Honest Answers to Serious Questions

selfie created with Chatgpt
"Cautious Glance Into the Shadows"

This week's questions from Joyce at her blog, From This Side of the Pond, are somewhat serious and introspective. If you want to join in with your blog, click here.

1. Do you think you're driven more by curiosity or comfort? Explain. 

It really depends on what is confronting me. I'll go with "comfort." People who are TOO curious tend to be annoying and/or test the boundary lines set up by the needs of others.  

This has become more important to me as I age and have learned a few things about relationships. 

However, if I need to know something of a serious, consequential nature, I have learned to stop worrying and go find out what I need to know so I can handle the matter with some competence. I am not curious just for the sake of curiosity. 

By the way, a wise friend told me years ago that we don't have to answer every question asked of us. In a court of law, yes; but beyond that, realize some people are either nosey about what they don't need to know and/or it's not in anyone's best interest to answer their question.

2. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer? 

We store the Energizer Bunny our batteries in a refrigerator. We have ice packs in the freezer for injuries and sore muscles, etc.

from Wikipedia

3. Are you comfortable with silence? If you're home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What's your favorite place to find silence/be silent? 

I am comfortable with silence. Depending on my mood and what I'm doing at the time, music in the background is sometimes my choice. 

Do I seek out times and places to be silent? With just the two of us in our home, and with both of us being comfortable with silence, I don't need to seek quiet places. Too much noise from people, the TV, and landscaping equipment wears on my nerves. 

I usually have silence in the room when I am composing a blog post (like right now), which really helps me to concentrate better. 

Here is an interesting graphic that popped up while I was responding to this question:

4. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping...which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?

I'm okay with not being especially skilled with any of these choices. I relate the most to landscaping since I pull weeds outside every week.

a rose clipped from one of our bushes yesterday

5. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others? 

If I need help, I'm needy. If I feel confident to do the thing myself, I can be very independent. My answer to this question relies heavily on what is confronting me, my level of experience, and how brave I am with the unknown. 

To be very honest, I'm not all that brave. When confronted with a huge loss a few years ago, I was reminded of God's instruction to Old Testament Joshua. He was designated to lead the Children of Israel (over 2 million people) out of the wilderness after Moses died. 

Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid;

do not be discouraged,

for the Lord your God will be with you

wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 NIV

The struggle has been real for me, but I am more brave than I used to be. In the midst of my scary stuff, I sincerely thank the Lord for the people He has given to help me: family, friends, marriage to my second husband, scripture, motivational books, articles and websites. 

Gary and me

To answer the second part of this question, I have to remind myself to be patient with anyone who is not in agreement with me. We are all "in process" and should give others our forbearance with their foibles, whatever that may be.

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Sharing here a familiar verse that has blessed me countless times. I hope it's an encouragement to any of my readers who may need a boost today:

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and 

saves those who are crushed in spirit.” 

Psalm 34:18

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. If you need to post anonymously, please leave your first name or initials. Thank you.

Summary of Whataweek

illustration by Chatgpt

It's been an eventful week here with both highs and lows. I'm processing some of it mentally and am not inclined to discuss it much. 

While musing over what to record in this post, I gave [free] Chatgpt the following instructions and the above illustration is the result..

watercolor back of 70 year old woman sitting at desk contemplating what to write, short salt-and-pepper gray hair, wearing dark pink long sleeved t-shirt, Trust the Lord

👉🏻 got good news that a family member's medical situation is better than anticipated -- a highlight, to be sure! Thank You, Lord!!!

👉🏻 one of my grandsons was recognized by his employer for his great work performance. 

👉🏻 we addressed a landscaping situation

👉🏻 Gary bought tickets for us to see 1950s teen idol Frankie Avalon in concert. (the real man, not an impersonator!)

👉🏻 tried to fix a computer problem on my own; had to visit my techie guy who gave me the solution at no charge.

👉🏻 completed one jiigsaw puzzle and started another

👉🏻 we both took care of banking business

👉🏻 attended a meeting for transition of our +55 community from the builder to the residents. 

👉🏻 served as one of several discussion leaders with my ladies' Bible study group; we're in Philippians chapter 3.

👉🏻 on our morning bike ride we observed how recent rains have caused one of our golf course lakes to overflow into the sand trap

👉🏻 the very next day a sink hole opened up in that same lake and the majority of the water had disappeared! Birds are enjoying a smorgasbord of fish!

* note: the sink hole is not connected to the hurricane. We live some 4-5 hours' drive from the destruction of the hurricane.

👉🏻 Hurricane Isaias slammed into the property of my family; no physical injuries but lots of downed trees and fences, etc. Some damage to the house but we don't know the extent of that yet because of the tree that fell against it. As of my last communication with them (and the TV news reports), many of the counties in the Panhandle are without power.

Internet photo of Hurricane Isaias 
a few days ago

👉🏻 continuing my reading of Pastor Robert Jeffress' book, Final Conquest (a Verse-by-Verse Study of the Book of Revelation).

👉🏻 began reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln (purchased at his museum on our recent road trip).

👉🏻 Watched our weekly church sermon on the subject of miracles.

ptv.org

👉🏻 a family member is running a half-marathon through California's Redwoods today.

driving through a California Redwood
(internet photo)

👉🏻 did my laundry, baked more Mini Taco Cups in Wonton Wrappers, and indulged with Gary in one of our favorite treats: Boston-Creme-filled donuts

As you can see, it was an eventful week here. As I've been typing out this post, I'm processing the harder aspects of it and definitely praying for the family and friends who are personally affected. We know the Lord is in control. We  know He allows adversity. For His children any/all trouble is ultimately for a good purpose even if that's not readily apparent at the time. He is good. 

I think of going to the dentist. Sometimes an extraction or a filling, etc is needed. It's not necessarily due to anything wrong or bad that we have done; it's just life and we deal with it appropriately. The same applies to hurricanes and sinkholes. 

A verse from the Old Testament Book of Job comes to mind:

Though He slay me,

yet I will trust in Him.

Job 13:15

And then there is this:

We know that in all things 

God works for the good

of those who love Him,

who have been called 

according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. If you leave a comment as anonymous, please give your first name in the comment. Comments without a name will be deleted. 

Thoughtful Memories on a Rainy Day

our roses enjoying the rain

On this rainy afternoon, Joyce's weekly questions have me thinking about mental recollection, memories, strategies to remember, and embracing the pleasant things of life.   If you want to link up to her blog with your answers to these questions, click here.

On the subject of memories, recently I came across this very special family snapshot:

my maternal grandparents; 
photo probably taken about 1924

1. What's something you recently forgot to do? Is your memory these days more like a sieve or an elephant? 

My memory is pretty good but I have to work harder to concentrate when there is noise nearby. As for what have I recently forgot to do? I don't remember! 🥴

2. Share a trick/strategy you have to help you remember things you need to remember. 

I have all sorts of things I do to help me remember things I need to do:

- my calendars (hanging on the pantry door, on my desk, on my phone and computer)

- sticky notes to myself

- plastic vitamin containers with a compartment for every day of the week

- when I want/need to do some chore but am not ready to do it yet, I pull out an item I'll need to carry out the chore. Example: once a month I run distilled white vinegar through our coffee maker. The other day I pulled the jug of vinegar out of the pantry and set it on the kitchen counter. That reminded me to take care of the task later in the day when I had the time to do it.

3. What's your favorite fall vegetable to cook with? Do you prefer your fall veggies roasted, blended into a warm soup, or fresh in a crisp autumn salad? 

I love vegetables, all of them. I like them in a warm soups and in salads, but my favorite is roasted.

4. October 5th is/was National Do Something Nice Day. Did you? If so tell us about it. Or maybe someone did something nice for you, and if that's the case please share. 

Of course I did something nice for someone else on National Do Something Nice Day -- because I try to be nice every day! Ha-Ha! But lest I come across as bragging I'll say that Gary did several nice things for me when he turned on my bicycle blinker lights before I joined him outside, and he keeps the tires pumped up. (going back to question #1, I do tend to forget to turn my bike blinker lights OFF but Gary notices if that happens.)

5.  Nathaniel Hawthorne is credited with the quote "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."  

Do you tend to spend more time outside this time of year? 

Do you actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in your daily routine? Elaborate. 

Yes, oh my yes! When the heat and humidity here in Florida ease up, I definitely enjoy being outdoors more. We ride our bicycles about 5 1/2 miles nearly every morning after breakfast year 'round, so no matter what the temperature, we're out there getting our exercise, fresh air, and sunshine. Often after we get back from that, we do whatever yard work is needed. My big thing is to keep up with the weeds and pruning back our 3 rose bushes while Gary cuts the grass, does the edging, and trims the bushes.

Do I actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in my daily routine? Sure. Since we're retired now, pausing to appreciate [whatever] is easier to do.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Per my usual habit of closing out with a Bible verse, here is one that has recently been an encouragement to me:

If any of you lacks wisdom,

let [her] ask of God,

who gives to all liberally and

without reproach,

and it will be given to [her].

James 1:5

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

P.S. Comments left without a first name will be deleted.

Celebrating Gary's Birthday

 

My readers may not think of us as "party animals," but in our own way, it's been a weekend of good times.

The cards have been coming in via snail mail and the Internet. 

This one created by Blue Mountain Arts came from a long-time friend who is currently on vacation in South Africa!!

I asked Chatgpt to come up with an old-fashioned arithmetic word problem to express how many birthdays Gary has celebrated, thus far. See if you can figure it out:

A teacher has 12 boxes of pencils, with 7 pencils in each box. She then gets 5 more pencils. After giving 7 pencils to a student, how many pencils does she have left?

You can leave your answer in the comments at the end of this post. And just so you know, I ran this past Gary to see if he could figure it out (of course he did!!!) and to ask his permission. He said it was okay.

One of the activities on this special weekend was our drive north about 45 minutes to Williston, Florida to visit the Annual Peanut Festival.

It was a typical small-town type of celebration that drew A LOT OF PEOPLE (as experienced when we were looking for a parking spot). We were each given a small bag of Florida peanuts, a bag of free popcorn, a free fan (much appreciated because the heat and humidity were pretty high), and of course, the advertised, highly-anticipated, free grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The sandwich was quite warm and the peanut butter was soft and gooey! Sooo good!

Vendors were selling all the usual stuff but nothing we didn't already have, didn't need, nor want.

On our way back to the truck, we stopped to take this picture of Spanish Moss draped from an oak tree -- a very common sight all over Florida. (very "southern")

We talked about going to a restaurant for lunch but the yummy meatloaf at home won the debate. After lunch we settled into our recliners to watch the Air Force vs. Navy football game. Gary enjoyed the game since he is an Air Force retiree and veteran. I enjoyed the scenes from the USAF Academy since I'm a former military wife (USAF) and lived in Colorado Springs twice for a combined total of about 10 years. 

High School years:
Gary is in the top row, on the left

A TV announcer described one of the players as one who "played with  his hair on fire." I asked Gary if he played that way on his high school team. His reply: "Nooooo ! I hid under the stands! You can get killed out there!" He was actually the co-captain in his senior year.

 

He's joking about hiding. From our very beginnings he has made me laugh. Every. Single. Day. 

Air Force was doing well, so after half-time I got busy in the kitchen to make brownies in my seasoned cast iron wedge pan. My secret to keep them from sticking is Bakers Joy, which is a combination of flour and cooking oil. I use my fingers to spread the lubrication into the corners.

While the brownies baked, somebody got to lick the bowl.

When first bringing the pan out of the oven, it's exciting to see how high the brownies have risen. They tend to deflate as they cool, but the taste is wonderful.

All of the above happened on Saturday. His actual birthday is today, Sunday, October 4th. 

All of our days begin with Gary bringing coffee into our room where we listen to instrumental music on the TV and quietly talk about plans for the day.

Last night I left a special coffee in the kitchen for him to discover this morning. It was a pleasant start to his birthday, and Gary even asked me what other flavors the store had to offer.

He opened the card from me and two packages, each with a jigsaw puzzle to feed our current hobby. 

and

I got these from Amazon after searching for designs with classic cars, since that is a subject Gary has loved all of his life. Also, these puzzles remind us of one of the first movies we watched together in our early dating days, American Graffiti. 

Link to the movie trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etGj_xQSKRM

My long-time readers remember that the same week of our first date, Gary bought a classic 2002 Ford Thunderbird. He likes to say he had to get the car to get the girl!

 

While that is not exactly right, it didn't hurt!! (for those of my readers who don't know, Gary and I were both widowed during the COVID pandemic and a mutual friend introduced us about a year later. It's been a "Hallmark movie romance" from the beginning and we've been married almost 4 1/2 years.)

On our second date I convinced him to let me take pictures of him with the car. While this gave him snapshots of the car, it gave me photos of HIM to dream over when we could not be together. 🥰 So that's the story of why I gave him puzzles of classic cars. 

Getting back to the birthday celebrations: birthday cards, phone greetings, and of course, the traditional make - a - wish - and - blow - out - the - candle rounded out the special occasion.

Only Gary and the Lord know what he wished before blowing out his candle but I hope all his dreams come true!

(Yes, I made him light his own candle so I could snap this picture!)

For it is by grace you have been saved,

through faith --

and this is not from yourselves,

it is the gift of God --

not by works,

so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Praying for you grace and peace, 

Barbara

P.S. If you're so inclined, figure out the answer to the arithmetic word problem and leave your answer in the comments. 😉 Please leave your first name if you are commenting anonymously.