Felis Crashus

 
SRP, over at Melange, posted about Mr. Rhett today. He apparently helped her install her dvd burner. I decided that it was time to post another page from the Kitty Cat Sightings book. There is a cat for every occasion.

By the way, I haven't seen my little gray and white kitty for a few days. The people across the street moved out, and apparently they took her with them. I hope they take good care of her. 

Arky, Arky

Many years ago, when my children were small, Psalty and the Praise Kids albums were very popular. They were always playing in our car...one of those songs starts, "The Lord said to Noah, 'There's going to be a floody, floody...get those animals out of the muddy, muddy, children of the Lord.'" I would make light of all this, but with the situation the way it is with the rain in parts of Virginia and other areas, it's not a laughing matter.

Last weekend my daughter and I traveled to Waynesboro, Virginia to attend a baby shower for my son and daughter-in-law. (Did I tell you I was going to be a grandmother?) We left on Thursday after Sarah had worked for a half-day, and at the motel there was a USA Today for the taking. When I opened up the paper to the entertainment section, there was a full-page article about the new movie "Evan Almighty." A sequel to "Bruce Almighty", this movie is being filmed in Waynesboro and the surrounding area.

When we drove through town, I noticed new street lights and a freshening of the city. When I mentioned it to David, he said, "Mom, they're filming "Evan Almighty"here." Duh. I asked him why he didn't get a part. He said he thought about it, but it only pays $8.00 an hour, so he declined.


 
The newspaper said that an ark of biblical proportions was being built in Crozet, a community about 12 miles from Waynesboro. Off we went on Saturday afternoon to see it. There it is right in the middle of a subdivision that is being developed. As you can see in the second photo, there is a brand new house right beside it. David said that the film company is paying the people's mortgages while they're there.

There was a steady stream of cars driving by. When we stopped, the guard said, "Hurry up and take your picture."
 
So we did.

I was reminded of a trip I made to Philadelphia to visit some missionary friends from Haiti a few years ago. David was interning at Carpenter Technology in Reading PA, and we met him for lunch in Lancaster. After David left, Shirley and I went to the Millenium Theater and saw the production of Noah. The first half of the play is the building of the ark. At the end of the first half, Noah and his family and the animals walk up the center aisle and enter the ark.

As the second half starts, you're inside the ark with Noah, his family, and all the animals. The rain and thunder starts, and the people who had mocked him, are pounding on the ark, hoping to gain entrance.

After the rains stop, and the waters recede, Noah and his family come out of the ark. As they are coming out, the sides of the ark fall away, and the cross is left standing. I had goosebumps throughout the production. Realizing that the ark in the Old Testament was a foreshadowing of Christ, who is our ark of safety.

If you ever have the opportunity to see a production there, it is not to be missed. 

Steel and Velvet

A week or so ago, I copied a story from an e-mail, and I'm doing so again today. This has such a moving message. It comes from this newsletter.

An unusual tribute was paid to Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg.
The poet wrote, "Not often in the story of mankind does a man
arrive on earth who is both steel and velvet, who is as hard as
rock and soft as drifting fog, who holds in his heart and mind
the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect."

Lincoln demonstrated then and now how a person can possess both a
will of iron and a heart of tenderness. Nothing deterred the
president during the American Civil War from his "noble" cause,
and few persons have ever endured more criticism and detractors
than Lincoln. Yet he was no more a man of steel than one of
velvet.

When General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army, Lincoln sent an
unexpected message to the enemy commander. "Tell your men they
may keep their horses; they'll need them for plowing," said the
president. Then this: "Tell your men they may keep their rifles;
they'll need them for hunting." When Lee read those words he
wept.

For each of us there is a time for toughness and a time for
tenderness. A time for resolve and a time for compassion. An iron
will is not the same as an iron spirit. Another courageous
American, Martin Luther King, Jr. some hundred years later
encouraged us to exhibit tough minds and soft hearts...not the
other way around.

Be mentally tough; your resolve and determination will overcome
great obstacles along life's path. But let your heart be soft;
your compassion and love will make the journey worth it.

This and that

For those of you who have been following Ben's progress, this is the latest e-mail from his wife:I just found out that Ben's latest HCG level is 74. Remember, that's down from 1.5 million at the beginning! So, that's encouraging.


Other news: Since Ben won't be able to drive for a good while after having his brain surgery, and now the seizure, he's decided to give away his truck. So, he's donating it to CIU for them to use at the Physical Plant. We've attached a picture--it's the only truck Ben has ever owned, so we're a little sentimental.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My daughter and I drove to Virginia to attend a baby shower for my son and his wife. It was a co-ed shower, so that was fun. Some of Sabrina's friends from work were there; David's boss at his construction job; friends from David's former ministry; friends from their Wednesday night Bible study. The shower took place in David and Sabrina's new home. I'll post more with a couple of pictures later.

We drove, so It was quite a trip...very uneventful going up, but lots of rain on the way home. One thing that we noticed, however, was that along I-95 and I-64, there were no billboards. Are they outlawed in Virginia? SRP, maybe you can tell me the answer to that.

I have an eye appointment this afternoon with the retina specialist to see how the lasering of my bleeds has progressed. My vision has not been impaired so far, for which I am so grateful.

More later...

Yellow hibiscus

Many of you posted so many beautiful spring flowers this year. After the cold, bleak winter, the flowers of spring are surely wonderful. Here in Florida we don't have cold, bleak winters. That's why we have so many snowbirds...but that's another story. We do have flowers all the year through.

The hibiscus is my favorite flower. It can be seen in several colors. Some, like the one shown above, are single while others are double. I am particularly fond of the single hibiscus. I love its simplicity. It's life is fleeting. It opens in the morning and then closes by evening. While it is oen, it is as if it smiling upon the day. This one was smiling at me this morning when I went out to pick up the paper and pet the kitty, seen in the post below. 

Kitty

I think I've mentioned the little cat who lives across the street from me. We've been friends for a while now. She started coming over for some scratching and loving several months ago. Not too long ago, the people who lived in her house moved out. Did they take Kitty? No. Someone from the family has moved in, but I don't know if they feed her or not.
I told my daughter that I was going to start putting food out for her. One day I saw her over on her front porch, patiently waiting for someone to love her. I walked across the street with a dish of food and water. She didn't wait for me to put the dish down before she came to it.
I since have moved the food dish to my front porch. This morning when I went out she was in the driveway. I've tried to photograph her from time to time. This morning she wouldn't be still. Whenever I'd bend over to try to get her photo, she rubbed against my leg and then rolled around on the driveway, waiting to be scratched. (That's a displaced participle, isn't it.) It was the cat who was waiting to be scratched, not the driveway. Oh, well.

I've noticed another kitty who has been coming around, so I'm sure that I'm feeding not just one cat. There are probably some raccoons who come around as well.

So, I guess I'll call her mine until someone tells me otherwise. 

Brain Dead

I must be brain dead. I read everyone's wonderful posts, and I think to myself, "Why can't I write like that?"

Last Saturday our Sweet Adelines chorus had a coaching session that went from 9 to 3. Coaching was us was Jackpot, a quartet from our region who placed sixth at international last year. What a day we had. We worked on our competition songs. Each of the ladies contributed so much, from helping us with our breathing, to listening for the other parts so that we sang smoothly as with one voice. It was a wonderful day.

Later that evening our chorus took part in a benefit for a men's quartet who is traveling to Indianapolis to compete in the men's international contest. After standing on risers for most of five hours, I wondered how we would do in the evening. Along with our chorus, Venetian Harmony sang. The men's chorus from Sarasota sang. Two of the men's quartets each sang a couple of songs, then the Ditchfield family sang. This group is made up of a man, his wife, three sons, one daughter, and a daughter-in-law. The quartet, My Three Sons, which is Mr. Ditchfield and his sons are the quartet going to international.

Our chorus didn't get on the risers until about 9 o'clock in the evening. I wondered if we would have the energy needed to sing well after sitting for a couple of hours. When we got on the risers, though, the energy came. We put into practice what we had learned during the day. And we had FUN.

We were still talking about it this evening at chorus rehearsal.

Thursday afternoon, Sarah and I are leaving for Waynesboro, Virginia, to attend a baby shower for my daughter-in-law. It will be a quick trip, too quick, since I have to get back for an eye appointment on Tuesday afternoon, but at least we'll get to share in the fun for a few hours.

Father's Day

I've read blogs about fathers today. I rejoice with those who still have their dad and can talk to him. In some cases, the adult child is living with the parents, seeing to their care while they're not quite finished raising their own children.

My daddy died when I was twenty-two. Now I'm 64. Many years have passed. I have pictures of him at my college graduation. He was so proud of me and what I had accomplished. He had only finished the eighth grade. I don't know why he did not finish, perhaps to work and help out the family. He was a very smart man. His penmanship was immaculate. I don't have any letters that he wrote, but I have his signature on documents that he signed, and I cherish even those.

When I graduated from college, I went to Norwood, Ohio, and taught in a small Christian school for a couple of years. That first year, one of the teachers could sense that I was homesick, and said to me, "Why don't we go to Florida for Veteran's Day weekend?" And so we did. That weekend was enough for me to realize that it was o.k. that I had moved so far away from home (or so everyone in Florida thought.)

Since I had come home in November, I didn't come home for Christmas. Rather, I took a bus to Iowa to visit a college teacher and then up to Minnesota to visit in the teacher's home...the one who had come to Florida with me. On the morning of January 24, 1964, I received a phone call that my daddy had died during the night of a heart attack. My life stopped for a while. I came home that day to see my mother, distraught, and grieving this man who had been her husband for 30 years. As I met her, I thought to myself, "I've got to be strong for her," and so I never cried during the week I was home for his funeral. But that came about a month later. I started crying and thought I'd never stop.

Fast forward to 2002. My daughter graduated from college in 1999; my son, in December 2001. Their father was so proud of them. He had had a hard time in school...not a scholar, but again, a very smart man. He found in his genius in the electrical trade. All of his clients know about his children and everything they were doing. His life ended in a tragic accident in April 2002. My children's lives and mine have been alike in losing our fathers.

Just a few years ago, I began grieving for my father in a new way, and I couldn't quite figure out why. Then I came to the realization that I had not ever known my father as an adult. I didn't know really who he was, and what he was thinking, what made him tick. I didn't have that friendship with him on the adult level that I was seeing with my friends and acquaintances with their adults parents.

So I think on today with a bit of sadness, not just for me, but also for my children, who do not have their father to laugh with and cry with, and just be with.

Laughing -- It's Just Plain Fun

A couple of updates -- Ben has finished his fourth round of chemotherapy and his having continued physical therapy. The mangoes are ripening. I sent a box to my friend in New York. I hope they don't ripen too much before she gets them.

The post today is from YOUR LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM, a free newsletter
sharing life, love and laughter, published by Steve Goodier.


LAUGHING -- IT'S JUST PLAIN FUN

My friend Jack was in the hospital when the new pastor from his
church arrived. He sent a message that he would like the pastor to
call on him. Before the pastor came to the hospital, Jack ordered an
extra catheter bag from the hospital pharmacy. Since he was a
pharmacist in the hospital, he knew the staff well enough to make
such a request. Then he filled the bag with his favorite pale soft
drink --Mountain Dew.

The new pastor soon arrived and they visited for a while. At one
point, Jack reached down and picked up the bag from the side of the
bed. He studied it for a moment and then said, "It looks a little
thin. Maybe I'll run it through again." And he drank from it.

After the new pastor recovered from shock, he laughed with his new
friend. And he discovered through the years that Jack brought a
valuable gift to life -- laughter.

"The most thoroughly wasted of all days is that on which one has not
laughed," said Nicholas de Chamfort. And another merry soul made
this wise observation: "Ever notice how everyone who gets a flat tire
can laugh about it a week or a month later? The shorter the distance
between the flat and the laugh, the healthier the body, the keener
the mind, the stronger the spirit."

Laugh quickly. Laugh heartily. Laugh often. Sure, it's good for your
body, mind and spirit ... but mostly, it's just plain fun.
__________

Up a Tree

As you know from my posts, I'm going to be a grandmother pretty soon. Most people my age have grandchildren who are graduating from high school and college and getting married, but I married late and was in my mid to late thirties when I had my children. My life was wonderful before children and even more wonderful after, so I can't imagine what being a grandmother is like. From what everyone says, there is nothing like it.

In thinking about this baby who is going to make her appearance in about seven weeks, I've been going through baby pictures and pictures of the children when they were small. This is one of my favorites.

When we built our house in 1976, I was expecting my daughter. We had wanted to find property that had trees. A friend of ours who was dabbling in real estate, found a double lot in the city that had never been built on. In fact, it had been kept a bit like a park. When we actually built the house, we had to remove some trees. A landscape company traded work with us for some of the areca palms that were on the property.

However, in the front of the lot, there was a big cedar tree, which we definitely did not remove. It has provided shade for our house. I'm sure over the years it has helped save on our electric bill. It also was a fun place for the children to climb (not too high up) and a great place for me to get some good pictures of them. 

Alberto's Aftermath

Well, the most we received from tropical storm Alberto was quite a bit of rain and some strong wind. As I said in a previous post, our area seems to escape the wrath of the storms. I would say that we’re blessed, but then, what about the people who are hit? It’s always hard to know how to pray when a storm is on its way. You don’t want it to hit you, but that leaves all the other people.

During the night there was quite a bit of wind. This morning I walked out into the back yard and saw probably 100 mangoes lying on the ground. They are still green, but I think they will ripen. They have little yellow dots on them. I’m going to box some up and send them to a friend in New York. We worked together in Haiti, and she loved them there.

In Haiti, during the season that mangoes and avocadoes were ripe and plentiful, when people would come to the clinic with ulcers or sores of any kind, it was noted that the sores healed so much more quickly. The good vitamins in both of those fruits aided in the healing process.

The mango is in the same family as poison ivy and cashew nuts. One day my husband picked up several from the yard to take to the lady next door, and his arm broke out in a rash. He had laid them against his arm to carry them. He stopped at the dermatologist’s office to see if he could take a look at his rash. John said, “Don, you have poison ivy.” Don said, “But I havne’t been in poison ivy.” But he had handled the mangoes.

Now, what to do with all these mangoes. They are native to India, and I know green ones are used to make chutney. I guess I’ll have to do a search for some recipes.

If you’ve never eaten a mango, try one sometime. They are, to me, one of the most delicious fruits that exist. I looked up some information about them, and they have just about everything you need to be healthy. Read this

The fruits, bark and seeds of mango plants have been scientifically shown to possess a range of health-giving properties.
Properties
Mango fruits can help to prevent colon cancer, especially in cases where there is a lack of fibre in the diet. The fruits also contain a compound called mangiferin, which has several medicinal attributes. It is particularly useful in promoting the action of the heart and excretion of urine, calming inflammation, treating diabetes and as an antioxidant. Fruits also contain the chemicals gallic acid and quercetine, which give protection against viruses.
Chemical compounds in extracts from the bark of mango trees have been shown to protect against diarrhoea. The powdered seeds also have antimicrobial activity. Safety
The only toxic parts of the mango plant are various substances that are found in the skin of the fruit and the sap of the trunk. Mango is in the same family as poison ivy (Anacardiacaeae) and, like many other species in this family, can cause allergic reactions in sensitive people. Contact with the skin of the fruit can irritate the skin, and it may be toxic if eaten.
I found this information here,

Tropical depression Alberto

 
As I came out of the grocery store this evening and looked in the western sky, I was taken by the beauty of the sky, but also watched the clouds. If Alberto follows his path, we will be receiving lots of rain by Tuesday morning, if not earlier. Hopefully, that's all that it will be.

Our area of the west coast of Florida has been spared from major hits. In fact, I have read and heard that the Indians used to come to this area for shelter when storms were coming.

I must confess I get a knot in my stomach when these depressions form, wondering which way they will blow. The weathermen are usually pretty much on the money when it comes to predicting. They have such sophisticated equipment these days.

Penn State has an outstanding meterology department. Several of the meterologists in the Tampa Bay area are Penn State grads. When my son first went to Penn State, he lived in the material science and engineering interest dorm. The meteorology majors all lived there. He had one roommate that drove him nuts. All he wanted to do was watch the weather channel. Also, that dorm had the only working balconies...during storms the students were out on them watching the weather, while everyone else took cover. 

A blog about Whitney

I referred to a blog about Laura VanRyn the other day. This is one of the two young ladies in the accident in Indiana. Whitney, who was thought to be Laura, is convalescing now in Michigan. You can read about her recovery here.

This story is such a testimony of God's sustaining grace.

Jack the Cat

Attention all bears! Stay out of Jack the Cat's yard. One unfortunate bear entered the yard and got chased up a tree. When he came down, Jack proceeded to chase him up another. Beware of Jack!

Rock-a-by, Baby

 
Twenty-seven years ago this was the scene at our house as our son came home to live with us. Pretty soon my son will have a picture like this one...one of him holding his new daughter. I can hardly wait! 

Kitty Cat Positions

After I had been blogging for a short time, I went around the world reading blogs of many different authors. I soon came across Melange, a blog of wonderful photography and prose. Anytime I visit there, I come away with a smile on my face as I read about the family cats (all seven of them), look at a ladybug on a leaf with her lunch, or read about the daughter.

Recently when I read about one of the cats, I was reminded of this book.

I bought this book several years ago, after reading a copy that a friend had. I loaned mine to a friend, and I think she thought that I had given it to her because I never saw it again. This field guide to kitty sightings has a map of the world in it with all the places where cats have been sighted. Of course, the whole world is colored in.

Each drawing of a cat has an appropriate title, along with the scientific name. When I read about Miss Scarlett and her yoga, I was reminded of this particular page in the book.

Looking through the book I was reminded of Mr. Rhett, another of the Siamese who resides with Miss Scarlett. His mom wrote that he keeps her feet warm by getting all comfy on top of them. His sighting is in the book as well.


I did eventually get another copy of the book by going to Amazon.com. It is no longer in print, but I was able to buy a used copy of it. I won't loan it out again.

A note from Ben's wife

Good Monday morning. Several of you have commented on Ben's progress. Here is the latest update from his wife, Liza.

Well, God is up to his usual prayer answering, and we're very thankful for it. When we learned that Ben would be able to do outpatient rehab starting this week after our LAST hospital visit (yea!), we were very happy. It will be a more rigorous routine for him, and allow more intensive therapy than he was getting through the home health therapists (who have all been excellent). He will be going to the outpatient rehab at the same hospital that has been treating his cancer, so not only are we familiar with the place, but it is very close by.

But the biggest prayer request I have had lately is that we would be able to come into contact with a hand specialist there who could really do wonders with Ben's right hand which is still not functional, even though he has regained some movement. When they called to set up his evaluation, I learned the occupational therapist he will be working with is certified in hands and was described as the best person for this job. So, one more big prayer answered by a big God. Please continue praying with us for Ben's healing, and especially that his therapy would yield fantastic results! He has two more treatments left, and we will be finished on June 12th--Lord willing!

Incredible faith

Yesterday and today I have been reading the blog of Laura VanRyn, one of the young women who was in the tragic accident in Indiana, that took the life a staff member and students from Taylor University.

As you have read in the news, there was a mixup in identity of the two young women. The parents of the dead girl were caring for the survivor, thinking that it was their daughter.

They say in their blog that, as time went on, and she began to come out of the coma, that they began to wonder if this was truly their daughter. It is just amazing to read...of the faith of these two families in this time of grief and confusion that has come into their lives.