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.

Moving Into Autumn Themes

created per my instructions to Chatgpt

Today I am responding to Joyce's Hodgepodge questions, concluding with more photos from our recent road trip to Kentucky and also a few words about dinosaurs. (!!) If you want to link your blog to Joyce's Hodgepodge questions, click here.

1. When you think of autumn what sounds come to mind? 

Autumn always reminds me of Roger Williams' piano version of the song, The Autumn Leaves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH0d7lgO0Js

2.  Is a trip to the mountains something you enjoy? What's your favorite mountain? 

I-70 heading west into the Rocky Mountains
outside of Denver, Colorado

Mountains will always hold a high place (😉 pun intended) in my heart since I've lived alongside Colorado's Rocky Mountains more years than any of the many other places in my life.

3. What's something that once felt like a mountain, but is now just a molehill? 

Taking on the financial bookkeeping after my first husband died was a mountain for me. My daughter and my second husband have been a big help to me, but the reality is that I've had to take on the responsibility myself. While I now (almost 6 years later) won't go so far as to label that responsibility as a "molehill," I am handling it with relative ease. I literally thank the Lord every day for getting me through that, one of the most intimidating, scary experiences of my life. God has been faithful to me!

click here  to listen to the song

4. Let's play this or that-fall foods edition. Yes, you have to choose. 

• pumpkin spice latte or chai latte 
• apple cider or hot chocolate  
• stew or chili
• sweet potato casserole or green bean casserole 
• butternut squash soup or creamy mushroom soup 
• cranberry sauce or gravy 

5. Sum up your September in a sentence or two. 

Weary of our summer's heat and humidity, we escaped to Kentucky and grabbed some cooler weather to bring down to Florida as we drove home. (My last post addressed part of that trip; #6 below will tell more.)

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

After we spent time at The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky (40 miles south of Cincinnati), we drove Southwest to Hodgenville to visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, his boyhood home, and the Lincoln Museum. Pictures follow:

This is a reproduction of Abraham Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home in Hodgenville. I say that this is a "reproduction" because the real birthplace house was physically moved to the Abraham Lincoln Visitor Center, a few miles away. See the next picture .....

This photo was taken at the Lincoln Visitor Center. The actual house in which he was born was moved to the inside of this awesome building. You see all of the steps required to see it -- we chose to observe from afar. 

The area is beautiful with lots of trees, manicured grass, and benches positioned periodically along that staircase.

Also at this location is a Visitors Center (with restrooms) and a gift shop area. Here Gary is closely examining one of the display cases.

We then drove a little farther into Hodgenville to visit the Lincoln Museum. It's located in a couple of store fronts on the downtown traffic circle ("roundabout"). We were easily able to park right in front of the main door. This picture was taken from the outside, looking into some of the several windows from the sidewalk.

My sister has a rich history with miniatures. Because of her, I know that here we are looking at "room boxes", one-room scenes depicting some of President Lincoln's life. The one on the far right is his deathbed.

Inside the museum, which is absolutely full of Lincoln-era memorabilia, this is a life-size scene of young Lincoln working as a store clerk. You may have heard the story of how at one day's end, he realized he had not given the correct change to a customer. He sought her out to make it right, validating the saying, "Honest Abe," as he was called.

A quote by Mr. Lincoln. The picture is dark and hard to read, but the quote is worth repeating:

"Better to remain silent

and be thought a fool 

than to speak out and

remove all doubt."

There were several life-size scenes from his life, but I captured only two of them. This is Robert E. Lee on the left with Ulysses S. Grant on the right at the McLean home at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, where they met on April 9, 1865 for the surrender of the Civil War.

My souvenir purchases: 3 refrigerator magnets, a book about Lincoln's four sons, and a bookmark.

Our last stop during this Kentucky trip was to Mammoth Cave National Park.

Unhappily, upon our arrival we were told the power had gone out. They did not know the cause yet, nor how long it would take to restore the power. They could not even allow us into the visitor center, and certainly not into the caves. 

After giving the matter some serious thought, we decided to head for home. While on the road we shared with each other our experiences of visiting other caves: (Gary) Luray Caverns in Virginia , (me) Cave of the Winds in Colorado Springs, some mines in the Rockies, and Carlsbad in New Mexico. We have no plans to return to Mammoth but the pictures on the internet are very impressive.

The question was brought up in the comments on my last post about dinosaurs not being mentioned in the Bible and/or on the ark. Perhaps this explanation will help:

The Bible does not explicitly use the word "dinosaur" because the term was not invented until 1841. However, some Christians and creationist groups interpret certain massive creatures described in scripture—such as the Behemoth and Leviathan in the Book of Job (Job 40–41)—as descriptions of dinosaur-like animals. 

Job 40:15–24 (The Behemoth): God describes a powerful plant-eating land creature "which [He] made along with you". The text notes that "its tail sways like a cedar," leading some to suggest a large sauropod, though mainstream scholars and other commentators often identify it as a hippopotamus or an elephant. 

Job 41:1–34 (The Leviathan): A formidable, fearsome sea creature described with great strength and armor, which some connect to marine reptiles, though others view it as a crocodile or symbolic imagery. 

Genesis 1:21 (Great Sea Creatures): Mentions that God created great sea monsters (tanin in Hebrew, sometimes translated as "dragons" or "serpents"), which some believe encompasses large aquatic reptiles.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

Looking Back

 We are told to not look back too much lest we get into the weeds of painful memories that tend to morph into bitter regrets. But a little backward glance, especially over the very latest of our days, usually doesn't hurt.... 

We have dined at Crumps Landing along the Homosassa River several times over the last couple of years. When we had our floors replaced, the salesman told us it was a favorite with his family and now we heartily agree.  

I ❤️❤️❤️ eating on the water. It's absolutely one of my favorite things about living in Florida.

All of the dining is outdoors and most of the [many] tables are under umbrellas, awnings, or this very large tiki roof. There are fans in some areas. Beside the water there might be a breeze.

The stretch of river where the restaurant sits is a "no wake zone" for the boats, so aside from background music, there are no obnoxious noises to contend with as we dine. It's about an hour's drive from our home. We arrived at 11am, when they open, and before it could get crowded.

After placing our order, I took this selfie of the two of us, but then Gary said I should take one with the water behind us, so here's that:

Either way, we look like incognito movie stars!! (ha-ha!)

Gary ordered a burger, and I got the steak tacos.

Crumps' food does not disappoint!

As for other recent memories made, the annual rainy season has FINALLY moved into our part of town. We tend to get a really hard downpour about once a day (late afternoon or in the evening) with about one inch registering in our rain gauge. It is helping with the extreme draught conditions we've had for many months (hard as that is to believe for Florida).

In addition to the rain, nature has also provided us with some visitors. These are 2 baby Doves nested in one of our palm trees. 

A raccoon visited us one morning while we were sitting on our back patio. As interesting as that was, there is concern that it may have been diseased. Raccoons are nocturnal animals. When they're prowling around at 10am in broad daylight, they may be sick. We left it alone and it eventually wandered off.

Our current jigsaw puzzle is a doozie (i.e. very hard!). I broke my own promise to myself when I brought this one home from the library. It has 1,000 pieces (500 - 750 pieces is my personal preference). This puzzle has many colorful beach umbrellas that I thought would make this a quick-assemble, but NO! 

It may (or may not) help that we work our puzzles on a glass-topped table. 🤭 But that fact does make for an interesting snapshot, don't you think?!

In the kitchen, one day I got it into my head to try out a recipe for tomato pie. However, when I saw the effort and time that's necessary to chop and drain the juices out of the tomatoes, I opted instead to make my bacon quiche in a ready-made crust and serve sliced tomatoes on the side. There were no complaints from my dinner partner! 😋

To conclude this post that began with "Looking Back," it is no secret there are many things in our past that do not make for pleasant memories. I cannot overlook these two events:

But oddly enough, right in the midst of our unhappy memories, there are good things, too. One of my eleven grandchildren was born on 9/11.

An undeniable fact of life is that we face potholes and pop quizzes [nearly] every day. While I wish that were not true, for those of us who are true Christians, there is blessing in adversity. We tend to learn better through the challenges. In troubles God is trying to get our attention so we can learn, be strengthened, and benefit in helpful ways. 

And 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 NIV

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara