Trial, Loss and Temps

 No Shrove Tuesday pancakes, but instead Shrove Tuesday waffles. Today, first day of Lent. 

I ordered some used books from Thrifts and one of the most lovely surprises was a book that had a delightful perfumed fragrance. Inside a treasure trove of old church notes written on slips of paper as well as the mimeographed bulletins from their church. Even the way this person underlined favorite parts of the book is unusual and memorable. It is not a devo book as such but a daily book with thoughts from JB Phillips. I came to know the works of JB Phillips as a child. No not a protégée in Bible translation but my father had been given a hardback copy of the Phillips translation of the NT. He had no use for it since he presumed that only part of the NT you could believe were the gospels. So, since he had no use for me, he gave me his book that he had no use for. I can finally note something good but probably not kind from him. Being familiar with Phillips, I began looking for his sparse collection of commentaries. He or someone else gathered enough from his writings to publish this book as well as a devo. The devo truly is snail mail at the media rate, but it will be here sometime in the next few weeks. 

Beth Moore's memoir came yesterday from Amazon. I read the preface and I am hooked. I had started Afternoons with Harper Lee, another book that has pulled me in, and will try and wait to read Beth's memoir after the book about Harper. Just to think a couple of weeks ago I lamented not being able to find anything in the TBR stack that caught me. 

While Roy and I were out yesterday morning, I got a message from my cousin Becky. Hi Becky! Anyway, I quickly texted her back that I would call later in the afternoon. What a fun conversation and catch up that came from the heartbreaking news about my cousin's wife who had passed away. Dave and Jan came through the Blue Ridge in 2019 on a motorcycle trip. We ate lunch and had a visit one Sunday afternoon. The visit was enjoyable as we talked about family and family matters that clouded understanding of us in the next or next to generation. Funny, I had not seen either Dave or Jan since I was in junior high or maybe high school. They were dating at that time and I thought it was just so cool that they stayed a bit with the family and then left going onto whatever exciting awaited the rest of their day. My Aunt Leah, David's mom, and I had a great correspondence via letters in the 80s and 90s. She sent some great recipes and I used them. Of course that was back in the day when cooking interested me. Becky got me caught up on my cousin Lois. She is writing the script for their church's choir Easter music presentation. That is really exciting. We laughed about the taboos at our grandparents. If you napped, there was a perfectly good floor to nap upon. No napping on beds once they were made. The cedar closet in the back bedroom that Grandma told me never to look in. I need to check with Doug and see if he got the same instructions and I bet if he did, he opened that closet door. 

The Boys have settled down for a morning nap, probably the second morning nap of the day. Roy woke up at 4:00 am and couldn't go back to sleep. So he and The Boys have been up for a long period of time. Roy has gone to work out though. Willie is quite funny and gets on GMoey's nerves. Mr Mo and Willie will chase each other all through the downstairs and then upstairs. We picked up a new toy for them, a little more interactive. Willie can get to it faster than the other two yet I am happy to report plastic bottle caps, paper, and shoe strings do in a pinch for entertainment. 

Got the recap last night from the Murdaugh trial. It is straight outta southern gothic. Family dominated the legal systems for almost a hundred years in the Lowcountry of SC. Roy has no interest in the trial or story but I do consult with him over legal terms and such used in courtrooms. Yes, law school pays off in retirement as well. A sidenote is, the Penny the Cat videos and this trial has helped lift some of the brain fog as well as being distracted and unable to watch or listen to anything for very long. The brain fog had almost made a two year anniversary. Being so distracted and not having the ability to think through some important issues caused me great losses as well interest in books, movies and the like that others suggested I watch or read. I am going to try again at least reading recommended books.  Not much of a point to talk about loss with others because I have always had the ability to push through difficulties with snippets of normal occasionally. Also, I don't seem to work as hard to regain or keep people in my life who have expressed the desire not to be involved. I used to think I could not go on at least without trying. Now I know life is good and we live in a place that has places and things of immense interest. We've made friends and have good neighbors. Welcome to my most boring life, as others think, but I am thinking this seemingly boring life is exciting and full of bountiful contentment. 

Happy Awareness of Aortic Stenosis Day!

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Oops, didn't get this posted last night. So welcome to Thursday and it could be a record breaking day. The temp right now at 9:00 am is 65, with a high of 77. We put the top down yesterday on the way home from the store.