For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing, foolishness,
but to us who are being saved,
it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18

The LORD bless you and keep you.

Plucked out of a field,
Gourds and a mini-pumpkin.
They’ve become decor.

I don’t delete things on weekends – maybe on Monday.

Hiking season isn’t over until the snow lady sings, right? It’s been such a beautiful fall here in Minnesota that we’ve decided to squeeze in a few more hikes before it gets too cold. Now that we’re both retired, we have a little more flexibility on taking day trips during the week, so we recently went up to Wild River State Park along the St. Croix River. I’d like to tell you that the river was wild. I’d like to tell you that our hike turned into a saga for the ages. But momma didn’t raise no liar, so you’ll just have to hope that in spite of an ordinary hike, this will turn into a tale worth reading.

Continue reading “Friday, October 29, 2021 Wild River State Park: Quaking Trees and Creeping Vines” →

They seem so small and quiet
When you plant them in the fall.
You’d never guess the clamor they’ll make,
No, you’d never guess it at all.

They don’t make noise in the spring
When they start to rise up green
They make a pretty nice blossom
And the scene is quite serene

And even when you dig them up
And hang them up to dry
You won’t hear nary a whisper
No sir, nor the wisp of a sigh

But you mince these bad boys up
And fry them in some oil;
They’ll issue a savory call so loud,
Your senses will rumble and roil

And when you roast them in the oven
And then just leave them out,
Why, they’ll raise up such a fragrant din,
You’ll swear you heard them shout.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning. I might have to say that louder so you can hear me over the din of the garlic.

My Nikon D3400 camera was stolen in September. I’m sure none of you remember this, but I started this blog after getting that camera because I wanted to use the photos that I was taking as prompts for writing. That was back in early 2018.

I got in the habit of bringing my camera on all the walks that I took around the neighborhood, in the nature center, on our hikes, when getting together with family and friends. It just became sort of an appendage, one that I missed when it was stolen. I’ve never thought of myself as an excellent photographer, but I found that having the camera helped me to see the world around me differently.

Today, my new camera arrived: a Nikon D3500. I considered getting one of the new-fangled mirrorless cameras, but decided in the end to stick with something familiar and affordable. It’s even more lightweight than my last one (an important feature for me) and I’m looking forward to taking it out for a spin. In the meantime, here’s what I saw when I put the new camera up to my eye.

So it begins…again.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning unless that gnome jumps off his perch and puts a stop to my evil plan. Those ski poles look pretty menacing.

This will no doubt astound you, but back when I was in junior high school, my unique talents were suddenly discovered and I achieved almost rock star status, albeit on a very small stage. Yes, I peaked out early, experiencing the maximum of glory for my life in seventh grade during a typing class of all places.

It started out without a lot of fanfare, just a simple typing course in which there were 30 or so kids learning to type on manual typewriters. The teacher put up a bar graph chart detailing the words per minute per student so we could keep track of our progress. After all those years of being an absolute failure at gym and sports, I suddenly realized that I had found my true calling: typing!

While the other kids struggled along trying to get up to 20 wpm, I moved steadily upward until I was soaring along at 60-65 wpm. Don’t scoff at that until you try typing on a manual non-electric typewriter, folks. The kids used to gather around in a rather awestruck circle and watch me type – I’m totally serious about that. The teacher would beam proudly as if she had created the very fingers on my hand and endowed them with speed and accuracy.

It was a very small amount of glory, but it was all mine and in a world in which I felt insignificant, unattractive and unpopular, this was an ego boost well past due.

Please permit a paraphrase of King David from Psalm 144:

Blessed be the LORD my Rock,
Who trains my hands for a typewriter,
And my fingers for typing—

This has been Tuesday True Stories with Lynniebeemuseoday.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning with fingers trained on a QWERTY board.

Every kitchen has a kitchen sink. I feel like I should say “almost” every kitchen, since some smarty-pants out there will no doubt have some memory of Aunt June’s kitchen which did NOT have one. This I can say for sure: kitchen sinks are for washing dishes. Even if you have a dishwasher, there are always a few things that have to be washed by hand.

So there you are, standing at your kitchen sink doing the dishes. And what do you see when you look straight ahead of you? If the person who made the plans for your house was doing their job right, you have a kitchen window to look through while you toil away with hands in the sudsy water. (I’m afraid apartment dwellers are not privy to the same consideration, sadly.) It’s the balm to all those whose daily routine has them on dish duty. It lifts the prose of kitchen labor to the level of poetry. The view out the window gives food for thought, delight to the eyes, and distraction from boredom.

I have a friend whose family moved out into the country onto a beautiful property where they had their stately house built. When I visited after they moved in, I got the full tour and struggled with a little inner envy…until I saw the kitchen sink facing a brick wall. My friend admitted that it was a flaw in the design, but one they hadn’t really noticed until it was too late to change it.

Those of you who have kitchen windows over your sink, rejoice and be glad. You have a living painting in front of you that is always changing seasons, and in and out of which go all of the little creatures that have taken up residence somewhere near you. Keep a pair of binoculars nearby so you can identify the birds. Rap sharply on the window to scare away the squirrels that are trying to get the bird seed out of the feeders. Make sure your camera is on standby so you can capture the beauty of the leaves turning that brilliant gold in the fall.

Oh, that’s not the view outside your window, you say? Of course not! What would be the point of everyone having the same view?

Rejoice and be glad!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning unless I get distracted by looking out the kitchen window.

“But God forbid that I should boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.”
Galatians 6:14

Sundays will be for photos of the cross of Christ wherever I find it, paired with Bible verses or quotations.

The LORD bless you and keep you.

Something new: Saturday Haiku!

Note to a Wasp
Prepare for winter,
Stock up on that good nectar –
Then stay in your nest!

Thought I’d try doing some shorter posts for the weekends.

I’ll probably…

Synopsis of the story thus far: Our frog hero, Fig Newton, met a little girl on the river named Lucy, who knitted him a scarf, made him a sailor’s hat, made him a little boat and reluctantly said goodbye to him so he could go see the world. Along the way, Fig was thinking through his trip when he ran across a bear carrying another girl. The bear was Grimpus Leatherfoot and the girl, Miss Agra Glendalough. They decided to travel along with him, walking by the riverside since his boat was too small for them. He spent some time thinking about what he’d want to do and see before returning home. In the last part, he was singing in the boat by himself and was accosted by a fox named Phineas who stole his boat, leaving Figgy sitting on the riverbank, bereft.

Part 6
Fig was still sitting on the riverbank, froggy head in his froggy hands, when Miss Agra and Grimpus returned from their foray into the woods for nuts and berries.

Continue reading “Friday, October 22, 2021 Fig Newton Part 6” →

Floating Cats I
Cats appear to float
A slight breeze keeps them moving
They make me happy.

Floating Cats II
For weeks at a time
I don’t see them, these 5 little cats
And then, an invisible current of air
Swirls around, moves them gently
And as peripheral vision catches it,
I give them my undivided attention.
This little bit of whimsy and beauty
Makes me happy.

Floating Cats III
They sat in a box, neglected and broken,
My mom couldn’t throw them away.
Their silent mews to me were spoken-
I tell you I heard them that day!

I rescued them with a bit of string
I set things all aright.
To balance them was a tricky thing,
But eventually they took flight

And when in airy stillness they float
I blow and make them dance
A simple pleasure, a quiet note,
My life has been enhanced.

God’s in His heaven,
All’s right with the world.
Robert Browning

I’m reprinting this from my old blog because it’s been a busy day. It feels like cheating!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning, or just return it to its former home.