Reality Check

Loopdeloops has been talking about being thankful.

This morning on the news, a heart broken grandmother was talking about her grandchild's disappearance some time ago. If you recall, the mother has been arrested for her murder. No body yet, but someone thinks there was decomposing smell from the trunk. So I'm listening to this woman and thinking, "Oh, dear God! She believes her granddaughter has been seen on a security tape in a mall. She believes the child is still alive. And her daughter is in jail." I felt so ashamed of myself.

Guess what I had been fussing about at the time? Which method of cooking to use for my sweet potatoes! Make them plain or make them sweet? Use pineapple, use oranges? Thanks for the kick in the head, Lord.....

Once Saved, Always Saved

John 3:15-18; John 10:28-30 plus numerous other scriptures

There wouldn't be anyone in Heaven if it were up to us to earn and/or keep our salvation. If we lost our salvation every time we fell short of God's ideals (sinned), none of us would be saved for more than a few minutes at a time. If so, what was the purpose in His death? If we could lose our salvation, we would be lost forever because Christ died only once.

This information was gleamed at AllAboutGOD.com. Check it out.

Ever Wonder?

How do flies know when I pick up a fly swatter, but don't care if I pick up a cup?
Why do birds sometimes RUN across the road to get out of your way?
How does the phone know when you have just sat down on the potty?
How do cats and dogs know which lap belongs to the person who couldn't care less about them?How does a pear know when it's time to drop off the tree?
Why do bees have to look you in the eye?

Being Thankful for Little Things

A young woman I know was leaving one city to go to another where she had a close friend. Her no-good "boyfriend" dropped her off at the bus stop, threw her two bags out of the car, and took off, calling her a crude name. She had her ticket but was surprised to learn that the second bag would cost an extra $10.00. She had no money at all with her. She debated about leaving one bag behind but all of her worldly goods were in those two bags. She began to cry, she was so upset. The bus driver came over to her and asked her why she was crying. She explained the situation to him. This lovely man reached in his pocket and gave her a $20.00 bill. She tried to refuse, but he insisted. She took the money and paid for the extra baggage. She returned to the man and handed him the $10.00 bill. He refused to take it, saying that she might need some extra money. She asked how she could pay him back and he said, "Tell you what! If you ever see me again, you can pay me back. Otherwise, you can help someone else." This young woman needed that tremendously as her life has been a wreck for some time. It gave her hope again.

Isn't that an amazing story about unselfishness and kindness on the part of a stranger.

Which leads to this: I'd like to thank:

Those who hold a door for me, especially when it's a child.
Those who signal me to go in front of them.
Those who wave a thanks when I let them go first.
Those who wave at me when I drive by.

Not enough space to mention more "little things" that mean a lot. Care to join me?

Isn't He Cute?

The wild version of this "gorgeous" bird needs a mix of trees and grasses. The trees provide the birds with some of their food, cover in which to escape predators during the day, and roost sites at night. They need the grassland for most of their food, both plant and animal. A hen usually lays 10 to 13 eggs . Sometimes two females will lay up to 26 in the same nest, which is a shallow scrape in the soil, thinly lined with plant material. Incubation is about 28 days. Straight after hatching, the chicks learn how to catch insects, which form almost their entire diet. A week old chick may snap up as many as 4,000 grasshoppers and other insects each day. As they get older they switch to more plant matter. Wild turkeys probably numbered tens of millions before European settlers and their guns reached America. Good eating! So are the domestic ones.


This picture was a gift from my daughter, Kay. Happy Thanksgiving!

Colorful Names

We all know people with surnames of colors, such as Green, Brown, Black, White and Gray/Grey. Well, according to Whitepages.com, there are over 300 of the following names: Red, Purple, Blue, Aqua, Pink, Tan, Orange, and Violet. There are 298 Maroons; 272 Yellows; 6 Mauves; 28 Indigos. That's only the beginning! Do you know how many color names fall into just these categories? I think I have a new fascination!

What Does Change Mean, Anyway?

Change: alteration, mutation, variation, modification, transition, turn, shift, diversion, break, New Deal, New Frontier, generation, deterioration, transformation, transfiguration, makeover, evolution, etc. Check out a thesaurus. There are dozens of meanings of the word and/or concept of CHANGE. Which one is Mr. Obama talking about? Change doesn't automatically mean good. I thought I'd freak out every time someone said the word CHANGE. Enough already!

It's Over

It's over. The election is over and maybe we got the president we deserve.

Oh Yeah! Another Horse Story

Irish Eyes' comment reminded me of another incident. The black mare, the one I rode to the mailbox, had a colt. My just older sister was riding it and I was on the mother. The colt jumped over an irrigation ditch. I don't recall whether sister fell off or jumped off. Anyway, we took the bridle off the young one. I'm pretty sure it was my idea to put the bridle somewhere safe and we'd pick it up later. So...... I picked one sagebrush out of the 100's in the pasture and placed the bridle under it. Well, I couldn't find it and had to go tell Daddy. He wasn't very happy with me but we walked around until he found it. He never had to spank me, he just had to scold me or get stern with me and it broke my heart. I say it was my sister's fault for getting off the colt! What do you think? Huh? Huh?

The Other Horse

The most important horse in my life remains nameless. A friend and I were riding him double and bareback. We are on an elevated road when a dog appeared out of nowhere, barking at us. The horse bucked down the incline, which was probably 9 feet from top to bottom. Well, I did stay on one jump longer than my friend. She went off first and then I fell. I landed on my left hip/buttock. When the dust cleared, Charlotte was coming towards me. I couldn't get up so she went for help. The horse and dog apparently went somewhere together, I don't recall. In a few minutes Charlotte came back with a neighbor in a car. They drove me home and my folks took me to the emergency room at a hospital about 20 plus miles away. They x-rayed and told me that the pain was from muscle spasms in my hip and buttock and that it would work loose (the muscle spasm, not the hip/buttock :). So,being 17, I figured square dancing would do the job! A couple of days later we got a phone call from the doctor who said I needed to come back to the hospital right away as the x-ray (which they had to send to another city to be read) showed a fractured back. Oh goody! I spent a few days there, flat on my back, having to be fed by a nurse. The funny thing was... they let me get up to go to the bathroom!



I rode lying in the back seat of a car to the larger city to a "real" hospital. I was given some morphine and taken somewhere to have a cast applied. I was allergic to the morphine and broke out in huge red hives and was so weak I couldn't hold my head up. I was supposed to stand and hold onto an overhead trapeze so they could wrap the casting material around me. I ended up being stretched between two tables while they wrapped the casting stuff around me. Consequently, the belly part bulged so I had a rounded belly. I spent a couple of months in that (I think) and then a month or so in a brace. The strange thing was, I never had much pain. The worst part was that there were no loose clothes available then except for housecoats and maternity clothes. It was rather embarrassing but that's what I wore.



I will always believe that my friend was hurt more than I was, but she didn't have the option of getting medical care. And you know what mothers always say? Don't wear ragged underwear because you might be in an accident? Well, my bra was pinned together, much to my mother's chagrin.