Ten Days in Texas

We recently returned from a family reunion - sort of a rolling visit with parents, siblings, children and grandchildren. Here are a few verbal snapshots of our ten days in Texas:

*The smell of Texas always hits me first - dry and dusty - and reminds me of my childhood visits
*My sister is as funny as ever - why did we fight so much as children? Oh, yeah, it was that bossy older sister, younger sister resisting thing.
*My oldest brother looked good - even if I did make jokes about his birthday. Since he is younger than me, I am allowed.
*It is comforting to know that there is always a domino game or 42 being played somewhere in Texas....even if my husband doesn't get it.
*My kids are still terrific...just older. Not sure what I did right, but I suspect it is an 'in spite of' rather than what I did. God is surely faithful.
*Texas can be really pleasant, especially if you are on a lake and have lots of family to visit with.
*Don't sit on the grass!!!! Chiggers really itch!
*Watching my children's children is exciting and weird at the same time. They are not old enough (or I don't feel old enough) for them to be parents, but they do a terrific job at it.
*Always have enough squirt guns for the whole crew, even if you are not loading them with water. They come in handy when everyone wants to be a cowboy, or spaceman, or generally just to make load shooting noises.
*Teaching someone canasta can be hazardous to your marriage!
*Singing together is fabulous, but watching my father clog dance for his great grandson is mind boggling.
*The swimming pool for our crew is never sedate - instead it is a shark pool, pirate lair, ultimate frisbee/cannonball arena. Hope the other guests at the resort didn't mind.
*Someone always gets sick...not fun for them, but good for grandparents to bond with their children.
*My mantra that you can never have too much food is wrong - you can have too much food.
*Nine children under the age of 8 make a lot of noise!!!!

What a fabulous ten days! We feel really thankful to have had the time to visit, share and generally have fun with everyone. What a great family we have!

War in the country

Ah, the bucolic countryside, where birdies sing, squirrels scamper happily, bunny rabbits hop along. Sounds a lot like a Disney movie, doesn't it? Well, one thing you learn when you live in the country is that there is a war going on out there!

Take the beautiful birdbath area out in front of our porch. First there are the birds. We have three kinds of finches, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, and doves, who all get along fairly well and will often share a feeder. But then there are the jays and the starlings. The jays (three kinds of them) are the neighborhood bullies. When they are around, no one is allowed to eat from any of the feeders, even the ones ten feet away from where the jay is getting his lunch. The starlings are the invading horde - swooping down, devouring everything in sight and attacking any bird that dares to enter the area. The hummingbirds are the feuding family of the bird world. One hummingbird will perch on my fench where he can see all three feeders and run off any other humming bird who tries to get a drink. However, there is always a sneaky one who will feed while the 'top dog' is running off an intruder.

While the birds are enacting their little war, there are the squirrels. They have an ongoing war with the cats and my husband. You see, they think the bird feeders are their private smorgasbord and they visit regularly. One of our cats takes up residence every morning in an abandoned feeder at the base of the tree, hoping to catch an unsuspecting squirrel on his way down. Art, on the other hand, has a loaded BB gun by the front door. I'll be working in the kitchen and hear him pumping it up frantically. The squirrels are back! He sneakingly opens the front door and through the crack sights on the squirrel gorging himself on the sunflower seeds. Right now the score is Cats: zero, Art: one; Squirrels: 1,000!

The rabbit army has arrived in hordes. I never knew that you could have a herd of rabbits, but we do. The odd thing is that our cats seem to ignore them. I think they have tried to chase them once or twice, but gave up pretty quickly. Two of the cats are at a great disadvantage....they are mainly white and stick out like a sore thumb when trying to sneak up on the rabbits across an open field. The rabbits have brought out someone else, though: a young coyote. There is so much food here that he isn't shy, even in broad day light, about crossing the field by our house. The war is on and he is eating well!

I will leave the tales of the raccoons, peacocks and deer for another day...but just remember this: it may look peaceful on the surface, but it's a war out there!

The Tale of TG's (The Garage)

I always thought I would get more organized as I got older. You know what I mean: better in control of my life, more focused, seeing the road more clearly. The reality, however, is that my life seems to get more cluttered and disorganized the older I get. I think maybe it is all the stuff!

Since Art and I married a little over a year ago, there has been this huge project looming over me.....TG's. That is our name for our three car garage that is packed to the rafters with all the stuff that we couldn't unpack, fit in the house or figure what to do with after we combined two households. We joke about shopping at 'TG's) before spending money at a real store....but it really isn't a joke. I mean, how can I justify buying a new picture frame, when somewhere in TG's is a box full of picture frames that I was saving for just such an occasion? Unfortunately, that box is buried under a mountain of other things that I really needed at the time (or at least thought I did).

The clutter in TG's often mirrors the clutter in my mind. Just like I need to clean out my pile of stuff in the garage before I can move forward with renovating and planning my future physically, I find that I need to get rid of the clutter of past stuff, before I can move forward and grow in the future. Maybe that is why Jesus said in Matt. 6:19 - 21: "Don't store up for yourselves treasures (stuff) on earth, ...but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,...For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

May you have a day that is full in treasure (stuff) in the right place!

Bad Hair Day

Have you ever had one of those moments that you wish you could recall? Have you ever had one of those decisions you wish you could do over? Have you ever said to yourself.....What was I thinking!!??

I broke my cardinal rule of haircuts today: NEVER GET A CHEAP HAIRCUT!! In my zeal to save money on gas and on the haircut, I went to our local walk-in cheapie salon, even though every time I have gotten a haircut in a place like that in the past....It has been a disaster. Basically, I am an optimistic person. That is the only way to explain my belief that 30 years of experience is wrong and this time the stylist will listen to me.

So, what happened? The stylist looked at the picture I brought of what I wanted (yes, I even had visual aids!), looked me in the eye when she said she understood; and proceeded to give me a haircut (in her words ) that 'is a little shorter' than I wanted. A little shorter?? Marines have more hair on the back of their neck than I do. It may have something to do with the fact that she was talking on the phone while using clippers on my neckline. Possibly, she was distracted by the other customer for whom she was instructing her colleague on the correct cut. Maybe she is just blind and failed to notice that the picture I showed her had HAIR!!!!! Fortunately I had worn a hat to cover the mess that my hair was when I walked in.....So I had something to cover the mess when I walked out.

Anyway, after my sweet husband dealt with the female meltdown over the mess (he had told me not to get it cut too short - boy, was he prophetic!), he made me promise to quit trying to save money on haircuts and to go to the 'good' place across town.

I will close with the following trite bit of wisdom: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR - ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO HAIRCUTS.

Life on the Emerald Mountain

Life on the Emerald Mountain - I could have used the words: moldy, mossy, slimy, drippy, squishy or any other word that indicates wet and green, but 'Emerald' sounds so much better. Here, not just trees are green, but roofs, sidewalks, tree trunks, rocks, anything that is left outside for long. Why do you think it is called the Evergreen State? Believe me, it isn't for the type of tree....not matter what they tell you! I live on the wet side of the Cascade mountains, which means if the sun shines....everything and everyone stops for a 'sun break'. You know those of us from the Northwest by our obsession with catching every last ray of sun. You also know us by our willingness to do anything in the rain: camping, boating, hiking, biking, shopping, golf, or just a gentle stroll. What's a little rain? Just liquid sunshine.

Don't get me wrong....I am not really complaining about all the rain. It means we truly do have emerald lawns, huge roses, rhodedendrans, azaleas, daffodils......you get the picture. Actually, I think if you put a dead stick in the ground here, it would sprout and have flowers within a week. Even I, with my very brown thumb, can grow just about anything....as long as I let God do the watering! Give me a houseplant and I will kill it with kindness within a month.

We also have lots of wildlife out here in the wilds (well, sort of wilds) of the foothills. Besides the four cats who are supposed to be hunting the moles and rabbits, we have seen raccoons, possums, bobcats, lynx, cougars, loads of deer, a brown bear, peacocks (obviously imported) and the assorted livestock of our neighbors. One night at 2 am, we were visited by the neighbor's bull who loved birdseed. After he destroyed our bird feeders, the neighbor decided to turn him into steaks and ribs. That will teach him to feed outside of his species!

Generally speaking....life is great here on Emerald Mountain. I don't think there is anywhere that is prettier and all the rain means lots of rainbows. There is a sermon in that statement...but I will spare the reader for now. May you have lots of sunbreaks in the days ahead!