God

bless

the

pollinators. 

Fruitless Turns Around

Just like trying again and again to capture a humming bird, life sometimes seems to work against you. Fruitless....or it seems that way.

My oldest sister, Marcy, was a school teacher for the same school for thirty-seven years.  She retired and like me and our other sister moved to the farm to help Mom and Dad in their later years.  She left behind her house.

I'm not sure how long we've all been at the farm because the years have a way of piling up and mixing all together but it's been a while.

Marcy's plans to renovate and sell the house were put on hold with Mom's death, Dad's Alzheimer's and death,  Hubby and then Marcy herself became sick.  With odds and ends of semi-emergencies sprinkled in the mix just to keep us on our toes, time passed  Life has a way of interfering with your plans.

I'm not telling this as a sad tale but only as an introduction to a miraculous day.

I believe her house sat vacant for over five years.  The renovations were not completed.  She still had the power on and paying taxes with nothing showing for it.  Being the busybody sister that I am I became determined to change this for her.

On line I went looking for real estate agents. Checked their specs and contacted a couple.  Marcy got a letter outlining what she needed to do...and there it sat for a couple of months or longer.

Being the bullheaded determined person I am, I finally just said, This day we are going to look at your house and get it listed.

We headed out...in a car.

Do you have the agent's number?  No, the letter's at home.  Okay, we will just pick the first office we see. (I got funny looks),

Stopped to potty and we didn't have a clue where a real estate agent was. Marcy picked up one of those free real estate books to see if there is one close.  A lady walked by and asked Marcy if she was looking for a place.  Marcy said, No, selling.  She and the lady began to talk.  This is the same lady we had been in contact with by mail!  What are the odds of that??

I told Marcy I thought this was a sign and we were going with this agent.  It felt like God had put her in our path.  And the agent was not the only person God would place in our path this day.

We arrived.  Entered.  Remodeling material still there.  Every thing looked okay.

City Marshall showed up.  Visited for a while.  An old friend showed up to visit with Marcy. Then a new neighbor that moved in after Marcy moved out showed up.  The city was having a clean up and a recycle drive to pay for the city's fire works display.  He offered to take anything we were going to discard.  Out washer, dryer, refrigerator, out broken things and trash with an offer to clear the things that pile up around the shed in every one's back yard.  Done, done and done!

A past student of Marcy's stopped by to visit.  Offers to send the local boy scout troop to clean her yard! Good lesson for them on helping neighbors, she said.

Real estate agent is called and arrives.  Marcy does the paperwork.  As soon as the price is known people are on the phone calling neighbors.  One man came to look at the house before the agent ever left.

Sooooooo, we piled what we could in the car from the house with plans to return with a truck to get her last bit of possessions.  The house is almost empty but the shed is full.  I have feelers out (with Marcy's approval) to donate most of Marcy's teaching supplies where they can be used by teachers or the church or some place they will be loved.

Hopefully, soon this will be a past chapter for Marcy she can close with a smile and a happy ending.

The Wonderful Mud Dauber

drinks from the edge of my water garden,  These are not aggressive like paper wasps. I let them out doors if they somehow get in.  I know they are doing work for me.

Recently a very good friend and her husband had some very terribly, scary, touch and go days when he was bitten by a Black Widow spider.

I have always been fascinated with dirt daubers, mud daubers or whatever you choose to call them but this little blue guy specializes in capturing Black Widows.

In my book that makes them heroes.

Heal well, Ron and hang in there, Kim,  God had His hands in your recovery.

Live Hard

Live hard
Die free
Don't want doctors probing me
Empty promises they make
There's a reason their staff
Is wrapped with snakes.

When my time comes
And it will
Don't want to leave lots of bills
Or messes made by medical fuss
I just want to go
I'm an ornery cuss

With my departure
I hope my friends see
All the wonder
They've given me
If I leave but one thought
I haven't lived for naught

I like to think
I'll depart with grace
To another realm
Will God say, "Welcome, Gail?
I can't tell but I'd wager
The Devil's on my trail

Tuesday Platform with Imaginary Garden With Real Toads

Getting My God Fix...

I love and respect the land.  I think sometimes I can be closer to God in the middle of His Creation than in any man made building.  I needed my fix.  I walked to my favorite place, Rock Hollow.

I stumbled.

I tripped

but I kept going.

I looked back and knew life was like this journey.  You may not think you can make the climb, sometimes you trip and think of giving up but somehow you reach deep within yourself and accomplish just what you needed to do.  

That reaching is what makes life good.

A Walk

Daddy used to say he was closer to God in the woods than in any church. Today I went to Daddy's church.

I will not speak of the devastation but only of the beauty I saw today. Sometimes we just have to look past that and see the truth of things to come.

My favorite place on the entire farm is the Rock Hollow. Hollow is self explanatory but the beauty is unimaginable. Look past the downed trees.  Look for the beauty.

I went alone but not really.
The dogs kept me company and I felt companions I did not see.

The water moved gently through cracks and crevices, the only source was the past rain. Was it ever live water and did it tumble to the creek on its path to the ocean?

I stopped to look over the valley. Although it has changed, it is still beautiful. I tried not to see what we lost but what we have.

The saddle tree survived and I rode as have three generations or more.

I even played with the timer on my camera.

Wish you could have been there. It was heavenly!

A True Tale

Carla, for you, in your grief, know they are always with us.

My grandson, Andrew, at a younger age had a dog named Clyde, a rat terrier. He loved this dog. You know boys and their dogs! Well, sadly, after a couple of years together, we lost Clyde(That's another story, key words: neighborhood business, poison!) It was very difficult for Andrew. The only thing that comforted him was knowing he was in heaven and Grandma(my mother) was playing with him.

There is a swimming hole that many people visit during the warm long days of summer. It runs swiftly through a culvert under a low water bridge. Younger children are cautioned to stay BELOW the culvert.

Andrew's mother took him swimming. I said keep an eye out. WELL, Andrew was wading away from the culvert and Maria just walked up the creek to talk to some friends...just for a minute, Mom, I was watching, Mom...NOT!

Maria's story was, when she came back, Andrew was laying on the towel and quite pale. FINALLY concerned with her son's welfare, she asked Andrew what was wrong. Andrew replied I got sucked into the culvert, Mom, I'm okay.

Let me describe the danger of this culvert. The water is swiftly funnelled to this point and completely fills the culvert. It is wide enough for two cars to drive over, this is the length. I am not sure of the exact circumference but the current, the power, the danger is unmistakable. An adult pulled through may be able to hold his breath long enough to be shot out the other side into large rocks. Once in the current, it is so swift there is no going back. Needless to say, I do not think a small child could survive.

Andrew and I were talking later, privately, and he related the story to me in much more detail than he had shared with his mom. When asks what happened he said I was playing and got too close, Nana, the water sucked me in. I said Andrew how did you get out. He said I was holding onto the edge with both hands and my body was going away with the water. (He was about five at this time.) At this point, I am thanking God and cursing my daughter, in my mind, not out loud. I said what did you do, Andrew said, I had my eyes closed but I opened them cause I couldn't hang on (Oh, my God!) and it was hard to hold my breath!!!! In wonder, I asked how did you ever get out. He said when I opened my eyes, Clyde was there and Grandma too and they pulled me out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and then I went to lay down cause I was tired and then Momma came back. I'm okay Nanna and I am glad Clyde was with Grandma.

Secrets

I have tried so carefully to guard them, to stop you from knowing. I am sure you have some idea about me. Having enjoyed many posts with Ten Things You Do Not Know About Me, I now present mine!

#1 I was born writing. Every time I clean a paper area, I find snippets of writing. Some I throw away, others I rejoice in their finding. My greatest wish would be that the snippets could be combined into a treasure like Margaret Mitchell's. It is amazing to note the changes in my life through my writings. I have written journals through the years and have destroyed them! If the piece makes it through my several bouts of thinning, it is copied into a hard back journal. It is amazing that I can read the stages of my life in these writings.

#2 I have a very different(sick) sense of humor. The things I find hilarious are just sometimes plain sick...but I still laugh. I like to play jokes, I like to scare people, I enjoy teasing. My husband fits right in...he has saran wrapped the toilet seat, oiled the commode ring, and put duct tape in my underwear! I topped him on that one and used clear double sided tape in his, like no one is going to see Duct tape in your underwear as you are pulling them on.

#3 I like to create... The stranger, the better. I have "Caution! Hard Hat Area" painted on the floor of my closet! Another Day Another Load is painted(again on the floor) all glittery and quite wonderfully, in front of my laundry section. The ceiling of my laundry area is old rusty barn tin, yes, exactly what I wanted. The floor is wooden but painted to look like mortared stone work.

#4 I like to paint...I would not call it art. I, much to my sister's chagrin, paint over old canvases of mine to paint another! I have only been painting about eight years because I never thought I could. To me painting is not the finished project but the act of doing. I let the paints take over and am not aware until it's finished. I first started painting on cardboard and wood or whatever was available. When I got my first real canvas, it was so white and pretty, I could not paint! I did not want to mess it up.

#5 I like horses...whoa, big surprise there! I have always wanted horses but never allowed to have one cause tractors don't eat when they are not working. This is not a secret, so let me think, what about this might you not know. I wrote a poem about wanting to be a horse when I was very young.

#6 I have had a Strange Light experience...recently. Three in the morning, watching the two planet/stars that will not be seen again with the naked eye for any years in my lifetime, a light appeared. Okay, so is it someone spotlighting, someone trespassing, a helicopter looking for dope...none of the above. No noise of engines or of anything reaches my ears. The layout of our land does not allow for what this light was doing. I could not find the source. It was the brightest light I have ever seen, a halogen would be a match light, to this thing. It grew, I am still trying to see where it is coming from, not from above, no sounds, in fact, the night had become supernaturally quiet. The Hill behind was dark but from that hill to the trees beside the house, it was light. It was a horizontal light because the back of the trees were bathed in light while the front was buried in shadow. From the tops of the trees to the ground I could see things better than in daylight. The distance covered with light toward me would have been a five minute walk. There was no end to the width, that reached over to the next hill. The light had not moved but rather grown from my right to my left. I do not know the time that lapsed and considered searching for the source. I stood in awe of this wondrous light for an unknown time. I thought I must wake my husband. When he came out, the light was gone and it was so dark again. It was hard to imagine the acreage that had been lighted. I suspect my husband thought I had jumped over the edge. He did call me the next day from work and say many people had reported the same light in several COUNTIES and the answer was a helicopter...right!!! I make no claims to what I saw. I watched and enjoyed the wonder of it and gave it no name.

#7 I believe pets are here for our convenience and not for theirs. I love, I care, I cuddle, I spoil but they will listen or die!!! No, I'm kidding on the last part. Guess this has something to do with being raised on a farm. If a dog catches chickens, it dies. They will listen to me! Now if I had been that way with my children...

#8 I believe there is a God, a Higher Being, Someone greater than the combined total of us that is in charge. I am closer to God in the woods than I am in church. I try to demonstrate my faith in my daily living. I admire and try to practice the beliefs of caring for the land and it will care for you. I judge no one in their beliefs. That is the wonder of our life, we are free to believe and speak...Thank God!

#9 I now admire the people that have done this before me even more. This is not easy. Bearing your soul in fear that some how they will no longer listen to your words.

#10 I am drawn to darkness. I love the writings of those considered insane. I have found in all that darkness there are bits of light that I need to see.

Now, will you still visit with me?

The Barn

I have been cleaning. I ran across this piece I had written in February 1998. This is about the barn at my home place. Mom and Dad let me have a corn crib for my play house. I have no pictures. We still own that place but someone has stolen the barn a board at a time.

The Barn

Twenty years had passed
The barn had grown so small
Memories were lurking there
In the corn crib, lot and stall.

Echoes of my laughter
And even of my tears
Bounced from loft to chicken run
Not silenced by the years.

In this barn, I learned of birth
Of death and in between
Never questioned or considered
It could be cruel or mean.

To the barn, I talked aloud
Shouted questions to the walls
Searched for answers to everything
Silently the barn supplied them all.

Twenty years would pass again
Before I could finally see
The Barn was my cathedral
Where God talked to me.

I Believe

Forty-nine years ago "Ask and ye shall receive" was our lesson in church.

As you can imagine at five, I could not quite get my thoughts around this. I did not ask anyone to explain it. I had always been encouraged to figure things out for myself.

I thought ok, if God does answer all prayers, I will give him a test and see if it's true. I told no one. This was between me and God.

Every day when I went to check the mail, I prayed. I asked God if He was real then He could send me an Indian doll, with a white beaded buckskin dress, and long braids.

Every day I went to the mailbox. Every day, there was no doll.

After a few months, I gave up and decided God was like the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. Remember, I discussed this with no one! I still believed but did not rank Him at the top.

Many, many years later, I told a friend. We discussed it and it was soon forgotten.

My friend lost her son a few months later. It is never easy to lose a child but hers was an especially difficult loss.

A week after her son was buried, I received a package in the mailbox.

Inside was the most beautiful Indian doll! Just as I pictured all those years ago when I prayed!

A note said, "Gail, God really does answer prayers".

I cried.