A glorious Sunday coming to a close

Well, I guess 4:30 pm counts as a close to a wonderful day. I am not expecting much else to happen or take place today so if this is how it ends, great! The desk is piled full of papers, my tummy is stuffed with food and my eyes are begging to shut, leaving no room for more of anything. The sun is shining yet after the heavy grey clouds moved on, but it is really too late in the day to head down to the pool. Perhaps I will join the neighbors on the sun deck during happy hour later on. I would have gone down last night but I had not dressed again after coming in from the pool and was not about to just for that!!

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My friend, Ellen, has her hands full, or at least, her houseful, with people on crutches. Over a month ago when her daughter, Ashley Rose, was returning to her home in CA, Ellen went with her for about a week. In the meanwhile, her friend, Michelle, had fallen and broke her thigh bone. Since her home is two-story, she came to stay at Ellen's to recuperate upon being released from the hospital. Michelle's kids came by on rotation to tend their injured Mom all these weeks, and Ellen loves to nurture so it all works out. At least it works out until Michelle's son slips on the stairs outside the condo and chips bones in HIS ankle. I saw him yesterday trying to manipulate the crutches while his sister toted the groceries up into Ellen's place. At one point he was sitting outside on the steps to smoke, and his crutches went sliding down the steps and overboard. Oh great! Now his sister had to come back outside after certainly putting the groceries away, run down the stairs to first locate and then retrieve the crutches. All this was observed from my vantage point in the pool, and I was thinking, "Poor Ellen"....

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Today I went over to Victory for Bible study and worship. There I saw many new faces, met some new people, hugged on some "old" ones, and even sang with the choir! Anne asked me to help out on the psalm since they were a bit shy choir members today and since I knew the anthem already, why not? "Oh, God, you are my God, for you I long, for you my heart is yearning...." We have sung this at G. S. first with Pete singing the stanzas, and after his time, the choir singing the stanzas. Once I sang solo on the first one, plus did the descant for the refrain---but not today. Straightforward today.

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Justin was there, too, and we enjoyed worshiping together. At least he told me so after church. He had already taken care of the "book exchange" as I had left my car unlocked on the assumption that he would take care of it before church. He has the new Beck book while I now have the Levin "Liberty or Tyranny". As I said to Linda J. the other day, I really need to settle down and read some of these books which are stacked around me! Because I had to rush right back to G. S. for a church meeting, I had to basically leave Victory without saying "good-bye" properly except to my Justin, of course. I got to the meeting only a few moments after it began so I did not miss much. Kathy B. had called me on my way between churches, wondering if I had told her I was not coming today. She said lots of people asked about me, wondered if I was sick or something. Some speculated where I was, and they were correct!

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Then I went to Winn-Dixie for a few items even though the game had already begun. The Jags were up by three points when I stopped so I ran as best I can run with my little cart through the store. They moved the soda aisle just to mess with me so I lost a little time backtracking in search of my Diet Coke, but still got home in good time. The Jaguars and Houston both played good games but I rejoice that Jags came out on top....thanks to a fumble in the Houston end zone which the Jags picked up!!! Add to that a Packer win and we call that "the end of the day"!

Shopping by sunlight

I am just burning up right now, sitting here in my window, basking in the sun. Already I have "chatted" with two friends on Facebook, one actually being my sister in WI and the other a young lady with whom I used to work and was close friends with back in my "old folks home" days. Annette now lives in Las Vegas and was getting ready to go to work, very early in the morning there. She is expecting 92 degrees above zero there today and I am expecting only a few degrees less than that. The way I feel right now, I could just dive right in (cannonball!!!!!) but I am sure the water is not quite warm enough yet for diving.

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While chatting and updating Facebook, I also did some shopping on-line at NPH, getting some more books to add to my stack. If only someone would come and read them to me and then explain it all. As I look into my river room, the sun is catching on a cobweb which has grown between the table and a chair. This is particularly troubling since Justin was here only Wednesday and had moved all the chairs from the table to vacuum, which I rarely do, but also because it means no one has sat in the chairs since Wednesday! What is up with that? It has been quiet around here. I hate it that school started again because all my teacher friends have been swept away to the classroom, leaving me fewer peeps with whom to play!

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Recently I have been communicating with someone from my WI congregation and cannot help but notice the unusual way she uses capitalization and punctuation. If she was not the age she is, I would guess part of it would come from using some hand-held communication device (sounds rather like Star Trek!) but she is not quite savvy electronics-wise. I have noticed in others' writings that punctuation has somewhat gone by the wayside, as in contractions, which are run together. While the short cuts might be suitable when using text messaging on the phone or instant messaging on the computer, it has found its way into every day "language" or usage. Linda H., at dinner the other night, declared that she never ever uses abbreviations when she writes or texts to her kids or grandkids, she always uses full words. The ladies were saying a recent study showed how few kids were being taught cursive-style writing in school any more nor were they really being taught proper grammar. The more adept people become at using these electronic tools, the "dumber" people can become. It is like a swapping of knowledge.

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On occasion I will read the obituaries on-line from our local paper where folks can post a message to the family in a Guest Book. Some of the messages are simply unintelligible and one cannot help but wonder if those leaving the message, while certainly heartfelt, did not take the time to review what they tried to write??? All capital letters, no space between what appear to be sentences, no periods or commas or apostrophes....Then there are the abbreviations and use of a single letter to say a word---UGH! Many moons ago I wrote about what my friend, Jami, was doing in the prison with the men she counseled. She was trying to teach them to read, and used the sentence in her blog, teaching them "the importance of vowels....". This phrase just caught my eye and mind because, for many of these cons, so much in their lives could have been changed or affected if they had known how to read beyond even a certain level. The things we take for granted...Yes, I am ordering these books and I swear, I will read them cover to cover!

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Just so that no one takes the liberty of pointing out flaws in my writing, please spare me, I am yet in development! I am a huge fan of the trailing thought tool of ....

Hearing the blues on a sunny day

After I watched the rocket launch from Cape Kennedy this morning, I decided to listen to iTunes instead of the speeches coming from NYC and Pittsburgh. Substituting one form of the "blues" for another as Joni sings to me from her "Blue" album. In looking through the Amazon list the other day I saw several books and DVDs about Joni on the market. While I so much more prefer to give people an actual present versus a gift card, I might possibly add "Amazon Gift Card" to mine when it comes to making out those end-of-the-year lists. Some of my family is coming down at CHRISTmas which will simply be the icing on the cake for me---will they be sporting bows???

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The river is jewel-like this morning as tiny ripples of waleless corduroy move along. Not as frantic as it was yesterday with the waves crashing against the breakwater and the winds whipping, causing my doors to slam shut. Chairs are propped against them yet in case it gets breezy again so I can keep the wind from doing battle with the opened doors. At present the palm branches are scarcely moving so it is too soon to pull the doors apart to let the breeze pass through. Again only two boats visible in any direction, and both of them just outside the breakwater. This must truly the hotspot for catching fish---or at least, for these two fishermen!

Rarely are boats able to get this close to the building due to the shallowness here, but the water was so high, covering the left side of the breakwater, that this boat and a walking-along fisherman, got up here. I heard my neighbor caution them about the sandbar underneath their boat, and the walker said that was why he was pushing the boat along, to avoid the sand getting in their engine.

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How funny for me to be writing about the waves and the wind yesterday while at this moment Joni is singing the refrain to a song, "troubled child, breakin' like the waves at Malibu...." Anyway, it feels lovely to have the sun pounding on me here. Joanne said not to be too worried about the cautions on the antibiotic bottle about exposure to sunlight, because I have already established a good tan which would prevent me from getting sunburned. Good! Today I should hear something about my sick laptop (I wonder if I caught a virus from my computer.......) with it hopefully being returned to me this afternoon. Wally called Wednesday to say they were working on it, trying to make sure it would not replicate the problem in the hard-drive...okay, whatever.....I really could have used it last week when I was busy resting, multi-tasking and healing at the same time!

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Last night Justin and I enjoyed a meal together at Outback on Baymeadows, as I had a coupon burning a hole in my pocket. As always, there is plenty to talk about, including how he thought he did on his test taken earlier in the day. I found it funny that he had to take off from work and/or Bible study to cram for this exam, when this is the only class he takes, twice a week. Once again I am glad he likes his course of study, political science, and truly hope he does well in this class. Justin is quite excited also about the next in a series of books by Dan Brown, along the lines of "Angels and Demons". I should have given him a test on that!!! He took the leftovers home with him, mine of course, plus one of their tiny loaves of dark bread to enjoy while watching a new TV show he is looking forward to watching, something about people getting a glimpse of their future.

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Sunday will be a good day with Bible study, worship, and a congregational meeting--again! But after the meeting, it is home to watch the Jaguars play! Not blacked out this time due the game being in Houston and I am so excited about this. My thoughts are to make my favorite sloppy joes and kick back for kick off!

Hurry up and wait

This morning I ran late leaving to attend Bible study because of getting the newsletter finished and e-mailed to the church secretary. The morning "mail" brought the article from the preschool teacher but none from the others I had requested reports from, so I had to improvise. Not too hard to fill in as long as I have a tidbit or two to work from. Fortunately, I had popped in at Pioneers before choir rehearsal, heard part of the talk about rockets, and then "heard" the rocket launch later on. Thump!, as it landed on the roof of the church. I knew it, I even asked Sara, wife of the demonstrator, what happens if it lands on the roof, and she just shrugged. What happens? The ladder is gotten out and someone must start the climb! Just as exciting for the kids as the launch itself is the retrieval from the roof!

Some of the Pioneer group listening to the presentation by a rocket builder, prior to the launch. One little boy listens from the back as he is facing away from the speaker.

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As it turned out, upon leaving home this a.m. for Bible study, my gas tank was lower than I like for a longer ride facing me. I called the church to let them know I was coming and Bonnie assured me they would be watching for me, and even said if I ran out of gas, she would come and get me. Now, is that not the sweetest thing?? I arrived only five minutes late and they did in fact have a seat for me. The subject matter was prayer and what a great topic it was. Pastor Hoyer, through the lesson, reminded us how we fail to make use of our "wireless" connection with the Lord, going to Him as an after-thought or only when we want something.

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At the close of the class, we took turns going around the table with our prayers, aloud, something many Lutherans are unaccustomed to doing. Some were fluid, some not so much. When it was my turn, I thanked the Lord for giving Judy R. a good report following her cancer treatment (6 months cancer-free!!!) and also asked for Him to watch over Lynn K., our pastor's wife, as she presently battles breast cancer. Rejoice with me over Judy's good news! I pray that some day I will be offering prayers of thanksgiving for Lynn being cancer-free, as well!

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On my ride back, I called Mom once more to tell her something I had forgotten to tell her as I drove over to Victory. Through the web of Facebook, I had been contacted by a young lady I knew at First German, who found me through another FG alumna. Cathy wanted to tell me how she regretted never telling my mom "thanks" for teaching the girls to sew back in their Lutheran Pioneer days. Wow! How fun to get a thank you and acknowlegement this late in the game, but how special as well! I wrote back to Cathy and told her mom was still with us and that I would share her message. She had gone on to do much sewing in her life, making wedding and bridesmaid's dresses, and other seamstress work, and wanted to tell Mom 'thanks'! We sometimes never know the impact we make on other people's lives .....

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When I arrived home again and started my computer, I had a message on my g-mail indicating my "contacts" list was not available, that Google was working on the problem. This means that I cannot send off the rest of the newsletters to the homes for a while, at least, not until the problem is corrected.

Just because I took a day off

"I have words left over", as Justin would say. I forgot to mention how yesterday I had the opportunity to spend some more money, but not nearly nearly as much as I could have. So, does that mean I saved money?

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In the spring I had gotten a booklet from the Jacksonville Symphony where I have not renewed my season tickets. The booklet showed the ticket prices for the upcoming "Carmina Burana" event to be around $450+ each and I very sadly told Justin there would be no concert for us. Yesterday I got an e-mail from the JSO promoting another concert and thought I would take a look at the schedule, etc. to see what was happening during the time Linda J. is here. Sure enough, there was "Carmina..." I clicked through the page to see what price they were. Long story short, I was able to get three tickets for less than half of what one ticket would have run. I must dig up that booklet to see what that was all about, breaking our hearts like that!!! But, now, we are healed! I sent Justin an e-mail with only a link to "O Fortuna" for him to click. He sent me a message late last night saying he had just gotten home and read the e-mail. His message, non-paraphrased, was: "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!" He knew exactly what that meant, which is what I love about my boy. You are most welcome, my dear!

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He has since contacted me again today to ask about getting the new book by Glenn Beck, "Arguing With Idiots" as a shared book. He wants to trade me for one he has that I wish to read. Of course I agreed! Think I might even head to the bookstore yet this afternoon, or perhaps before choir tonight. The previous Beck book is lying on my dresser and I will give him that book, too, as I am about done with it. My messy bed and desk are starting to get to me which means I must be feeling better....The entire passenger-side of my bed is piled with books, magazines, catalogs, mail, and church materials. My spirit was willing (to deal with this stuff) but my flesh was weak. I chose sleep over sorting!

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Some of the dusting got done yesterday and I might do a bit more today after Justin is done vacuuming. One act would defeat the other. Joanne was telling me about her incredibly high electric bills at the beach, not on JEA like most of Jacksonville is, but a re-seller power company. She told me she sets and keeps her thermostat on 75 (ugh!!!!), has no TV to watch but is home so little that it does not matter. In my opinion, then, set the thermostat higher and it won't run. My suggestion to her was ask the owners if she could have an A/C man come and run some tests on it because she said it just runs and runs. I hope they say she can, or even if she hires them herself, just to see if there is a problem with the machinery. One of the first floor Owners here told me yesterday that his electric bill is usually around $300 a month, with now four people living in his house. He not long ago married a woman with two sons and I can only imagine the number of electrical devices they have making the dial spin on HIS electric meter! This is the man who plays the Jimmy Buffett music so loudly outside.

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Oh, I just knew it! The heavens have opened and giant drops are falling into the river, none on my windows thus far. Well, I guess if the rain continues, a nap will be in order to rest my eyes. Much reading has gone on here this a.m. which usually makes my eyes tired. My sleep was good last night so this cannot be the problem. I dreamed about CHRISTmas and the coming celebrations, even my niece, Tina and her family were here.....HEY! What a great idea!!!!

Multi-tasking at its finest...

....but perhaps this remains to be seen! As I am writing this moment, I am also listening to a sermon on-line about the disciple of Christ, Matthew, while also watching Fox News from the corner of my eye as notable folks are speaking to the UN. I do not want to miss the any of the blow by blow reports about this, especially when Qaddafi gets his turn to speak. He might be stiff and sore this a.m. after sleeping outside in a tent! Wait, he is accustomed to that....he did, in fact, sleep indoors at the Libyan Embassy since no other hotels or rental agencies wanted him in their establishments.

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"Jesus calls me, calls us, called Matthew, first to His side and then to His service.." I like that! Jesus attained "rock-star status" among the Jews, people hanging on His every word, but then called a tax collector to serve Him. (From the sermon)

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Today Justin is coming by after work to do some things for me, as he actually did forget all about coming on Monday. I was not so angry this time as I was still a bit weary and appreciated having the late afternoon and evening to myself. I'd had a full day with Bible study, lunch, and an extended meeting with Pastor so I did not entirely mind being snubbed once more by my son. When I called him at a little after 5:00, he was genuinely sorry that he forgot, and I genuinely forgave him. Today will work out better, but not a moment too soon since I got crazy with some popcorn in here last night and made quite a mess under my desk!

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"You (Matthew) are the perfect disciple because you are not perfect, and you admit it. I will make you perfect..." "called to be first a disciple, one who learns, and then as an apostle, to go and tell the Good News"

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Tuesday night I met our usual group for dinner at Aron's Pizza, and it felt so wonderful to be back in routine again! Leann had been feeling poorly for weeks now but made it out for dinner, plus Linda H. and Judy J. Linda and Leann will be attending the same Bible class as the one I attended last night, only they will go on Wednesday in Keystone Heights. Mike C., with only Debbie S. and me in his class, got through the entire section, but not in an hour. Mike has the Sunday Bible study, again on Tuesday night and then in Keystone Heights on Wednesday.

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Tonight is choir rehearsal and possibly dinner, although I cannot remember if it this week or next that we are gathering for one of our friends' birthdays. I am awaiting the word on this from Kathy B. I was a bit groggy when she told me about it so it might actually be next week. My nose will be held as I must venture into Ted's Restaurant (Turner/CNN/Fonda fame) because I would never set foot in there otherwise. Oh, the things we will do for our friends.....

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Still I am waiting for a couple things for the newsletter although the secretary asked if she could have it early to make copies before she leaves for vacation. Um, I will certainly try but early is a relative term! I can make copies if need be but must admit to being a little rusty at doing so. Another option would be to print them at home but would eat up my ink cartridges something fierce. I will do the best I can, that is all.

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Last week I paid my last installment for the painting project on my building. Once more a big 'ouch!' to the checking account but certainly the building looks and feels a lot nicer. It will be nice to know if our values have begun to appreciate again or not. None of the units for sale have sold, with several of them being on the market for over a year. My assessment from the County does not reflect any decrease, however, and am wondering if a contact to the Assessor's office would be in order. I should ask around to the others to see if theirs went down any. It certainly would be lovely to pay less property tax this fall!

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The sun has broken through the clouds here and it seems as though the fog is lifting little by little. The air temperature is 80 at this moment and the humidity, obviously, is high. I hope Justin made the trip across the Buckmann safely this a.m. on his way to work. Late afternoon Tuesday I had a phone conversation with my friend, Rosalie, in Houston. She recently turned 75 and is busy as ever, with her husband, Hal, now around the house, as she put it, "24/7"! Hal is turning 70 years old soon and for his birthday is getting a brand, new hip! She told me that Pastor Schuppe is coming to their church to lead a Bible study but they will have to miss it because of Hal's hip surgery. Oh man, I wish there was a way for them to see each other....bet they will!

What else are we missing???

Since I am not at the top of my game and must concentrate on the newsletter with a deadline which looms, I am incredibly thankful my friend, Dolly, sent this to me today. I could not have said it better myself, nor could I have said it better than Joni Mitchell did in her song, "For Free". Here's the link for that song, too. Do not pass it by, because, "What else are we missing"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmzN1p5q2sY&feature=related

(click on this link to bring it up)

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money, but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

Findings:

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days earlier Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro Station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and people's priorities. The questions raised: "In a common place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?"

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

To see Bell’s performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw