But enough about snow…

Let’s talk about hydrangeas. I have a thing for them. We had a gorgeous hydrangea bush at the first place we lived when we moved to Indiana way back in the old days. They were white, but in the fall as they dried, they became more of a burnished gold. I’ve been in a sad state of hydrangea deprivation since we moved from that property. I bought a couple plants about 10 years ago to put out on our berm, but there were two impediments to their survival: 1. they required special attention, and 2. I’m not a special attention kind of gardener. They hated the berm and the berm hated them. It killed them, in fact. If the case were to brought to a court of law, however, I’d have to be tried as an accomplice. I did my best to keep them watered, but there was no margin for error out there. One strike and you’re out. Farewell, my lovelies.

I saw these in a friend’s garden a couple weeks ago, back when we still had sunshine and warm-ish weather. Oh, how like a dream that all seems now.

You might need to be a fan of the Marvel comics/movies to get the fullest enjoyment out of the title for this blog post. Tee hee…

I’ll probably delete this in the morning, unless it’s still cold and nasty out.

Me: I love the first snowfall of the season!!!

Also me: This wretched stuff better be gone by the time I have to drive up to Minneapolis in a couple days.

The cat: I think I’ll stay inside instead of incessantly trying to escape from this place.

Maple trees: We weren’t ready for this!

Minnesotans: Bring it on.

Also Minnesotans: Noooo!! Not snow in October!!!

Proverbs 31 woman: I am not afraid of the snow for my household; for all my household are clothed in scarlet.

The Narnian lamp in our backyard: I shall shine on, no matter the weather.

Shakespeare: Thou knowest, winter tames man, woman, and beast.

October Snow
The first flakes of snow
Falling, falling, falling down…
They hear and obey.

Happy First Snowfall Day!

I’ll probably be shoveling snow in the morning – no time for deletions.

Sometimes when I’m out on a walk, I’m in observant mode. I’m looking for things that interest me, that catch my attention, that enthrall me with delight… Just look what I found in a the space of a mere fifteen minutes last week:

Don’t you feel better now? Didn’t that do your heart good? The world is replete with soul-filling beauty if we have eyes to see. Having a nice camera helps.

I’ll probably (not) delete this in the morning.

I met a bean while out on a walk the other day. He seemed a friendly sort, so I hailed him. I said, “Hail, bean! What do they call you?”

“You can call me Soy,” he said warmly.

“Well met, Soy!” was my old-fashioned reply. “Just what sort of a bean are you, exactly?”

“I dabble in many things,” he replied. “I make oil and meal. If you want to eat me, I’m known as edamame, tempeh, tofu and bean curd, just to name a few. They milk me, make a sauce out of me, and even turn me into nuts. I tell you, you can hardly turn around in a grocery store without finding me somewhere. I’m in ALL THE THINGS.”

It was hard to formulate a reply to this stunning recitation of my new friend’s accomplishments. As I was cogitating, he took advantage of my silence and went on with a different part of his resume.

“And that’s not all,” he proclaimed proudly. “You should see the amazing biodiesel fuel that comes from me! It’s clean, nontoxic, renewable, AND environmentally friendly! Add to that the way I’m used for biocomposite building materials used in furniture, flooring and countertops and you can see that I’m quite the Renaissance Bean.”

Well, if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a braggart. Clearly, Mr. Soy needed to be taken down a peg or two.

“What about,” I said coldly, “the Asian beetles that you knowingly and maliciously harbor amongst your leaves? Guess where they go when you get harvested and go traipsing off gaily to grocery stores and industrial machines? Come to my house and see these wretched creatures creeping around all my lights and brazenly crawling on my walls! I lay the blame for that squarely at your door, yes I do!”

This got his dander up, I’ll tell you. “That is NOT my fault – it’s those blasted aphids that invaded me first and sit like plump pastries on my leaves, luring beetles in by the score for a feast!”

“Oh,” I said somewhat mollified, “I didn’t know that.” But trying to keep the upper hand, I couldn’t resist a parting shot. “You must be doing something to encourage the aphids, or they wouldn’t be coming to your place to party. Get your house in order!”

In retrospect, that was kind of mean of me. I shouldn’t have judged the bean by its aphids.

This has been today’s flight o’ fancy brought to you by lynniebeemuseoday. Make of it what you will.

I’ll probably get beaned for this in the morning.

We had a moment, this kitten and I. I had been trying to capture him, but he was surprisingly camera shy. It was like chasing the afternoon sun with whiskers and fur. I would have picked him up if he had let me, but you can’t hold the sun, even with whiskers and fur. He paused to glare at me, and then disappeared under the cut wood, hiding in the shadows. We went our separate ways, me with a digital memory, and he with his dignity intact. But we had that one moment, like a solar flare.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning, unless I wait for the afternoon sun.

King David really knew how to pray.

Hear my cry, O God;
attend to my prayer. Psalm 61:1

Have you ever cried out to God? There is great need behind those words: hear my cry. This isn’t your average prayer for travel mercies. Something deep, something urgent is going on. And he isn’t wasting time on flowery preliminaries either. Nor is he crafting his words with polite restraint. “Attend to my prayer” sounds an awful lot like “LISTEN TO ME!!!”

From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2

No matter where David was, his cry would go forth, from the anguish of an overwhelmed heart. Ah, most of us can relate to that, even if our hearts are not overwhelmed by the same issues that overwhelmed David. And don’t we always look higher than ourselves for deliverance? Don’t we always seek a firm foundation on which to stand, something that is solid when our legs are shaky and our steps uncertain?

Next time our hearts are overwhelmed, let us cry out.

No matter where we are, let us cry out and ask Him to listen.

Trust in Him at all times, O people.
Pour out your heart before Him:
God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8

Let us look for the rock that is higher than we are.

I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer. Psalm 18:1

And then finish strong, like David did:

So, I will sing praise to Your name forever,
That I may daily perform my vows. Psalm 61:8

That’s how it’s done, boys and girls!

I’ll probably delete this in the morning…

“Oh!” she said, blushing,
“Don’t take a picture of me –
My clothes are falling!”

On that note, I’ll bid you adieu for the weekend.

I’ll pry d’lete ths i’ th’ morn (my letters are falling!)

I played a fun game of hide and seek with a squirrel last week. It’s like playing with a child who thinks that if they stay still, you won’t see him (or her). It got off to a sporting start with my rodent friend attempting camouflage on a tree.

We ignored each other for some moments, my strategy being to give him a false sense of security. But when I moved closer, the game was afoot. He skittered over to the side outside of my vision and by the time I got there, he’d given me the slip. …Or had he?

GOTCHA! To be honest, I don’t think he knew that he’d been discovered. I didn’t want to ruin the experience for him, so I sauntered off, but first I overheard him chittering, “There will be a day when I will lose this crafty game, but IT IS NOT THIS DAY!”

Even squirrels must have their heroes.

Squirrel Nonet
Is it a game or is this danger?
She with her magic box, and me
Pretending to be the tree.
I hear the “click, click, click…”
and know I must run.
I see some leaves,
I sit still –
I wait.
Click.

I just discovered this form of poetry, the nonet: nine lines, nine syllables in the first line and subtracting one syllable per line. Kinda fun.

I will almost certainly delete,
Or at least probably delete,
I don’t know…should I delete?
Delete…or not delete?
That is the question.
I can’t decide.
So I think,
Maybe…
Not.

GOTCHA!

Have you heard of Inktober? I think it first crossed my path a couple years ago as I began seeing a few Inktober posts on Instagram. The idea, which was started in 2009 by an artist named “Jake Parker,” is pretty simple:

1. Make a drawing in ink (you can do a pencil under-drawing if you want).

2. Post it online.

3. Hashtag it with #inktober and #inktober2020 (or the current year)

4. Repeat every day for the entire month.

I looked up the history of Inktober for this post and was curious as to why the name “Jake Parker” is in quotes.

Anyway, somehow this became a Thing and in 2016, the Inktober people began making a list of prompts for people to use if they should so desire. I don’t think you have to, but it’s nice for people like me who will just stare at a blank piece of paper waiting for inspiration to strike and then have to wander off to find something else to do when it doesn’t.

I decided to give it a try this year, using the prompts and also my own challenge was to find a way to include the word for the prompt in each drawing. I missed the first four days so on the fifth day, I did five illustrations and now I hope to stay caught up.

Inktober has a HUGE following on Instagram. There are 1.2 million posts for the hashtag #inktober2020 already and it’s just the beginning of the month. I made the mistake of going to the page to look at other entries and have to admit to being a little intimidated by the incredible artwork that people are doing for this. But I’m firmly in the amateur category and have to remind myself that it’s a challenge to myself, not a competition.

So, after loads of “ado,” here are my first few entries:

It’s been surprisingly fun to figure out what to do each day.

I’ll be too busy to delete this post in the morning – gotta keep up with the Inktober Challenge!