Senses

"People look without seeing, listen without hearing, touch without feeling, eat without tasting, inhale without awareness of odor or fragrance and talk without thinking." – Leonardo da Vinci

I want to be grateful for every small pleasure in life, thankful for every scene, smell, sound, touch, taste. For every good and perfect give is from above.

World Equestrian Games

For the first time in its 20-year history, the World Equestrian Games were held this year in the United States -- Lexington, KY to be exact. What a wonderful event!! Kentucky rolled out the red carpet, as a gracious host to horse lovers and competitors from around the world.

I had the privilege of attending with my friend, who lives in the Lexington area. It fueled the fire in my heart for all things horse-related.

Beautiful main pavilion. 

Molly the Pony. Injured in Hurricane Katrina, this poor pony was attacked by a pit bull at the rescue facility. She lost her leg due to the injury, and now has a prosthetic leg: http://www.mollythepony.com.

A para-dressage competitor from Italy.

California Cowgirls riding team.

Rare Marwari horses from India.

Ride - a - Reiner 

Mo loves to ride!

A dressage competitor from Israel.


A para-dressage rider with no legs -- an incredible inspiration.

Wells Fargo Stagecoach.

Reining demonstration by Josh Vissers.

Horses, horses and more horses. I felt like I was in heaven. Maybe one day I'll have one of my own. ;-)

Changing Colors

A sure sign of autumn, the new sugar maple is turning a beautiful orange!

A New Sugar Maple

I was blessed with the gift of a new sugar maple to replace the one I had removed. It's BEAUTIFUL!! It fills in the stark side of the house, and will grow to provide some nice shade once again.






Isn't it lovely??!!

Wednesday's Word

My boss happens to have a very large vocabulary. A graduate of MIT, his engineering mind is always stretching for more knowledge. He dropped a word into the middle of conversation today, which moved me to the dictionary.... yet again.

SALIENT

Example: “The article is not exhaustive, but it covers the salient points pretty well.”

DEFINITION: (sā’lē-ənt) adj. prominent, worthy of note, pertinent or relevant.

 

Things that Grow

I LOVE Things That Grow!
Not an enormous revelation.... I started this blog by talking about things that grow. I can see the hand of God in things that grow. Sometimes it's simply amazing.

A few days ago, as I was mowing, something red caught my eye in the bushes. I thought maybe a plastic bag had blown across the yard and was stuck in the weeds. A closer look revealed the source of the color. Flowers!! A couple of weeks earlier I had tossed a dry, dead hanging basket (minus basket) into the bushes. Apparently the flowers preferred shade, and came back to life!! Thankfully, I saved the basket and they're now hanging under the shade tree.

The very same day I noticed my English ivy had crept from the outside wall through the window and into my basement.

And, a close look at the front of the house, and I see morning glory winding its way around the rail and right up the front posts. I actually had tried to pull this out a couple of times, and yet it always seems to come back as if it has a mind of its own.

Things That Grow. Aren't they amazing?

Wednesday's Word

This week's word comes from the forward of a book that recently came across my desk. Since my boss is an author, books regularly cross my desk on their way in and out of the office. I happened to speak with the author of this particular book last week, so was curious as to content. I stumbled on this word in the acknowledgments section at the beginning of his book.

RACONTEUR

From "Emotional Branding" by Daryl Travis:
"He's my favorite writer, raconteur, and boulevardier. Without him this book would be... well let’s just say you would never have gotten to this part."

DEFINITION: (rǎk´ǒn-tûr′) n. A person who tells stories and anecdotes with skill and wit.

So... do you know a raconteur? I can think of a few in my corner of the world ;-)

WORDS!

 Several of the blogs I follow have regular features. One photographer's blog features photos with a certain theme every Friday: shadows, circles, etc. One thrift-store shopper posts photos of her outfits each day of the week, and where she got them. Creative!! And fun to follow. So, I thought I might try...

Wednesday's Word

I love words. Books. Magazines. Stories. And especially the definition and origin of words. I especially love learning new words. Call me crazy, but I enjoy reading through the dictionary and testing myself to see which words I know, and which I don't!

This week I happened across a word in the book I'm reading, and wasn't quite sure what it meant. So, I pulled out the dictionary and looked it up. Let's see if you know the definition! No cheating!! But, if you know the definition, post it in the comments section. On the weekend, I'll post the actual definition and word origin. Here goes...

INCENDIARY

From "When Character was King" by Peggy Noonan:
"Then Barry Goldwater heard about it. He called Reagan and said he'd been told the speech was incendiary.... Reagan was taken aback; he didn't think the speech was incendiary..."

DEFINITION: (in-sěn’dē-ěr-ē) adj. From Latin incendiārius (“setting alight”), from incendium (“destructive fire”), from incendō (“set on fire, kindle”). Causing or capable of causing fire; tending to inflame; inflammatory.

A New Mailbox

I glanced out the window Friday and saw my smashed mailbox laying on the pavement. Not a pretty picture. I immediately felt frustration rise up in me. What would drive someone to do this??!! Was it a deliberate act of meanness directed specifically toward me? A random act of violence? In any case, it means a trip to the store to buy a new one, and the time and effort to install it. !!!

Shortly after I got the new one up and in place, my active 70 year old neighbor came by on her daily power walk. Without stopping, she hollered over to ask how it was going. I explained my situation and she said,"Yeah, that happened to us a couple of months ago. People sometimes just don't pay attention to their driving." And, with a wave, she was off.

Perspective! I need to get a clue sometimes...

Back to normal. (I think I like black better, anyway! ;-)

EAT.PRAY.LOVE

A few days ago, my mom and I took in our monthly “dinner and a movie.” This time we chose the very popular Julia Roberts movie “Eat Pray Love.” It was a long, 2+ hour film that ended up leaving us empty. For the first time ever, we actually considered leaving early.

The film is an adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir by the same name. A successful, well-educated American woman, Gilbert finds herself dissatisfied with her marriage. So, she pursues a divorce (which her husband doesn’t want) and then enters an affair with a younger man. When that proves inadequate, she leaves him to “find herself.” The movie follows Gilbert on a quest to find happiness: eating in Italy, praying in India, and looking for love in Indonesia. In each case, I found her to be the epitome of indulgence and narcissism—a rich American pursuing her own selfish desires. When she meets the third man who professes his love for her—a kind and caring man—she almost turns and runs from him. In the end, she chooses her happy ending.

Italy.  India.  Indonesia.
I.  I.  I.

How appropriate.

The movie is a microcosm of our culture.  We have it all, and are still unhappy. We spend our energy and resources looking for some form of satisfaction and contentment and, instead, are left empty and wanting more.

I found it quite ironic when I received a memo from a business associate recently. It was on stationery from a catholic ministry, with a header that reads: "Pray. Love. Serve."

What a contrasting concept. Similar words, yet so different. Others-oriented, rather than me-focused. I wonder how our lives would change if we made this our daily mission.

"You were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge.... rather, serve one another in love." -- Gal 5:13

Sweet Smells

This is one of my favorite places in the whole world. My lovely white wicker bench, under a maple tree in my backyard. I have the privilege of meeting God here in this special quiet place... the joy of opening his word, meditating on his goodness, listening.

It's an especially sweet place, as there is a popcorn factory just about a half-mile away. ;-) So the morning breeze carries the sweet aroma of caramel and buttery goodness. Mmmm....

I wonder what sort of fragrance I carry with me. We all carry some sort of aroma, don't we? We sometimes smell of frustration....indifference.... smugness....impatience.

The aroma I enjoy while on my bench brings such pleasure and joy; I can only hope I smell as sweet!

But thanks be to God, who... uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.

--2 Cor 2:14

Changes

Speaking of changes (previous blog post), today's entry from "Jesus Calling" really hit home:

"Jesus Calling" - August 14

I AM YOURS FOR ALL ETERNITY. I am the Alpha and the Omega: The One who is and was and is to come. The world you inhabit is a place of constant changes--more than your mind can absorb without going into shock. Even the body you inhabit is changing relentlessly, in spite of modern science's attempts to prolong youth and life indefinitely. I, however, am the same yesterday and today and forever.

Because I never change, your relationship with Me provides a rock-solid foundation for your life. I will never leave your side. When you move on from this life to the next, My Presence beside you will shine brighter with each step. You have nothing to fear, because I am with you for all time and throughout eternity.

A New Look

After more than two weeks of hard work, the maple is now gone. It came down in stages, and the workers had an incredible task taking it down.

The hollow logs are a clear indication that the tree came down none-too-soon. I did a bit of research on sugar maples and, based on age, this one was definitely at the end of the chart as far as age is concerned. It was time.
Although it's difficult to fathom, the tree trimmer believes that what they carried out weighed about 200 tons. He said that building the entire house, all three stories, would have taken less wood than was in this one tree.

The man who came to grind the stump (which took four hours!) estimated the tree to be 300-400 years old.

I sure miss the old tree, and the place looks so different. I wish things could remain the same, but have learned that all things change. Only God is the same yesterday, today and forever. :-)

So, now with a creative new sidewalk, the place takes on a fresh look. It's time to get the grass in and work on some landscaping.

"See, I am doing a new thing!"

-- Isaiah 43:19

Beautiful in Its Time

It's been a remarkably emotional week for me.

I've finally come to grips with something I've put off for the seven years I've lived on My Canaan. I've known, since the day I moved in, that my gorgeous 200+ year old maple tree would need to come down. I tried to save it, having it trimmed a few years ago, but truth is that each major branch is hollow. It's rotted to its core and is a significant hazard, especially so near the house.

So, I made the call and watched this week as the tree trimmers began the incredible task of taking it down.

So, I made the call and watched this week as the tree trimmers began the incredible task of taking it down.
I learned a few things through this process. Speaking with our local historian, I discovered that the major east-west streets in my town were named for the trees in the area. Butternut, Chestnut, and mine - Sugar Ridge. Sugar Ridge was named for the prevalence of the sugar maple. And it's my beautiful sugar maple that is meeting its end.

So, it feels like a bit of history coming down. This tree has framed the property for hundreds of years, and it's unique beauty won't ever be duplicated. Massive at 60-feet tall, with a circumference of over 250", its stature is magnificent. At a glance, its branches seem to reach to the heavens like arms raised in praise.



Everything about my place now looks different. Stark, empty, barren. This one tree gave the property its character and personality.

Yet, for everything there is a season.... a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot. For my maple, its time is finished. My heart is ever-so-sad, and yet I know that God has made everything beautiful in its time. My Canaan is beautiful because his presence dwells here.

"No longer shall there be wasting or destruction within your borders;

But you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise."

True Freedom?

"Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. 

--William Temple

Wow.

A friend of mine calls this a "whammy word." It's one of those phrases that hits you in the heart...one that God often uses to get your attention. Well, he got my attention with this one.

Humility. It's the ultimate in Christlikeness. It's what I strive for as a believer. But, I never quite thought of it this way.

Humility means "freedom from thinking about yourself at all." I love that! How much time do I spend thinking about what I need, how I feel, what the day will hold? How free could I be if I never thought of myself at all?

Really, it's a position of being confident in God's watchcare. Trusting that no matter what I need, or how I feel, or what the day will hold, I'm in good hands. I can cast off all that is "me" focused, and focus on him alone.

How much more he could use me?.....

Horse Country

I had the absolute pleasure of spending a few days in beautiful Shelby County, Kentucky. Nestled between Lexington and Louisville, the area is a horse lover's paradise.

A dear friend of mine moved here some years ago, and fell in love with Kentucky and with a local man named Eric.They have a wonderful young family, and it was a joy to spend time in their home. There is something special about spending extended time in someone's home and seeing life up close and personal. It made me appreciate the gift of love the Lord has bestowed on their household.

Eric's family homestead includes more than 1000 acres of beautiful rolling farmland. As a country girl myself, their land looks to me like something dreams are made of. Acres and acres of corn and soybeans and tobacco.... green and alive. It makes my heart sing!! A patient man, Eric spent the better part of a 100 degree day allowing me to do a little exploring. ;-)

This is all that remains of an old home on the property.... the entrance to the cellar and a dome that once held ice.

The old mule barn. Eric explained how the overhead pulley would be attached to the mule team, who would lift the bales into the loft. Ingenius in its day.

I had the chance to drive one of the tractors AND also learned how to use the bush hog. I LOVED IT!

And I fell in love in Kentucky. His name is Jack.... and he's a 3-year-old Appaloosa.

Horse farms, large and small, line the beautiful Kentucky roads. Big business for some and, for the farms we visited, a labor of love.

It may not be everyone's idea of the perfect vacation, but it was for me. Large, open spaces and rolling hills. Life as it was in former days. Green fields and fresh air. Ahhhh.....

Summer Days

The heat has settled on northern Ohio, with temps in the mid-90s this week. It's an unusually hot week for early July, and people here enjoyed the Independence holiday weekend, heat and all.
I feel fortunate to live an area that boasts a little bit of everything..... big cities, rural countrysides, wonderful metroparks, family farms, quaintness as well as culture, and the distinctive of being a "coastal" city. While most people wouldn't think of northeast Ohio as a beach destination, Lake Erie has some beautiful beaches, one of which I visited yesterday. 

Sailboats took advantage of the lovely summer day.



And, the lighthouse looked on as sunbathers and swimmers basked in the sun.
For those who work hard for a living, there's a little bit of paradise on a sunny beach in July.

Summer afternoon--summer afternoon;

to me those have always been

the most beautiful words in the English language.

~Henry James

A Daughter's View

My parents are, at this moment, on a plane to Kona Hawaii. As hard as it may be to believe, it was really remarkable that they agreed to take this trip. You see, my mom has the same aversion for flying that I do. This invitation, however, was too inviting to pass up and, thankfully, she said YES!

I know what it feels like to sit on a plane and feel my throat tighten and my mind reel. So, I feel for my mom right now. While she sits on that plane, I sit at my desk here at home and pray for the Lord’s peace. I have every confidence he will indeed ease her mind and grant her peace. Yet, what really gives me peace is the thought that she's sitting on that airplane with my dad.

For more than 45 years, he has been there to hold her hand and offer a shoulder to lean on.

I didn't always see it that way. An ex-Marine, he had fallen in love with my mom in the mid-’60s shortly after he got out of the service. She was a young divorcee with a small child (me), and he drove a milk truck for a local dairy. Our young family lived in the projects in a tough, blue collar Ohio city. By the time they had been married three years, they had added two sons and Dad had landed a good job in a local factory. They were able to move their family of five to a new house in a neighboring city. Life was good.

Yet, I remember rocky times when I was young. Dad was the epitome of a Marine, hardnosed and unyielding. He worked different shifts, put in long hours at the factory, often drank too much and life in the house was tense. It wasn’t exactly an Ozzie and Harriet upbringing.

My growing-up memories are good ones, however. My mom has always been a steady, encouraging presence in my life, and relationships in the family were solid. Yet, as I entered my teens, I felt a huge distance from my dad. Our lives were on different paths, and he didn't seem interested in my teenage-girl world. It seemed I hardly knew him and he hardly knew me. There were moments of connection, but they were few and far between. No surprise, at 17 I moved out of the house and didn’t look back.

This was a period in my life where I made a lot of bad choices. I began drinking. I looked for love in all the wrong places. At a friend’s invitation, I moved a thousand miles away from my Ohio home. And, by the tender age of 21, I met a married man at work and fell for him. It wasn’t long before he divorced his wife, and we were married. I began the marriage with stars in my eyes, but soon found myself trapped in an abusive relationship with a baby to take care of.

This is where my dad’s story takes an unexpected turn. While I was living out of state, I discovered that Dad, like my mom before him, had “found Jesus.” All I knew at the time was that he had started going to church, stopped drinking, and got baptized. From my perspective, he had become a “bible thumper.” Guess it was okay for him, but it just seemed kinda odd to me.

Dad sent me a bible along with a note telling me that God loved me. And, a couple of months later, he sent a little card that invited me to “get saved.” Although I didn’t understand any of it, I sentimentally tucked those items away as keepsakes.

The pain of my difficult marriage took a toll. I found myself filled with anxiety, and suffered, on more than one occasion, through a panic attack. The lively, optimistic girl I was when I married had become a frightened, overwhelmed young woman.

Late one night, in the midst of my troubled world, I pulled out the bible Dad had sent me and his note. He said God wanted to help me, and that I only needed to reach out to him. That night, I got on my knees and prayed the prayer on that little card.

It didn’t happen overnight, but little-by-little, God began to become real to me. He lifted me out of my despair and his strength became my strength. I found the life and hope that both my mom and dad had found.

Then, my Dad’s big strong arms reached out to me all those miles away. That hardnosed Marine became a tender-hearted father. When I was too debilitated to drive, he drove the thousand-mile trek for me. When I had no where to live, he welcomed me and my little boy to his home. When I was in need and without, he provided.

He has mellowed over the years. He is now “Papa” to six grandchildren who love him. He lives his life to be a blessing, to serve God, and to better the world around him. God only knows how many lives have been transformed because he has shared the good news to those who would listen.

But I must say that one thing, above all else, warms my heart toward my dad... and that’s the love he has for my mom. No one I’ve known on this earth can compare to her. And he has loved and cared for her for nearly 50 years.

And he’s there for her to lean on, at this moment, on that flight some 36,000 feet over the Pacific.

My dad. I thank God for my dad.

Kitty-sitting

I'm a cat lover! Not afraid to admit it. Cats are wonderful animals.... affectionate and loyal.... but don't require the constant attention dogs do. At least in my humble opinion ;-)

This week I'm kitty-sitting for my neighbors. Mallory and Cinnamon are sister kitties, and a recent addition to my neighbor's home. Their two long-loved cats died last fall, and they decided to adopt these sisters. I enjoyed getting to know them, if only for a few minutes each day.

From Seeds to Weeds

Maybe it's just me, but it seems my garden provides one spiritual lesson after another.

Once we were well past the Ohio frost date, I began tilling and planting. It seems I can't manage to get everything done on the weekend, or the weather doesn't cooperate, so I took a day off to plant. My first job was to rototill.

Have you ever used a rototiller ? It's designed so that, when you engage the lever, it's driven forward. The hard work is in holding it back so it can fully do its job. My borrowed rototiller is a pretty good size, so holding it in place takes a bit of muscle.

Well.....

I must have the hardiest weeds in Ohio!

This ground was planted last year, so there is only one season of growth, basically just the weeds that came up last fall. Yet, as I tilled, some of those weeds wouldn't come up!! I'd have to hold that tiller in one spot and let it grind and grind. And yet, I'd look back and see that same nasty weed pop back up again!!

Weeds. No wonder the Lord uses them as an analogy for sin. The roots go so deep..... and..... they keep coming back to squeeze out the good crops. I've found it's so much easier if they can be snatched up while they're small, before they take root and stake their claim to that spot of land.

This lesson also makes evident the real value of fruit (or vegetables in my case). Bearing fruit is not easy; it takes commitment and hard work.

I keep wondering if I have what it takes to keep up with the hard work of gardening. I love it!! But it sure ain't easy!

New Life!

I've decided that I love, love, love SPRING! It’s such a wonderful season of new life. I never really appreciated it until I had a home of my own, and could watch things come to life.
I especially love the perennials which bloom each year without fail. Tucked under mounds of snow and out of sight for months, and yet when spring arrives.... new life!

This week my Eternal Iris bloomed. My sister-in-law gave one to each member of our family five years ago when my grandma died. Each year when it blooms, I'm reminded of the very special bond I shared with one of the most important people in my life. Although she's gone now, this lovely flower reminds me each spring of a very special lady.

Miss you, Gram!

Further on Seeds

Ok..... I'm gonna get a bit theological this morning. Maybe appropriate for a Sunday. I haven't quite got my brain around this, but the principle is remarkable.

The first mention of seeds in scripture is right at the beginning, Genesis 1:11:

"..the fruit tree yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself..."

The idea is that the seed needed to reproduce the same plant is found inside itself.

Yet the root word for seed in Hebrew is "zera," which means to sow, to scatter, to disseminate. So....the only way for the plant to be reproduced is for the seed to be scattered, disseminated to good soil, where the new plant can take root and grow.

The seed is within.... yet must be cast out and scattered to fulfill its purpose.

How appropriate then are Jesus' words in Luke 8:11? "The seed is the Word of God." God plants his word within us, so that we can disseminate it and bear fruit, reproducing the life of Christ in others.

Hmmm..... I wonder what this means for me. Maybe that I need be always aware that God plants his word in me for a reason. It's not just for me. Rather, it's so that I will be the Lord's soil, if you will. Created to bear fruit.

SEEDS

I planted tomatoes and radishes in peat pots this spring, to get an early start on my vegetable garden. What has impacted me through this process is the incredible dynamic of the seed. Of course, I've known since I was a child the truth of planting: put the seed in the ground, cover it with soil, water it, and it will grow. But to watch it up close and personal is amazing!

I took tiny seeds, each the size of the head of a pin, and dropped them in these small peat pots. And.... just as the seed packet said.... within a few days up popped seedlings!

As God's perfect timing would have it, Pastor preached this past Sunday on seeds. And, I began to realize just how much scripture has to say about this. In the familiar passage from Luke, Jesus uses the analogy of the seed to make a point about faith. We can accomplish powerful things for the kingdom of God if we have faith as small as a mustard seed.

Think about it. A tiny seed planted in good soil, watered regularly, can grow into a plant that produces fruit and feeds my family, or a tree that is large enough to house a nest of birds. My beautiful 200-year old maple tree began as a seed. Absolutely incredible!!