A Long Way Down

Quoting Prov. 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Those who know me well won't be surprised to know that this is one scripture that I never felt the need to highlight or underline in my Bible. Ahh, God has a way of humbling me though, and you'd think by now I'd get it. I still stumble from time to time and when I fall, I fall hard! Take this blogsite for example.
My fellow blogger and the source of inspiration for me being here was able to set up a site meter at the bottom of the website so I could track my fan base. What a great idea...it even breaks the hits down as to date, hour, length of visit...what a marvel!! I watched wide-eyed as my numbers grew. If ever I wondered if this opportunity to share my thoughts, opinions, dreams, and silliness was worthwhile, the numbers began to rise and confirm that inquiring minds really DID want to know what I had to say. Wow! I even mailed my personal anti-blog (not the hater on the web) and quoted facts and figures to her. She's still not impressed no matter what I say, how many country churches my fellow blogger captures on film, or how many goats my other friendly blogger raises...she just doesn't give a hoot!
Well...the other day was a particularly busy day and every time I checked, the numbers registered higher and higher. Amazing! Last night as I drifted off to sleep, I had a huge revelation. It's tracking my visits which generate larger numbers which feeds my pride and makes me go back to check the numbers again which generate a higher hit rate...you can see where this is going.
I'm my own biggest fan...wouldn't you know!!!

Get in the Wheelbarrow

You've heard or read the story, I'm sure, about the guy who watches a tightrope walker go across Niagara Falls and back. Crowd cheers when the walker says he'll do it again pushing a wheelbarrow. They watch as he makes the trip over the Falls and back, never losing his balance. They cheer again when the daredevil says he'll push the wheelbarrow full of heavy rocks across and back...and he makes it without breaking a sweat. Then he asks the crowd, "Do you believe I can cross the Falls on a wire?" "Yes!!" they respond. "Do you believe I can cross the Falls pushing a wheelbarrow?" They again shout their agreement. "Do you believe I can push it with a load of rocks?" In a frenzy now, they all agree. "Do you believe I can walk across and back pushing the wheelbarrow with a person in it?" The crowd cheers crazily. "Then, who'll get in the wheelbarrow?"
That's where I think I have arrived in life. Things good and bad, happy and sad, all woven into the life that is mine. Much of that I have to admit was on my own strength and under my own direction. Many times the Lord has brought that story to mind, even having a friend of mine come up to me after church one day and tell me that the Lord was calling me into the wheelbarrow...he didn't even know why he felt led to share that. But I did.
After spending 27 hours on the road, a feat I would never have attempted under normal circumstances, I'm humbled by the hand of God on me. I would like to say that I had such complete confidence in Jesus to get me through that I never worried a bit. I'd be lying. When hard times come and circumstances beyond my control are staring me down, it's hard,if not impossible, for me not to blink. Having survived the ordeal with the knowledge of God's mighty arm around me, my confidence in Him is soaring like a candidate's approval rating after a rousing speech. I haven't arrived yet.
But I'm ready to get into the wheelbarrow.

Back in the Saddle Again~!

I can't begin to tell the world how grateful I am for all the prayers and thoughts that went out in my behalf. They were supremely answered as I made a long haul to Fredericksburg and back to find that the storm did little more to my neck of the woods than drop some already dead limbs in the yard. I don't think we got much in the way of rain although some who stayed said that the winds did pick up a bit. Some of the mobile homes have their skirting messed up, but we have lattice panels that don't look the worse for wear. God was extremely good to us.
My trip was a 27 hour nightmare that I will never repeat. I won't say I'll never leave again should the warning go out, but as of today, I'd stay and take my chances rather than get involved with that horrific ordeal on the road. I didn't know I could stay awake that long, much less drive that long. Maybe later I'll post the amazing things I saw along the way. My legs were wobbly by the time I arrived in Elgin. I'd left League City at 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning and arrived in Elgin at about 5:30 a.m. Friday morning. I slept for a few hours before going the last two hours to Fredericksburg. I hope others I passed on the road are home safely tonight. Mike came back from Colorado and was waiting for me at my son's home. We had a pleasant trip home which surprised us both.
I'll be back at work tomorrow, Tuesday, and I'll unpack my treasures a little at a time. I've learned the one thing that I know I'll take with me should the situation ever arrive again.............................................Depends!!!

Sophie's Choice

I'm sitting here in the middle of the night (when I should be asleep) agonizing over what items I need to take out of harm's way and what can stay. I live in a mobile home built in 1962. It has an aqua sink and stove in the kitchen and a quaint charm that made me love it in spite of it's obvious flaws. Well, we'll see how well it's built in the next few days when Hurricane Rita blows in from Florida. I'm hoping that the leaky roof holds, but this predicament is now totally in God's hands.
I tried wishing the storm to the cornfield but that didn't work. Now I'm stuck with the possibility that I'm not just leaving for a few days to ride out the storm with my grandchildren. There's a chance I won't have anything to come back to. Hence the dilemma over what gets saved and what stays behind to take it's chances with contrary winds. Do I take the yearbooks from high school or the Golden books that I've read to my kids and grandkids? This is pretty much the situation as I was posting a day ago, but now, it's time to make hard decisions and I'm not faring so well.
I'm still believing for a miracle. Please join me!

It's Always Something...

I'm back from a quick trip to the Valley to see my sisters. Everyone is well. I got to see the full moon while walking late at night on the beach. The water was warm, breeze was brisk and I could hear blues coming from Wanna Wanna's. Not bad.
Good thing I got to relax a bit because as I was heading home, I began to hear that Hurricane Rita is churning up a mess over by the Keys. Great...just great. Wish I'd studied statistics when I was in school. I'd know what the chances are that we'll take a direct hit. As it is, I'll be forced to choose my destiny with the S.W.A.G. system that my old real estate broker taught me years ago.
It will either come to Houston...or not. If it heads here, I can stay or go. If I stay, I'll by spam, water, bleach (middle sis reminded me of that) and jerky, batteries and candles. Wish I had a wind up flashlight and radio. I'll need to fill the tank, get money, fill the bathtub and washing machine with extra water. Might also need to find a friend to bunk with. If I go somewhere, I need the gas and it wouldn't hurt to use the Spam as a hostess gift. And when do I leave???
In going, I get to make all sorts of decisions about what to take. Family Bibles, baby books, pictures, underwear and lock box with papers I think are important. As much as I second guess every decision I make, this ought to be a trial. There was a woman who left N.O. with her Precious Moments collection and about six other collections...good for her...she'd be hard pressed to replace that stuff. I'll leave the TV. I WILL buy another TV but I wouldn't buy another bunch of Sabino glass. Sabino goes.
Maybe I need to stop blogging and just go pray the storm to the cornfield.

Housekeeping

This is just a short note to clear up the AntiBlog mentioned in my previous posting. I had no idea that there was really a blogsite written by The AntiBlogger. I have no idea who that person is, nor do I subscribe to any sort of hate diatribes. I hold that people are good or bad based solely on their actions and their character, not their race or religion. I am about as conservative as you get and make no apologies for that. I have liberal friends and that makes for some lively discussions at times...but I don't hate them because they hold different ideas. My writing here is what I do for fun and it's cheaper than therapy. Chime in any time. Remember, you are what you blog!

You're No Blogger 'Til Some Blogger Loves You

In a discussion about blogs with someone who's opinion I hold dear, I heard the opinion that blogs have no point...not really...not in the grand scheme of life. First off, The AntiBlog doesn't like the name "blog", it should be renamed to something more aesthetically pleasing. As much as I love my blog, and blogging in general, I have to throw in with that opinion. "Blog" sounds more like something you step in than a way to pleasantly pass the time.
Secondly, The AntiBlog didn't think that much of what was posted was really very interesting. Who really cares? That hurt my feelings as I happen to think I'm pretty interesting...good grief...I haven't even had time to discuss what I think about MTV, the size of an avocado seed in proportion to the part you can eat, or whether Tom Cruise talks to much about Scientology. That's not interesting? Give me some time. I'll get around to something you find interesting directly.
We're all entitled to our opinions, blogging just entitles the world to our opinions. What's not to love about that?
P.S. Even spellcheck doesn't like "blog"...kept trying to change it to "bloc"

Youse Guys

I was reading through my emails and happened across one of my pet peeves. I'm feeling a little peevish today so it suits me to sound off a bit. The email was one of those hug a friend-you're an angel in disguise sort of things. I equate them with regular mail addressed to occupant. I know that my friends love me and think I'm a rose or an angel, and I feel the same about them...I just don't email the sentiment back to the sender nor do I forward it to the dozens of angelic flowers on my own email list. Some of the recipients would probably look me up and slap me! At any rate, that's not what my pet peeve is.
At the end of this email, "Ya'll" were encouraged to send it out within 10 minutes of 100's of your nearest and dearest. Now, I was born and raised in Texas. I was also fairly adept at grammar in school. I know that "don't" is the contracted form of "do not" and "would've" is short for "would have." So it stands to reason that "Y'all" is the proper contraction for "you all." I have no idea what "ya'll" is supposed to represent. "Ya'll" is worse to me than "ain't." While "ain't" is usually accepted in conversation and has even been used as a regular word (think, "Ain't Misbehavin'" or "It Ain't Necessarily So"), the term "ya'll" is just ignorance or poor spelling. I'm thinking that it's originated by Yankees who are just posing as Southerners.
What do y'all think?

What's New Pussycat?

I amaze myself sometimes.
I actually have very strong convictions and like to think of myself as at least deep enough to carry on an extended conversation on the price of tea in China if necessary. Somewhere along the way I'm losing my attention span though. It is very embarrassing.
I first noticed it several presidential conventions ago. After a few days of rhetoric I was ready for it to be over. The commercials got to be a real source of annoyance, even the ones for my team! Then, we had Desert Storm. After a few weeks, I was ready for it to be over and have America finish up and move on to something different. Seems like that pattern has only grown worse over time. I get all steamed about something, fuss and fret, then, it's all over. Many of my friends and family have been victims of my ranting and raving. It ends as quickly as it begins!
With every major news event whether local (Clara Harris trial) or national (Supreme Court nominees) or global (suffering somewhere), after a few days, I'm ready to hear about something else...especially if the powers that be aren't handling things the way I think they should be.
Let's finish up in New Orleans, fix the power outage in L.A., get Brad and Angelina married, find new judges, and move on...we've got to start planning for the next president!

Out of Sight...

It occurred to me that I might want to mention that my main squeeze isn't around these days. Mikey is off in the mountains of Colorado with his brother, sister and her husband...for 5 weeks. They're playing cards, fishing, and he's looking for an American Legion Post with a bar. He's been gone for 10 days and it's taken me this long to realize some things about him. I don't eat more because he's around, I don't clean less because he's in the way, and evidently he talks to me more than I thought because I notice the house is very, very quiet. That could also be due to the television not blaring so loud. For the next 3-4 weeks, I can lose weight, get out and walk, talk on the phone all I want, keep the a/c at subzero, and fall asleep with the TV on. Yep, I'm fancy free all right. In complete control. And for the first time ever I'm sleeping with a fillet knife under my pillow! Hope he misses me!

Time Marches On...

Just a bit ago I received an update from CNN stating that Bob Denver, known to millions as Gilligan, passed away at age 70. 70???!!!...can't be!! I remember thinking he was the coolest as Maynard G. Krebs in the old Dobie Gillis series. Hard to believe another icon has fallen by the wayside. It's a little unnerving to lose markers in my own life's timeline. Watching that silly sitcom made me anxious to be a teenager and have the same fun I saw encapsulated in the little 30 minute program. I had the fun, but I don't think I was ever as cool as Maynard. The Gilligan character was funny in his own way, but not as hip as Maynard. Another legend gone...too bad.
Another note to cheer you up...just checked my calendar and you only have 109 shopping days until Christmas...7 paychecks! Don't worry, you don't have to get me anything this year. I have all I need...me and the little black chicken are doing just fine!!

Pretty Is As Pretty Does...

I am saddened beyond belief at the situation in the south from Hurricane Katrina. I'm saddened also by the ease at which some people have sunk to the lowest common denominator of decency. While heroes are being raised up by the hundreds and amazing stories of compassion and survival and gratitude and service are reported, there is an element of blame being foisted on the listening public that tarnishes the fine work being done. There are pictures of people running down the streets with electronic equipment alongside of those trying to grab groceries. It was said by reporters that gun shops were among the first stores looted. Isn't that nice!
What we have is an extremely miserable situation that only time, generosity, and an extreme amount of patience will heal and restore. In the meantime, blaming the government, leaders, shooting at people sent to help only gives the impression that we're spending alot of time and effort on worthless people with no character. I'm not saying they are, but they're sure not helping their own image no matter what their race or creed or religion.
And if you're not a part of the solution....

Chicken Dance

I have a new hero of the week. Don't know her name, but she's a black English guinea hen...I think. My fellow blogger, www.beavercreekdaily@blogspot.com, posted his recent purchase of goats followed up by acquiring this hen and two chicks. The poor little chicks didn't make the transition and now there's just the hen. In the last posting, she was getting along well with her new surroundings, mixing in with the goats, and didn't seem to mind being hand carried into shelter when a storm came.
At 57, I've gone through alot of changes, some good and some I'd rather not dwell on. I'm still here! Like the little hen, I've had to adapt to different living arrangements, different companions, and different ways of handling the storms that come along from time to time. I'm still here! You have to learn to bend or you'll break. You have to adjust or get left behind. The little hen is just getting on with being a hen and doing what hens do. Doesn't matter that her shape has changed, or the chicks she used to hang with aren't around, that the new neighbors are large and different looking...she's just busy doing her thing...being a little black guinea hen. Her needs are met, she's well-fed, she's happy no matter what.
I'm learning what she already knows!