The Deerly Departed

I enjoy driving through cemetaries. No, I'm not morbid. But cemetaries are peaceful, pretty, have lovely trees and wildlife, and you can see some very strange and touching things. You can also see huge chunks of time pass by in the blink of an eye. It makes one very mindful of time. So I never like to say that I'm "killing" time. I will say that we had twenty minutes before our dinner reservation, and we used the time by driving through the cemetary across the street from the restaraunt. Here are a few of the unusual things we saw. But as we were looking, someone else was looking at us. Watching from the edge. Being very careful to keep the tall grass between her face and ours. She never took her eyes off us, and as I snapped away she never moved. It's good to remember that watchers are everywhere, and act accordingly. Here is someone else who is always watching and will never move away.

"From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth - he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do...but the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love...

Psalm 33

I Can't Quite Put My Finger On It

I do not paint my nails, and only take a notion to every five years or so. But yesterday I passed a bottle of yellow nail polish in the drugstore, and since I have been feeling down all week, I snapped it up. I would paint my nails yellow. It would be like having a little sunbeam on each finger tip! How cheerful, I would be a hip grandma! I painted them last night and was very pleased with the results. I started feeling more upbeat. Today when Phil saw them, he was a little less than horrified. He wanted to know why I would paint my nails yellow. I told him that I needed some cheering up and it was easier than dyeing my hair. Then I made the mistake of asking him how he liked it. Here is what he said: "It looks a bit reptilian...you look like a lizard." A lizard??!! He went on to explain. It seems that lizards may have yellow eyes...not quite sure..it just reminds him of lizards. So now when I look at my fingers, I will not be seeing little sunbeams at all. Just call me Godzilla. What makes you feel better when you have the blues, and has it ever backfired? In a lovely coincidence, my blogging friend Ruth has also just done a post on nail polish, and it is much sweeter than mine. You can check it out HERE.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:9,12

Followers

Now for the the answer to yesterday's mystery pictures. The center of a sunflower. You can see it most clearly on my header. There are over 150 species, so the heads look different on each kind. One sunflower head can produce up to 1,000 seeds. And each seed has it's own very tiny flower around it! A whole miniscule garden in the head of one flower! According to Greek mythology, a water-nymph once fell in love with Apollo, god of the sun. But the sun god never even noticed her. The other gods took pity on her and turned her into a sunflower, so she can follow the path of the sun and never lose track of her beloved. When the sunflower looks up to worship it's beloved, it gains strength, and stands tall. In the same way, when we look up and follow the Son, we gain our strength from him and find our place in the world.

"For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." Psalm 84:11

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24,26

Footnote - quite a few of my followers guessed what the pictures were: Grey Like Snuffie, From Melanie's Home To Yours, Jake And Ruth's Photo Blog, Crocheting In Georgis, Wildlife Watcher

Mystery Pictures

Two pictures I have for you here

But what they are is not so clear

There's more to them that you don't see

The whole thing's big, so play with me

Give me a guess before you go

And tomorrow I will let you know

The Good Scissors

Someone recently mentioned on their blog that they were doing a bit of fall house cleaning, and it made me think of scissors. Any major housecleaning makes me think of scissors, and this is why. Growing up, our house was clean, but very cluttered. I was the only person in the family who seemed to care about this, and I was a bit neurotic about being neat. Clutter distressed me. It was hard to find anything. Whenever company was coming, there was an immediate rush to put all the newspapers and magazines under the couch and chair cushions. And to this day, I clearly remember the constant frustrated cry of my mother as she ran around the house, "Where are the good scissors? I can never keep anything nice in this house!" She would usually find them after an eternity of searching. The good scissors were apparently black as iron, weighed about five pounds, needed two hands to use, and though they were huge, never able to be found when needed. This would be why I have so many scissors now. Here they are, for your viewing enjoyment. They are scattered all over the house, so you won't ever hear me yelling what my mother did. But wait, I've just discovered that I need to go shopping for another pair!! Yes, we have two 4 year olds who spend time here, and I have no child's blunt ended scissors. And if they can't do crafts with me, that would be the unkindest cut of all. Here is the kindest one.

"He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron." Psalm 107:14,16

Red Sun - Black sky

This is what we saw about two weeks ago as we were driving home at sunset. All pictures are straight out of my camera and unretouched.

"The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end." Isaiah 60:19,20

Every Witch Way

What's that up in the sky? It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ...a witch? And it's not even Halloween yet. But this is what we saw up in the sky as we were driving home from the store today. We had to stop into the nearby field and see what was going on. It was a group of men operating radio controlled model airplanes. This is just what my husband has been looking for, because he has a model plane, and can't control it enough to fly it. He needs advice. There were many planes there, but this was the most unusual. While Phil talked to the men, I took pictures of the witch airplane on her broom swooping back and forth in the sky. A small moment in my week, but one not to be forgotten. Bob, this one's for YOU!

"Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:31

"I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast spells. I will destroy your carved images and your sacred stones from among you; you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands." Micah 5:12,13