Good morning Linda, et al.
Strange, but tomorrow is the one day I won’t be going to church.They are having some sort of celebration in the church lot, just outside.
I have no part in it and don’t know what to do. Last time we had such, I was just part of a crowd.
I likely won’t show up for this.
Peter, my thought when I saw the photo was “He needs a zoom lens! I can’t even tell what species that is!” 🙂 Sorry. My first thought was mockingbird, but your comment about looking it up says otherwise because of course I know that one. So I’m going to guess scrub jay or one of the thrashers. Or western bluebird?
Morning! Such a sweet little bird up there..is it a warbler?
We have been enjoying our birds around here. The babies have hatched and listening to their cheeping so sweet. We have western blue birds, nuthatches, flickers and hairy woodpeckers all in their nesting boxes…and little finches took up residence in my birdhouse in front of my porch. The doves are somewhere but I am uncertain exactly where their nests are and we have two or three regular hummingbirds at their feeder…then there are those pesky loud magpies!
I had to enlarge the photo and look very closely to see the bird. It appears to have a tinge of blue on its head or it could just be the way the light is reflecting on it from something blue.
I think it has the shape of a bluebird, too. Miss Bosley would like to take a close up live view to see if she could perhaps identify it. Her services are available free of charge.
Chas, the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. Last week was my birthday, but first of all it was the Lord’s Day. If someone had wanted to throw me a party during the service time, I wouldn’t have been available to attend. Culture can come up with any and all holidays, but we have no holidays today that God commands us to celebrate (not even Christmas and Easter) and we are to gather on the Lord’s Day and honor Him. (I’m saying no holidays we are commanded because the Old Testament Jewish holidays might have pre-empted the normal Sabbath activities, but that is not the case for us today. It’s OK to put up a Christmas tree–but not OK to have Christmas instead of the gathering on the Lord’s Day.)
So it always makes me sad when churches turn the Lord’s Day into a chance for a party about Mother’s Day or Christmas or the Fourth of July, or when they cancel services altogether since it’s Christmas and their people just won’t come to church anyway. It also makes me sad when church members willingly sign up their children for sports events or other activities that remove the children (and likely the parents too) from church every other week or so for a season. Now, if the team only plays an occasional Sunday game and it’s OK with the team if your child is simply not present on those games (which seems unlikely), then sure, sign him up for a sports team–but not if it means missing services on the Lord’s Day. That tells your child (and, frankly, it tells God too) that God is last priority in this family, or close to it–He has to find what leftovers He can have, even behind hobbies.
But churches that cancel services for other events are setting their members up for making such choices themselves. Worship services become optional. That isn’t wise. If it were my church, I’d say something to the elders. They are letting the people down, and worse, they are neglecting their calling from God for something of much lesser value.
Good morning, all. Lovely little bluebird up there.
Speaking of hummingbirds, and NancyJill was, did I mention them a few days ago? As you know we now sleep outside (except during thunderstorms). When we first started that this summer, the hummingbirds were quite concerned, or curious. They kept buzzing us to see what we were up to. They were hovering next to our ears. Husband says it is kind of like being at a Nascar event. Kind of cool.
Chas, Cheryl directed that to you because you indicated your church is having an outdoor celebration tomorrow to commemorate the 4th of July.
Reading Cheryl’s post juxtaposed with my Bible reading in Matthew 15 about putting the traditions of people over following God’s commandments was quite serendipidous.
Without being at the outdoor service to see exactly what is done with it, I will reserve judgement, but if it is a real 4th of July event rather than a pure worship service then it falls into what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 15. I suppose it could be an outdoor worship service disguised as an outdoor 4th of July event to draw in the community seekers. That could fall into the category of pulling a cow out of a ditch on Sunday, acting in love, and being whatever one needs to be, as Paul said, to identify with whom one is trying to save. God knows the hearts of these church leaders and He will judge rightly about the matter. He alone is aware of all the nuances.
Our church supports several (about three, I think) language groups. There will be an outdoor service with all these participating. I have been to one of those and I didn’t understand any of it. I don’t plan to attend this.
I have no objection. I think it’s a good thing to support other language groups.
But I won’t be attendin
Oooh, oooh, oooh, I got called a historian this week for the first time ever. My pastor, in seeking more information about one of the previous pastors, said that our “church historian” needed more information.
But right now the church historian is trying to complete a 200-page book with hundreds of photos in it by this weekend (Monday night at the latest) . . .
Isn’t it pretty warm in your part of the country Chas? Maybe they have a canopy. But yeah, I’m no fan of “special” services, especially those marking secular holidays in some way, even modestly, as well-intentioned as they may be.
I live in a part of the country that’s distinctly not anything close to a (quote) Bible Belt area. But in some ways, that can be a benefit to churches (and Christians as individuals) in recognizing and not forgetting our distinctiveness — and then sticking by those differences without the temptation to blur Sundays and worship services with the wider cultural habits and ‘celebrations.’ it also can include a too-close alliance with political movements and causes and parties.
I wonder if the faith isn’t at risk of becoming diluted in areas where it’s expected to part of “everyone’s” normal identity and practice, where it’s become so acceptable, where “Christianity” bleeds into everything else? I suspect that’s what’s happened in the U.S. to some degree. I suppose that’s why some of us wonder if, as the atmosphere becomes increasingly unfriendly to the Christian faith in America, the churches may, in fact, wind up becoming stronger and healthier, spiritually.
I can imaging the God of the Bible doing exactly that sort of thing in the course of our history.
I’m reading a book now that begins with this:
~ “It has become thoughtless, superficial and self-absorbed.” That was my answer to the question, What has gone wrong with modern Christianity? When this question has come up in subsequent conversations, no one has ever disagreed with my charge that modern Christianity has devolved to a superficial religion. ~
We didn’t do Fathers Dat because of the weather. Yesterday was Little Miss’ daddy’s 30th birthday. So today we are doing Father’s Day, Birthday, and Independence Day all together.
I watched the Viet Nam clip ((Kim @ 11:53} I supported the Viet Nam war while it was happening. But I was wrong.
I didn’t like the protestors. Still don’t
But we were wrong. Wh had no business being there.
I’m sorry for all the lives that were lost. Legs, etc. that were broken. All the trouble it caused.
We lost.
And Viet Nam hasn’t suffered because of it.
I remember talking to one VN vet — I’d interviewed him for something but we got to talking afterward and his take on the war was that it did manage to ‘hold the line’ at that particular time which was so precarious (even though we didn’t get the “win” per se and we lost way too many soldiers, admittedly — but many of the problems with that war were in decisions being made and not made very well in Washington).
I’d be more inclined to say it was executed poorly rather than it was ill-intentioned and a “mistake” all the way around. But we don’t know how these events play out behind the curtain, as it were. Only God knows the beginning to the end and the why’s of what He ordains to come to pass.
Japan is safe
China is not safe, but that is a different problem from this.
We were trying to keep communism from spreading through Asia.
Turns out, China, not communism is the real problem.
Hair got chopped and it was so nice to catch up with the stylist. Her twins are entering kindergarten in the fall and she’s thrilled that they got into a local charter school so they don’t have to go to the nearby LAUSD school which she said is just not very good (she lives northeast of here in a different city but they’re served by the LA public school district).
She said they opened the salon a couple times under the radar during lockdowns out of financial desperation (I ducked in during one of those times, in November). The family patriarch, the very popular hair stylist who started the salon and her dad, had just died in a motorcycle accident maybe only about 6 months before the pandemic so they already were in a tailspin trying to keep the biz afloat.
Her husband, a contractor, stayed busily employed throughout the pandemic, though, so that got them through on a personal level as a family. And somehow, the salon survived, she said they have a loyal and very local clientele so that helped — I live just a few blocks away.
Oh, and I went grocery shopping afterward for the first time without a mask (vaccinated people can go mask-less now in most of our stores). What a freedom to shop and BREATHE at the same time. lol
And the North Vietnamese were backed by China at the time. It was something of a proxy war.
I’d say it ended in a stalemate more than a win-lose equation. But perhaps that stalemate kept the stability that was needed to hold China in check at that time.
But — forgive the serial posts! — we can and should always learn lessons from the past; wars are often just very murky in some ways, and the costs and outcome can’t really be predicted, ever.
Well that’s done. Crabs, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn, and birthday cake. The kitchen is clean. Mr P is in his recliner. Children have gone home, and I am t I r e d! I think I shall read a book.
My five fruit gingerbread is baking and making the house smell wonderful. It has banana, applesauce with apricot fruit cup mix, crushed pineapple, and raisins. I use cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves to spice it up.
I heard an interesting talk on the Vietnam war. I still have the tape and even had it made into a cd. It was Don Richardson who wrote Peace Child. He shared a story of what God did during that time in Indonesia. An incredible story. Don said that he felt God used the war to distract China from Indonesia. They did not have the resources to supply Indonesia in their battles and he said that many, many came to the Lord as a result.
I was taking the Perspectives course and one week Don Richardson was the speaker. His wife had recently died, but others there said they had never heard him speak so powerfully.
Chas, thanks for praying for me last night as I had a bout of violent illness. I am feeling better this morning. What a way to lose weight. 😦
We played the card game War. Boy won, and I came in second. Then we played Sorry! and it was a long and brutal game. I won! Boy came in second. Poor Nightingale came in last in both games. She didn’t mind, though.
The pizza, wings, and soda were delicious, and there is plenty of pizza leftover for Sunday night’s dinner. The soda is from a local-ish company, and their product is excellent. They use real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I had a delicious cream soda.
DJ – My mother was overweight most of her life, but lost a lot of weight as she was dying of cancer. One day towards the end, as I was doing her laundry for her, I held up a pink sweatshirt she had been wearing, and was kind of shocked to see how small it was. It looked like it was for a girl, not a grown woman. I felt bad that Mom couldn’t enjoy the feeling of losing weight and “looking good” because of the circumstances of her losing that weight.
Parties are in full swing in the neighborhood, music going, occasional big booms from somewhere else where fireworks are being prepped.
I called a former dog park friend I hadn’t talked to in a while, talked to Real Estate Guy, got a couple things mailed off, stopped in at Sprouts for a few extra things, and drove along the coast on the south part of town, such a beautiful day.
I just went to bed, went to sleep. Got up, had breakfast.
And here I am. Just like any other day.
But I hope you have a happy fourth.
Some things are happeing inplace of church services.
I’m not up to the activity; so I’m staying home.
Don’t forget to be thankful that you live in the greatest country this world has ever seen. Not even Rome
, during it’s great years, can measure up to what we have noe.
We are immensely blessed and I am thankful every day.
Incidentally: I prayed for you today. All of you generallly, somewhojm I know somehow, specifically. But that God will bless you today and this year.
Thanks, Chas, I appreciate your prayers. I stayed home today too and listened to the service and saw the powerpoint. Then this afternoon there was a farewell we put on for some special folks that are leaving. They will land in Atlanta in the next week. Sad to see them go.
Happy Independence Day to all! It’s suppose to be perfect weather this evening for the fireworks. We heard a good many last night. I’ve heard that expression, ‘good many,’ all my life. Is it a southern thing or do others use it, too?
Art and Wesley enjoyed watching the baseball game, Oakland against Boston, last night. I was busy in the kitchen cleaning up after our meal and listening to a book on Audible, Colors of Truth. It it the book that was about to be published, and then the publisher backed out because it was about the aftermath of the Civil War, and it was due to publish in the aftermath of the George Floyd death. I won a copy of the audio version through a multiple author launch party. It is well written Christian historical fiction that is against slavery, but it also portrays prejudice toward the Irish. I have not heard anything in the reading that would give logical reason for cancellation by the publisher. The lady reader is quite impressive in managing the various voices of men, women, and children characters.
Our sermon today will from 1 Corinthians1:13 (“Walk a Mile”) from our assistant pastor. Several of us are planning to get there early as this is our first full service with everyone combined. Space will be tighter than what’s been the norm for all of us for a long time now.
When I was growing up we’d usually go to Centinela Park (it’s been renamed, but looks very much the same, I still drive by there when I have to take the longer way home from the vet’s office). We’d bring blankets and “ooo” and “ahhh!” at all the beautiful flashes exploding in the sky above. The finale was always spectacular.
One year my mom and I watched fireworks from the sands at Santa Monica beach, the fireworks exploding over the ocean; we arrived early so spend a couple hours strolling the shops on the pier. I would have been about 15 yrs old and my dad back then was working late shifts at an aerospace company nearby. My mom, who wasn’t working full time that year, would drive him to work and pick him up as we only had one car. So after the fireworks show, we picked my dad up and headed home.
I miss the fireworks shows but since having dogs I haven’t gone to any — I’ve had to work sometimes on the 4th, though, and remember checking dogs in to ‘day care’ those times as the fireworks (which start during the day where I live) really make most dogs anxious.
I can actually see most of the beach fireworks in our town from my front porch.
I used to enjoy watching the Washington, D.C. 4th of July program on TV but I suppose the thrill of those has dimmed over the years as our nation has struggled and seems to have lost its way at times.
I’m praying for a renewal and revival in the nation’s churches first and foremost; but also for a renewed and unified vision for the U.S. The latter feels like a long shot, but long shots are God’s specialty.
Then again, as a former colleague (and fellow Christian who’s an astute U.S. historian in his free time now), God may have other plans when it comes to how our nation will or won’t be used by Him going forward.
Even with Fourth of July falling on Sunday this year, many worship leaders are questioning the place of “God and country” songs in services: https://t.co/DfCw8O6xL9
Fireworks: most are banned around here. Anything that goes up or explodes. We don’t get any and don’t go to the displays. Interestingly, the Tribe, as a sovereign nation, sells fireworks of all types. There will probably be a display in Lewiston, done out over the river. I see they will run the sprinklers on the levee during the show (people like to sit on the levee to watch the display) because people insist on setting off their own fireworks on the levee, which tends to be very dry.
Church in Virginia is continuing through Ephesians, 4:17-24 this morning. Excellent as always.
Church in town, not sure as I have been out the past couple weeks with sickness. Praying for all as the pastor’s two month old granddaughter died barely twenty four hours ago and his children and their children are all here now.
Great message today from Acts 12 about Peter escaping from prison. We were urged to pray for renewal of the the church in America. Our Pastor to the Seniors did the message. He always seems to be the one who gets to do the sermons around any holiday. He is a good Bible teacher. I miss the Wed. Night Bible study/prayer meeting that he use to do in our former church.
DJ, that 11:22 link was pretty good. I notice there is no mention of how many churches have an American flag on the platform.
We have no mention of July 4. In fact, my husband noted with amusement a week ago that with one of our pastors on vacation today, our sermons today are by men from two other countries, no Americans. Usually for Father’s Day and Mother’s Day there’s a quick sentence about being thankful for our fathers or mothers, but as a rule we ignore most holidays, which I like.
Maybe folks could just be thankful that they can sit in their Church’s sanctuaries and worship any way they damn well please.
Without this country, and the religious freedom it’s founded on, the world would have a lot less knowledge of The Gospel in it. Don’t forget that. Ever.
This country’s founding should be celebrated by those blessed enough to live and worship freely here. And churches should be noting this blessing as well.
Continued our study in Deuteronomy… chapter 12. And again the Word was on point…sobering, exhorting and encouraging…and yes…we were thankful to be sitting together freely worshiping our Lord in this country….one nation under God… ♥️ 🇺🇸
Our music leader for the day, daughter of the pastor and missionary out of a place I am not allowed to mention, mentioned independence day. And she said we are here to celebrate our independence from sin and hopelessness.
We jumped back to Hezekiah and learned about holding fast to God in good times and bad. Many tears shed, from the pulpit (lectern?) and around the family of God as we remembered that life is fleeting.
The real, everybody in our church does acknowledge that this country is a gift from God.
Perhaps a gift to once again show what happens when we turn our back on the Giver. Or to let us know that we really don’t do well without Him.
I am grateful to have been born here and allowed the freedoms that come with that. I vote regularly. I try to be informed. But I pray always that God will make His Truth above all else.
Mumsee, all fireworks are banned here as well, but it doesn’t matter. 🙂 We have a virtual war zone on the 4th of July, fireworks everywhere. It’s kind of shocking for new arrivals who demand “something” be done in horrified social media posts. But we all eventually settle in and live with it. LAPD simply does not have the resources to nab every kid on every block — and it probably would do no long-term good, anyway. They focus on the “big” suppliers, the guys who have big stashes of powerful and illegal fireworks in their garages.
Of course, we are all immensely grateful for this nation. But I don’t think that was what was being exactly addressed earlier.
The U.S. flag on the church platform came up at my last church. The decision, after much discussion over the course of several months, was made to remove it, though there were some heartfelt dissenting voices. My current church has no flag of any kind, only a very large wooden cross on the wall. Seems appropriate.
A rather convicting sermon for us today on our tendency to point fingers and sit in judgement of others (which translates to a puffed up sense of ourselves, that we’re somehow “better” than those being criticized). We are assigning righteousness to ourselves.
Our dealings with others should always be bathed with compassion and grace and we need to also be mindful of our own obedience and not presume upon God’s grace.
Our church has an American flag on the platform and I have no problem with it. I wouldn’t have a problem with another church in another country having their flag either. I don’t worship the flag and no one else does either. We sang a couple of partiotic songs and I was fine with that, too. The songs ask for God’s blessing; acknowledge it and talk about the battle we are in spritualy. I see nothing wrong with singing them or acknowledging the day.
Tonight we will attend a gathering from many different churches to bring attention to praying for unity and revival in this country. One of these events has already taken place and there will be a couple more culminating on Labor Day. Apparently there is food, music and then a prayer time. I know a few participants and was asked a couple of times to come, so this is the day.
Our sermon was given by a retired science teacher about the immesity and complexity of the universe. He comes with models and a slide show. It all leads to praise to God.
As I was lying out under the stars the other night, admiring the immensity and countlessness of them, and thanking Him for knowing them all by name and making them for our enjoyment and to proclaim His Glory, it occurred to me that I do not fall asleep quickly out there. Normally, I am asleep within sixty seconds of hitting the pillow (may be part of the falling asleep while in the car problem) but out there, I can stay awake a long time enjoying the splendor. And that is only a particle compared to how we will see God in eternity. It sounds boring, endlessly gazing on God. but then I think of the magnificence of the stars and that they are a mere creation. Of course I will be able to gaze at Him for all eternity!!! What was I thinking??
DJ, most of the fires around here are caused by fireworks though some are lightning or unattended campfires or cigarettes or power lines or children or arsonists
It was so good to be back with everyone in church today, the first full (undivided) Sunday morning service in 16 (?) months.
And I met a new woman (at least I’ve never met her before, to my recollection) walking into the building, she has a blue 2006 Jeep Liberty which I’d noticed parked near me in the parking lot before on other weeks. So we sang the praises of vintage Jeeps LOL.
We really enjoyed them at West Point. They were set off over the Potomac and the cannons were used in the display. We, with hundreds of others, would gather on the lawn for a picnic and a concert by the Army band. Then the fireworks. The William Tell Overture with fireworks and cannons….
Our sermon today was based on the Scripture passage where the church has gotten to in corporately reading through the Bible. The pastor had an interesting opening consideration of how James was used by God as a martyr when arrested but how Peter escaped from imprisonment and his death in the morning. He made the point of God’s sovereignty in choice of what happens to people. He also spoke on the angel’s role in story and how efficient angels are in doing what they are sent to do. They are suddenly there, they do their task, and then they are gone. The major gist of the sermon was the importance of prayer. Of course I noticed the coincidence that we were hearing about Peter gaining freedom from the jail cell on our nation’s Independence Day, but that was not mentioned. We had one patriotic/religious song at the beginning of the service today which was nicely sung by a soloist.
oh, the simple joy of seeing the stars. It is almost always cloudy here so to see the stars is rare and a great joy.
Can you tell that I am reading the posts backwards???
You folks are very slow today. You must be celebrating. Reading so many fourth of July posts I almost thought it was a holiday and wondered by the guy was getting his lawn mower out. I fleetingly thought folks would be upset with him for mowing on a holiday.
AJ, we can be thankful for where God placed us without singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” during the time set apart for giving praise to God. I don’t think anyone here would have a problem with the pastor including in his prayer a thank You to God for allowing us to live here. We can also thank God for our husbands and wives without singing love songs on Valentine’s Day in church, or sing songs about fathers on Father’s Day.
We aren’t opposed to celebrating Independence Day or thanking God for our country. It’s when the church service becomes a patriotic rally and we have the vets stand up so we can applaud them, and sing songs about our country instead of our God, that we are showing confusion about why we attend church.
If the Chinese government insisted that the church can sing praise to God as long as they sing one song in praise of their country and/or their emperor, would we be in a place to support them in saying, “No, that is not what church is for”? We pay taxes to Caesar, but we don’t mix praise of him in with worship of God–no matter how wonderful he is. The corporate body gathered includes all believers, not just those who think America is wonderful or our current president is wonderful or awful. Civil religion hasn’t done good things to this country’s churches.
What Cheryl said. Many of our corporate prayers at my church on Sunday mornings make mention of our gratitude that we live in a land where the church is free to gather and worship.
I need to head out to water before the big booms start.
When you think about who it is who stands when we recognize members of our armed forces, I am grateful to them. Most are older and this is a special day for them. Living so far away, I have a great appreciation for our country. I am grateful that we have the freedom to sing patriotic songs without a government mandate of any sort. It is all part of showing appreciation to our God for what He has done.
We lived at West Point for three years, until 98, I believe. So we had three summers of it Beautiful. Every Sunday from Memorial weekend to Labor Day, I think. Mike is not here to verify. We would take our cooler and picnic basket and our table cloth and go have a picnic with others while listening to the band play. Oldies to newer stuff. Jazz to opera. Always good. It seems we would arrive about five, then the band would play for a couple hours, then walk back home and to bed. People would come from all over to listen to the free concert. Talented folk.
To end the day with a rotten watermelon!🍉 it was on the kitchen table, and I had planned to cut it this evening. Wesley noticed something wet on the table, and when he picked up the watermelon there was a little puddle under it. He promptly took it outside to dispose of it in the pine island/natural area out front. He rolled it onto the little path where we have dumped grass clippings to try and fill in where gully washers flow downhill. He came back inside laughing. He had expected the watermelon to stop rolling, but it did not stop. It went into our neighbor’s carport and under the neighbor’s truck. Weslry had to go get it out from under the truck. It was worth having a rotten watermelon on the 4th for the laugh we got. Memorable!!
Wesley is sorting through some of our papers. He saw some instructions and almost put them in a collection of recipes. When he looked closer, he saw the instructions were medical related and said to get every drop of urine. This was probably something to do with Art’s kidney stone surgery. Wesley keeps us all in good humor.
Annie Oakley also is in hiding. The dogs, who have lost a fair amount of their hearing in recent years, are holding up better than usual with all the booms pickup up speed now that it’s getting dark.
The former show on the beach — from a barge in the harbor — starts at 9 pm., about 50 minutes from now. I’ll probably go out to the front porch to see if I can see any of it, all depends on the tree line on this hill looking down toward the harbor — but usually you can see quite a few of the colorful explosions from here.
It has been a rainy and lazy afternoon around here….now we are hearing fireworks going off…not a good sound in the forest….at least we had rain…
We did sing a couple patriotic songs and we said the pledge of allegiance in church today….we have many retired and active military amongst us for whom we are thankful for their service.. 🇺🇸
No fireworks around here. Though we did have lightning the last couple of nights. Hummingbirds appear to have stopped for the night. Nice breeze blowing. Chickens saying good night. Goats are out getting an evening snack. No coyotes yet. Lot sof light clouds and potential thunder clouds. Birds are quiet except here and there as somebody gets shoved out of the tree or whatever. Rabbits are enjoying their evening silflay.
Wandering Views 
Good morning again.
Thanks again AJ, for keeping us together.
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How about this?J
If you stay on this channel, you can see live fireworks.
Just be careful not to get too close.
Yeah. I know what they mean, it just struck me as being silly.
“live, on TV”
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Morning, Chas.
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Good morning Linda, et al.
Strange, but tomorrow is the one day I won’t be going to church.They are having some sort of celebration in the church lot, just outside.
I have no part in it and don’t know what to do. Last time we had such, I was just part of a crowd.
I likely won’t show up for this.
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I won’t say what kind of bird this. I wonder if Cheryl can answer without looking it up?
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Whatever it is, the camouflages perfect. I don’ see it. i
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Peter, my thought when I saw the photo was “He needs a zoom lens! I can’t even tell what species that is!” 🙂 Sorry. My first thought was mockingbird, but your comment about looking it up says otherwise because of course I know that one. So I’m going to guess scrub jay or one of the thrashers. Or western bluebird?
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Morning! Such a sweet little bird up there..is it a warbler?
We have been enjoying our birds around here. The babies have hatched and listening to their cheeping so sweet. We have western blue birds, nuthatches, flickers and hairy woodpeckers all in their nesting boxes…and little finches took up residence in my birdhouse in front of my porch. The doves are somewhere but I am uncertain exactly where their nests are and we have two or three regular hummingbirds at their feeder…then there are those pesky loud magpies!
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I had to enlarge the photo and look very closely to see the bird. It appears to have a tinge of blue on its head or it could just be the way the light is reflecting on it from something blue.
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My parents got married 69 years ago today.
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I think it has the shape of a bluebird, too. Miss Bosley would like to take a close up live view to see if she could perhaps identify it. Her services are available free of charge.
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Happy Saturday morning. We are suppose to have pleasant weather today. I am very grateful for that.
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Chas, the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. Last week was my birthday, but first of all it was the Lord’s Day. If someone had wanted to throw me a party during the service time, I wouldn’t have been available to attend. Culture can come up with any and all holidays, but we have no holidays today that God commands us to celebrate (not even Christmas and Easter) and we are to gather on the Lord’s Day and honor Him. (I’m saying no holidays we are commanded because the Old Testament Jewish holidays might have pre-empted the normal Sabbath activities, but that is not the case for us today. It’s OK to put up a Christmas tree–but not OK to have Christmas instead of the gathering on the Lord’s Day.)
So it always makes me sad when churches turn the Lord’s Day into a chance for a party about Mother’s Day or Christmas or the Fourth of July, or when they cancel services altogether since it’s Christmas and their people just won’t come to church anyway. It also makes me sad when church members willingly sign up their children for sports events or other activities that remove the children (and likely the parents too) from church every other week or so for a season. Now, if the team only plays an occasional Sunday game and it’s OK with the team if your child is simply not present on those games (which seems unlikely), then sure, sign him up for a sports team–but not if it means missing services on the Lord’s Day. That tells your child (and, frankly, it tells God too) that God is last priority in this family, or close to it–He has to find what leftovers He can have, even behind hobbies.
But churches that cancel services for other events are setting their members up for making such choices themselves. Worship services become optional. That isn’t wise. If it were my church, I’d say something to the elders. They are letting the people down, and worse, they are neglecting their calling from God for something of much lesser value.
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Good morning, all. Lovely little bluebird up there.
Speaking of hummingbirds, and NancyJill was, did I mention them a few days ago? As you know we now sleep outside (except during thunderstorms). When we first started that this summer, the hummingbirds were quite concerned, or curious. They kept buzzing us to see what we were up to. They were hovering next to our ears. Husband says it is kind of like being at a Nascar event. Kind of cool.
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Did I mention yesterday was our forty second?
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We are supposed to hit ninety two again today. Yesterday was ninety five so we are cooling.
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I don’t know why Cheryl directed her comment to me
But I appreciate it anyhow.
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I’ve spent most of this week lying around reading (research) books about Vietnam POWs.
This quote, as I reach the end of Alvin Townley’s fine book, Defiant:
“Freedom has a taste to those who fight and almost die that the protected will never know.”
Words scratched into a wall at the Hanoi Hilton.
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Chas, Cheryl directed that to you because you indicated your church is having an outdoor celebration tomorrow to commemorate the 4th of July.
Reading Cheryl’s post juxtaposed with my Bible reading in Matthew 15 about putting the traditions of people over following God’s commandments was quite serendipidous.
Without being at the outdoor service to see exactly what is done with it, I will reserve judgement, but if it is a real 4th of July event rather than a pure worship service then it falls into what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 15. I suppose it could be an outdoor worship service disguised as an outdoor 4th of July event to draw in the community seekers. That could fall into the category of pulling a cow out of a ditch on Sunday, acting in love, and being whatever one needs to be, as Paul said, to identify with whom one is trying to save. God knows the hearts of these church leaders and He will judge rightly about the matter. He alone is aware of all the nuances.
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Our church supports several (about three, I think) language groups. There will be an outdoor service with all these participating. I have been to one of those and I didn’t understand any of it. I don’t plan to attend this.
I have no objection. I think it’s a good thing to support other language groups.
But I won’t be attendin
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Greensboro area has been called, by people who know more than I do, “the buckle of the Bible belt”.
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Michelle,
You may want to listen to this…
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Independence Day quiz:
https://subscribe.theepochtimes.com/p/?page=defendingamerica
(I hope you do better than I did.)
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I am a minor historian with a 6. Excuses following….
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Oooh, oooh, oooh, I got called a historian this week for the first time ever. My pastor, in seeking more information about one of the previous pastors, said that our “church historian” needed more information.
But right now the church historian is trying to complete a 200-page book with hundreds of photos in it by this weekend (Monday night at the latest) . . .
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Happy Saturday.
Isn’t it pretty warm in your part of the country Chas? Maybe they have a canopy. But yeah, I’m no fan of “special” services, especially those marking secular holidays in some way, even modestly, as well-intentioned as they may be.
I live in a part of the country that’s distinctly not anything close to a (quote) Bible Belt area. But in some ways, that can be a benefit to churches (and Christians as individuals) in recognizing and not forgetting our distinctiveness — and then sticking by those differences without the temptation to blur Sundays and worship services with the wider cultural habits and ‘celebrations.’ it also can include a too-close alliance with political movements and causes and parties.
I wonder if the faith isn’t at risk of becoming diluted in areas where it’s expected to part of “everyone’s” normal identity and practice, where it’s become so acceptable, where “Christianity” bleeds into everything else? I suspect that’s what’s happened in the U.S. to some degree. I suppose that’s why some of us wonder if, as the atmosphere becomes increasingly unfriendly to the Christian faith in America, the churches may, in fact, wind up becoming stronger and healthier, spiritually.
I can imaging the God of the Bible doing exactly that sort of thing in the course of our history.
I’m reading a book now that begins with this:
~ “It has become thoughtless, superficial and self-absorbed.” That was my answer to the question, What has gone wrong with modern Christianity? When this question has come up in subsequent conversations, no one has ever disagreed with my charge that modern Christianity has devolved to a superficial religion. ~
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We didn’t do Fathers Dat because of the weather. Yesterday was Little Miss’ daddy’s 30th birthday. So today we are doing Father’s Day, Birthday, and Independence Day all together.
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MY 91 year old eyes wouldn’t let me take the quiz.
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I am a minor historian according to quizz results.
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I watched the Viet Nam clip ((Kim @ 11:53} I supported the Viet Nam war while it was happening. But I was wrong.
I didn’t like the protestors. Still don’t
But we were wrong. Wh had no business being there.
I’m sorry for all the lives that were lost. Legs, etc. that were broken. All the trouble it caused.
We lost.
And Viet Nam hasn’t suffered because of it.
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Hindsight, Chas, it’s 20/20
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That is correct, Donna.
At the time, it seemed that communism was trying to take over the world.
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Chas, do you think they weren’t?
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I remember talking to one VN vet — I’d interviewed him for something but we got to talking afterward and his take on the war was that it did manage to ‘hold the line’ at that particular time which was so precarious (even though we didn’t get the “win” per se and we lost way too many soldiers, admittedly — but many of the problems with that war were in decisions being made and not made very well in Washington).
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I’d be more inclined to say it was executed poorly rather than it was ill-intentioned and a “mistake” all the way around. But we don’t know how these events play out behind the curtain, as it were. Only God knows the beginning to the end and the why’s of what He ordains to come to pass.
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Japan is safe
China is not safe, but that is a different problem from this.
We were trying to keep communism from spreading through Asia.
Turns out, China, not communism is the real problem.
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Hair got chopped and it was so nice to catch up with the stylist. Her twins are entering kindergarten in the fall and she’s thrilled that they got into a local charter school so they don’t have to go to the nearby LAUSD school which she said is just not very good (she lives northeast of here in a different city but they’re served by the LA public school district).
She said they opened the salon a couple times under the radar during lockdowns out of financial desperation (I ducked in during one of those times, in November). The family patriarch, the very popular hair stylist who started the salon and her dad, had just died in a motorcycle accident maybe only about 6 months before the pandemic so they already were in a tailspin trying to keep the biz afloat.
Her husband, a contractor, stayed busily employed throughout the pandemic, though, so that got them through on a personal level as a family. And somehow, the salon survived, she said they have a loyal and very local clientele so that helped — I live just a few blocks away.
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Oh, and I went grocery shopping afterward for the first time without a mask (vaccinated people can go mask-less now in most of our stores). What a freedom to shop and BREATHE at the same time. lol
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But China is a problem because it’s communist. So the same problem still exists, it’s just not on the move quite as quickly as it was in the 1960s.
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And the North Vietnamese were backed by China at the time. It was something of a proxy war.
I’d say it ended in a stalemate more than a win-lose equation. But perhaps that stalemate kept the stability that was needed to hold China in check at that time.
Just a theory.
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We’re also left with this big unknown: Where would history have gone had the U.S. not taken on that particular war?
Would it have been a benign, no-difference outcome?
Or a trajectory in history that would have turned out much worse?
So hindsight doesn’t answer everything.
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But — forgive the serial posts! — we can and should always learn lessons from the past; wars are often just very murky in some ways, and the costs and outcome can’t really be predicted, ever.
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Well that’s done. Crabs, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn, and birthday cake. The kitchen is clean. Mr P is in his recliner. Children have gone home, and I am t I r e d! I think I shall read a book.
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My five fruit gingerbread is baking and making the house smell wonderful. It has banana, applesauce with apricot fruit cup mix, crushed pineapple, and raisins. I use cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves to spice it up.
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All this food sounds delicious.
My latest war victory: Killed a mosquito a few minutes ago when it landed on my arm. Slap! Dead aim.
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I heard an interesting talk on the Vietnam war. I still have the tape and even had it made into a cd. It was Don Richardson who wrote Peace Child. He shared a story of what God did during that time in Indonesia. An incredible story. Don said that he felt God used the war to distract China from Indonesia. They did not have the resources to supply Indonesia in their battles and he said that many, many came to the Lord as a result.
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Great to hear of it from that angle, Jo.
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Exactly, we don’t know how God uses the events he ordains, even when they seem ill-advised to us LOL.
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I was taking the Perspectives course and one week Don Richardson was the speaker. His wife had recently died, but others there said they had never heard him speak so powerfully.
Chas, thanks for praying for me last night as I had a bout of violent illness. I am feeling better this morning. What a way to lose weight. 😦
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Disease is never a good way to lose weight lol
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We played the card game War. Boy won, and I came in second. Then we played Sorry! and it was a long and brutal game. I won! Boy came in second. Poor Nightingale came in last in both games. She didn’t mind, though.
The pizza, wings, and soda were delicious, and there is plenty of pizza leftover for Sunday night’s dinner. The soda is from a local-ish company, and their product is excellent. They use real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. I had a delicious cream soda.
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DJ – My mother was overweight most of her life, but lost a lot of weight as she was dying of cancer. One day towards the end, as I was doing her laundry for her, I held up a pink sweatshirt she had been wearing, and was kind of shocked to see how small it was. It looked like it was for a girl, not a grown woman. I felt bad that Mom couldn’t enjoy the feeling of losing weight and “looking good” because of the circumstances of her losing that weight.
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Parties are in full swing in the neighborhood, music going, occasional big booms from somewhere else where fireworks are being prepped.
I called a former dog park friend I hadn’t talked to in a while, talked to Real Estate Guy, got a couple things mailed off, stopped in at Sprouts for a few extra things, and drove along the coast on the south part of town, such a beautiful day.
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I just went to bed, went to sleep. Got up, had breakfast.
And here I am. Just like any other day.
But I hope you have a happy fourth.
Some things are happeing inplace of church services.
I’m not up to the activity; so I’m staying home.
Happy Fourth of July to all of you.
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Don’t forget to be thankful that you live in the greatest country this world has ever seen. Not even Rome
, during it’s great years, can measure up to what we have noe.
We are immensely blessed and I am thankful every day.
Incidentally: I prayed for you today. All of you generallly, somewhojm I know somehow, specifically. But that God will bless you today and this year.
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Thanks, Chas, I appreciate your prayers. I stayed home today too and listened to the service and saw the powerpoint. Then this afternoon there was a farewell we put on for some special folks that are leaving. They will land in Atlanta in the next week. Sad to see them go.
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Good morning. Church in Virginia, then off to church in Nezperce. Just thirteen and I will be going today.
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Cheryl: Peter, my thought when I saw the photo was “He needs a zoom lens!
I do want to get one. Know where I can get a used one cheap?
It’s a Mexican jay, found in Mexico, and parts of Texas and Arizona.
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Happy Independence Day to all! It’s suppose to be perfect weather this evening for the fireworks. We heard a good many last night. I’ve heard that expression, ‘good many,’ all my life. Is it a southern thing or do others use it, too?
Art and Wesley enjoyed watching the baseball game, Oakland against Boston, last night. I was busy in the kitchen cleaning up after our meal and listening to a book on Audible, Colors of Truth. It it the book that was about to be published, and then the publisher backed out because it was about the aftermath of the Civil War, and it was due to publish in the aftermath of the George Floyd death. I won a copy of the audio version through a multiple author launch party. It is well written Christian historical fiction that is against slavery, but it also portrays prejudice toward the Irish. I have not heard anything in the reading that would give logical reason for cancellation by the publisher. The lady reader is quite impressive in managing the various voices of men, women, and children characters.
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I found out this author is from Dekalb County, GA, my county, but lives in Nashville now. Here is a video about the cancellation by the publisher.
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Sounds like an interesting book and a believing author!
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Our sermon today will from 1 Corinthians1:13 (“Walk a Mile”) from our assistant pastor. Several of us are planning to get there early as this is our first full service with everyone combined. Space will be tighter than what’s been the norm for all of us for a long time now.
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Anyone going to a fireworks show tonight?
When I was growing up we’d usually go to Centinela Park (it’s been renamed, but looks very much the same, I still drive by there when I have to take the longer way home from the vet’s office). We’d bring blankets and “ooo” and “ahhh!” at all the beautiful flashes exploding in the sky above. The finale was always spectacular.
One year my mom and I watched fireworks from the sands at Santa Monica beach, the fireworks exploding over the ocean; we arrived early so spend a couple hours strolling the shops on the pier. I would have been about 15 yrs old and my dad back then was working late shifts at an aerospace company nearby. My mom, who wasn’t working full time that year, would drive him to work and pick him up as we only had one car. So after the fireworks show, we picked my dad up and headed home.
I miss the fireworks shows but since having dogs I haven’t gone to any — I’ve had to work sometimes on the 4th, though, and remember checking dogs in to ‘day care’ those times as the fireworks (which start during the day where I live) really make most dogs anxious.
I can actually see most of the beach fireworks in our town from my front porch.
I used to enjoy watching the Washington, D.C. 4th of July program on TV but I suppose the thrill of those has dimmed over the years as our nation has struggled and seems to have lost its way at times.
I’m praying for a renewal and revival in the nation’s churches first and foremost; but also for a renewed and unified vision for the U.S. The latter feels like a long shot, but long shots are God’s specialty.
Then again, as a former colleague (and fellow Christian who’s an astute U.S. historian in his free time now), God may have other plans when it comes to how our nation will or won’t be used by Him going forward.
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Fireworks: most are banned around here. Anything that goes up or explodes. We don’t get any and don’t go to the displays. Interestingly, the Tribe, as a sovereign nation, sells fireworks of all types. There will probably be a display in Lewiston, done out over the river. I see they will run the sprinklers on the levee during the show (people like to sit on the levee to watch the display) because people insist on setting off their own fireworks on the levee, which tends to be very dry.
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Donna, America has been blessed in particular. I don’t know of another country (Canada??) that has had the blessings we have had.
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Church in Virginia is continuing through Ephesians, 4:17-24 this morning. Excellent as always.
Church in town, not sure as I have been out the past couple weeks with sickness. Praying for all as the pastor’s two month old granddaughter died barely twenty four hours ago and his children and their children are all here now.
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Great message today from Acts 12 about Peter escaping from prison. We were urged to pray for renewal of the the church in America. Our Pastor to the Seniors did the message. He always seems to be the one who gets to do the sermons around any holiday. He is a good Bible teacher. I miss the Wed. Night Bible study/prayer meeting that he use to do in our former church.
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Janice – I am familiar with the term “a good many”.
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DJ, that 11:22 link was pretty good. I notice there is no mention of how many churches have an American flag on the platform.
We have no mention of July 4. In fact, my husband noted with amusement a week ago that with one of our pastors on vacation today, our sermons today are by men from two other countries, no Americans. Usually for Father’s Day and Mother’s Day there’s a quick sentence about being thankful for our fathers or mothers, but as a rule we ignore most holidays, which I like.
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Maybe folks could just be thankful that they can sit in their Church’s sanctuaries and worship any way they damn well please.
Without this country, and the religious freedom it’s founded on, the world would have a lot less knowledge of The Gospel in it. Don’t forget that. Ever.
This country’s founding should be celebrated by those blessed enough to live and worship freely here. And churches should be noting this blessing as well.
Just a thought.
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America’s founding was unique s history.
No other time has it been considered that the subjects should have any input to what the rulers decide.
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Someone rightly coined a phrase about the shots in Lexington as “The shot heard around the wore.
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I see on TV where they are investigating the origins of Covid 19.
I can settle that. It came from Ching. There is nothing anyone can do about that.
Tell the Chinese, “Don’t do that no more>”
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Continued our study in Deuteronomy… chapter 12. And again the Word was on point…sobering, exhorting and encouraging…and yes…we were thankful to be sitting together freely worshiping our Lord in this country….one nation under God… ♥️ 🇺🇸
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Our music leader for the day, daughter of the pastor and missionary out of a place I am not allowed to mention, mentioned independence day. And she said we are here to celebrate our independence from sin and hopelessness.
We jumped back to Hezekiah and learned about holding fast to God in good times and bad. Many tears shed, from the pulpit (lectern?) and around the family of God as we remembered that life is fleeting.
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But we are just a wisp in time in eternity. I just got that from a Desiring God minute, thanks DJ. It came in handy.
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We are not responsible for anything but the wisp.
And we will give account for that.
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The real, everybody in our church does acknowledge that this country is a gift from God.
Perhaps a gift to once again show what happens when we turn our back on the Giver. Or to let us know that we really don’t do well without Him.
I am grateful to have been born here and allowed the freedoms that come with that. I vote regularly. I try to be informed. But I pray always that God will make His Truth above all else.
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Mumsee, all fireworks are banned here as well, but it doesn’t matter. 🙂 We have a virtual war zone on the 4th of July, fireworks everywhere. It’s kind of shocking for new arrivals who demand “something” be done in horrified social media posts. But we all eventually settle in and live with it. LAPD simply does not have the resources to nab every kid on every block — and it probably would do no long-term good, anyway. They focus on the “big” suppliers, the guys who have big stashes of powerful and illegal fireworks in their garages.
Of course, we are all immensely grateful for this nation. But I don’t think that was what was being exactly addressed earlier.
The U.S. flag on the church platform came up at my last church. The decision, after much discussion over the course of several months, was made to remove it, though there were some heartfelt dissenting voices. My current church has no flag of any kind, only a very large wooden cross on the wall. Seems appropriate.
A rather convicting sermon for us today on our tendency to point fingers and sit in judgement of others (which translates to a puffed up sense of ourselves, that we’re somehow “better” than those being criticized). We are assigning righteousness to ourselves.
Our dealings with others should always be bathed with compassion and grace and we need to also be mindful of our own obedience and not presume upon God’s grace.
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Our church has an American flag on the platform and I have no problem with it. I wouldn’t have a problem with another church in another country having their flag either. I don’t worship the flag and no one else does either. We sang a couple of partiotic songs and I was fine with that, too. The songs ask for God’s blessing; acknowledge it and talk about the battle we are in spritualy. I see nothing wrong with singing them or acknowledging the day.
Tonight we will attend a gathering from many different churches to bring attention to praying for unity and revival in this country. One of these events has already taken place and there will be a couple more culminating on Labor Day. Apparently there is food, music and then a prayer time. I know a few participants and was asked a couple of times to come, so this is the day.
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Our sermon was given by a retired science teacher about the immesity and complexity of the universe. He comes with models and a slide show. It all leads to praise to God.
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As I was lying out under the stars the other night, admiring the immensity and countlessness of them, and thanking Him for knowing them all by name and making them for our enjoyment and to proclaim His Glory, it occurred to me that I do not fall asleep quickly out there. Normally, I am asleep within sixty seconds of hitting the pillow (may be part of the falling asleep while in the car problem) but out there, I can stay awake a long time enjoying the splendor. And that is only a particle compared to how we will see God in eternity. It sounds boring, endlessly gazing on God. but then I think of the magnificence of the stars and that they are a mere creation. Of course I will be able to gaze at Him for all eternity!!! What was I thinking??
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DJ, most of the fires around here are caused by fireworks though some are lightning or unattended campfires or cigarettes or power lines or children or arsonists
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It was so good to be back with everyone in church today, the first full (undivided) Sunday morning service in 16 (?) months.
And I met a new woman (at least I’ve never met her before, to my recollection) walking into the building, she has a blue 2006 Jeep Liberty which I’d noticed parked near me in the parking lot before on other weeks. So we sang the praises of vintage Jeeps LOL.
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Fireworks have caused fires here as well, in the hillsides. And they can shoot your eye out, too. Or a finger or two.
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Or knock off a leg. Or burn off your hair and eyebrows. Or kill you. But they are fun!!! We have not done fireworks in years.
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We really enjoyed them at West Point. They were set off over the Potomac and the cannons were used in the display. We, with hundreds of others, would gather on the lawn for a picnic and a concert by the Army band. Then the fireworks. The William Tell Overture with fireworks and cannons….
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mums see (4:12), that sounds spectacular to have been there in person. What a great memory.
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Spell check has come up with an ethnic flare to your name, I see.
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So we sang the praises of vintage Jeeps.
2006 is not a vintage Jeep. My brother had a 1946 Jeep. That was a vintage Jeep.
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Our sermon today was based on the Scripture passage where the church has gotten to in corporately reading through the Bible. The pastor had an interesting opening consideration of how James was used by God as a martyr when arrested but how Peter escaped from imprisonment and his death in the morning. He made the point of God’s sovereignty in choice of what happens to people. He also spoke on the angel’s role in story and how efficient angels are in doing what they are sent to do. They are suddenly there, they do their task, and then they are gone. The major gist of the sermon was the importance of prayer. Of course I noticed the coincidence that we were hearing about Peter gaining freedom from the jail cell on our nation’s Independence Day, but that was not mentioned. We had one patriotic/religious song at the beginning of the service today which was nicely sung by a soloist.
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Let’s just say there are several generations of vintage Jeeps
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oh, my, goodness Mumsee I would love to see and to hear that. I love that music
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oh, the simple joy of seeing the stars. It is almost always cloudy here so to see the stars is rare and a great joy.
Can you tell that I am reading the posts backwards???
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Janice I downloaded the book and am enjoying it.
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You folks are very slow today. You must be celebrating. Reading so many fourth of July posts I almost thought it was a holiday and wondered by the guy was getting his lawn mower out. I fleetingly thought folks would be upset with him for mowing on a holiday.
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Hi Jo. How are you?
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I’m fine. Thank you.
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💯
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Did Jim slip in and take 100?
We’ll see
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No, Chas, Kim beat him to it.
AJ, we can be thankful for where God placed us without singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” during the time set apart for giving praise to God. I don’t think anyone here would have a problem with the pastor including in his prayer a thank You to God for allowing us to live here. We can also thank God for our husbands and wives without singing love songs on Valentine’s Day in church, or sing songs about fathers on Father’s Day.
We aren’t opposed to celebrating Independence Day or thanking God for our country. It’s when the church service becomes a patriotic rally and we have the vets stand up so we can applaud them, and sing songs about our country instead of our God, that we are showing confusion about why we attend church.
If the Chinese government insisted that the church can sing praise to God as long as they sing one song in praise of their country and/or their emperor, would we be in a place to support them in saying, “No, that is not what church is for”? We pay taxes to Caesar, but we don’t mix praise of him in with worship of God–no matter how wonderful he is. The corporate body gathered includes all believers, not just those who think America is wonderful or our current president is wonderful or awful. Civil religion hasn’t done good things to this country’s churches.
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What Cheryl said. Many of our corporate prayers at my church on Sunday mornings make mention of our gratitude that we live in a land where the church is free to gather and worship.
I need to head out to water before the big booms start.
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When you think about who it is who stands when we recognize members of our armed forces, I am grateful to them. Most are older and this is a special day for them. Living so far away, I have a great appreciation for our country. I am grateful that we have the freedom to sing patriotic songs without a government mandate of any sort. It is all part of showing appreciation to our God for what He has done.
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We lived at West Point for three years, until 98, I believe. So we had three summers of it Beautiful. Every Sunday from Memorial weekend to Labor Day, I think. Mike is not here to verify. We would take our cooler and picnic basket and our table cloth and go have a picnic with others while listening to the band play. Oldies to newer stuff. Jazz to opera. Always good. It seems we would arrive about five, then the band would play for a couple hours, then walk back home and to bed. People would come from all over to listen to the free concert. Talented folk.
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To end the day with a rotten watermelon!🍉 it was on the kitchen table, and I had planned to cut it this evening. Wesley noticed something wet on the table, and when he picked up the watermelon there was a little puddle under it. He promptly took it outside to dispose of it in the pine island/natural area out front. He rolled it onto the little path where we have dumped grass clippings to try and fill in where gully washers flow downhill. He came back inside laughing. He had expected the watermelon to stop rolling, but it did not stop. It went into our neighbor’s carport and under the neighbor’s truck. Weslry had to go get it out from under the truck. It was worth having a rotten watermelon on the 4th for the laugh we got. Memorable!!
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Miss Bosley is in hiding. The booms are fewer now. But just as I keyed those words I heard two nearby booms.
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Wesley is sorting through some of our papers. He saw some instructions and almost put them in a collection of recipes. When he looked closer, he saw the instructions were medical related and said to get every drop of urine. This was probably something to do with Art’s kidney stone surgery. Wesley keeps us all in good humor.
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Jo, we who are living in America are grateful to be living here too, and grateful for those who have served honorably in our military.
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Annie Oakley also is in hiding. The dogs, who have lost a fair amount of their hearing in recent years, are holding up better than usual with all the booms pickup up speed now that it’s getting dark.
The former show on the beach — from a barge in the harbor — starts at 9 pm., about 50 minutes from now. I’ll probably go out to the front porch to see if I can see any of it, all depends on the tree line on this hill looking down toward the harbor — but usually you can see quite a few of the colorful explosions from here.
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It has been a rainy and lazy afternoon around here….now we are hearing fireworks going off…not a good sound in the forest….at least we had rain…
We did sing a couple patriotic songs and we said the pledge of allegiance in church today….we have many retired and active military amongst us for whom we are thankful for their service.. 🇺🇸
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No fireworks around here. Though we did have lightning the last couple of nights. Hummingbirds appear to have stopped for the night. Nice breeze blowing. Chickens saying good night. Goats are out getting an evening snack. No coyotes yet. Lot sof light clouds and potential thunder clouds. Birds are quiet except here and there as somebody gets shoved out of the tree or whatever. Rabbits are enjoying their evening silflay.
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