Wordless Wednesday!

An Update and Two Meme's!

I have been tagged for two meme's recently, and am way behind posting those. My time has been limited on the computer in the past several weeks. My best friend, Eileen fell and broke her wrist on March 15. (She broke her hip four years ago, and has been somewhat disabled still from that.) Since then, I have been helping her as much as I can, since she is in a cast, and can't do much with only one hand. Eileen's dear husband passed away four years ago, so I am her only "family" around here.

I shop for her now, take her to the doctor in town, visit her, make sure she is doing well. She lives 15 miles from me, so along with my own chores waiting for me at home, leaves me with much less time to be on the computer. Her cast will come off in three weeks, and hopefully she can then go back to her normal life. I am glad to help her as much as I can, and I know if the shoe were reversed, she would do the same for me.

Now, to the meme's.Glo, at Young at Heart, tagged me for this meme a couple of weeks ago. I apologize for being so late with doing this meme, Glo.

I am to answer the questions below, so here it goes:

1.What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was living in my woods, where I am still living, enjoying my family, friends, nature, my animals, and writing. Only I did all that with a bit more vigor back then!

2. Five things on my to do list for today:
Pick up Eileen.
Go to church.
Go to lunch.
Drive Eileen home.
Feed all the hungry mouths waiting for me at home.

3. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Big Donation to my Church.
Donation for New Homeless Shelters.
Donation for Many New Shelters for Homeless Animals.
Donation for Diabetes Research
Donation for Cancer Research.
And I'd make sure my family and dear friends are all well taken care of.
Take a trip around the world!
I'm sure I would think of a lot more things, too.

4. Three of my bad habits:
I procrastinate much too much.
I have a bit of a Hungarian temper.
I am impatient. (There are more, but the meme asked for only three!)

5. Five places I have lived:
Zirc Hungary.
Spittal, Austria.
Salzburg, Austria.
Terre Haute, Indiana.
Cleveland, Ohio.

6.Five jobs I have had:
Sales Clerk in a Dime Store (as a teen).
Office Worker at American Greetings.
Mom-(My most important job!)
Worked in the office at a Car Parts Warehouse.
Writer.


Thank you Glo, for tagging me. I won't tag anyone for this now, but if you'd like to do the meme, please let me know, so I can come and read yours.

Then I was tagged for the "six word memoir" meme, by Patti, at Nonna's News. So here is my memoir:

"Christian, Mom, Nana, Nature, Animal Lover"

Thank you for tagging me Patti. Sorry this is so late. Anyone else care to write a six word memoir? I'd love to come and read it!

Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday!

After the Storm, A Golden Sky!

We have had a doozie of a storm yesterday. It began in the wee hours of the morning, when my bedroom was lit up by a bolt of lightening, followed by a boom that frightened the dogs out of their wits, and me as well! Then the sky broke open and torrents of rain pounded the roof. I got up, of course. Who can sleep with all that going on? Well, actually, cats can. They are not bothered by storms one bit.


My weather radio informed me that we were under a severe thunderstorm warning, and a tornado watch until 5 PM! And it continued storming, with torrents of rain, and high winds blew through the trees, and even knocked out our power for a short time. Thankfully, most of it took place in the daytime. Storms always seem worse at night.

Fortunately, we never did get a tornado, and the storm finally blew out of here on cue, by 5 P M.


Wild turkeys don't mind getting wet, like domestic turkeys. I guess they're just used to living with the elements. Here is a Tom turkey, strutting his stuff, in the rain! He was way up in the field, and I don't have a really good zoom on my camera, but I managed to get a shot of him from the window, anyway. Oops, I shouldn't say "shot" since Spring Turkey Season is about to start.

After ominous, dark clouds all day, the sun came out at 7:30 PM. You can see it illuminating the western sky, and my driveway, with all the puddles still showing. But it was a beautiful sight. Like in the old song, "At the end of a storm, there's a golden sky," there it was, a sign from the heavens, that all was well now, and I was thankful to the Lord for it .

And here is a picture of the setting sun illuminating the trees to the east, in my field. It was such a beautiful phenomenon, that I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. The trees almost look Fall-like, but that is waning sunshine in the tree tops, making my heart glad.

.......

I also want to mention that I have been tagged for two meme's that I will do next week. First by my friend, Glo, over at Young at Heart, and by my friend, Patti, over at Nonna's Place. And I have some awards to acknowledge as well.

This weekend, my son will be here, and we have things to do, and places to go.

Have a blessed and safe weekend, everyone!

The Uninvited Visitor-A Story

The small Ozark town where I live, is nestled in the beautiful Current River Valley. Sprinkled within and around its borders are numerous quaint little country churches, where families large and small, gather together for Sunday worship services.

A few years ago, on a lovely Spring morning, I attended one of these Sunday services at a friends’ church. Tall, spreading oaks surrounded this lovely small, white church. The windows had been opened to allow the breeze to enter, and to my delight, we sat in the third pew on the left, near one of the open windows.

A small congregation of about forty people settled down and soon joined forces in praising the Lord with a hymn. Directly in front of me sat a family of four: mother, father, grandmother, and a young boy, who was about five or six years old. He had hair the color of straw, and the voice of an angel, for he sang along quite loudly and sweetly, knowing all the words of the hymn.

The minister walked up to the pulpit to give the sermon. "Today," he began, but was quickly interrupted by a cheerful and loud sound that rang throughout the little church.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!

"Well, it seems we have an uninvited visitor among us, this morning," the minister said, bemused but somewhat annoyed at the interruption.

Chirp! Chirp!

The sound rang out again and a murmur rose as the congregation glanced around, searching for the culprit. The little boy quickly turned to his left, then to his right. He looked directly behind him and then glanced up at us, his face intense. I couldn’t help but smile.

"As I was saying..." the minister began again.

Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! The uninvited visitor continued singing loudly.

Soon, everyone was looking to our side of the church. The uninvited visitor was somewhere in our vicinity. People glanced under the pews, feet poised to eradicate the noisy little bug.

Chirp! Chirp!

"There he is," whispered an elderly man directly in front of the boy, his foot thrusting forward. But just before his shoe could come down on the black chirper, the little boy dove under the pew noisily.

"Brian! What are you doing?" his father whispered loudly.

Despite his father’s reprimanding tone and his mother’s attempt to pull him back, the boy wriggled forward and captured the noisy critter.

During the commotion, the grandma, apparently aware of the workings of a the young boy, smiled tolerantly.

‘I got him!" Brian announced loudly, as he emerged with tightly cupped hands. "He is just doing what crickets do. I’ll take him outside and let him go. He shouldn’t be squashed just for doin’ what crickets do."

The boy hurried down the isle toward the back door, keeping his hands tightly cupped. As he reached it, someone opened the door for him and he disappeared.

By this time, everyone in the congregation was smiling and nodding. The minister waited until the boy came back inside and rejoined his family in the pew. Then, with one last smile directed at the lad, he returned to the service without anymore interruptions.

With a sparkle in her eye, the boy’s grandma leaned down and tousled his hair affectionately. "You’ve made the Lord smile this morning with your good deed, Brian."

Then, the boy with the straw-colored hair-obviously proud of his good deed- joined in the singing again, even more enthusiastically then before, while the uninvited visitor chirped gaily outside the small country church, where families gathered together for Sunday worship services.

First Published in-"The Rocking Chair Reader: Family Gatherings," by Adams Media, Copyright 2005.

Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful week!

Spring's Progression in My Neighborhood!

The wild plum trees are finally blooming! And I knew it before I saw them at the edge of the woods. Their heavenly fragrance reached my nose as soon as I went outside this morning. The wild plum is a small, deciduous tree, belonging to the Rosacea family. The redbud trees will be blooming soon, followed by the dogwoods. I love the progression of Spring!

Later, I took a little drive up my road to enjoy the scenerey I never tire of. The rolling fields are getting green now.

I love this old barn. It is still in good shape, structually.

Lots of pretty, rolling fields around here.

I hope you enjoyed some of the Spring scenery from my neighborhood. Have a wonderful week!