Our dog, Lucky, loves to shred stuffed toys. She takes her time and usually makes a right mess. Kohl’s has a program where they offer stuffed toys and/or story books for $5 each. Proceeds go to charity. I have found these are safe for Lucky as they do not have hard plastic eyes, etc. On occasion I go purchase a few and put them up in the closet until she is ready for a new one. Recently I disposed of the Cat in the Hat after she had taken the stuffing out of his arms, legs and hat. I replaced it with One Fish. Are you familiar with the Dr. Seuss book, One Fish, Two Fish? Lucky loves to rest in our bedroom every afternoon. No clue as to why? I recently went in the bedroom and there was One Fish, turned over it made Two fish and next to that was …. wait for it.
One fishTwo fishSCHOOL of fish, stuffing all over the rug!
One day after chewing on One Fish for a while she took a nap on top of it!
Our friends, Betty and Dan, live in big sky country. We sometimes get a vaguely similar effect here. Recently when walking Lucky in the morning I was delighted with this sky.
Oh the glory of His Presence!
When I asked Bob to take this photo I called it the last bouquet of the summer. Yet the nasturtiums continue to bloom. I do not have the heart to tear them out of the garden until a very hard freeze. I might have to smash some of them though in order to capture the chipmunk that has taken up residence in our front flower bed for 2 years now, grrr!
I placed them in vase on our kitchen counter. A friend came in and asked where I got those flowers? My delighted answer was, “The garden!”
October 18 is one of the most memorable days ever. My husband was born on this day. I am so grateful that God directed us to each other. Christ has kept us together for 54 years. No, not every moment has been unicorns and rainbows, but our love has grown deeper with each challenge. We have raised 2 children, now are blessed with 3 grandchildren. Bob has made a way for us to retire in relative comfort. We are some of the wealthiest people in the world. Not just financially, for that we are not, but we are rich in faith, love, blessings, joy, humor out the wazoo (mostly thanks to Bob).
This man is a gracious person to everyone he meets. Even as I type this he is serving the needy at Inter Parish Ministry.
Serving picnic food on a sweltering evening with Empower Youth ministry
He will serve as an Election Official at the upcoming election. I know what a high cost that is physically, yet he does it as a matter of civic duty. Since he serves in the district where we live he also enjoys getting to see his neighbors who come to vote.
Since retirement he has taken on the duty of major dish washer in our home. That is besides being the auto maintenance person, general overseer of finances, etc., etc., etc.
This man is a blessing to me beyond my words to describe. There is so much more to say, but I will leave it at that.
Happy Birthday Robert. I love you dearly. Guess I best get busy with that carrot cake he loves!
We made it by car all the way to the upper peninsula of Michigan and home again! What an adventure. Some of the things we had hoped to experience were thwarted, but we still had a good time. I find a dose of humor always helps with frustration.
The first afternoon on the road we were both desperate for a bathroom and some coffee as we were skipping our usual afternoon naps. We found a Starbucks location and pulled in. Jumped out of the car, hit the door and said, “First, potty!” To that the employees replied, “We are so sorry. There was a fire in another shop in this strip mall and we have no water.” Not understanding, I asked, “Well, can we at least use your toilets?” Oh, no water to flush either. UGH.
We returned to the car to try find another place, any place that sold coffee and had a toilet. We finally did. That night we stayed in Gaylord Michigan at a Comfort Inn and Suites. It was only 3 years old. Lovely facility and for the first time ever in our experience the room actually had MORE power outlets that we needed!
The Soo Locks are a remarkable feat of engineering and human ingenuity that connect Lakes Superior and Huron. The locks operate by raising and lowering boats between the levels of Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes using a series of gates and chambers. Water and boats are moved solely by the force of gravity. The Soo Locks date back to the mid-1800s and are a popular tourist destination, attracting an estimated 500,000 visitors annually.
The Soo Locks, located on the St. Marys River, allow freighters to navigate between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and international markets. This essential transportation link moves nearly 86 million tons of cargo annually, including 95% of the United States’ iron ore.
Well, as this adventure would have it, the Locks were closed up tight that day for a disaster drill. The area was swarming with Police and Border Patrol officers. As one commenter on Tripadvisor stated, “When we got there, the park is barricaded with only one entry point with an armed guard.” Even a ship worker we saw at the gate had to wait for special permission to enter. Very disappointing for us. After we watched big ships going along the Saint Lawrence River at our friend Pat’s house we had looked forward to this visit. Here are a few snapshots from outside the fence. To me it looked like a five story building on top of an enormous ship! I could not find the height listed, only the dimensions listed below. 223 meters in length is about 731 feet or 2 football field lengths!
Vessel type
Bulk carrier
Operating status
Active
Flag
Canada
Gross tonnage
23306 tons
Deadweight
34752 tons
Length
223 m
Breadth
23 m
Year of build
1987
photo by r m dutina
So though we were disappointed we figured we would go on to Clyde’s drive-in, famous for burgers and shakes. Yes, it was still morning, but we had waited for a famous milkshake for a few weeks and now we were here. Pulled in to the parking lot and there was one guy on a motorcycle. Before we could emerge from the car a woman came out of the place and told us she was sorry, but they had no electricity. “WHAT?!?!” Yep no electric, so no food service or ability to ring up sales. We told her our unfortunate experience at Starbucks and at the Locks. She replied, with a gleam of humor in her eyes, “Well it must be you guys! Every place you go is not functional!” We drove away with no milkshake. There were a few other sightings of Clyde’s in other places in Michigan, but we did not stop.
That night we stayed at the Boarders and Suites by Cobblestone in Munising. It was very nice. We were somewhat mollified by our luck so far. We were finally sleeping and traveling the Upper Peninsula, or as the locals say the “UP” or we were among the Yoopers.
Several of the motels we chose were disappointing and one was downright depressing. However, all of them were quiet and clean so we did not do too badly by doing it all online by ourselves.
Each day we listened to our favorite faith podcasts and music we brought from home on data sticks in the car. We were praising God as we went along!
Last Sunday we drove down to Bernheim Forest in Kentucky to see the sculptures of Giants. We also saw a lovely purple flower I did not recognize. I thought I was saving the flower information to write about on this blog. I inadvertently posted it and most of you were likely scratching your head, asking, “What??”
Ruellia nudiflora, commonly known as Violet Ruellia, is a member of the Acanthaceae family and is native to several states in the United States, including Texas. This plant is also known as Common Wild Petunia, Violet Wild Petunia, or Wild Petunia. Violet Ruellia is a low-growing perennial that can reach heights of up to two feet tall.
It is known for its beautiful violet flowers that bloom in the summer and fall. Violet Ruellia can be found growing in a variety of habitats, including prairies, meadows, and open woods. It is also a popular plant for pollinators such as bees and butterflies.”
Violet Wild Petunia
What drew us to the Forest in the first place was these wooden sculptures of giants.
Entitled “The Boy”
as you can see he is a boy of great size!
Adults and children with “The Boy”
We had a nice turkey sandwich lunch with fruit at the Visitor Center and took off to fidn the Mother and Girl sculptures. We got lost in the maze of unmarked roads. Finally made it back to the visitor center area and asked a man if he was familiar with the park and could direct us to see the sculpture. He was quite helpful.
If you hike the main trail it is 2 miles and most of it through a meadow. Being a clear sunny day and considering our ages and my feet we opted to drive nearer to the other 2 sculptures. The woman was reclining under a tree and depicted as quite pregnant!
We heard many visitors comment on the giants toenails!
Being a hot and sunmy day I was glad she could rest in the shade!
We walked part of the way to the “girl.” Decided we were tired and as the trail went up and down hills we were finished for the day. If and when we visit again we will know just where to stop and likely begin with the girl next time. Overall, we were glad we made the trip and finally saw “The Giants.” There is supposed to be a similar exhibit in the Dayton, Ohio area. Hopefully we will venture there one day to compare the two parks.
I was in hysterics watching this. Sent it to most of my friends. Hilarious!! Click on the link. You can ignore the sign in for Facebook and just watch the video. Don’t bother with the sound. The subtitles are so funny!
On the national news the same night was this clip. One of our Grandgirls is fluent in sign language, so, of course, I had to send it to her with the suggestion that she train her 2 Corgis this way! You do want the sound on for this one, unless of course, you know sign language!
Lizzie and Drew’s Corgis, like in the first video, live with several cats!
Mom had bunches of sayings. Likely Your Mom did, too?
“You know it’s so!” does not even have an image for this day and age!
“Don’t chase the pain.” Take your post-op pain medications on a schedule. Do not wait until the pain overwhelms you.
“Let’s get this show on the road.” The Random House Dictionary of America’s Popular Proverbs and Sayings says this expression originated in the world of traveling theater productions and was in common use by the 1930s, having originated around 1910.
Remember when television shows would admonish you, “Don’t touch that dial!” Now we don’t even have dials any more with all the remote controls and now even voice controls!
“Nothing ever has to be true for people to believe it.” Sadly, America does not “run on Dunkin” as much as this saying.
“She always said you might as well hope for the best as go around fearing the worst.” Hillary Greene
Once I was riding a public bus and asked an older man how he was doing today. His response, “Okay. Can’t complain. Complain’ never did any good any way!”
Hope I made you think about sayings you know and perhaps smile once or twice?
Recently I had an annual doctor appointment with the Ear Nose and Throat specialist. Her appointments are usually quick, but I have had so many appointments lately that take much longer than anticipated – well, you just never know when you go to a medical office how long it may take.I had made a lunch appointment with a childhood friend for after the appointment.
I went to what I thought was the medical office and realized in the lobby that the building I was in did not have enough floors and was actually where new dermatologist office appointment is for September. So I drove over to the other place and realized in the parking lot that the building I was at was not right either. Went to the high rise building across the driveway arriving just in time for my appointment. The appointment went very fast.
When I emerged I could not think of anything I needed to shop for, so I went home. bob and I ate lunch, As I chewed the last bite I got a phone call from my friend asking, “Am I in the right restaurant?” Once we planned to meet for dinner and she and her husband went to the wrong location. Oh crap! I totally forgot about our lunch and I had actually been looking forward to it!
Told her to go ahead and order I would be right there. She said she would wait so we could eat together. I told her I just ate, but I will meet and order iced tea.
I grabbed my keys and jumped in the car. There is a funeral home near our house. As i drew near to it I saw a funeral procession was turning into the road. This was the largest funeral procession I had seen in a long time! The Ohio law reads
Excepting public safety vehicles proceeding in accordance with section 4511.45 of the Revised Code or when directed otherwise by a police officer, pedestrians and the operators of all vehicles, street cars, and trackless trolleys shall yield the right of way to each vehicle that is a part of a funeral procession. Whenever the lead vehicle in a funeral procession lawfully enters an intersection, the remainder of the vehicles in the procession may continue to follow the lead vehicle through the intersection notwithstanding any traffic control devices or right of way provisions of the Revised Code, provided that the operator of each vehicle exercises due care to avoid colliding with any other vehicle or pedestrian.
(C) No person shall operate any vehicle as a part of a funeral procession without having the headlights of the vehicle lighted and without displaying a purple and white or an orange and white pennant in such a manner as to be clearly visible to traffic approaching from any direction.
So all of us waited. I remembered that they would block each intersection as they went down the highway so I decided to take the back road to mall. While in stopped funeral traffic here comes a fire truck. He went on other side of the road then turned down street I had chosen.
When traffic moved I saw he had pulled into a driveway so I went on ahead on my chosen road. Next thing I knew, 2 roaring ambulances from the other direction were screaming towards me. Yikes this was a busy hurried trip to the forgotten lunch date! I made up a little time when all lights were green.
As I got to mall and there were 3 sheriff cars. That is a lot of officials to be having lunch together!
Drove to the location I believed was right, restaurant was not there. Circled mall, saw nothing. Called my friend. She said at the end next to another restaurant. I went to end of mall and saw 4 sheriff cars. Then saw I saw them pinning a guy to the wall outside Macy’s. He must have been a shoplifter. Yikes. Found the place. As I looked for my friend, the waiter said, pointing, “Your friend.” Fell into booth with an unbelievable story for my day.
We laughed together as she ate and I sipped really strong iced tea. I ordered an unusual dessert, Kunefe, for us to share. My bill was as much as my entire meal from the night before! Nope, we both agreed, we will not be going back there anytime soon! We put another date for lunch on the calendar for August and decided to text and remind each other next time.
Oi! the foibles of “Miss Molly” as I am so often called.
How do you feel about the texting shortcuts? Will my grandson even know how to spell?
So, BTW, “By The Way” Bob wanted you to know he is just fine now. I failed to say that in my blog about when he was hospitalized and I learned that if you are going to be crucified you must hold perfectly still. Actually this morning he is out in this awful heat and high humidity taking an 8 mile bike ride on a dedicated bike trail. Hopefully he will drink all of the water he carries with him.
Here is another example of Bob’s indefatigable humor. He cut this out of the New Yorker and could not wait to share it with me! Blower, chain saw, and of course his beloved bagpipes! Me in the window trying to write this blog, or poetry, etc.
The weather has been just awful here in the Ohio River Valley as well as most of the USA. I walked a little over a mile this morning and once inside realized I was totally drenched. Again. I pass my neighbor, another Bob, as he rides his bike in the neighborhood. We are both equally tired of this draining heat.
Meanwhile the silly beagle is basking in the front yard. With all that fur does she not have a thermostat? On that note, she now wants in. Maybe she is smarter than I realize?
Been meaning to ask you, how do you punctuate your day?
Mine is puncture in the evening and puncture in the morning (insulin injections). Lord, I am grateful to have the insulin and other medications that I need. I do get tired of the needles though. So however you punctuate your days and evenings I hope in the routine you can find a reason to give thanks!
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
In Hinds Feet on High Places Much-Afraid calls her Shepherd too preposterously absurd, adding “Whatever will you do next?” What has the Shepherd done in your life that is preposterously absurd? Can you look back and see the nail-scarred hand at work in your life adding amazing delight and surprise?
One dominant yoke of slavery right now across all areas of America seems to be anxiety and depression. Are you willing to try, as we celebrate this day of freedom, try to see the good situations or gifts this in life that are all around you and just waiting for your attention?
If you read my posts with any regularity you likely know that one of my favorite sources of joy is our dog, Lucky. When we first adopted her from the shelter someone told we a good way to indicate to her that it was bedtime was to give her a natural hollow bone with a small treat inside. I bought the smallest bones I could find. They usually are sold overstuffed with some inedible looking stuff. Since she had many teeth pulled before she came to us I would dig out the factory stuff and make a treat for her or stuff the bone with a small piece of hot dog (her favorite). This has become a bedtime ritual. I have her sit and wait patiently, (Ha!) She is told to keep the bone on her ‘blankey.’ I do not want treat or hot dog on the carpet every night. She eats her treat and goes to sleep.
When you were a child did you ever wait for the tooth fairy to put a coin under your pillow in exchange for a lost tooth? The other morning I saw the photo below.
I laughed out loud wondering if Lucky was waiting for the dog fairy to refill the bone for her! Obviously she did not keep it on the blankey the night before!
I also laughed when I saw this bachelor button in the garden. These are true blue flowers. Last winter was so mild here that the root survived the freezing season and brought us flowers almost immediately in the spring. The root on top of the ground is about the size of my thumb! The branch below is just a tiny sampling of the plant.
The buttons do not have pink centers, at least until they are very old and almost going to seed. This one was fairly fresh. That is a tiny pink moth or butterfly resting in the center!
In times of peace and in times of war children find ways to play. Poor or wealthy their imaginations are free. Seeing this recently at the art museum just reminded me that children are free in ways that adults forget to be. {After much research Bob was able to help me find the information on the photograph. I usually take a photo of that when we are in a museum. I did not that day. 😦 } In 1933, Seville, Spain Henri Cartier-Bresson took this photo. the website https://www.theartstory.org/artist/cartier-bresson-henri/ says
This photograph captures a group of children playing in the rubble in Seville, Spain. Framed by the empty, bombed-out section of a wall, the children interact joyfully and uninhibitedly among the ruins and desolation, in a space that is profoundly unchildlike. They are completely unaware that they are being observed. The ragged edges of the white, stuccoed wall could just as easily be the very surface of the photograph tearing open and inviting the viewer to look on undiscovered. The ambiguity of the picture space is a testament to Cartier-Bresson’s engagement with Surrealism, of which visual puzzles were a major feature.
There seems to be one adult there, the woman on the right with the basket. She looks like the only one who might not be free among the group.
“It is for freedom that Christ set us free.” Regardless of your politics God wants you free. Give the Holy Trinity your chains and afflictions. There is almighty power among them to set you free.
I am trying to eat more vegetables, like a good diabetic should. This morning I put on a saucepan of onions, pepper, chopped ham, a little soup base and 2 cans of green beans to simmer. I took my morning walk ( like a good diabetic should). There was still lots of fluid in the pan. I sat down at the computer.
I think my next writing feat will be to select from previous blogs the entries that seem to touch people the most. Then I will re-write and organize those, perhaps into a booklet? I really have no idea what is next with all of this.
The Lord has assured me that it will be work. I am not deterred by this sort of work. I began going through one notebook of blog entries that Bob so kindly marked for me with post-its. I am not actually re-writing at this stage as much as organizing.
I smelled the beans fragrance and kept working. When I finally decided I should check the beans I was too late! Almost all of the liquid had simmered away and there was black goo in the bottom of the saucepan. Yes, I have all of the ingredients to restart the process. but I hate to be wasteful.
I suppose the moral of the story is to not try to cook when I am working at the computer?!?!
Remember the song, “The cook she burned the bacon and there’s fire down below!”?
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 