The sound of progress and the fragrance of tar is in the air early this morning. Progress on repaving the road paused then completely stopped as we received bountiful and needed rain. The rain lasted into the early evening. Made for good napping weather especially on the back porch. It even had an effect on The Boys as their roughhousing slowly came to a close and ending with them on the day bed with me. This morning we all started out on the porch enjoying the bit of cool we experience in the morning and evening. A cold front is forecasted to come through tonight giving us less humidity and lower temps. Oh yes, for the weekend that hint of autumn. For this we give thanks.
Last night I watched the hymn sing at Houston's First Baptist. Mark Lowry streamed it from his FB page. I sat here and sang along with every hymn. Deep and meaningful words and along come memories of singing these as a child and teenager. Those words came alive so many times to help but I have to admit there were many more times I just sang, without paying attention to the words, by rote because I knew verses 1,2 and 4. Interestingly, here when we sing a hymn in church, we sing ALL the verses. I told the pastor at the time, if Just As I Am was sung the Sunday we joined the church, we would make our way forward on the last verse. It was fun seeing long time friends singing in the choir last night.
Yesterday afternoon, while studying for Sunday, I learned a lot about the division of the Samaritans and the Jews. When it all started, what made the situation worse and then the eventual breaking point between the two groups. One commentary said that after both the north and the south kingdoms being in exile, there was probably just as much Jewish blood in each group. The religious rift was, Samaritans only believed the Pentateuch, none of the poetry, history or prophets. They didn't worship in or acknowledged Jerusalem because it was not mentioned in the first five books. Push came to shove and they built their own temple and had their own priests. Both groups shared Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob though. It's kind of like when rivals in the SEC meet in grocery stores or sporting good stores. After both sides talking about the greatness of their team or school, we can agree on one thing, how much we both dislike Alabama. (apologies to Alabama friends...it is getting very close to football season.)
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We have changed our plans several times already this morning and I think we have finally decided what we will get taken care of first and what can be done next week. This has been an odd week but a good week. It is a week I have needed to get back on track health wise.
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And here we are on Monday August 15th. Funny thing about the 15th, this was Roy's original date for retiring. That news popped up on my calendar this morning but we have been talking about over the past few days. We are glad, except for being robbed, that the timing of Roy retiring in December happened. Roy sensed that he needed to be here for me and truly, that is the truth. Someone said the other day to me, I was worried about you and having Roy here all the time might be a difficult adjustment. No, it really has been a smooth ride with just a couple of minor pot holes...like forgetting Roy has the deep pause before he speaks and such. The stress in the office was palatable in his voice when we talked and he was dealing with political issues more so than projects or work concerns. When the part of the project he was working on neared completion, he and the company saw the timing of retirement and he jumped at that chance. He clearly sounds better and the stress level is minimal.
Now it is Tuesday. The bike repairman has been here and left. Roy is on the back porch with The Boys and I just finished up breakfast. The sounds of road work greets us this morning and having that smooth road is worth the noise and the wait one can encounter with one lane open roads.
The next few days brings cooler temps, our highs in the upper 70s. That is a welcomed temp. Last night when Roy picked tomatoes and I went through the sunflowers leaving some for the birds and taking some sunflower heads into the garage to dry over the winter, we appreciated the breeze that made the work more enjoyable. More work later but today errands are calling and we must go.
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