When it’s over, I want to say all my life I was a bride married to amazement.
-Mary Oliver
Have you read Mary Oliver’s writing? I love that image of “I was a bride married to amazement.” The LORD God Almighty has filled our world with truly amazing creations. I cannot fathom how a person can walk around with open eyes and not see the creation with amazement.
Almost 53 years ago I was a bride.
I was amazed at the wonder of my betrothed, Robert M Dutina. I was amazed at the goodness of God in creation, thus married in the park. I knew no building could contain the God I worship. I have continued to be amazed at all my life has been filled with. Both happy and sad.
Always, though, always I have been married to amazement.
Amazed at not only the nasturtiums above, but the next one, too!
One flower filled with sunshine and a glorious land snail in my very own side garden. The first year we were married we had a two track driveway outside our dining window. Someone had planted nasturtiums down the center. They have been dear to my heart ever since!
And just now! One pileated woodpecker flying over my front yard singing as it goes. Yes, married to amazement.
When Amazement asked if I would be married to it, I gave a resounding Yes!!
I have been noticing spider strings in the morning sun. These are not “webs” as such, more like hunting lines? I suppose the spider drops out of the trees because these begin high in the air) and drops down into the grass. The sun catches the gossamer line and glistens in my eyes.
Makes me wonder how all the birds frequenting our feeder miss those lines as they come flying in? We have decals and a blotter marker that leaves a residue that the birds can see so they do not crash into our sliding glass door. Does the spider have something like that in its silk?
I forgot to write about all this until this morning when I put the sprinkler on our clump river birch and then the new Mallow shrub. High heat this week and no rain in the forecast, ugh. Trying to unwind the hose and blech! a spider string was caught in my hair. Now I am wrestling the hose, (and I eventually turned the hose storage roller over on its side), trying to get the string out of my hair and remembering that I did not write about all of this.
In high school I did a science project with Becky about spiders. She was an artist and her family lived in a large house with an old stone basement. We sprayed a piece of cardboard with hairspray, captured a spider web . And repeated the process. Not all the captures were successful. We used the good ones as our displays to discuss the various kinds of silk a spider uses in construction.
Likely the most maddening encounter I ever had with a spider occurred at our last address on Siesta Drive. We had bird feeders (as usual) on our front porch. One day we came home from shopping and wondered how the hummingbird was holding this strange position on the porch.
Upon closer inspection, Grr! A spider had captured it and killed it. I was furious that our little friend had fallen prey to the natural order. Then I began to wonder what size spider could do that? I went inside to get the broom. Believe it or not I found that spider hiding along the edge of the porch. I drove it out into the open and beat it to death with the broom. Not exactly proud of that moment, but I felt justified at the time.
Silk so strong. Arachnid so mysterious. I am not afraid of spiders but like many people I do not like when I get their silks in the face. Walking a trail at the Nature Center I am always sort of relieved when Bob goes first and knocks the hunting lines away.
So with all my unscientific lingo but strong interest I guess I could have the title Citizen naturalist?
A man without God is trusting in a spider’s web. Everything he counts on will collapse.
Do you remember the childhood joke about the bathtub? “How do you know there is an elephant in your bathtub?” Answer, “You can smell the peanuts on his breath.”
On a recent trip to Rocky Fork Lake, Bob caught this shot of a heron wading in the bathtub of the Canada Geese.
How do you know there is a heron in your bathtub? The long legs and no splashing.
photo by r m dutina
Some things just make me laugh out loud!! Heron likely just wanted lunch. Maybe she was hoping the geese would stir up the fish?
We will never know for certain!!
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
Genesis 1:20-23 NIV
And He knew there would be a woman in Ohio in 2023 who would laugh!
There is a saying, “After 40 it’s patch, patch, patch.” I have been saying, “After 70 we just crumble.” No joke. I was diagnosed last year with plaque psoriasis on my scalp. Now a friend has it, too. She even gets it in her ears.
Mayo Clinic says: Psoriasis is a skin disease that causes a rash with itchy, scaly patches, most commonly on the knees, elbows, trunk and scalp.
Psoriasis is a common, long-term (chronic) disease with no cure. It can be painful, interfere with sleep and make it hard to concentrate. The condition tends to go through cycles, flaring for a few weeks or months, then subsiding for a while. Common triggers in people with a genetic predisposition to psoriasis include infections, cuts or burns, and certain medications.
Psoriasis is thought to be an immune system problem that causes skin cells to grow faster than usual. In the most common type of psoriasis, known as plaque psoriasis, this rapid turnover of cells results in dry, scaly patches.
The cause of psoriasis isn’t fully understood. It’s thought to be an immune system problem where infection-fighting cells attack healthy skin cells by mistake. Researchers believe that both genetics and environmental factors play a role. The condition is not contagious.
No one ever wants to hear the words chronic and no cure in the same sentence about themselves. Well, here we are again! At least we know it is not contagious!
I mean crumble, literally. The plaques itch and I am told not to scratch them as that can lead to hair loss. Oh great! I could become bald, too? Because frankly, it is almost an unconscious thing to scratch these areas. And when I do scratch them, there are crumbs, not tiny dandruff flakes, more like actual crumbs of scalp that drop off. Just lovely. If you want to see photos look them up on your web browser. Too gross to post here.
An auto-immune problem. Whole other type of AI. Poop. Maybe we should turn the Artificial Intelligence bot brains loose on this one and see if they can develop a safe cure?
I realize this is not life threatening. It is not cancer, or leukemia, heart disease, stroke. Just a miserable auto-immune ailment with no cure. If you have this I wish you luck. There are treatments meant to alleviate some of the symptoms for some of the time. But the symptoms return. I hope you can get a respite from them.
I feel rather like a dog! More like a woman with her hand on her head, scratching, scratching, shedding.
Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8 NIV
This is one where I will ask the Father, “What were you thinking?” Maybe like chronic pain it is meant to call me back into His Presence?
I heard a sports interview with Joey Votto yesterday. During the interview he said, “I’m homering.” I found that creative invention of a word quite amusing. Did he mean this?
This week for me holds appointment to get new orthotics and shoes. I do not meet the medicare criteria even though diabetic. Thus, the appointment will be self-pay.
Another appointment for physical therapy. Only opening was during my writing time Tuesday. Good thing I worked ahead!
Another appointment for check up with internist. Are you getting the picture?
We have a dinner to celebrate someone turning 82.
There is an ice cream social with another small group. Figure 20 some folks.
I have been taking Imodium AGAIN this morning. Fear to eat and headache that comes with that running to the bathroom. So back to Tylenol.
So far, Monday has brought a lousy week here.
But, who me? Complain?!? Yep, that’s me.
When my son was very young I was cleaning the bathroom one day and thanked God that I could kneel before HIS throne and not just the one in the bathroom. This week I likely have the cleanest ceramic throne on the entire street!
Grateful we have good medical care and can afford (so far) the things we need to pay for out of pocket. Wish doctors were not ‘practicing” on us and actually had some answers for some of this stuff.
Grumble, grumble old lady.
I am not as hearty as I think I am.
So how did it all work out? A week after I wrote the top part here is my report . New orthotics and shoes are on order. Physical therapy was not as painful as feared. I have done the exercises every day, so far. (Trying to be good for strength and healing.) At dinner for 82 year old I ate some food though not a good appetite. Regretted it the next day.
Saw the internist. He ordered oodles of tests. All the results came back normal. WHAT?!?! So what is the cause of all these bathroom runs? Might never know. He sent Rx for stronger than Imodium drug. Before I took even one dose it all stopped occurring. Thank You Lord.
Maybe eating a sampler (or flight) of ice cream flavors healed me? If only that were true!
So 2-1/2 weeks of the green apple quick trots and I am fine now. Truly. My friend with sciatic pain is still suffering. Bob’s lungs are enjoying clear air this morning after lightning storm moved through last night. They say we are to have rain storms today. Part of me is hoping so.
Pain since Thanksgiving in shoulder is not gone, but no longer consuming all of my attention. Lifting things carefully and trying to use it more than last number of months.
Tonight is Bob’s last meeting as an HOA board member. Tomorrow he works at the election. A draining week for him for certain.
John Eldredge reminds us in Resilient that these are this we are going through. Going through – not necessarily setting up housekeeping here. I am glad to know this in not my final home. I love that Scripture calls me an alien, a sojourner.
Dear friends, since you are immigrants and strangers in the world, I urge that you avoid worldly desires that wage war against your lives. 12 Live honorably among the unbelievers. Today, they defame you, as if you were doing evil. But in the day when God visits to judge they will glorify him, because they have observed your honorable deeds.
1 Peter 2: 11-13 CEB
Immigrants and strangers, just wish the locals would not share their green apple quick trots and other ailments with us! Okay, so it is a little out of context, but you get the idea I hope!
Recently we were watching a PBS series entitled Southern Storytellers. Online synopsis reads, “Southern creators of literature, music and film explore deep ties with the South: Billy Bob Thornton reflects on a life of writing songs and screenplays; Adia Victoria celebrates music and marriage near Nashville; David Joy laments the loss of the Appalachian culture he loves; Jericho Brown reveals the South to be essential to his creativity; and Mary Steenburgen remembers her Arkansas childhood.”
We thoroughly enjoyed each person’s story. I especially liked Mary Steenburgen’s song that she wrote for her husband, Ted Danson. I share it here with you and ask that you remember Bob Dutina, my husband of 52 years and 9 months, so far! He is a fabulous husband indeed!
The photo above is entitled Barbie Evolves. At first Barbie was just a fashion doll.
Yes, I had one as a child. I thought it was sort of creepy. I knew I would never look like THAT! Listening to a radio program recently that reviewed the new movie with the writer and producer they mentioned that before Barbie there were basically only baby dolls for girls to pretend with. Suddenly there was a teenage doll girls could aspire to be like.
Barbie Career Dolls
Her clothes were extremely difficult to put on and take off. Her bust-line combined with that waistline was going to be unattainable for most girls. I eventually figured some man must have created her.
When my granddaughters were growing up I was given a pattern to crochet for Barbie clothes. I kept a damaged doll for fitting in case I had to make some. Then I hid the pattern hoping they would never find it. Literally, did not want to make those things, but did not want to have to buy the pattern either if they requested some clothes.
The radio program told about how the designer at first sent the doll back to Japan again and again because they kept making her with nipples and the toy designer did not want nipples. After many attempts the Japanese designers got the idea. The commentator also made the remark that Barbie was made of plastic and therefore will be around for centuries in landfills!-
So all this time I am listening and walking the beagle. At times we take a short cut from the retention pond along the edge of the neighborhood back to the street. There is a man who lives there who had a lovely pine tree. For some reason he wanted it cut down. When Ryan builders would not do it, and the HOA board would not do it (the tree was clearly on his property) he decided to do it himself. We all scratched our heads over the why? since it appeared to be in good health. So I am walking Lucky, listening to the radio interview and I pass his wood pile. I stopped abruptly and took the photo below.
Launched in 1959 by the Mattel toy company right here in Cincinnati my life has been surrounded by Barbie and her fellow character dolls. If you raised boys you likely were shielded from her unless they had girls to play with. In that case, they likely wanted a Ken doll or G I Joe? That leads to an entire other conversation about dolls who are not anatomically correct!
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV
There is some controversy within the church about the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote directly to this topic bringing equality to the Lord and the Spirit. Remember the Trinity is like 3-in-1 oil. I love the Spirit of the Lord is freedom wherever the Holy One is.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1 NIV
Is there a yoke of some sort trying to enslave you? Stand firm and embrace the freedom that Christ has give you!
‘All things are lawful’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful’, but not all things build up.
1 Corinthians 10:23 NRSV
I had to post the above for myself a number of years ago when a certain type of candy threatened to enslave me. It helped me remember the freedom Christ has given me. Do you fear freedom? Is there something that might get you?
Freedom in Christ is slightly different than American freedom from British rule celebrated July 4th. Lucky does not concern herself with what type of freedom, she is just terrified of all sorts of thunder, lightning and fireworks.
Her fear is really primal, animal fear. She was a rescue dog and makes no sense when it comes to these sounds. We have never tied her outdoors during a storm. Never threatened her with sleeping outside during late June or July.
If we take her out to ‘do her business’ and there is the slightest thunder (even in the distance) she is terrified. She will pull our arms off trying to get in any garage, even if it is not ours! Last evening there was someone on another street lighting ‘black cats’ the little tiny fire crackers. She was done.
I thought I might get her to tinkle a bit, but then someone else set off a bigger boom! and that was that. Within half an hour all the fireworks were exploding and we knew it was a lost cause. We had her sleep in her kennel rather than clean up a potential mess in the morning.
Do you celebrate the freedom Christ has won for you? Is your celebration only political and basically limited to one day per year? Does any of this give you pause that perhaps you could celebrate BOTH sorts of freedom and celebrate those freedoms more often?
Maybe gratitude is a better method than explosions? Choose your style!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 