I decided to return to a more regular habit of walking outside. It seems to be the only time that I take photos and the only time I’m just alone with my thoughts. It’s also the only exercise I get now that I’ve quit going to the water aerobics class.

There’s not a lot of variety to my walking routes and sometimes I feel like I’m seeing the same things over and over again. A robin posed for me, which was kind.

They’re such cheerful birds, especially on these gloomy, cloudy and cold days. And yet, I felt a restlessness to see something different, something I didn’t see every day. As I walked along, I prayed, “Lord, could you show me something new today?” and was aware even as I spoke the words, the lack of gratitude behind them. After all, if robins disappeared from my life overnight, I would be bereft – I take them for granted, but I count on them being there! So I was prepared to be joyful even if everything was the same as usual.

But it wasn’t. No sooner had I uttered that prayer when I came in sight of the little pond that graces our neighborhood, and to my utter astonishment I saw two wood ducks, hubby and wife, paddling across it. I think wood ducks are so lovely and I’ve NEVER seen one, other than in photos. I’ve been walking by that pond for 15 years and have never seen them there.

So, in the words of the psalmist, I say,

Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the LORD!
They are studied by all who delight in them.
Psalm 111:1-2

Yes, and amen.

It feels good to be out and about again.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning, but I’ll never forget the joy of seeing those wood ducks, praise be to God.

Watercolor trip to Italy, Lesson #9.

Frankly, I was dreading this one, so I’m glad it’s done. Here’s how mine turned out:

Which one do you like better? I just realized how much fatter the tree trunk is in the second one. Also, I seemed to have added another mountain to the second one. The instructions on the tree for this painting were too vague for me. By the time I was working on the “half tones” and the “shadows” and giving “shape to the leaves,” I neither knew what I was doing nor cared. It’s all a big mish-mash to me.

I found out something interesting this week about watercolor paper. You’re supposed to stretch it first. I thought that just meant taping it down before applying water, but it’s much more involved. You’re supposed to immerse your paper in water for 5-10 minutes until it reaches a certain pliability, like cloth. Then you tape it down and let it dry for 24 hours (or so) before painting on it. No wonder all my watercolor paper buckles – I figured it was due to the quality of the paper. I don’t know if I’ll ever do this – I might try it once just to see if it makes a difference.

That’s it for my watercolor adventures this week!

I’ll probably make this post into mish-mash in the morning.

How many books is too many to be reading through at once? Here’s some of what Ive got on my reading table right now:

I started re-reading through the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries again last year and I’ve reached the last one. Lord Peter and Harriet Vane finally get married and head off to their honeymoon. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that they encounter a dead body and a mystery while honeymooning – doesn’t everyone?

Have you ever heard of the term “acedia?” I hadn’t. Apparently, it was a term that was used in older times and was discarded at some point. It has to do with being in a “non-caring state,” and would be more associated with a sinful spiritual torpor and apathy, rather than a medical depression. It was considered both a sin and an ailment. Thomas Aquinas “recommended a hot bath, a glass of wine and a good night’s sleep” as a remedy for acedia. Makes sense to me! It’s been an interesting book so far.

I grew up reading the books of James Herriot, aka Alf Wight. I’ve read them several times and have never tired of his marvelous storytelling skills as he recounts his experience as a young veterinarian in Yorkshire. I was delighted to find this book written by his son. I haven’t gotten very far, but found this quote from his diary as a young student to be a hilarious indicator of what his writing style was like even at a young age: “Buckie was in a terrible mood today. Roaring and bellowing at us like a rogue elephant. Today, I was amazed to see the length to which his eyes could boggle without falling out.” Ha ha!

I’m working through some of these books by Gerald Durrell that I gave to my son and then borrowed back from him. Durrell is also a consummate storyteller, just like James Herriot. This book concerns a trip he took to Mauritania in the 1970’s to train people there in learning how to care for their endangered species in captive breeding programs. Toward the beginning of the book, he tells of calling the Mauritian High Commission in London to get some information about traveling there. When someone answered, this was the conversation that ensued:

“Is that the Mauritian High Commission?” I asked.

There was a pause. This was obviously an unexpected question and it required time to know how to deal with it.

“Yes,” she admitted at last, rather reluctantly, “that’s right.”

“The Mauritian High Commission?” I repeated, making sure.

“Yes,” she said, more certainly this time, “Mauritian.”

“Oh good,” I said, “I was hoping you could give me some information as I am very much hoping to go there soon.”

There was another short pause. “Go where?” she asked at length.

I knew that Mauritius was fairly remote but this, I felt, was too much.

I love Durrell’s writing style!

I’m reading this one with my daughter. We read two chapters a week and then discuss it. I’m enjoying this retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. I was afraid it would be too esoteric and high-brow for me, but it’s been a really good yarn, well told, and with lots of food for thought. My goal is to understand the title by the time we get to the end.

I wonder if you could call this one “Confessions of Augustine for Dummies.” It’s abridged and quite readable. I’m going through it slowly but underlining as I go along. “To you, my God, I confess what my soul really longs for: the inner peace that will enable me to restrain my evil ways, so I can learn to choose your good ways.”

So many books, so little time!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning…

Musings o’ the Day:

1. I just bought an app for cataloguing all of our books. It’s called “Book Buddy.” I got started right away and realized fairly quickly that all of these book library apps work best on books that have ISBN barcodes on the backs of the books. If a book is older and doesn’t have a barcode, you can still input the actual ISBN number manually. If a book is even older and doesn’t have an ISBN number, you have to look it up online. If you can’t find it online, you have to input the book information manually. So, these apps are a wonder for those whose book collections are recent publications. Sadly, this does not describe our book collection, which is a motley assortment of old books that I’ve gotten at library sales and used book stores over the years. Still, we have enough with barcodes that it’s still been a satisfying experience, especially since every time you scan in a book, you get rewarded with a nice sound. It’s addictive. So far, I’ve input 287 books. We’re guessing that we have at least 1000 books. I’ll keep ya posted.

2. Got a women’s clothing catalog the other day that was new to me. It was clearly geared toward older women. I guess we’re a pretty predictable group – I liked most of what I saw.

3. I remember when I first found out about texting. I didn’t like the idea and thought it would lead to an impoverished way of communicating. Years later I finally got a cell phone and realized the wonderful allure of a text message. It’s hard to remember now that we used to just call people, rather than texting them first to see if they were available. I use my phone way more for texting and other types of messaging than for phone calls. Has it led to an impoverished way of communicating? Probably. I’m glad my husband and I were courting during a time before cell phones. We have a wonderful collection of love letters that would not have been written had we been able to send a short text.

Time to go start supper…but I’d really rather just sit on the couch.

I’m stuck to the couch
What a terrible slouch.
I’m feeling so lazy
It’s making me crazy.
It’s now 5:04
And I’m sitting some more.
I need to get up
And go make our sup.
It’s a good chicken meal
With a lot of appeal.
And yet here I sit
Not moving a bit.
I guess it’s time
To finish this rhyme.

Entitled: The Unfinished Leaf. If I ever finish it, I’ll change the title.

This has been Monday Musings with Lynniebee.

I’ll probably…gotta go make supper!

Dear Bucky,

It was good to hear from you. We are in agreement then that this BOII business is too good an opportunity to pass up, come what may. After all my boasting, though, I’m really stuck on what to submit, especially since I’ve only been given one more chance. Why am I taking this so seriously? I got so desperate for an idea that I even prayed that one might come to me in a dream. Nothing yet. I’m giving myself until the end of the month to come up with something, nocturnal inspirations or not.

My job at HC is going well, but I’ve been trying to decide whether or not I would be breaking the “vows of secrecy” to tell you, without any identifying details, some of the odd things I’ve been coming across. It’s probably nothing, but I’ve been feeling a little uneasy. I’ll have to give that some thought. I suppose you will pester me about this while I’m visiting this weekend. Maybe that’s why I brought it up.

It’s about a four-hour drive for me, but the weather should be nice and I plan to leave right after work. Expect me by 10:00 p.m. on Friday night! I’m sure BJ will be sleeping, but I expect to be given the traditional hero’s welcome by you and Suzanne. And I’m coming with the appetite of an active young man in search of good home-cooked meals. See you soon!

Martin

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Bucky,

The weekend went by way too fast. Thanks again to you and Suzanne for putting me up for two nights. Once again, I appreciated your remarkably comfortable couch and even more, Suzanne’s remarkably good cooking, the memories of which will have to sustain me until my next visit. BJ is a ton of fun – I’m going to have to get me one of those! Don’t worry – I do know the correct order of these things, so I’ll have to get me a “Suzanne” first. I’ll let you know if there are any prospects on the horizon, but my social circle is really small still. I’ve only been living here for a few months and the people I’ve met at work so far aren’t the socializing types. I know I bristled when you encouraged me to find a good church, but I guess that’s just because I know you are right. It’s not as easy as you might think, even in a city as large as this. Excuses, excuses. I’ll admit to some “church envy” after going to church with you guys on Sunday, so maybe that will get me off my sorry butt. I went to a few when I first moved here, but is it too much to ask to find a church that actually believes what the Bible says? I’ve been just doing things on my own and have gotten lazy. I’ll take your words of advice to heart.

I’m also glad you probed a little about the things I alluded to in my last email about HC. I hope I didn’t disclose too much. It was just good to get someone’s else’s perspective on it. I’ll keep you posted.

Martin

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Bucky,

I finally have some news about the Bureau of Interesting Ideas and it’s very…interesting, even incredible. I’m still trying to understand what has happened. I had given myself a deadline and it came to the last day with me having tried out one absurd idea after another in my mind and rejecting them, still scalded by the BOII’s harsh criticism of my first submission. Well, Desperation is the Mother of Invention, if I may tweak the old aphorism a little. I went on my usual morning run before work through a nice little park where squirrels are just sort of insignificant background bits running around at the edges of my peripheral vision. Usually you just see one here and there running up a tree or chasing another one across the grass. But that morning, I saw three squirrels sitting together like they having a meeting. When I stopped to take a closer look, they stopped chattering and looked at me, but didn’t move. We had a nice moment, the four of us, but I had to get going. When I got home, I picked up the newspaper and there on the front page was an article about a local artist displaying some of her work: a watercolor painting of three squirrels. Hmm, odd coincidence? When I got to work, I passed by the bulletin board and did a double take – someone had posted an announcement about a meeting and as clip art had used an image of three squirrels with notepads and pencils. Nope, no longer in the category of coincidence. The meeting was being hosted by someone named Beulah Bartimaeus, so I tucked that information away.

Back at my desk, I looked up what you call a group of squirrels, my mind being firmly fixed on them now, and found out it’s a “scurry,” which seems appropriate.

“A scurry of three squirrels has been trying to tell me something today – I am wondering if it’s important and how I can find out.”

I wrote that down and submitted it to the Interesting Ideas file. By the time I got back to my desk, the BOII had already replied (how do they DO that?).

Martin,

We have reviewed your idea/query and find it to be an acceptable submission. We are gratified to learn that our communication with you via the squirrels did not go unnoticed. You may proceed to the next step. Await our instructions. You have begun to open your eyes.

The Bureau of Interesting Ideas

Well, Bucky, what do you think of that?

Martin

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Well, readers, what do you think of that?

I’ll probably delete this in the morning if I don’t hear back from at least one of my faithful readers.

I drove up to the Big City today to bring my mom to an appointment and decided to listen to a playlist that our son had made entitled “70s, 80s.” As I drove, I sang along and thought about the songs. You would do the same, I’m sure.

Playlist Thoughts:

1. Footloose. Made me think of the movie with Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer. I loved that movie as a young ‘un. Then I watched it as an adult with my teenage daughter. Suddenly I realized I was more like the stuffy adults in the movie. It bugged me that the preacher father ended up kow-towing to the kids when they compared their dancing to the dancing that David did as he brought the ark into Jerusalem. NOT THE SAME, people!

2. Hooked on a Feeling. Permanently associated with “Guardians of the Galaxy” now. It’s a nice association. It’s best not to think too deeply about the lyrics.

3. Saturday in the Park. Chicago. When he sings “A man selling ice cream…singing Italian songs…” I realized for the first time that the words I’d never understood that came after that must be Italian. Got obsessed with wanting to know what those words are and contemplated looking it up on the internet later. Haven’t done it yet.

4. Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder. Actually listened to the lyrics for the first time and heard him give homage to “Basie, Miller, Satchmo, and the king of all, Sir Duke.” To be honest, I didn’t even realize that song was called “Sir Duke,” and I’d never noticed Sir Duke (Ellington, I presume) was even mentioned.

5 Thriller by Michael Jackson. I’ve always loved this one. There’s a line at the end spoken by Vincent Price in which he says, “The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty thousand years…” which was a line that I used to be fond of quoting when I walked into our boys’ bedrooms.

6. Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics. This one is so much fun to sing along with, but what the heck is it about? I don’t know. Maybe I don’t want to know.

7. Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I mentally changed this one to “Sweet Home Minnesota” while I was singing along. For some reason I always enjoy the dig at Neil Young in that song, too. Even though I like Neil Young. Mostly. This song also made me think of “Free Bird” by the same group, which made me want to watch the movie “Elizabethtown,” – the best scene in the movie is the “Free Bird” one. Check it out!

8. Dancing Queen. Boring.

9. The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. I guess I’ve never paid attention to the lyrics other than the chorus. Did you know that the gambler dies in his sleep?

10. Thank You for Being a Friend by Andrew Gold. What’s not to like? I think I might be the only person in the world who bought Andrew Gold’s album when it came out.

11. You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon. If you haven’t seen the video of this song with Chevy Chase and Paul Simon, do it right now. This short video has brought me much happiness over the years. It never fails to make me laugh. When I sing along, I pretend I’m Chevy Chase pretending he’s Paul Simon.

12. Lights by Journey. Fun to sing along with at the top of your lungs with your windows closed as you breeze down the freeway.

13. Africa by Toto. This is one of those songs that I don’t understand all the words for and when I sing along, I do a lot of winging it. Also I don’t actually understand why he is blessing the rains down in Africa, when the song appears to be sung by a guy who says he’ll never leave you. Aside from those murkinesses, this is a FAVORITE song.

14. Stayin’ Alive by the BeeGees. I don’t know…it’s kind of hard to take it seriously when a guy who’s singing about being a woman’s man is singing in falsetto.

15. Take on Me by a-ha. They get points for the name of their band. What does this song mean? Don’t know. Don’t care. I just sing along, but only on those three words “Take on Me.” Even now I couldn’t tell you if there are any other lyrics.

16. Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds. Pleasant enough. I’ve forgotten about them already though.

17. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. Not a fan of this one and it’s also another one of those where it’s hard to understand some of the words so you have to fake your way through it when singing.

18. I’ve Had the Time of My Life. This was in the movie “Dirty Dancing,” but for me now, it’s delightfully associated with a short video that some genius made from the debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in which it looks like they’re singing this song to each other. As someone commented underneath that video, “This is what the internet was made for.” It’s the best!!!

19. Never Gonna Give You Up. You’ve been Rick Rolled!

Many kudos to Sam for making this playlist. And many kudos to you for reading this far. It was probably a tedium to read through, but I thoroughly enjoyed writing it.

I watched the Thriller music video when I got home. If I’d ever seen it before, I’d forgotten it – very creepy. I took this photo of an ice bubble in a river. It’s also very creepy.

I really must let you go now.

I’ll probably be sorry I went on so long about the playlist songs and then in a fit of guilt I’ll delete this in the morning.

My watercolor trip to Italy continues with Lessons 7 and 8.

Lesson 7 is a scene in Toscana. I pretty much hated this one.

I couldn’t figure out how to lift off the color of the sky to make clouds. You’re supposed to use a dry brush. Ha! The trees and shrubs simply defeated me. And the field – too much wax on the first one, not enough on the second one, plus I struggled with all the different colors. The only part I was really pleased with was the lower roof shadow on attempt #1 and even that’s kind of scraggly looking.

So, onward!

Lesson 8 is a water scene, the Lago di Garda.

I love the artist’s interpretation of the photo – he added a lot more color and interest to the painting.

I enjoyed working on this one so much that I did both of them in one day. The masking for the water didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped – apparently more finesse is required for this than I was capable of. Amazingly, though, I think all of these practice sessions are helping me to understand more about color mixing and how much paint and water to use.

I looked ahead to Lesson 9 and it’s one gigantic tree. My nemesis! And I won’t be able to watch my mentor Sarah Newbury do it first, either, since she only put Lessons 1-8 on YouTube. I’m on my own!

I’m half done with this watercolor instruction book, which means you are half done tagging along with me.

I’ll probably make a couple attempts to delete this in the morning.

Last year I had set myself the goal of taking a walk every day. I did it fairly faithfully and always with a camera around my neck. It gave me time to think and it gave me opportunities to see. It was also a year of poetry, which surprised me continually. Who knew?

This year, I’ve hardly taken one walk per week and have taken very few photos. I set for myself different challenges, but realize now that I have missed the walking, the thinking, the poetry and the photos. There’s something that happens when you walk by yourself that you can’t manufacture in any other way. I’ve been biking, but it’s not the same (although I do enjoy it).

Just some musings for today.

As far as quotes from books I’m reading, here’s a little gem from The Confession of Augustine in Modern English:

“No enemy can destroy a man so thoroughly as the man’s own hate-feelings that created the enemy in the first place. No man can damage the enemy he persecutes so severely as he damages his own soul by the buildup of his inner hostility.

While I don’t have any quotes from the book Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose, I certainly recommend it. She spent four years in a Japanese prison camp in New Guinea during World War II. Reading something like this puts your own little trials into perspective. The camp commander was a cruel man, but Darlene gained his respect. When she got news that her husband had died in the men’s camp, she went to speak with the commander, Mr. Yamiji, and he extended his sympathies. She shared the gospel with him and he became so moved that he had to leave the room so she would not see his tears. It’s difficult to read about someone’s faith being tested so severely, and yet, it was encouraging to see all the ways in which the Lord was faithful to her even when all seemed lost.

I would love to hear what books you are reading.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning..

I’m having a blah day. Ever have those? Some days I’ve got plenty of zippety-do-dah, but today I’m fresh out of it. If you’re in the same place, here’s something that might charge us up:

A friend dropped those by last week to spread some cheer. Awfully nice.

And just for fun, I offer up this fine example of procrastination in the performance of a household project:

2015: We should go around a do some spot painting on our walls – lots of places need some touch-up.

2016: Yes, that’s definitely a good idea. I’ll just need to get our paints in from the garage and get them sorted out.

2017: Spot painting? Oh yeah, it’s still a good idea. Shouldn’t take too long.

2018: No rush, but it still seems like a good idea to do some spot painting on our walls where the paint has chipped off or there are scuff marks.

2019: I’ve only talked about touch-up painting so far – hard to get motivated.

2020: Hey, the kids will all be home for Christmas. I’ll bring the paint cans out from the garage into the house to warm them up. Then the kids can help out with this project while they’re home.

January 2021: Oops – it was a good idea, but didn’t happen. And now the paint cans are sitting in our laundry room taking up space.

February 2021: That’s a lot of paint cans sitting around in our laundry room. About 15 of them. Why did we choose different colors for all the bedrooms and bathrooms? I’d work on this, but still need things like the paint can opener, some stir sticks and the right kind of brush.

March 2021: Oh, I see that the paint can opener and stir sticks have been placed on the cans for me. I need a smaller brush though – 1” width.

April 2-3, 2021: The paintbrushes have been purchased. We have lift off! Three colors done, 12 to go.

I bet I can get all the rest done this week. Six years to do about 3 hours work – not bad!

I’ll probably be feeling too blah to delete this at any time.

(Don’t be discouraged about all the boring stuff about Scivener. An actual story lurks below! This marks the first time I’ve started a blog post with a parenthetical statement. I’m so proud.)

I’ve finally gotten sufficiently interested in my fiction writing endeavors that I purchased the Scrivener app for my iPad. (Inwardly, I pronounce this as “Scriv-nuh,” kind of like one might say “Guv’nuh” instead of “governor” if one had a cockney accent. Which I don’t.) Scrivener is a program founded by writers for writers to supply all the tools needed for fiction writing.

I went through the Scrivener tutorial and also watched a couple YouTube video tutorials and decided I was as ready as I was ever going to be, so I started importing stories from my blog onto Scrivener and will plan to do most of my writing from there from now on.

But after spending hours trying to learn how to use Scrivener, I don’t have a single new story to share with you. I’ve gotten to the point with The Martin Chronicles that I need to spend some time thinking and planning about where it’s going next. It started out rather off-the-cuff and I hadn’t intended to keep going with it, but the story kept going in spite of me. That kind of momentum can’t be ignored, right?

My Scrivener app now has four projects in the works:

• The Martin Chronicles
• Freddy Stories
• Tales of Fig Newton
• Stand-Alone Stories

Well, I can’t just leave you without a story, so how about this one:

A Story of Two People and Their Long-Neglected Bicycles
Once upon a time, a very recent time – in fact, today time – an older couple decided to see if riding a bike after a long hiatus is really like riding a bike. When I say “older,” you should not be imagining an ancient couple, all hunched over with white hair and a million age spots. Nor should you be imagining a medium-ish older couple with bad hips and querulous digestion problems. No, this is an old couple just on the young spectrum of old – still sound in mind and body, but with some aches and infirmities looming on the horizon and well into the golden colonoscopy years. Got it?

Now, where was I? The bikes, having been recently tuned up were raring to go. The husband and wife could hear the kickstands pawing at the cement floor in the garage. It was a nice day, albeit rather windy, so off they went, heeding the call of the wild bicycles. In a very gracious providence, the first leg of the journey was downhill. If they hadn’t been on the old-ish side, the couple (at least the wife) might have let out a hearty “Wheeee!” As it was, only a few minutes went by after hitting the flatlands when the not-quite-elderly woman noticed that her legs were complaining. Yes, in the universal language of the body, those legs were murmuring and moaning something like, “Hey, we’re not used to this! You’re trying to use muscles that have been on stand-by for some time now. Ease up!”

They kept up a steady patter of this sort until the circuit was complete and the bikes were back in the garage. And how did the husband fare, you might ask? You’ll have to ask him, but suffice it to say that he reached the garage first and didn’t seem to be at all diminished by the experience. Let the storyteller hasten to add, however, that this fellow is a full two years younger than his bride. This probably explains everything.

This has been Not-Quite-Fiction Friday with the Not-Quite-Elderly Lynniebee.

Blessings on your Easter weekend. It has to be said:
He is risen.
He is risen, indeed!

I’ll probably be limping around tomorrow with sore legs – why should I bother deleting this?

I was bringing our trash and recycling down to the curb on Wednesday morning at 7:00 a.m. and got distracted by the sky and the clouds, all pinking up with the morning sun. New mornings come every morning and so do the Lord’s lovingkindnesses and compassions. His Word says so and I believe it.

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Lamentations 3:22-23

A sky like this makes it easy to believe.

Hallelujah!

I’ll probably be enjoying another beautiful sunrise tomorrow morning while deleting this.