Yesterday and this morning we are experiencing those rare mornings in the summer...cooler temps. It was 49 when I woke up this morning. Mr Mo and I spent a good portion of the early morning on the front porch. He enjoyed the new cat condo/tower Roy assembled and I enjoyed morning coffee. Roy probably enjoyed a quiet morning even though the stock market is closed today. Surely, there still is financial news looming.
We had a couple of storms on Friday and with one brilliant flash and a tremendous boom of thunder, the Wi-Fi went out. Nothing new cause it goes in and out all day long but this time it stayed out since repairs were having to be made until early Saturday morning. One does not realize how connected they are until Wi-Fi vanishes. The world could have experienced some major catastrophe and we would have never known. We enjoyed a quiet evening on the front porch with Mr Mo watching him and the cars whiz by. Just needed some beans to snap to complete the picture. Mentioning this in Sunday School we all took some time to reminisce over our childhoods on the front porch with grandma, aunts and various other friends and family. Oh the things you could learn. If one, being a child, acted like the bean snapping had all the attention, well you could learn a few things when the grownups decided to tell a story or two not meant for little ears. I tells ya, that was living on the edge. Maybe all the duplicitous acts I employed when much younger can be traced back to that fine balance of working just to listen in.
Solomon and all his glory or maybe that should be all his bad decisions he made were the topic of the Sunday School lesson yesterday. He started off so good and as he grew more cynical and walking away from God, he gave us the gift of Ecclesiastes. I do like that particular book of the Bible for other reasons, but reading chapter 2 in NLT version opened my understanding to see the steps that can be taken to become old and bitter. As Solomon states, nothing new under the sun. Wine, building, pleasure, music and love could not fill the emptiness he experienced. He even included hard work which appeals to so many who love their careers, but at the end of the day, it was chasing the wind. His steps away hurt many. The people were heavily taxed and worked in monthly shifts to keep all the building going not knowing that Solomon had mostly lost purpose and interest in his projects. I remember a friend from tennis days who constantly had a building project going. She remodeled and she was not DIYing it, changing rooms on a consistent basis due to boredom and the feel of lacking purpose unless the build was on. We ended the lesson looking at Psalm 92 and being a Baptist the need for alteration kicked in. In our old age, we are to flourish, fruitful, and foliage. The last one being a stretch cause trees that are verdant are mentioned in Psalm 92. As people age the bad personality traits or at least the most irritating ones become harder to disguise. Thus, we can become self absorbed in everything, especially in everyday life. When working at the church, the hardest group to please was the older ladies and their Bible study. When they needed copies or if something was wrong with the room set up, they approached with that single focus in mind. Even if, I was involved with work and projects that didn't exactly include them at the moment, they didn't care. The minister I worked with was over a huge area of ministry and there was always something demanding attention. Their approach barking orders and threatening me with "I'm going to tell on you" mentality, made being compassionate a little more difficult. We always got their requests taken care of in a timely manner, but the bark and bite was ferocious. There were a few, kindly, gracious and easy to please ladies. Co-workers and I would usually comment, if all the older ladies were like her (them) I would like to hang around with them. But, I digress...back to Solomon. The theme to him in the beginning, remember. But he quickly forgot. An example I used to emphasize the point was learning the choreography to the song Fame in a long time ago aerobics class at the Y. Dance steps aren't that hard for me to pick up but the movement and steps on the chorus, major difficulties. A bunch of us went to the tutorial the teacher held and to this day I can probably remember most of the steps. Often tempted to try this in Ingles because Fame is on the music track for the store. Long aisles, yes plenty of room and no flash photography or videoing, please. So far, I have resisted the temptation. The key to life ending well, remember, remember, remember...the faithfulness and goodness of God.
A strange yellow cat is hanging around. Looks to be older. I cannot tell if it is male or female, but orange cats tend to be male. Of course there are exceptions. Mr Mo is doing well and has several adventures on the front porch and a really good nap this afternoon on my lap.
The strange cat hanging around, being watched by the other cats, keeping their babies close, although babies is an operative term. I decided to look back in 2018 at a picture of Big Daddy. Sure enough, this cat that is hanging around is the most revered and command demanding cat of the long ago. I remember him coming around, sitting on the railing of the once upon a time, poorly constructed back deck and watching his offspring. He took advantage of the lovely buffet and then one day he was gone. Haven't seen hide nor hair of him since that long ago summer. By the looks of it, Big Daddy has lived one tough life and just that little glimmer of recognition that he was in a safe place showed a bit here and there. While watching from the front porch and keeping an eye on Mr Mo, Big Daddy struggled down the stairs to the coolness of the front flowerbed and rested. Not knowing why he showed up or where he has been reminds me of Buddy before she died. She made peace with my brother when Doug was here and she sat in Roy's lap, something she never did. Maybe he was making a goodbye tour or he just knew there might be food. He remembered to stop by.
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