Sunrise Sermon

Tom and Joan frequently send photos of the changing weather over Puget Sound and Mt. Rainier. This one is Joan's, and that's the cloud shrouded Mountain just to the right of the fir tree. The view shows a bit of our Creator's love of beauty and of us -- that He gave us eyes to see. Don't you think?

Yep, back from Montana, and Cousin Jay wants to know why there's no REPORT. So here's a pic of my mother's siblings -- the 6 remaining of the original 13. Ray, Delores, Joe, Betty, Mary and Dolle.
(The first time I tried to post this pic, it went to the bottom of the page -- so scroll way down for a larger image.)

Hey! I'm road-weary even with all the naps and overnighters listed below!

Tuesday: drove to Superior, MT via Colfax, Spokane, and 4th of July Pass and stayed that night at Aunt Betty's/Uncle Dick's.

Wednesday: Reunion & drove Aunt Mary home to Deer Lodge -- stayed overnight.

Thursday: Followed Hwy 12 toward home -- over Lolo Pass -- motel at Clarkston.

Friday: Hwy 12 plus side trip to Palouse Falls, and home about noon. As I said, ROAD WEARY/ WOOZY. Since then, lots of big naps and took Sabbath off.

Blogger goal for today: Post more photos & trip details -- in the process, hopefully to learn more of this blogging craft. Stay tuned.

To Montana

When Silky Lab sees me packing her dishes & a bag of dogfood into the Windstar, she starts sticking pretty close. And when she hears that last "zing" of a luggage zipper, she's ready to load up. We're off to a Montana family reunion in a few, and she expects to be right in the middle of things.

What's a blog, anyway?

Friends who know about my blog are emailing to ask, "What's a blog, anyway? And how do I respond?" So, even as I'm in the middle of things I'm trying to figure that out. Stay with me.

Here's the little I know so far:
There are lots of blogs out there on all sorts of topics. I think they are a bit like newspaper columns, except that the readers are encouraged to add their comments immediately rather than in letters to the editor.

For example, if you were to type into your internet browser, "vegan rye bread", you'd likely encounter at least one blog including that recipe, plus readers' own takes on the topic. (And I don't know yet how to get internet search engines to pick up my topics.)

When visitors to my blog want to add their comments (please do), just click on "Follow" to the right of blog text, (You might want to use a fakey name for the sake of confidentiality) and add your own spin to the topic at hand.

The plan (because I write in the middle of things) is to get several parallel threads going -- vegan recipes, gardening/flower arranging, Bible thoughts, history (sequel to my YARNS BEYOND THE BEND), genealogy, nature, lots of photos, and whatever else we care to discuss.

Daughter, Mary, follows a number of blogs and will offer suggestions after she returns from Oshkosh and the international Pathfinder Camporee. Actually it may be awhile before she can help with the blog much -- her family, including humans, 3 horses, 2 dogs & a cat, will move to Washington before she returns home -- so their chaos will continue for a bit. She's been encouraging me to do this blog for some time, however, so I'm sure will help it fly.

Meanwhile, Help! Tell me how to do this!

El Nino Side Effects

How does that old song go? “If I had my ‘druthers, I ’druther have my ‘druthers than anything else at all.” Well if I had my ‘druthers today I ’druther be out in Our Garden with the camera or talking about the nicer weather or laughing at Silky Lab’s silliness or pulling weeds… 'druther most anything uther than what this photo represents -- wet book pages fluttering by a big fan.

My new place has about the same floor space as my previous house in Idaho, but storage shed space for STUFF is considerably limited. So, before and since the move, there’s been some seriously downsizing. Thursday night the goofy weather kicked that into overdrive. Friday morning about 4:30 I rolled out of bed and headed into the living room to see if it were still raining… and stepped in a puddle. It was a big puddle, covering much of that room and soaking a bunch of boxes of STUFF still to be sorted… plus keeper STUFF waiting for space on the shelves. Like this batch of books.
It seems that leaves had plugged the downspout, resulting in a waterfall from the eaves-trough into the window wells, and thence indoors to the STUFF.

The rain has stopped; someone fixed the downspout; the guy with the extractor came, worked on the carpets and installed the fan which is providing action to the books; I’m still washing towels which were used to sop up most of the puddle, and still sorting soggy STUFF.

Outdoors, “it’s a lovely day today, and whatever you’ve got to do, you’ve got a lovely day to do it in that’s true. But if you’ve got something that must be done, and it can only be done by one, there is nothing more to say, except it’s a lovely day for saying ‘It’s a lovely day!’”

So, in the middle of things…

Pathfinders to Oshkosh

Today Pathfinder clubs around the world are walking, boarding cars, boats, busses, jets, and probably in some cases riding burros, all heading toward Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I believe about 35,000 children and adult helpers attended the international camporee there in 2004. Yes, that's THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND lively people camping together! For this camporee some clubs have had difficulty obtaining visas, and doubtless nearly all are impacted by the economy, so the numbers may be smaller -- or not. Traditionally, they're a determined lot and their churches stand behind their young members. Join me today in prayer for this immense group now converging on Oshkosh. For more info, go to the following website and click on "International Camporee". http://www.pathfindersonline.org/

Smiles -- In the Middle of Things

In medias res -- (Latin for "into the midst of affairs") -- IN THE MIDDLE OF THINGS, a good place to start a story or a blog, wouldn't you say?

Daughter, Mary, keeps telling me, "You like to write, and you like to take pictures -- you should do a blog".

And I keep saying, "I'm too busy".

And she says, "So... your friends and family like to know what you're up to". Well, maybe they do and maybe they don't. But she has a point... while I'm in the middle of learning to milk Flemings' goat or trying to turn Steve and Michelle's vacant lot into a community garden, I get tart little emails like, "What?! You've moved?! Why didn't I know this?!"

So, here begins this journal -- In Medias Res -- In the Middle of Things.

Today's EVENT: I've moved back to the Walla Walla, WA valley and am church shopping -- among the 8 or so SDA churches in this area. My former pastor in Eagle, Idaho suggested that I attend each church for a month before making the decision. So in July I went to the Eastgate Walla Walla church where I attended years ago. Friendly bunch of folks and good cooks at their fellowship meals. They're doing something very effective with their landscaping -- folks sign up for individual plots which they then keep weeded and planted to flowers. I've never seen such a bunch of flowers around a church. Very inviting! And I received several invitations right away to get involved in church projects -- flower committee, VBS, etc. So I helped fix snacks for VBS. The Martha part of me likes to be involved in church doin's, so that was very good. Another draw there is the sweet, friendly paint horse who hangs his head over the fence by the church parking lot. Why he even whickered at my black lab.
Meanwhile, someone invited me to the Milton church and I went there today, and plan to continue through August. They were having the final (and lively) program for their VBS. Involvement by the teens of the church is impressive... refreshing! Kudos to the Youth SS Department leadership! They have a general fellowship meal once a month, and the Sabbath School classes take turns hosting on the other Sabbaths. Sitting down to break bread together is important for making visitors welcome and getting acquainted. For me, visiting with old friends and meeting new folks helped dispel the "lonesomes" that creep in since leaving my lovely Idaho church -- enriching my today in the middle of things.