Augghast!!!

 

morning dew on our red Knockout Rose

I haven't written in nearly two weeks. My 'excuse' (as shared in my previous post) was that I had a stack of books waiting on me.

reading books in progress

I've not completed reading all of the books in this stack. Some are done and on the shelf; others wait for me in the various places scattered throughout the house, wherever I 'land' throughout the day. I read more than one book at a time. I'm sure I'm not alone in that. 

organized collection of books and puzzles

Some books are beside my recliner, as well as my Sudoku, Word Search, and coloring books. They're within easy reach when TV doesn't interest me. 

stopping for water on our bike ride

The hot weather that has affected most of our outdoor activities beyond the commitment to bike riding every morning and the necessary yard upkeep. Plants grow really fast in Florida's summer heat and almost daily afternoon rain storms.

cutting the branches down for disposal

With that said, one fun thing we did was to take a road trip to one of our favorite lunch destinations to meet up with some of our kids. On that day an intermittent breeze helped us to tolerate the heat.

them

There was the usual "I take your picture; you take mine"...

Us

We were seated beside the water under colorful canvas shades to block the unrelenting sun. Yes, people wore sunglasses but I made them remove them for the photo shoot.

Crump's Landing,
Homosassa, Florida

Some tables had those tiki hut roofs that promote the tropical theme.

looking west where the river empties into the Gulf

Our table was literally on the edge of the deck over the Homosassa River with the watercraft passing by. This is one of my favorite things about living in Florida.

a fellow diner

Sometimes the birds at these outdoor restaurants can be a real nuisance, but in the several times we've dined at this place, that has not been a problem. Our daughter-in-law did a quick search on her phone to determine this dinner companion was a Goliath Heron. We had apparently not ordered what he had in mind since he did not bother us.

from my nephew

Back at home this special piece of mail found its way to me. I have obliterated the address for security reasons, but kept how my nephew addressed this card. My sister's son, she tells me he addresses his cards to her as "Gram," so I'm not the only one who gets this fun personalized treatment. 

unexpected footwear

Speaking of Sister, she met with some adversity this month. A trip to the doctor to address one issue revealed another problem and resulted in some fancy footwear. Blessedly for her it was her left foot, so she was able to drive herself home. We're hoping it's all healed before the snow flies in her part of the country -- those toes could get pretty cold!

Some adversity visited me this month, too. Avoiding gory detail, I'll tell you just enough for you to understand what happened. Within less than twelve hours, I ended up in two hospital Emergency Rooms for two different issues. 

I am not one to live dangerously, unless you think swabbing the inside of my nose with a Q-tip is a dare devil act. 

Earlier in the month I was advised by my doctor and others to apply petroleum jelly to the insides of my nostrils because a number of brief nosebleeds had become a problem. Apparently one evening I poked myself, causing a more serious bleed. I nursed it along for four hours before deciding we'd better go to the ER. 

*Note: I have learned since then that after only 15 minutes of a bad bleed, one should seek help.

The ER packed my nostril TIGHT and left a long plastic thing dangling in front of my mouth.  They kept watch on me for well over an hour before releasing me to go home, just after midnight.

One would think at that hour of the night, I would have no trouble sleeping. However, the tight pack in one nostril nearly closed off the other side, so mouth-breathing was my best option for breathing. The packing was so bulky and tight that I wondered if the size of my nostrils would match when this was all over!

I was miserable and could sleep for only a couple of minutes at a time. There was plenty of time for me to consider the more serious aspects of my life as Gary slept soundly beside me. Yes, I prayed pitiful, me-centered requests.

The next morning we followed instructions given the night before to see an ENT (ear, nose, throat doctor). I had high hopes the packing would be removed, but not only had the bleeding not yet entirely stopped, but another problem had presented itself. 

My blood pressure was above 200. The doctor kindly said he did not want to alarm me, but that kind of blood pressure could bring on a stroke. I was dispatched immediately to the hospital ER.

This was a shock to me; to my knowledge I've never had high blood pressure before. We spent several  hours in the ER as they did all sorts of tests in search of the cause for the high BP. All the results came back as normal, so the conclusion was heredity, age, and stress. I was given the appropriate medication and sent home.

The next day the ENT removed the packing and to my great surprise and delight, there was no need to cauterize the affected area. 

from She Shines

It's been over a week since that adventure and I am doing well. Daily monitoring of my BP, taking my pills, and lots of contemplation of changes I should make -- all seem to be helping me to cope with calm.

The above chart popped up on Facebook in the midst of all of this, clearly from the Lord Himself! While it's easy to say I already knew these things, obviously it's time for me to give this advice more thought and application.

I say "farewell" to August, which (with tongue-in-cheek) I'm referring to as "augghast!!!" 

Until next time, grace and peace.

morning dew on our pink Knockout Rose

Time Out to Read

art by Mary Engelbreit

Blog readers, 

I'm taking some time to catch up reading the stack of books that have been awaiting my attention. Not sure when I'll be back. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Grace and peace,

Barbara

My First Love

Daddy (1927 - 1986)

This is the very first man I ever loved with all of my heart. 

He loved me, too, although the story goes that he missed my birth because the doctor told him he may as well go home and get some sleep.  My mother's labor was slow. But then in the wee hours of the morning, I arrived, and some hours later he got the news that he was officially a father. 

He was a very good man, Christian, faithful, kind, strict when necessary, hard-working, handy with carpentry, and determined to fly airplanes instead of following his family in farming or working in the logging industry. 

My stiffest competition for his affection was Mama.

And then when Sister came along a couple of years after me, I had to share Daddy with her, too.

He was a good father with a mix of both playful and strict. The music of the pianist, Liberace, was big in our family in the mid-fifties. When we were very small, Daddy would play like he was Liberace, tickling our ribs and tummies, making us laugh and squirm till we were out of breath. 

His career in aviation resulted in a lot of moves for our family that started out in middle America, took us to the East Coast, then to the West Coast, north to Canada, back to the East, another stint in middle America, and eventually to the Rocky Mountain West. Yes, all those relocations were hard on us. Sometimes Sister and I talk about the results of so much change, but (forgive if this sounds prideful) she and I still turned out to be pretty good people and even graduated without failing any classes along the way. 

As a normal adolescent and with some smart-aleck attitudes as a teen, I was not allowed to get away with such behavior for long when Daddy got back home from his trips. Mama filled him in on "current events" with teen girls, mostly my behavior. 

One of the disadvantages of being the eldest is that everybody (parents and child alike) lacks experience in their roles, so mistakes are made. On the other hand, Sister has told me more than once that she observed us and tried to not make the same mistakes I did. It appears to have served her well.

My mother was the one who led me to ask Jesus to come into my heart when I was 6 years old. It was my Daddy who taught me to spend quiet time alone with the Lord every day with some Bible reading and prayer. I was in the third grade when he impressed me to start that habit, which has continued all these years. 

As I said at the start, Daddy was my First Love. Others have followed, although not in the same way as him. The two enduring romantic loves of my life (my late husband and my current husband) share his more winsome and admirable characteristics, which is what drew me to them in the first place. 

I do wish that Gary had the opportunity to meet Daddy. They were both brought up in some similar circumstances: raised in the Pacific Northwest in small agricultural communities where hard physical responsibilities shaped them into the adults they grew to become.

This week is Daddy's 98th birthday. He's in Heaven and this is the first time my mother is there with him, since her passing last October. 

Scripture tells us in Psalm 127:3 that children are a blessing from the Lord. I know there were times when my parents were tempted to question that in raising me, but I do know I've been very blessed to have them as the first to influence who I have come to be. 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Word Pictures

Back in earlier years of blogging, sometimes there would be a post featuring a color like red or blue, or magenta. The blogger would take us all through her house to show us examples of that color. Yes, that may have been a result of 'writer's block.' 🤔

While I don't suffer from that mental malady today, there are some things in life that are not worthy (or appropriate) for the blog. So instead of giving you an account of my recent days, the title of today's post, "Word Pictures," is what I've come up with. It is literally true, chock-full of photos of words. I am illustrating many examples of words found throughout my home. 

Preparing for this article was a fun scavenger hunt. It would be a good game to play when the grandchildren come to visit. 

 

Words are fascinating. They can be used in countless ways:

instruct

warn

apology

heal

encourage

gratitude

hint

decorate

describe

remind

entertain

challenge

convict

convince

condemn

discourage

love

relax

lie

accuse

intrigue

forgive

We've all heard the misconception from childhood:

"Sticks and stones may break my bones

but words will never hurt me."

Words are a powerful instrument that are used in both positive and negative ways:

wisely

ignorantly

carefully

too much

There are some things that should never be said.... And there are other things we neglect to say that need to be expressed. 

As my greatest lifestyle teacher [mother] used to say:

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

One of my children, having reached adulthood, reached this conclusion:

"Just because you think it 

doesn't mean you have to say it."

Here is an observation from the Old Testament on the timing and suitability of words:

A word fitly spoken is like 

apples of gold in pictures of silver.

Proverbs 25:11

This thought is perhaps the most scary of all:

"Death and life are in the power 

of the tongue [our spoken words]."

Proverbs 18:21

It has been said that words, once spoken, are like toothpaste -- you cannot put them back into the tube if you regret what you said. Like everybody else, I have said things I should not have uttered, things I regret, things spoken out of ignorance, anger, guilt, and so forth. 

The Lord's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). I apply this to my poor judgement and outright wrong behavior of the past: God forgives the repentant heart and His kindness to us applies from here on out. 

Having observed all of the above, this is my prayer:

Let the words of my mouth,

and the meditation of my heart,

be acceptable in thy sight,

O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

In closing, I am reminded of one more warning about words:

"When there are many words, 

transgression is unavoidable,

but he who restrains his lips is wise."

Proverbs 10:19

Until next time, grace and peace.