Firecrackers and Sparklers

“The British are coming! The British are coming!” At least it sounds like it. Rockets blasting, shots cracking in the dark. I'm sure the dogs shake with fear and run away to hide. I'm trying to sleep. The approaching holiday and celebration starts early in our neighborhood and lingers for a week. The noise of firecrackers and rockets sound loud and clear in the still night air, especially when the windows are open on these warm evenings.

Why do neighbors set off fireworks at eleven o'clock in the night? Maybe that was the time Paul Revere mounted his horse and shouted his warning. If you really want to know, I challenge you to Google search Mr. Revere. If you are a history lover, you will find the events very interesting. For me, it's been a long time since junior high history class.

I wish you a great summer doing what you love to do. I'll be on my knees in the garden; or standing in front of my easel; or writing more short stories. Probably all three!

God bless you, God bless America! Enjoy the Fourth!

Juanita

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Wanted Dead, Not Alive

Springtime inspires new landscapes.

Our new tree requires:

No bug spray,

No fertilizer,

No pruning,

No trimming,

No water.

 

Our new tree will have:

No dead leaves to be racked,

No pollen,

No red-headed woodpecker damage.

Our new tree is five feet tall.

Our new tree is dead and

Will always be dead.

The dead tree cost $200.

It weighs five hundred pounds.

I love it.

Enjoy it with me!

Happy 87th Birthday, Queen Elizabeth !

Happy Birthday, Susan G. !

Happy Birthday, Pat D. !

Happy 12th Anniversary, Brian and Nancy !

 

Happy Spring Gardening, 

Juanita

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A Short History Lesson

Library class is in session! Everyone invited! Coffee and tea served! No tests today!

The mention of an island in the southernmost waters of the North Pacific appeared in the news this week.

I remember very little about the territory of Guam with its white sandy beaches; therefore, I chose one of my favorite on-line text books: CIA World Factbook. If you stay with me, I might mention one new piece of info to enlighten your mind.

A famous Spanish explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, visited there in 1521. Spain surrendered this island to the United States in 1898 after the Spanish American War. Maybe that is why Guam is 85% Roman Catholic today. Captured by the Japanese in 1941, then retaken three years later by the US after a fierce battle.

Guam chose the coconut tree as their national symbol.

Did you ever pick a coconut? I picked one off the ground under a tree in Hawaii. Craig retrieved a tire iron from the rented car's trunk, cracked the stubborn nut shell and drank the milk while I, acting like a tourist, took his picture.

Gideons International has distributed Bibles in Guam since 1971.

Guamanians are US citizens, but cannot vote in US presidential elections. Hum . . . I wonder how that makes them feel? The island exists as one of our unincorporated territories.

Of the estimated population of 160,400, several thousand are US military. The Navy and Air Force base are one of the most strategically important US bases in the Pacific.

This week the North Korean dictator stirs the waters once again with dangerous threats. Let's pray for the safety of the people of Guam, Japan and South Korea.

"Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.”    (Daniel 2:20 NASB, emphasis added).

Happy Birthday, Harriet !

Happy Birthday, Vicky !

“Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.”

Love,

Juanita

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Who Do You Worship?

Amidst the cold rain of the night, faithful followers in Rome patiently stood under their umbrellas. Six minutes past seven o'clock in Vatican City, white smoke rose into the air on the second day of the papal conclave as cheers and shouts were heard from the crowds. Television networks captured the joy and exuberance of the people. The bells sounded in St. Peter's Square in honor of Pope Francis.

This display of adoration for the new pope reminded me of a Kenny Rogers concert at Oregon State University on Mom's Weekend many years ago. When Mr. Rogers appeared on stage, students and guests alike rose to their feet with applause and cheers. They stood and sang along with him the entire evening while he sang their favorite songs. That was my first experience attending a secular 'worship' concert.

Isaiah quoted the Lord: “I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer . . . my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Jesus quoted the same Scripture when He reprimanded the Pharisees. "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves."

This celebration within the Catholic Church today caused me to ask myself a couple questions as I remembered what Jesus said about the temple in Jerusalem. What is my attitude when I enter the sanctuary of my church? Do I cheerfully sing and shout with praise to my Lord? Do I show as much enthusiasm as Catholics did today? They showed respect to a leader who is only human. Is my worship to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords worthy of all He is?

In the book of Revelation, John describes a glorious worship service. “Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: "Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.” Amen!


Belated Birthday Wishes to:

Brayden
Morris
Barbara L.
Jane

Happy Birthday, Suzanne
Happy Birthday, Sharon
Happy Birthday, Lois
Happy Birthday, Brogan (on St. Patrick's day)
Happy Birthday, Taelor
Happy Birthday, Margaret

Happy 50th Anniversary, Peter & Julie !
Happy Anniversary, Ron & Joyce !

Juanita  
P.S.  The beautiful red-tailed hawk didn't recover.  High voltage power line  permanently damaged his feet; therefore, he wasn't able to catch dinner.
Sad, huh?

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Red-tailed Hawk

Welcome back to my library!

You are correct, it has been a month since I sent you a letter. I appreciate all who dropped by the library for a visit, looking to see if I wrote a letter but forgot to tell you.

 I finally have an exciting story to share.

Wildlife is always amazing to watch up close. In the past, I told you in detail about our visiting rabbits, robins, quail, and brown tree squirrels. Remember seeing our red-headed sapsucker who knocked himself out last summer flying into the library window?

Yesterday's visitor was awesome and I took pictures to show you!

As Craig mowed the 'back forty', he noticed the bird. We usually see them by the dozen resting on fence posts along I-5 watching for dinner. This red-tailed hawk hid under a deodar cedar in an apparent state of shock. The hawk made no attempt to fly away as Craig walked closer to him. He looked so soft and friendly. I wanted to pet him, but I forgot my gloves in the house.

Isn't he cute?

 

Beautiful wings!

Did you know red-tailed hawks fly in every state of the U.S.?

The bird hospital is treating him now. When he recovers enough to come home, I'll wear gloves and touch his beautiful feathers before we release him into familiar surroundings.

Side note: From my window, I see the daffodils up eight inches. When the leaves first appear, they sprout up fast, don't they?

“My cup overflows with blessings.” Psalm 23:5

Belated Birthday Wishes to:

Teresa

Maria

Carole

Janice

Belated Happy Anniversary to Clyde & Margaret !

Blessings to all of you!

Juanita

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Unwelcome Guest

What are YOU doing in my library?

Who invited you? Queen or no queen, you are not welcome!

I see your yellow-striped body with cellophane wings crawling rapidly up my picture window. Are your huge black eyes too heavy with sleep to enable you to fly? 

There is no open window for your escape. Your minutes are numbered!

You must realize that summer is months away on the calendar. Have you been hiding in a dark corner since October? Unwanted insects like you belong outside, so Dear Daisy can practice her snapping technique.

Moments from now, you will lie outside, curled up and motionless, never to fly again! Tomorrow, you will be buried under a blanket of snow if the weatherman is correct.

Now I must buy a new fly swatter. YOU, not me, broke my blue plastic antique which has been in my personal family for years.

My dear friends, you are always welcome in my library.

If you have forgotten my horrifying spider experience, you can reread it under July 2, 2011, called Spiders and More Spiders, which includes my second poem ever written.

Happy Birthday, cousin Jimmy

Happy Anniversary, Dianne and Gary! 28 years!

Happy Anniversary, Loren and Nancy! many years!

Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband! 50 years!

Juanita

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Thoughts for a New Year

As a caring parent, you probably told your young child, “Don't cry! It will be okay.” Or maybe a close friend told you not to worry about a certain situation, suggesting everything will be okay in the end.

I discovered another 'okay' the other day. This might be news to some contact wearers. I have worn them for centuries, but never saw the secret message printed on them.

The other morning, I experienced eye pain from my contact. I took it out two times and cleaned it thoroughly. It still irritated my eye. I thought, maybe it was wrong side out. This can happen if I'm not careful. When it collapses like a taco, that's a good sign. But my new-style contacts fold too easily on either side. Finally, I put it on my fingertip and held it up to the light to look for an eyelash or a piece of fuzz. What did I see? I saw the letters OK. I smiled. So I put it in my watery eye again, this time no pain.

If you don't wear contacts, maybe this incident sounds confusing. But I thought, there must be a spiritual message here. This morning, Max and I were talking about looking up to God for guidance. If we look up in prayer for help, the Lord will give the okay sign, a promise:

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Deut. 31:6 NKJV

The view is beautiful from where I sit. Thanks for joining me today. 

See you next year!

Juanita

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Peace on Earth !

Welcome to my library.

Let's have a cup of hot, soothing tea and share our thoughts.

The people of the world are hurting, the families in Newtown, Connecticut are desperately hurting, and maybe you are also.

At this time of the year, Christians sing 'peace on the earth and goodwill to men.' Another song has been on my heart for several weeks and now is the time to share it.

In 1842, blind and elderly William Walford wrote a poem and one hundred years later, George Beverly Shea made the words dear to our hearts.

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
“Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!”

Happy Birthday, Chuy !

Happy Birthday, Jody !

Happy Birthday, Larry !

Merry Christmas, Everyone !

Love, Juanita

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A Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln

      The year, that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

      In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

      Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plow, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battlefield; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. 
 
      No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. 
 
      I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwells in the Heavens. 
 
      And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

      In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

      Done at the City of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

You Are Guilty !

Guilty! The jury returned and the verdict was pronounced!

The one-man jury (actually a woman, myself to be exact) determined the inconceivable crime was not committed by a mere human. I'll admit that people are the usual culprit in a robbery case; but in my opinion, circumstantial evidence against the masked bandit appears overwhelming.

The same night the overhead electrical cord disappeared from the apple trees leading to the glass greenhouse, we were awaken in the wee hours of the morning by a loud metal bang. It's the same sleep-shattering noise heard when the coon cage door is tripped and slams shut.

The exact timeline is still to be determined to tell how the cord was successfully unplugged at both ends. Picture this: The cord ran from an outside outlet under our bedroom window, through branches of several trees, up the seven-foot-high wall of the green house, through the roof area, then down to the heat lamps inside keeping my geraniums alive. I know that is a long sentence, but it was a long cord – seventy-five feet.

The door to the green house was closed, but there is a doggy door for an easy access and quick escape. One final question for the accused: which plug end did your little hands disconnect first?

I read his mind and discovered his thought process. Even though the cage was resting near the electrical outlet, he decided to relocate the cord first. Then return to the cage to investigate the shiny foil bait illuminated in the light of the motion sensor.

My closing argument: If a neighbor kid removed the bright orange line from the trees used as temporary power poles, he would have taken the item home to Mama. But upon searching the property for clues, I discovered the stolen object in question one hundred feet away from the green house, laying in a straight line as if dragged to a new home.

Let me remind you that if both ends were plugged in at the new site, I would suspect a different thief. Friends, I rest my case.

My judge is not convinced of this jury's decision, but the man of the house still administered the usual punishment for getting caught. 

Don't ask!

Happy Birthday, Tall Tom !

Happy Birthday, Ken W. !

Happy Birthday, Jewel !

Happy Birthday, Iona !

Happy Birthday, Georgia !

Happy Birthday, Colleen !

Happy Birthday, Brad !

A great week for a party!

Juanita

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A Meeting to Forget

A pleasant autumn morning, indeed!

Recently, I had a meeting with a local college president, one of their professors and a Toastmaster speech winner. I brushed my teeth, fixed my hair, put my face on and dressed up in my best dress for the occasion. I've had this dress a very long time. With this dress, I always wear a long black slip with a lace bottom. This slip also is very old.

Do you know what happens to an old slip? The elastic becomes weak and stretches. I wasn't aware of it's condition until after this very important meeting.

After an hour, we rose from our chairs to leave the conference room. We entered the hallway, talking as we went. I felt something down around my ankles. I looked and beheld my slip falling fast. The bottom lace was touching my shoes.

What's a women supposed to do when her arms are full of books and carrying a heavy purse? I could have asked Curtis to hold my purse, but that would have brought more attention to myself and embarrassed him. Through this thin fabric, I felt the elastic band hanging on the widest part of my hips. Another step would have brought the slip over my hips and tangled my feet. That would have been a scary scene – in the middle of the hall with college students walking by.

I backed up against the wall and shifted my purse to the other arm. With one hand free, I slowly inched the slip up on my left side. Then I reached behind my back and nonchalantly worked it up to where it belonged.

No one mentioned the slip and by the time we reached the stairs to leave the building, I was presentable and breathing normal.

I wish I could say I lost my slip because I lost 20 pounds, but that's not the case. The truth is: we all get older and so does elastic. Now I have a big safety pin in the waistband.

Thanks for laughing with me.

Proverbs 15:13  NKJV
"A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance. . ."
 

Love, Juanita

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Birthday Humor

A happy Autumn day to you! These cool mornings are perfect for a cup of green tea. Thanks for joining me in the library.

Our middle grandson, Erik, turned eight last week and we attended his birthday party in Bend. His other grandma made her usual super creation of a birthday cake. Jean's delicious cakes are animated and one-of-a-kind. I entertained the adults with my Toastmaster humor . . .

My grandsons were visiting us this summer. Craig took the boys to the city park to play on the ladders and swings. As they were driving down main street, a fire truck came up behind them with sirens screaming. Craig pulled over to let the vehicle pass. The boys noticed a black and white Dalmatian dog in the front seat of the truck. The boys began discussing the duties of the dog.

Brayden, the oldest, was sure the dog was used for crowd control.

But his brother, Brogan, argued that the dog was just for good luck.

Erik brought the argument to a close by saying, “They use the dogs to find the fire hydrants.”

When we arrived at Erik's house, I asked him how old he was. Of course, I already knew. Then he asked me how old I was. When I told him I was eighty years old, his mouth dropped open, and then he whispered, “Did you start at one?”

Then he turned to Grandpa and asked how old he was. Grandpa is a big tease, “I'm not sure.” 

Wise Erik informed him, “Look in your underwear, Grandpa. Mine says I'm six to eight.”

Happy Birthday, Tom P. !

Happy Birthday, Brian !

Happy Birthday, Betty !

Happy Birthday, Bonnie !

Happy Birthday, Lynda !

                               Psalm 119
"How sweet your words taste to me; 
they are sweeter than honey.
  Your commandments give me understanding;
  Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."  NLT
 

Love to all of you,

Juanita

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