Morning And Evening...Conversations And Flowers

The first casualty of the storm last night was one of our plum trees. It has fallen and it can't get up. Earlier in the day, it was just fine and this evening, fallen over but only one root is cracked. Roy and I were talking about it when Nathan called to see if we had received rain last night and if not he would be over to water the plants. Funny thing, I had just said his name to Roy when he called...anyway, he will look at his schedule and see when he can come over and cut down the tree. It was a little top heavy even with Roy trimming it this fall. We have plums grow about every other year and the ants, birds and squirrels usually beat us to the fruit. Oh well, I guess the tree was plum tuckered out.
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Each day this cold thing seems to relinquish a little more control. I made it through most of the day without a coughing jag but tonight it hit especially hard. I felt good enough to go workout with Taylor yet the few weeks off and the lack of clear breathing hampered the workout a bit. Muscles started cramping up, so he adjusted the workout and finished strong. I ran over to the grocery store to get stocked up again. Came home, ate lunch and then ran to the post office and then made a quick stop at Lowe's for more potting soil. The sky became rather dark and the rumbling of thunder grew closer, so it seemed best to abandon plans to do some plant shopping. The day had tired me and I took a rare nap and it felt good to rest.

Last night Brenda came by with supper and with Brenda, it is as if it is loaves and fishes and it multiplies into several meals. She also brought some dessert, a couple of cupcakes from her famous pound cake recipe. Oh, did I mention she made homemade biscuits? I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that. We talked through the screen door cause I am nervous that someone could get this junk and I don't wish that on anyone.

The afternoon did not turn out the way I had planned yesterday. The all too familiar sound of a bracket coming loose in a closet grabbed my attention and it was one of the ones in my closet. The good thing, it had not broken all the way and I was able to fix it until at a later time. So all my lightweight linen clothes are on that rail. Maybe this is a good way for me to keep going through clothes and getting rid of stuff. Before the church yard sale I had done just that and filled five big bags of clothing. After yesterday's bracket bust more went into a big bag to take to Salvation Army. This inspired me to go through the front bedroom closet and see if there was more to give away and yes there was. Salvation Army doesn't take books or paper goods anymore, they just throw them away, so I will have to be creative. When I was cleaning out things before in the back of my mind was the thoughts and words of the cardiologist nurse that made me go down a path in my mind that maybe I wasn't too long for this world. So it seemed the right thing to do to go through everything with that in mind. Now as we eliminate things off the list of what this could be, I am not thinking so fatalistic. But I did feel like the Lord was saying to me it is time to give this whole having a ton of clothes thing up. It root of this came from childhood because most of my clothes were kind of ugly and I was led to believe from my father that ugly little girls did not deserve nice things. So it has been that "thing" since then I would never be made fun of again because of what I wore. It was an obsession for a bit...okay, for a long time and now it has waned some, but clearly not enough. Who I am is not what I wear and holding onto clothes for a long season, unless it is Flax items cause that is really a prudent practice.
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It is interesting to see the battle that is brewing before the Southern Baptist Convention meets the second week of June in Dallas. Seems like it will be a defining battle for the vision and future of the SBC. Years ago when some of these same players back in the day who took the campaign back to conservatism are now involved as the direction could go more Calvinistic as the choice for SBC President is made. All the political overtones are there and so are the strong personalities. Only this time this go around will have more attention because of social media and "little unknowns" can be as informed or as opinionated as they want to be. During that heyday toward conservatism my crazy friend Debbie, who was not Baptist, asked me about the direction of Baptists and what church would I go to? My answer was always the same, the church with a gym. Now that we are located in North Carolina, particularly Western North Carolina, my answer to Debbie's question cannot be answered in the same way because churches up here don't seem to have gyms. There are a few that do but it just doesn't seem to be a needed thing when you live in one of most beautiful places on God's green earth. The emphasis here is more toward space that will be used for meetings yet big enough for church wide fellowships and most churches around here have shelter covered picnic space...which churches in Houston didn't have that. Our church's picnic shelter has one of the most beautiful views. The other value here is a place to be buried....most churches in this piece of the woods have their own cemeteries. So while those that be are fighting it out in Dallas, we be around here have our priorities in order, enjoying the outdoors, enjoying picnics and knowing we have a space on a hill which to die I mean be buried on.

Nathan called this morning and we are on the schedule for tree removal on Thursday. He is also going to go ahead and remove the red bud tree beside the deck that will eventually be replaced by a screened in porch. He will also remove a lot of little scrub trees that have sprouted in the past few years. He also has a blueprint of the newly cleared space by the driveway. I would kind of like to make that a tribute or a memorial to my Grandma B and her friend Ruthie. Friends for years with a large field between their houses. When they were younger, they walked across the field to visit and catch up with one another. As they aged, the telephone became their line of communication. They called each other in the morning and evening...to make sure they were okay. I would watch my grandmother sit at her little desk or in her rocking chair so she could look out the window in the direction of Ruthie's home and she knew that Ruthie likewise gazed out her windows at Grandma's house as they talked...it was more like yelling. My grandmother had hearing aids as well as a phone amplifier to be able to hear Ruthie. Ruthie yelled although Ruthie thought she was conversing in normal tones. She had a, and this is what they called it back then, wooden leg and she refused to get hearing aids because she said she had enough fake body parts, she didn't need more. Well, that is what she told my grandmother. Ruthie stopped having the field used for farming purposes and let it overgrow with wild flowers. It was a beautiful sight every spring and summer. We found out later and I know I have written about this before...that those weren't exactly wild flowers....Ruthie had that field planted with them every year and had a provision in her will for the field to be kept that way if she died first, for my grandmother enjoyment. Ruthie said, they couldn't meet face to face anymore because of their age but she wanted my grandmother to have something beautiful to gaze upon as they talked, no yelled, with each other every morning and evening on the phone. So, I would like to see zinnias and dahlias and black eyed Susans...in that area. It will bring much joy to those who look upon it.