by 1 person

  109. I am so good! Just went and got a Tdap vaccine. I had skipped it in Florida, not realizing that I needed it. The doctors mentioned county health dept since the pharmacies wanted between 60 to 72 dollars for it. My daughter found the county health and they hold an adult clinic for immunizations once a month on the third Thursday. I grabbed my calendar and realized that this is the day, so off I went.

    Liked by 1 person

  114. Mumsee, the people I have known in BSF have really enjoyed the experience and seem to have benefited, too. But here is my thought: if your children eat supper at the neighbors’ house every night, and the neighbors feed them well, chances are your children will benefit. But might they not benefit more eating at home? And isn’t there a risk that the neighbors might feed them foods you would not approve or undermine your authority in some way, and very likely they will bond more with the neighbors and less with you as a result of feeding most regularly outside your household?

    Would it not be better to have such Bible studies within the local church, where one is under pastoral authority and developing those deeper bonds with one’s own church family?

    (I’m not opposed to getting together with people from another church occasionally, but this is more than occasional. It would seem that many people get much of their teaching and fellowship from this group that stands outside the church and outside the biological family, and thus I think that eating with the neighbors is a good parallel.)

    Like

  115. Actually, Cheryl, I live exactly what you are saying. Our sixteen year old boy is in public school because he refused to do anything at home and the law requires an attempt at education and we got tired. We refused to sign for him to be on the computers. And yet he has as many as ten email accounts and all sorts of other things. Children have given him cell phones. His room is fairly empty and I can usually find the contraband. He had stolen an Ipad that was being delivered from one grown child to one of their friend’s through seventeen year old and used it to access a bunch of porn before we found it. He never eats at home. He has breakfast at school, lunch at school, and we don’t know what he does for dinner but he buys lots of junkfood. The other children gave their earnings over to be placed in savings and a portion of their choice given to them as spending. He does not do that, but hides his jobs and his money. He leaves here between five thirty and seven ten every morning and returns by seven thirty. He is being raised by the village, not by us. The same folk who give alcohol to minors. And there does not seem to be much we can do as he does not obey our authority at all so we don’t exert it. He does come home every evening and goes to bed by seven forty five. He does not do his laundry and has not for weeks.

    Is this what we want for him? No. Will he be okay? We hope so. He is learning to work, from others. He is learning about burned bridges (how many people will drive regularly ten miles out of their way for no return but promises?) He is not learning about family, though he is learning that we still love him and will not bend to his demands (for example, we won’t change meal times for him). Everybody in town thinks he is wonderful so if he is hungry, he can get food.

    If he ever involves the law, life will change for him. .

    Is BSF perfect? Probably not. Are any churches? Probably not. Are there a billion different ideas of how church should be? Probably.

    Liked by 1 person

  119. Tee hee. The phone rang during quiet reading time this evening. Eleven year old looked up in astonishment. What??? I think I know what that is. That thing by the phone! I saw one like it in a hotel once.

    Like

Leave a comment

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