Expecting Chester

Things happen in life which are totally unexpected, but which are so appropriate at the time.  We were sitting around our dining table, eight of our family including two guests, enjoying our Thanksgiving dinner.  The subject of cats came up and my son made the astonishing statement that "when cats look at humans they do not see a human face, rather a cat image".  This was hotly challenged by all at the table, but he did not back down as no one had proof either way.

When I announced that I was looking for a guard cat to keep the squirrels away from my plants, I set off a series of plans which ensured that I would indeed be the recipient of a manly, no nonsense one eared cat which had earned the reputation of  school yard bully.  His owner proclaimed he could protect my place from cats, dogs, deer and any other approaching animal.

That was exactly what I was looking for.  I want a pet that can stay outside, find his own food and stave off marauding woods critters, which I now have in abundance.  I can only imagine I will need to entice him with some treats and tidbits not found on the run, but that, I am willing to do.

In the back of my mind I wondered if there were any red flags fluttering about in our conversation, especially when his owner said "I'd pay someone to take him."  But when you are blinded by desire you do not see those streaks of red.  All I could feel was the hot heat of anger from the squirrels eating all of the fat buds on my Christmas Sasanqua on the west side of my house.  The county extension service agent confirmed that squirrels indeed will eat the  buds off  winter blooming Sasanqua.  I needed to act quickly before they discover the fat buds on my red Camellia on the  east side of my house.  I could not  bear it if I could not see those beauties next month when nothing else was blooming here.

So, I feel a new era is upon me, in the reign of Chester, long awaited savior.

Where I Want to Be

Where Life Goes On

 

 

Exactly where I want to be, in the shelter of the house

I helped build

Built to let the light stream in, through windows wide and tall

To warm the earthen tile

Laid where the pattern yields angles and lines,

North, south, east and west

Where high stone walls

Climb up to meet the ceiling,

Easy steps curve gently to the upper room.

A balcony invites resting on the long, long, couch

A house with many places to stop and look and think

To lose oneself in silent thought and resist the urge to move

Just rest, reflect on how it was

The last time you were here

Study the paintings on the wall

Paintings done so long ago

Of people, flowers, birds and things that lived in the artists soul

Leave me here that I may be forever in this favored place

Where life goes on if only in my mind

 

 

Fall Feelings and Family Fellows

Fall Feelings and Family Fellows

 

Before the sun was up, I was

Sleep had flown away

Ideas filled my head while I in bed still lay

Of food like pumpkin pie and stuffing and such

Thoughts came and left in frantic rush

Of peach scent wafting through the air

Yellow, dancing mesmerizing flames

Dominating the scene with fire like games

While folks gathered together for the ritual of fall

It is Thanksgiving after all

A time to go back to grandmother’s house

To greet and meet and laugh and talk

And perhaps to take a woods path walk

Gather some colorful found leaves along the way

To grace our table for the day

We miss those no longer here

We may even shed a tear

Remembering those days gone by

We never lose them you know

For in our hearts they live and grow

While we are making ones anew to

Carry forward to future times that bind us

Forever to each other

To live again, another day when future families

Come this way

Autumn's Waning Gift

One of the pleasures of gardening is
harvesting the fruits of your labor.  On this cold cloudy day, after being up late to witness an historic event, the election of President Obama's second term of office, I went outside to gather what I could find in my slowly vanishing garden flowers.  The picture shows what is left of the Cosmos,  Stone Mt. daisies, Chrysanthemum pacificum, pink Rose, Lantana, Zinnias, Ageratum, wild honeysuckle and the blooms of a confused Azalea.

It won't be long before I will have an abundance of
red Camellias, and Christmas Sasanquas.  They will actually begin to bloom in December.  You may be sure that I will be clipping some of those blooms to bring inside also.

One plant which is turning a beautiful salmon color is the Mapleleaf Viburnum, I did not  want to cut, as I am giving  tender loving care the first winter for this new undergrowth tree.

I do not consider it cheating to bring in the wild honeysuckle along with my cultivated flowers.  This vine has been pleasing me since I was a small child in the mountains of eastern Kentucky.  We learned that we could not only enjoy its sweet scent, but also sip the nectar inside the bloom, much the same way the bees and butterflies helped themselves to it as part of their diet.

If you are living in a temperate zone, I challenge you to take a walk around with your clippers and see what you can find to bring indoors for an impromptu bouquet.  It might just lift your spirits on a cloudy day.

A Philosophy of Life

On this Sabbath day before departing to my own house of worship, I took my new revised version of the Bible and reread the 91st Psalm.

It sums up what the faithful has taken to his heart for his life's guide.

Psalm 91 - Assurance of God's Protection

You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust."
For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence;
He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent
For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone
You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.

In order to understand the symbolic wording of this Psalm, you need to think beyond the temporal things of this life.  It is not a way of looking at life that comes instantly, rather over a life span of faithful living, of trusting in God's presence.  I like the words "I will protect those who know my name".  That is a deep idea.

This Psalm was read at the memorial service of William Craig Matthis, for it had great meaning for him in his lifelong reliance on God's presence in his life.