Time

It seems that I do not haveas much time as I'd like to dedicate here, so I am going to post at least 3 times a week instead of each day posting 3 times. I will be faithful if at all possible and I would love to have anyone that reads my posts to give me some comments on what they like to hear about and what I could do to make the post more interesting to you. I do think it makes a great journal of how life is on the farm so I will keep that end up.

I found this website for all the Catholic people that read this that have trouble trying to communicate the communion of saints to those who are not Catholic. Please have a read on it. I have this trouble all the time because I am a convert. I would not trade my faith for anything in the world. It makes one's life a bit lonely though, when everyone you knew before thought that the Catholics were the ones that were not going to make it to heaven...you know what my family and friends think about me now, don't you? I always think of the saying, "Make new friends but keep the old, one is sliver and the other gold." ;-)

Well, enjoy this website and again, if you find something more interesting than others here please let me know.

Just for today

Things are good today in the countryside. It has gotten a bit cooler and everything is appreciative. I went to work today because I was with Kade yesterday or getting his medicine which took 3 hours because we drove him to our nearest town thinking the pharmacy was open and found out it wasn't so I drove him home and went back to the big town. *SIGH* I don't like the big town and don't want to go back...ever. Anyhow, it took me 3 hours to get his medicine in which time he came to and quit waving to people in a stupor of laughing gas.
He was quite comical.

Today we have stayed indoors for the most part as it is still so hot outside. I have become my mother's hair dresser and she came over and I cut her hair. Long on top short on the sides and very short in the back with a fringe along the bottom. It looked very cute on her.
I cut my own hair as well. I also perm it, color it and whatever else might be needed as I am too tight to go to the beautician and get it done! Our next door neighbor was raised near Silver City Idaho and although later they had electricity, I don't think she grew up with it so she still puts her hair up on rags each night.

My son is dating her niece, she lives with her granny part of the time. Her granny lives on a mountain near Silver City ( I have attended Mass in the Church on this page) and she has no power or refrigerator, not even hot water and have only had running water for a few years. They do have a generator and I believe they start it to wash their clothes. No radio or TV and definitely no internet. She spends her winters braiding horsehair lariats. I think I could go for that sometimes but not always. It makes for long winters when you don't have anything to watch or listen to.

The humming birds are growing in number. I think they are thinking of moving south even though it is hot now. My dad saw a king fisher today and they are a definite sign that it's going to turn cool. I wonder if it's true?

I also noticed today that the doe that kept her baby by the corn field is venturing out without her fawn now. Time is coming that they will be hiding from the hunters. I will keep my comments to myself about that for the moment, thank you! (It's the Franciscan in me)
Have a great night, I hope your Sunday is beautiful as well.
God bless!

WISDOM teeth?

Well, it is nice to report that my son Kade is doing very well recovering from his tooth pulling.
He is starving for whole food so we have been feeding him mashed potatoes and gravy and corn cut off the cob and mushed. He is also eating an amazing amount of smoothies and pudding. I believe his appetite is so good because he knows he can't chew whole food. After a meal of a banana apple smoothie and 2 ears of corn cut off the cob he is now sleeping peacefully in a banana chair in his brother's room As you can see from the photo. He is not too swollen, but is uncomfortable none the less.

Got Zucchini?

Most of us do this time of year. I received a wonderful recipe book from a local senior center and it is full of zucchini recipes. Here is one I would like to share.


Zucchini Corn Medley
2 zucchinis, cubed
1 c. frozen corn
1/4 c. onion, chopped
2 tbsp Butter or Margarine
1/4 c. spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 c. cheddar cheese, shredded

In a sauce pan, saute the zucchini, corn and onion in butter until tender. Stir in Spaghetti sauce and seasonings; heat through. Stir in the cheese until melted.
4 servings


Enjoy!



There are more where this came from and I'll give you some tips on what to do with extra zucchini as well.

Tip #1
Trying to bury zucchini, denying it was ever yours, causes more to grow.

Countdown to lift-off...

Did I say lift-off? I meant yank-out!
Tomorrow is the big day.
My son #2 thinks it's going to be a wonderful break from the daily routines of life.
He thinks that he's going to get to rest and relax and not work for a few days.
He thinks that life will be good in that time.

He is getting his impacted wisdom teeth pulled-All 4 of them!

BOY, what he doesn't know is going to hurt him!

Please pray for the silly guy, would you?

Saint Apollonia, pray for son #2, would you?

It's going to be a LONG weekend.

His eye is on the Sparrow

I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me

I have a pet sparrow. I began with two and am now down to one, the last is simply named Sweet Bird. The first died last year, his name was Squeak.

The year of 2000 my sons brought me a baby bird from a nest that had fallen out into the yard. I didn't know if I could keep this little life alive but under the plea from my boys, "Please try, Mom!" I gave it my best shot. I placed it under a light keeping it 98 degrees which is what a baby chick likes to live at and fed it wheat bread soaked in milk every two hours day and night for two weeks. Needless to say, it thrived...and it knew me to be its mother. There was no way I could set this little bird loose, first of all the cats would have made him a tasty treat, second of all, he wouldn't know what to do out there without someone hand-feeding him all the time.
Squeak was a wonderful pet, and if you think a sparrow does not know anything, he was out to prove you otherwise. He listened to me all the time and spent quite a few hours on my shoulder. He learned that when I said "goodbye" it meant that I was going to hang up our phone that is a push button and it beeps, so Squeak learned to "beep" when I said goodbye. He learned that when we had company, the dogs barked so he would look out the window and if he saw something unusual he would bark to warn me that something was amiss. It was hard to clarify though, because sometimes he just barked because he liked to.
Squeak died last fall of a heart attack. I know it was a heart attack because he started screeching and fell into the bottom of his cage. I picked him up and he kept clutching his chest with his beak and yelling at me to "Do something!" in bird of course...
And of course, there was nothing I could do, so he died in my hand.
Poor little squeak. He lived 5 years. I suppose that 5 years is pretty common with sparrows.

Now I have the other sparrow that I got the year after Squeak in exactly the same way. Squeak never liked him much, he was the baby, an intruder and not on squeak's list of favorite things to think about. Besides, he took time from me, you know.
Sweet Bird never learned to bark or beep. He never rode on my shoulder like Squeak. Sweet Bird did exatly what his name implies...he sat around in his cage being a sweet bird that simply talked to me when I talked to him. He still does.
Lately though, sweet bird doesn't sing much and I've noticed that his body heaves at a regular rythm, like his heart is struggling to pump blood. He seems to sleep a lot as well. I spend lots of my time walking by the cage and talking to Sweet Bird. He always looks at me and then closes his eyes in pleasure because I have taken time out of my busy day to visit. His face is turning grey all of a sudden, I didn't know they did that.
I'm beginning to see the writing on the wall, and I am sad.

I know that God is watching. I know He sees this sparrow and the love we share. What a silly little thing to most people. Not to me. To me, it shows one more way of loving this creation that God gave me...no, that God gave us all. One more way of making amends with something that has gone awry in the world. I am not perfect, but I love the best way I can. And Sweet Bird does too.

Thank you God for creating the sparrow. Thank you for their song and companionship even on dark winter days. Thank you for their sunny, cheery dispositions and their loyalty to those they care about.
If only we could be so loyal ourselves.

Why should I feel discouraged

Why should the shadows come

Why should my heart feel lonely

And long for heaven and home

When Jesus is my portion

A constant friend is He

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches over me

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me

I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground. Even the hairs on your head are counted.

You are worth much more than many sparrows. Matthew 10:20-31

And to think, I would be happy if I were worth only one.

On country roads and teenage boys

Yesterday on the way to work I encountered one of the neighbor boys driving insanely fast on our dirt road. Knowing he was not doing the speed limit, which on a dirt road usually the safest max speed you can do is 35 (add at least 15 miles per hour to that for his speed) he grinned sheepishly and waved. I waved back and continued on. On the next rise, I came across one of the pieces of paraphernalia that had been rattling around in the back of his pickup--an Oxygen bottle. You know, one of those big green things that welders and people that can't breathe use? Oh yes, and the neighbors...who neither weld nor fail to breathe. His family blows up gopher mounds for a living, something that I will talk about soon. (Sounds like a good one, doesn't it?)Well, this bottle which weighs roughly 20 pounds, was laying in the middle of the road in front of another neighbor's house. The neighbor man was not happy, not happy indeed. It seems that our young neighbor boy from the OTHER side of our house had taken the corner by THIS neighbor's house in which the bottle now lay, sideways! He was ready to kick some butt! Anyhow, it seemed to resolve itself, I called the boy and his little brother answered, I told him that he should go get the oxygen bottle before the man came unglued, which had in all actuality pretty much happened. I also told him that his brother should be EXTRA careful in the neighborhood for a while. The younger boy came and got the bottle veeerrrry quietly. Later in the day, they saw a police officer drive down our road. He in actuality had nothing to do with them, but they think they are wanted men now.

I am going to let them think that for a good, long while.

I have a question

How do people go about finding good blogs on Blogger like the ones I have been reading from friend's blogs? Is it just from other people's posts of these websites or is there a way to search them without looking through the (excuse my language) crappy ones to find the good ones? I can do the other people's posts, that works out great, but I know there MUST be people out there with other blogs that are good too. I mean, they can't ALL be like that one that I keep encountering when I click the "next" button, can they? (That one came up 4 times)
I did find one that I found interesting, it was on cooking for the diabetic. I don't eat sugar. Well, I try NOT to eat sugar. There God, you can erase that black mark by my name :-
I'm happy for any input. Thanks!

Tomorrow is another day

I woke up this morning early and went outside before the sun rose to take care of the hen and her little family. It was beautiful, the sky was turning beautiful colors and there were just enough clouds to make you think it might rain. In fact, it did spit on me a few drops. Here, we call that a 2-inch rain because the drops are 2 inches apart! This time of year that's about all we get.

After I got the chickens prepared for their day I went back into the house and back to bed for a bit. I fell asleep just long enough to feel real bad when I woke up. My arms and ankles were aching and I was sick to my stomach. YAY! A bout of Fibromyalgia is on its way!

It seems that FM takes all the "want to" out of me. Sometimes I can tell it's going to come on for days before it gets here with little twinges of things to come. "Ow, that hurts...I wonder when I bruised my arm?" By three or 4 days later, the bruised feeling in my arm has traveled up my neck and down my back and sometimes I can barely stand to move them. The worst thing that hurts on me is my ankles. They seem to hurt nomatter what I do. They have since I was 23. I was skinny back then, or I would say it's my weight which has gone up considerable due to lack of the ability, and sometimes the lack of energy to be active.

I have had days where my energy level was barely enough to drag myself out of bed and to the couch. One horrendous spell of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue lasted nearly 2 weeks, where all I could do was sit, if I raised an arm I felt like I would pass out... or away, which ever came first. Someone who has never experienced anything like it would never know what I am talking about. Those that have are probably crying because they have been there, done that!

I believe the hardest thing to do now is keep my mind wide awake and aware. I am not near as good a writer as I used to be, pre-FM, and writing this blog has kind of in a way, brought up a problem with me. I feel inadequate in writing. I feel that if I could scribble a few words such as "Me feel icky, want bed! GRUNT, GRUNT! " I would be doing much more what my brain wants and probably give everyone a good laugh at the crazy woman that thinks she can blog. (Well, I probably am doing a good job at that already, but you get the point!) So if you see a post that says something of the sort, just laugh along with me for that day and perhaps the next day my mind will turn on long enough to get a good paragraph in.

Being "brain dead" makes it hard to study the Saints as well. You need a fine toothed comb to sift through the thoughts of a Saint at times. ( I am not talking about the football team here people!) Their lives are lived somewhere else, with thoughts of that place in their brain. My life is lived somewhere else, probably not even close to where they are, without a brain! I would love to sit and write of the beauty of the depth of a Saint's writing. Of how they can reach into my heart and yank out my feelings. Instead, I rely on the love of God, the most simple yet profound part of my faith, because some days I am lucky to just walk! Perhaps that is where all the Saints end up and therein reside in His love. I on the other hand, cannot get off my own bandwagon long enough and sit peacefully to reside. If I'm down physically, I am screaming internally to fight my way back up. If I didn't, there would be so many things to do when I finally DID get up again that I would never catch up. Of course, that is the way of a mother. Not only that, but I would feel like I were not doing any of God's work.

I believe God put me here to pray. I am not much good for anything else and even miss Mass at times because of the limitations of FM. (Don't think that I don't realize the blessing of the Eucharist because I do and I cherish it in my heart.) But I DO pray! I pray continuously, with all my heart...even when I don't feel like it and probably much of the time in which to other people it does not make sense! I don't let that stop me because God knows what is in my heart. He knows what I am trying to say and He perhaps can use it for some greater good.

I often think about the fact that there are more people on the earth than ever before, less Christians than there used to be or at least less who are truly living their faith, much more crime and lack of self control and less religious cloisters than there used to be who devote their lives to prayer. WHO is going to pray if we don't? Hmm...Makes one think, doesn't it?

Changing the subject, I went today to clean my Aunt Peggy's house. She always sends something home with me. Today it was books...LOADS of books. Kade told me one day, "Aunt Peggy always sends something good home with you, one of these days, it's going to be Aunt Peggy that you bring!" She's a sweetheart to a fault. I have so many books though that I really don't know what to do with them all especially since most of the time I get one page read before I fall asleep. I suppose I'll go through them and pick out the ones I want to read most and then take the rest to the nursing home.

After I came home still feeling tired and sick, I went to bed and finally woke up and wrote this blog. That has been my day so far, how was your day?

I have to close with one more thing. I should say that I never give up on God. He leads my life. Even if I don't understand it, I know He has a plan. I will keep striving for what is best in my life and I will never give up trying for Him.

Ok, NOW I am finished!

I hope you all had a great day and don't forget...if you didn't, tomorrow is another day!

An evening sunset

Brought to you by God.

Thank you.

Huh?

Today I went to town and bought a bag of grated cheese.
The directions to open it were, "tear along dashed line to open."
Ok, wait a minute, I know the dashed line has always been there, but since when did they call it a "dashed line" instead of a "dotted line"?
Where have I been?

Ponds...

There are many different sorts of ponds, in my opinion. There are the beautiful ponds of the mountains where the lily pads bloom and there are little frogs along the banks with lots of grass and beautiful scenery to look at and you hate to even wade along the bank for fear of disturbing the pristineness of the area.

That isn't our pond.

There is the pond that you think of in a park where people ride paddle boats around and the ducks follow in their wake trying to see if they will throw them a breadcrum or some other tasty tidbit. If you're lucky, you will get to see a swan or two with their signets swimming by in their beauty.

That isn't our pond either.

There are various ponds, as I have already said, but not one of them can beat our pond...well, I suppose that depends on how you look at ponds.

Our pond is a man-made pond and the fact that I say it is "our" pond, doesn't really mean it is "our" pond, it is a neighbor's pond and it is used to catch irrigation water for the pastures. Now, you have to realize that out here, water is a scarce commodity and it can be hard to come by. People don't much care where they get their water as much as the fact that they have water, ANY water in which to irrigate their crops with. This is the case with our pond.

This pond is built smack dab in the middle of a pasture with the branding corrals a small hop, skip and jump away. It is not beautiful, it is not pristine, it is not even in the least bit attractive for that matter, but it is very practical. Cattle can come and drink out of it and much of the local wildlife come by to quench their thirst as well. There are catfish and other types of fish in the pond only because it has been stocked by the local boys for the past 30 or so years. In the center, this pond reaches 30 feet deep so there might even be a snapping turtle or two, who knows?

For a boy, this pond draws them for many reasons, to fish, to watch the wildlife, to see how good their toy boats they carved can float and so on. This time of year, it draws them for another reason, to swim.

Now, you see, when you swim in a man-made pond built right in the middle of a pasture you have a lot of obstacles to maneuver through before you enter the pond itself. On occasion there may be a bull who refuses to move because it is much cooler by the pond than it is up on the side of the mountain, but most of the time the most major thing you have to maneuver through to get to the pond are old pieces of barbed wire, a few pieces of wood with nails sticking out of it, a stray horse shoe or two and cow pies.

On one side of the pond there are tall sagebrush that make a barrier for it from the rest of the world. There is no grass along the banks of the pond, the cattle have long since worn anything resembling grass down to the nubs and it has dried up and blown away. Occasionally, a whirlwind will spin a little dust devil across the bank and out into the pond.

This lack of beauty does not dissuade any boy in the neighborhood from enjoying the depths of the cold water and lack of parental supervision because one or more parent is usually trying to get them to do just one more chore in the heat of the day before they leave to go swim. They all think it is a wonderful release to go swim at the pond.

My sons spend quite a few of their summer afternoons there, honing their swimming skills and also learning the tactical maneuvers of mud wars. In heat that is higher than most fevers, it feels wonderful to them spend hours out in the water.

Occasionally, there is the wound that occurs from not being careful enough. Either a cut toe or a torn fingernail from digging into the mud at the bank is the most common. My son who plays football and basketball thinks nothing of coming home banged and bruised up after a game and says to me, "BOY, that was FUN!" I am certain they both feel the same way about swimming in the pond.

Call our pond ugly if you want.
It may not be pristine or even what most people would consider what a pond looks like.

In our eyes, it is a beautiful pond with lots of stories to tell of the success of learing to swim on one's back or how well their boat was built or even how deep they could dive before they have to return to the surface for air. It has raised 2 generations of children so far and I would not be surprised if it rasies another 3 before perhaps its time on this earth is through.

God willing, there will always be a pond in which a boy can learn to swim.

Basque

Our country (Idaho-Oregon) is covered with the history of the Basque people and it is rare to find a family that lives here that does not have at least one Basque relative. The Basque are shepherds or sheep herders, depending on how cowboyed-up you are, and they came from spain and France and their history has been around longer than the pyramids. They are a strong people with a deep sense of who they are. (If you don't believe me, ask one of them, you will be amazed at the lengths they will go to explain their history.) They too are a people who will not take "NO" for an answer and accomplish nearly everything they set out to do.
St. Ignatius of Loyola was Basque, I am told. I believe that they are probably "saint material" in the fact that they are head strong, proud and very faithful to their way of life and what they believe, they are loyal to the end. If you have a Basque friend, you will have a Basque friend for life!
Their food is wonderful and amazing at the variations you can find. Sweet and spicy but always delicious.
Here is a bit on the Basque:
Their History in Spain
Their History in Idaho and Oregon
Basque food

A bit 'o Ireland

At least in thought, that is. If you have Real player and like Celtic music, I recommend this channel. It has beautiful and captivating Celtic music. Very peaceful and soothing, especially on hot summer days (and nights).

My new chicken family is doing well tonight, the mother hen didn't really like being in the chicken coop with the other chickens so we took a rabbit hutch and put it in the corner on the ground and set her and her babies inside it on fresh straw with a good amount of water and ground corn and chicken food. She can still go in and out, but the chicks are too small to get over the top of the doorway. We will keep them that way until they are a few days old and then they can mingle a bit with the other chickens.

I spent a good deal of time out at the coop today. We have an elm tree right in the center of their outdoor pen. It has grown and spread out into a large umbrella that keeps the sun out of the pen. There is a nice, cool breeze (sort of) there most of the time and the chickens, although let out for the day, liked it better in the pen where the shade was than out and about.

I then took some extra time to go out and play with the dogs in our irrigation ditch. Rosie seemed to especially like it when I would tell her, "Go on Rosie, get in!" and then fling my arms like I was going to fly. She'd plunge into the water flopping her belly and biting at imaginary things floating by. At one point, Justin and I thought she was going to take a flying leap into my lap as she got so excited playing in the water.

Today, when I went to vacuum the floor of the house we couldn't finish yesterday, I noticed as we went into the house their large cat was laying in the shade on the cement by the door. The only movement that proved to me that it was not dead was that its eyes were following me from the car to the door. When I was finished and came out, it had not moved a muscle but had lain in the same place not expending any extra energy because of the heat. Its eyes again followed me back to the car and nothing else moved...even when I called it.

We are going to keep water on the yard every night as it does help to cool the house down a bit and the outside animals act cooler during the day because of it. It's even too warm tonight to snuggle with the purple people eater. (my husband has dubbed my blanket this name because it's one of those poodle style blankets, all curly and deep purple plus the fact that I like to bury myself deep within it which is very reassuring to me in some way.)

The night before last I awoke around 1:30 very anxious and could not return to sleep. I finally went out to the living room and pray my Divine Mercy Chaplet and got the Bible out to pray some more. The verse that I opened to was this:

See the birds of the sky, that they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you of much more value than they?

"Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?

Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin,

yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't he much more clothe you, you of little faith?

"Therefore don't be anxious, saying,'What will we eat?','What will we drink?' or,'With what will we be clothed?'

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day's own evil is sufficient.

Matthew 6: 26-34

Like a lot of people, this verse comes to me when I need it the most. From somewhere deep within, we realize that everything it says is true and there is really no need to be anxious.

I fell asleep around 3:30 that night and slept until 8 that morning and last night was the most refreshing night I have had in quite some time. It is good to know that He is watching over us so well.

May you have a peaceful night with no anxiety and know that our Lord is watching over you as well.

Sleep tight.

LOST

As I was watching the news today, they were saying that a man was lost in the mountains.
I found out a bit about him from a prayer chain I belong to. I just recieved an email with this link attached to it. Please pray for him, that he will be found alive.
God bless!

CHICKENS

I awoke this morning early and sat down to watch a bit of the news. My youngest son went out to do his daily chores and so I didn't pay that much attention to the door closing when he came back in. He walked up to me and held out his hand, there sat the cutest black baby chick with a yellow spot on its head that you have ever seen! I went out with him and found the mother (she'd had her babies in the doghouse!) and we moved her to the chicken coop. 5 new babies and a few eggs that hadn't hatched yet. 2 of the chicks were black, one yellow one, one white with black spots and one yellow with light brown stripes on its back.
I am sitting here listening to our electronic thermometer, it's 8:25 a.m. and on the east side of our house it registers 100.5 degrees F. I know that is only because it's in the sun but still...
We all knew it would be hot this time of year, I suppose.
Well, I have to get going for the day. I have a house to clean and I have to go back and finish the one we were doing yesterday that had no power. It's hard to vacuum when the electricity's out!
God bless, I hope you all have a great day!

TOO HOT?

YES!
I have not even been sleeping well because of the heat. I suppose most people haven't been across the country. We haven't broken any records this year, but it seems that we should have.
Today I cleaned a house in the heat because the powerlines were down nearby and there was no electricity in the neighborhood. It says on the weather that this weekend could reach 106 (which means 115 on the side of our shed). So far today it has gotten up to 105.9 on our back porch. Hey, this is the desert, you know.

My blessing for the day:
We do not live in an area where there is a lot of humidity. (I think you'd have to have me committed if there was!) AND that we have air conditioning...a way to escape the heat!

A brighter note:
The corn is growing profusely now, we should have sweet corn within a week! It likes the hot weather and if it has enough water it grows at an alarming rate.
My grandmother tells the story of her listeng to the corn grow late at night when she was newly married and they still lived in Missouri. She said it was so hot and humid that they couldn't sleep so they sat up and listened to the corn plants pop as it grew through the center upward.

The second cutting of hay has been baled for the most part. There is usually 3 good cuttings and perhaps if 4th small one, if the weather holds.

We have one more bloom to go on the roses, they bloom 3 times a year. Then, it will start to cool down.

Prayer:
For everyone that is in the heat, that they will have some way of cooling down.

STAY SAFE PEOPLE!

Promiscuity in America

This article is very interesting and being a MOTHER ( I am emphasising my role in the grand scheme of things) with 2 sons either in highschool or just out, this is something that interests me very greatly. In fact, so greatly that I am going to have my sons read this article. So far, we have been able to stop anything of the sort, either from fear of parents, fear of God or just good fortune, we do not know but nevertheless, are thankful. My sons are good, but my concern is that they will go out into the world with too many peers that seem to work, act, think and live opposite of what we live. How much is too much when it comes to parenting? What age do we stop telling them what we know is right?
I do a lot of praying for these things.
The article is here

Going Native

It was hard to know how to feel. I'd never been in a battle like this. There was no dark political objective. This was not a fight for territory or riches, or to make men free. It had been fought to preserve the winter food stores, to protect the women and children. Stone Calf was a great loss, but even the old men could not remember such a one-sided victory.
I gradually began to look at it in a new way. I felt a pride I'd never felt before.
I'd never really known who John Dunbar was, perhaps the name itself had no meaning. But as I heard my Sioux name being called over and over,
I knew for the first time who I really was. --Dances with Wolves
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, you're right, I guess you have to see the movie to have it make sense. ;-)

Centering ourselves

a wonderful article
Fr. Thomas Keating

Matt

I work cleaning houses and offices. I have done this for the past couple of years and after the first initial shock to my body at how strenuous it is to my body, (which only took 6 months to get used to) I have found it to be THE most rewarding job I have had in my working life. (other than being a mom, but that really isn't a job is it?)

It has much less emotional stress than working in an office or as a nurse, especially a night nurse. It just seems to suit me well. Another good thing about it is that people are flexible and you can pick the time of day you want to work.

I had myself in a rut when I finally decided to try this. I thought that I'd never be able to do much of anything because I couldn't handle the stress with my health issues. Well, I and my husband prayed about it and one day I woke up and thought, "I'm going to clean houses!"
"WHAT???!?!" thought my other self, "Are you NUTS? You can't clean houses, you barely have the energy of a gnat somedays, how on earth are you going to do something as physical as that?"
I thought to myself for a while..."Um...ER.....UM...." (you can tell that thinking is quite hard for me sometimes...especially when I'm having a battle between the good and bad me.)
Finally, I spoke up and said to myself, "Well, I'm going to give it a shot. With a lot of prayer, perhaps the right people will come along in my life and cleaning will not be hard at all."

I posted an advertisement in the local paper..."DUST BUNNY CLEANING CO." We make cleaning easy! Homes, Offices, Businesses. Call for more information. ( Bear in mind at this time there was no "WE", other than the me that said I could do it... and the me that said I couldn't!)

Two days went by and I got a call...I kept getting calls...each one wanting a home cleaned or an office....I kept praying and I kept taking appointments, every time it seemed that they were sent by God. One was a relative of my husband, one was a woman who had recovered from cancer only to find that the chemo had left her heart weak and she could not do housework. One was my husband's boss who needed someone he could trust to clean the office, and then there was Matt's family.

Matt's mother called one day and was curious about us. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you that by this time, I had enlisted my mother to work part-time with me on some of the homes as she was in need of something to keep her mind off dad's retirement and the fact that he would be home ALL-THE-TIME ( Those of us with parents at retirement age understand this theme so well.) so when Matt's mother called, it was "US."
I told her about our cleaning experience which was only our own homes and a few people that we had just picked up cleaning jobs from, but that we were thorough and did a good job. She said in a kind of shy voice, "Well, I just need help. I have a family of 4 handicapped children that I've adopted and I just can't keep up." I accepted the first appointment on a trial-run.

So, we came to this household and we met the family...the first few cleanings we kept saying to ourselves..."Poor woman, how can she do this? She is overwhelmed with caring for these kids!"
All 4 of the children have Down Syndrome. (I say children, but the oldest is a year younger than my age of 41 and the youngest is 21, but they look to her as a young child would.)
One child had been extremely ill a year before we came and he had turned "within himself" whether from nerve damage or just the lack of ability to cope with life. She said it started not long after 9-11 and he was so concerned with why people do mean things to other people. He was an active, outgoing, bubbly, hyper-active boy until he became ill. Now, most of the time he stands and stares into space and rocks back and forth. She is very sad over the loss of her son's reasoning, but she cares for him as if he were always this way and forces him to speak a few words even though he really doesn't want to.

The two girls are both individuals, one can care for herself and reads and writes and although her words are hard to decypher, she gives it her best and she is such a sweetheart. We have learned a lot about the love these girls have to share and are happy to be on both the giving and recieving end of their love.

THEN THERE'S MATT.....

This boy, Oh my....he makes one's heart sing! Matt is 22, small and full of joy. Matt from day one took a shine to "The Ladies" as he calls us. On several occasions, we have gotten there before he has gotten out of bed in the mornings. His mother will call, "MAAAaaaaatt, the ladies are here!" On which he will raise his head and say, "Oh, good morning ladies! I didn't think I would be asleep when you got here, I have been looking forward to today, you know today is Monday, right? Remember? Yes, you remember, you always come on mondays, except for Christmas, if Christmas is on a Monday, you won't come, but that's ok, you will come the next monday after Christmas, right? Yes, you will. Today is a blue day, I am going to wear a blue shirt today. Look YOU have a blue shirt on too! Um..how is my friend Kade doing? My buddy? Is he doing good?Yes, I am sure he is Ok. I have a cat here, you see? This is Joe, remember Joe? Yes, you remember Joe he's been here for a lon-...." Well, you get the picture.

Matt seems to never have a bad day...a bad day for him is if he doesn't get to plan at least one meal of the day. He thinks about food (especially Thanksgiving dinner) all the time. He plans and plots and won't go anywhere unless he knows he can go to Jack in the Box or Wendy's or Taco Bell or any other of the various food chains and cafes in our area. He helps his mother plan her day around each meal and will even bring her pictures out of magazines of things he would like to eat next.

When we arrive in the mornings, he prepares coffee for us using an electric coffee grinder and a coffee maker. (sometimes it could knock the socks off a mad bull!) Matt loves his coffee and if you're not a coffee drinker, you soon will be around Matt. He makes it known how good coffee is for you. Perhaps drinking all that caffiene is why he can talk non-stop!

It's hard to clean around Matt...He comes in with his breakfast plate and sits on the edge of the bathtub talking 100 miles a minute while eating. He tells us how good we are cleaning and about his graduation in 2005 from highschool. "I did it! I won!" Practically every week we get to see his robe and diploma and hear about his music teacher that lets all the graduating students return each Christmas to sing the "awewuya kworus" (Haleluja Chorus) He tells us how good his food is, he tells us how we should eat the type of foods he eats, he tells us about spiderman and woody (the cowboy doll out of Toy Story.) That doll, by the way, goes everywhere with him. He's resorted to putting him in a book bag so that his mother doesn't tell him that he's too old for that and people don't want to see him with it. Everyone loves to watch him and his Woody though and last week, one of the neighbors had been to a yard sale, found a giant Woody doll and bought it for him. I was there when she brought it but Matt wasn't. I am sure that will be my next story.

When I pull out the vacuum out and begin to vacuum, he takes mad flying leaps across the room and flies over the vacuum and lights on the floor in the most delightful spiderman pose you've ever seen! I'm always afraid he's going to get wound up in the cord and take a spill, but he always seems to escape a harrowing experience.

Whatever sport is in season is Matt's favorite. His father makes sure to take him to the local college to watch baseball, basketball or football games. His father related the last baseball game he went to as this:
"Matt loves to dance to one special song they play at the games. He will get up and wriggle his little rear end (he wears a boys size 16 so yes, it's a little rear end) and raise his index finger on both hands and dance. This time though, there were some teen-age girls behind us that Matt was sort of visiting with. As he jumped up to dance, one of the girls said, "YOU GO GUY!" Which was all Matt needed to begin a huge jive session. I finally had to say, 'Matt! Enough!' "

Of course, Matt is always 6-inches away when anyone is talking about him to which his response is either, "WHA..??!?!! MEE??!?!" or, "I heard that! You were talking about me!"

I've heard his mother warn him on what is the proper and what is not the proper ways to act. I have heard her say many times..."Matt, you just don't go around KISSING all the women!" To which nobody can stop laughing and Matt again says..."WHA...?!?! MEE??!?! I don't do that!" smiling all the while.

This past cleaning day, his dad was going to town and he had run through a huge list of things they were going to do when they got there. Matt looked at his dad and said, "Well, have I got a surprise for you! The ladies are coming and I'm not going!" Matt never misses a day with his dad so this was a real surprise to him. But then, as it got closer to noon Matt thought maybe he could talk dad into goint to eat somewhere so he decided to go after all.
As he was about to leave with his dad to go to town, he came in to tell us goodbye. "One last hug. " he said. "Sure, Matt." was our reply. We gave him our hugs and he took a deep breath and sighed long and peacefully. "Well, I had better be going, see you next week!"

It has been 2 years since we began our cleaning experiences with Matt. Each week we look forward to the visits and each week we come home more blessed for being there. I think my prayers paid off! The biggest news is it's easy to see how Matt's mother does all those things for her family. What love they ALL have to give one another!

Sorry this is so long.
I'm sure over time you will hear a lot about Matt's antics. He seems to be one of the good things in life!

St. Charbel

I was introduced to this Saint while I was working as a care nurse. The elderly woman that I took care of had a nephew who had a fondness for St. Charbel. He comforted her in her last days by spending many days with her praying and asking for St. Charbel's intercession in her life.
I thought St. Charbel might be someone of interest during this time of war in Lebanon since he is from there.
St. Charbel

What makes me happy

Ok, I admit it...I'm anxious....
It happens every year about this time. It has since I was little and mom and dad sent me to second grade. The summer of first grade would have been bad had I known what first grade would be like. I hated first grade from day one because the principal came in with 5th grade boys and paddled them for chewing gum in school....with a threatening look he pointed his paddle at the 1st grade class, most of which had never been away from their parents and said, "You WILL be next if you chew gum!"

Half of the class went home early, including me.

The rest of the year the 1st grade class hid from the principal anytime we saw him outside of our class...in class we cringed as he walked through.

It seems that this time of year brings on that anxiousness within me. I'm half depressed, half anxious and half wondering why. (that's too many halves, I know.)
The sky turns a smoky color each year, the grain is beginning to be harvested and there are fires everywhere, sometimes right out my back door. The smell of sagebrush and burnt wheat seems to permeate everything.
I think I've had fibromyalgia since I was young and there have been times it becomes prominent in my life and other times it goes into a sort of remission and things go better. Could this be the reason for such stupidity? WHO KNOWS! Fibromyalgia is a stupid thing...taking up much of my time, either with the chronic fatigue/depression end of it or with the pain and allergy/sensitivity it causes.

You know what? It seems to take up so much of my life that I don't want to talk about it tonight and allow it to take up more.

Now, back to my thoughts of what makes me happy in no particular order....

Friends who post beautiful messages of love and the need to love others.
My family being with me in the evenings as the day closes and we all are sharing what happened throughout the day.
My faith in God.
My pets (especially Chuck and Rosie as they try to make me realize how much they love me even if it is just so they will get a puppy treat!)
The beauty of the golden evenings.
The realization that even if I can't run this stupid website the way I would prefer, people aren't looking at it to be "like everyone else's" but are looking here to see what my life is like today.
The knowledge that people I know have been saved (perhaps by their angels) from terrible circumstances. ;-)
My husband's hugs.
My son's reassurances.
The fact that if everyone else were to abandon me I would have God to give me strength.
The humming bird that looked at me through the window after work and told me with impatience in his eye that I had let the feeder run out of sugar water.
That a dear friend is home tonight and is safe after being out in the heat too long.
That angels watch over those I love.


One last thing that doesn't really make me happy but I will live with it...
That I can't upload the beautiful photo tonight to add to this post. Maybe tomorrow morning it'll work for me.

God bless all who read this.

The effects of prayer (and other good words) on water

I'm not saying that this is completely true, but if it has some fact to it and our bodies are 98% water, the implications are very good that doing good and being good are healthy for us. (Not that we didn't already know this but it's another way to back it up)

His website: Hado After the intro click on water crystals to see the effects.

Dr. Emoto's story on water and prayer.


Dr. Emoto's reasoning of why we fold our hands when we pray.

Justin's Graduation Party

Justin's graduation party was a success! We fed over 45 people with 80 pieces of fried chicken, 15 pounds of potato salad, a huge green salad, 4 loaves of garlic/french bread, a huge whipped topping-jell-o pudding salad, a pot of baked beans, soda, tea, lemonade, water, home-made icecream and cake. Justin got quite a bit of money for gratuating and he's planning on buying a laptop computer with it.
Sabino, our Basque relative brought us his home made Chorizos to eat and many people showed up from many miles away. It was a good day!
( I forgot to mention that we bought 25 bags of ice and we used 22 bags in keeping everything cold!)

Corn

The field corn is heading toward it's peak growth here, now blocking out the homes of neighbors. I can still see the mountains though, so I'll be OK.
The fields create a small shelter for our home all summer long, making it seem much greener and full of life than it actually is in our area. Everything from fox to pheasant take refuge in the shade it makes. As it grows, it takes on various stages...one day I asked my husband if he'd noticed the one plant that had decided to extend it's leaves nearly a foot above the rest of the field, it seemed like it was going to grow until it touched the sun. what on earth would make one stalk want to grow faster than all the rest?
"Don't worry, all the rest will catch up in time, the heat will make it grow."my husband told me. Needless to say, it bugged me that one plant would stick out above all the rest. I'm like that, things that stick out of place seem to irritate me until I go and fix them. I even thought about going out and snipping off the top of this stalk of corn to make it even with the rest.

It plagued me for nearly 2 weeks, but the field did indeed eventually catch up.

Maybe I'm a bit like the rest of the field...maybe it'll take me a while to grow, but perhaps one day I too can reach up and touch the son.

Mother Teresa

Ignore everything for a few minutes and watch this video.
(I just noticed after publishing this that you can click the "restore" window right below the video and it will play it full screen!)
Mother Teresa Tribute

and this one...
Mother Teresa and JPII

Race

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28


My friend Honora has a good point to make and I can honestly say I agree with her completely and now we must deal with it. Perhaps humans have had to "deal with it" since the beginning of time and will have it to deal with 'til the end of time, but we all must make our choices as best as we can and sometimes that can be hard to do depending on where we live and what ideals we were raised with. This article on the Color of God's Skin was the story I was reading as I opened another window and read her post. I think they go together quite well and I believe my mission for today is to bring attention (however so small) to the issue of what exactly racism is and how much it destroys the goodness in our beings. What would it take for man not to hate man? Is there anything that would make us see beyond the color of our skin or the language we speak and even the dress we wear? What would make us see ourselves in each other?
What should one do when all we truly want is peace?

My personal answer is Pray and believe it will come to pass.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. --1 Corinthians 13

Beyond the Horizon

You'll find a whipped cream cloud

Justin's Belated Graduation Party

Tomorrow, we celebrate our son Justin's graduation from Highschool. (He's in the foreground) He really graduated a year ago this past spring but he did not receive his diploma until February due to the fact that we homeschooled him and his brother Kade (background in green) all through their highschool years. I would never have done it differently...even if it took them 25 years to finish. They are the most rounded young men I have ever seen in my life. ( Of course, I am not biased at all.) But truly, they seem to be able to accomplish nearly anything they put their minds to and so far have never given me one moment of grief even when they go out somewhere with friends or girlfriends. We are very blessed to have two wonderful boys.
Oh, by the way...the middle boy is our adopted son Kyle. He stays with us much of the time but being a boy that never really knew what farm life consisted of, found our summers to be a bit too workaholic for his taste so he's stayed the last few weeks with his family after trying it out for a month. Too bad, the values of working hard are what molded my sons into what they are.
Pray for Justin, that he may keep on the "good path" and find a peaceful and enjoyable job. He is currently working 2 places, the first is a publishing company and the second is a small engine repair service (which just happens to be owned by my brother). I think his true enjoyment is the engines. He is also taking a course in motorcycle repair.

I See His Blood Upon the Rose

A Poem by Joseph Mary Plunkett

Is your pencil sharp?

Mother Teresa said, "We are all pencils in the hand of God."
I wonder if my pencil is very sharp at times...Sometimes I write good and for God, then suddenly, it's as if the lead in my being becomes brittle and snaps! Then I begin to write with jagged edges that tend to break and leave dust along the words I am writing. It eventually ends up soiling the page that God had been writing...before I took over.
Sometimes my writing becomes illegible, muddled and the words are jumbled...This is nothing new when I type or write, but in my daily path it seems to come with more frequency as I grow older...Knowing what I should do and just never quite being able to meet the need with great zeal.
The letters become fuzzy when the lead in my being becomes worn and used but never resharpened and shaped by the hand of God. (Bear in mind, that only happens when I don't allow Him to work in my life but lead my own effort in doing what I see fit instead of spending time in prayer, reading scripture, working for Him...enough said.)
I wish that I were more clear, more sharp and prominent in my thoughts and in my work. I wish that I could go back and erase what I have done in time so that it brings more glory to God...so that it shows love, concern, patience, goodness.....but there are times that I am only selfish, prideful, impatient, and conceited. (Just to name a few)
The "Good News" is that God has a good eraser....His name is Jesus Christ. He can wipe away all those mistakes, the trial-and-errors that we have had through our lives. He can take everything...EVERYTHING and make it new. If we simply give ourselves, the pencil, to Him to sharpen and allow Him to write every word instead of demanding to go out on our own and write what we feel is appropriate. It's not easy, it's not always fun, but it is always right and good. Even when we don't feel like it, His writing is always good.
He's waiting for you,...ask Him to come along for the journey.
Is your pencil sharp? If it isn't as sharp as you know it could be (and whose is?) then let His hand lead you more easily today...
He's a good writer.

What are they thinking?

Another war has begun...even while we are at war still.
Did I say, "they"? I should have said, "We"!
Is there anything any one Person can do?
Sadly, the answer is no...and joyfully the answer is yes!
No, we cannot stand in the way of two countries that choose to wage war upon one another physically.
But yes, if we so choose to be the one that requests,
who begs,
pleads,
grovels,
mourns,
weeps,
sacrifices,
gives.....
and prays....
We can be of some help.
Perhaps the only help for these dreadful days.
Pray for peace,
Pray for an end to all war,
To all the battles big and small:
From the homeless child that is passed by on the street corner
And the beggar who drinks soda out of the trashcan...
To the man who comes home from war with burns on his face
Or missing arms and legs...
To the man who comes home in a casket with only his family to mourn him...
To those who never come home...
To those who serve, who die bravely and still no one cares...
pray, pray, pray for them all!
We are His hands...
We are His body...
Can we sit by, and say to ourselves, "What a shame" and never pray?
Beg for peace until it is heard through the depths of the heavens!
Please...I humbly ask for your prayers...
May God protect us...
May God be with us...
May God teach us...
May God help us...
Save us from ourselves!
Amen

Today's news

Bishop Sheen

I found this website that has his old radio shows on it and I also found that he is on both EWTN and also the Trinity Broadcast Network. He's an amazing person. Here is the website for cannonization as well.
Cannonization

Radio shows

TBN Schedule

EWTN Schedule (Life is Worth the Living) You can watch EWTN on Real Player as well.

Let's take a virtual vacation

I need a break from the world, how about you?
Let's go to Hawaii today!

This is too much!

Zombie dogs and sperm from stem cells? What is the world coming to? I wish I had the time to write on these things today, perhaps I might later. But these articles are just downright spooky!
zombie dogs Stem cell sperm

Our Lady of the Rockies

click here for the story.

Some things I want to share

Here are a few examples of the Oregon Desert's beauty and history.
Succor Creek Jordan Valley
Baker Sisters Jordan craters The Oregon Trail Lewis and Clark
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau Crater Lake Joseph
Chief Joseph Nez Perce (pierced nose)
I will fight no more forever Cave Junction
Malheur County Not relevent to Oregon, but interesting: The Donner Party

The beginning of something

I was told by a very good friend that "You should get a blog, you might really enjoy it." I am about to give it a try...
Actually, I think I'm insane by doing this. I have so many ideas and thoughts that run through my head and yet I don't seem to do an adequate job of putting them in writing. Maybe this is a good training medium for a novice writer. I guess that we will see in time.

Today I was looking at the countryside where I live. I saw things in a perspective I had not really been looking in for quite some time. As I drove to work today in the early morning light while passing fields of green corn I noticed their shadowing with the glow of the sun shining off the upper leaves that were stretched to the sky. I could smell fields of freshly mown hay nearby as I dropped over the hill to a more natural area and was amazed at the wildlife I saw. First of all, I came across a half-dozen or so valley quail meandering in the shadows of a cottonwood tree that spread it's shade across our narrow dirt road. I have learned to take my time with the creatures that live in this area, I enjoy their company and would like them to know when I am around there is not much to fear so I can look a little bit longer at them than if my husband were driving. When he is along and driving it seems we are always in a rush to somewhere and are more than a few minutes late.
The quail are quite abundant this year, but it was especially joyful watching these today resting in the shade of the tree because it has been so warm lately. They looked peaceful and relaxed and meandered slowly off the road as I drove by. A few mourning doves were there as well and they seem to always linger a little later than the quail usually do, but they too lifted to the sky. As I rounded the corner to our local creek, there to greet me were more quail wandering back into the sagebrush along the roadside.
To my right lay the creek and I noticed it is not running as full as it was earlier this year and moss has begun to grow rather thickly along the edges. It seems to be a perfect place for ducks to raise their young. As I turned right and crossed the creek on the bride, nature proved this to be a fact as I saw a mother duck and her ducklings watching me closely. Mamma was more on the alert than the ducklings who were taking a break on a rock sitting in the middle of the stream. They were large, but still had fuzz poking from various parts of their bodies. They seemed quite content with the way the world looked to them.

A little farther down the road and one left turn later, I came to a place that I have come to call Quail Hollow. There are always quail here in abundance with a few mule deer passing through as well. Today, I saw many quail again and noticed how they always seem to come to these little draws filled with foilage and shade. "Smart birds!" I thought to myself.

I was on my way to the nearest town to work, but had to make a brief stop at a friend's house and leave an invitation for the party we are having for my son's graduation this weekend, so I took a small detour heading back toward the desert a bit deeper. I was blessed to see a cottontail rabbit sitting along the roadside as I rounded the corner to his house. Of course, I had to slow quite a bit for this fellow as a cottontail always seems to think the best way to avoid those large 4-wheel predators is to run right in front of them. Today, I guess I slowed enough that he even had second thoughts about running and chose to move back into the thick brush instead. After I left the invitation and started off again, I had a chance meeting with the newlyweds of the neighborhood...the pheasants. Mr. and Mrs., I believe, were seeking a place to visit quietly and maybe have a drink and a plate of greens for breakfast. She looked frantically at my car and lifted her wings and took flight. He chose to be a good husband and went the same direction she did....something pheasants usually don't do as they too think it confuses the predator more to both head in different directions.

As I drove on to work, I thought of how blessed I am to live in such a beautiful place...yes, it can be harsh too as deserts are known to be... but God placed me in a Snow-White setting where the animals actually are not afraid to come out and say hello. Well, at least this time of year...

About a week ago, I was coming back from a cleaning job and was nearly home when a little curious fawn stumbled out into the road in front of me. He was absolutely adorable with his gangly legs and huge ears. It appears as if his mother has decided that the corn field near our dirt road is the perfect place to raise a family. Our neighbors said that mother places her fawn in the irrigation ditch next to the field and one day as they passed, their daughter decided it would be interesting to see what the little guy did when she went up to it. To her surprise she got to pet him! Mother is never far away though, and she decided that mother might get a bit testy if she saw her touch her baby so she left them both alone to enjoy their corn.

I always feel a bit closer to God and a bit more like the world is going to be O.K. when I see His creatures going about their business.
I think that I'm blessed to be in this place and have such a beautiful land to live in.
Thank you, God

Kittens

On Kittens...

Ok, I admit it, I'm crazy about kittens! I can sit and watch them for hours and laugh until I'm blue in the face. They are absolutely the most wonderful joy to have around....until they grow up, that is. Then life takes on a whole new meaning to a cat, they are there for their own purpose, not to please anyone...but that's another story.

I live in a rural area so there seems to always be enough cats to go around. Presently we have approximately 9 kittens and a few too many mother-to-be kittens. I gave 2 kittens away yesterday to a couple of girls visiting their grandmother down the road, the youngest of the girls was intent on keeping my 11 year old blind siamese neutered tom cat and I kept telling her that it was "an old kitty and was blind, you don't want him." but she thought different on the matter.

Finally she decided on a little calico that was the first one to greet me when mother kitty decided it was time for her kittens to be shown to the world. A year ago, this mother kitty was the most wild thing on 4 feet you could ever imagine. Today, she sits docily and purrs while I play with her kittens and even comes over for a few pats and rubs herself. What gets into a cat to change is anyone's guess.

Anyhow, I gave away 2 kittens and have 4 more going soon...I know I have too many, but dang if I don't worry about them and miss them when they are gone! I guess I feel like a traitor as they leave, looking at me longingly as if maybe they are just going to be gone for a few minutes. I think the girls probably even slept with them last night too!

Ah, but I love my kittens...they are the sweetest things. I love to watch them play with one another and pounce at things imagined in the grass. When mother kitty brings in a mouse it is especially interesting to watch as she teaches them that they are food. "WHAT???!!??" They say as they can only think of mother's milk at the time..."You expect us to EAT THAT???!?!? EEEWWWW!" Eventually, they train their tastebuds for the flavor of fresh kill and realize that they love it ( How anything could enjoy eating a mouse is beyond me!) then mother has a hard time bringing enough of them in!

Their antics are a bit for my flowers though, my hollyhocks are now laying flat to the ground as they've been climbed several times until they simply can't handle the pressure. My butterfly bushes seem to be taking it pretty well, they seem to bounce back annd don't show too much of the stress of climbing. Potted plants now have wire screens in them to keep the kittens from deciding that my flowers must go because the soft dirt is easier to make into a restroom than the field or flower bed.

I remember once bringing a kitten in at my grandmother's house and laying on the floor with it. I think I was asleep as soon as I hit the floor. Their soft little bodies are so soothing when they choose to lay peacefully beside you. I have had my share of kittens in my life, it seems. Which is good because I couldn't imagine life without them.

I admit it...I'm crazy about kittens!