Rocket Surgeon: A person with less-than-stellar aptitude. A mixture of "rocket scientist" and "brain surgeon" This phrase describes a person who is neither.




Tuesday, November 30, 2010

When Life Gives you Rainclouds........

My husband sometimes says he feels like life is kicking him where it counts. Those aren't his words however, he's much more blunt than I.  And even though I don't own a set of "where it counts", I'm finding myself doubled over in pain. 

When my husband's life gets hard, I imagine a cartoon boy, his hands in his pockets, his head cast down, the sun is shining around him, but he has a dark, stormy rain cloud hanging over his head.  If he walks to the east, the rain cloud hovers above him.  When he turns to go to the west, the rain cloud moves with him.  Even as others sunbathe on the beach or run through meadows of wildflowers, he cannot escape his rain cloud.  He goes through life with a raincloud and no umbrella.  I think I must have seen this cartoon a long time ago and have recently dug it out of the file cabinets of my brain.

The last couple of months, the cartoon boy in my imagination has morphed into a cartoon woman.  A thirty-five year old woman to be precise.  One possibly on the verge of a mid-life crisis.  One with graying hair, a bad memory, and love of pound cake.  Whose name starts with an A and ends with a NGEL. 

My preacher says something like, "If you're not presently going through a storm of life, you're either coming out of one, or about to head into one." 

Tonight, in the midst of my whining and moaning and the poor pitiful me's of life, I took 2 ibuprofens to kill the pains of existence (I'm a real risk-taker, eh?) and decided to take a hot shower.  I dried off and my towel smelled so fresh and clean.  A simple pleasure.  I put on my night clothes and crawled under my covers at 7:15.  Another simple pleasure.   

I opened my Bible, and even though God didn't jump off the pages and scream profound revelations directly in my ear, I received peace and a bit of serenity.  Or perhaps the ibuprofens were kicking in. Har Har.

Then I read part of a memoir called "A Three Dog Life"  about a woman's struggles to make a different life after her husband receives a traumatic brain injury and loses his memory. 

And then I felt ashamed of myself. 

As I sit in my bed, under my covers, comfortable and safe and healthy,  I am reminded no matter how awful and bad I think my life gets, it's a walk in the park compared to others who have been dealt a far worse hand than I.  

I am reminded that no matter how heavy and dark my rain cloud appears, "He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:45 

And I am reminded that rain allows for some beautiful harvests. How am I to grow and change and become a new creation without it?  "Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you."  Hosea 10:12

And I just wanted to share this with you.

Find your simple pleasures.

May God Bless You,
Angel










Simple pleasures

Monday, November 22, 2010

I've Got Mail

A single joy of mine is walking to the mailbox.  It's not too far, but far enough.  Just down to the green gate, then just a bit on the county road to the highway where three boxes are lined up waiting.   We get no mail out here yet, we haven't fowarded our address, so a questioning person might question my actions of walking to the mailbox.  But it appeals to me.

Most days I walk to the mailbox, open it, cluck my tongue at its empty womb, close it, and walk back up the county road to the green gate back to the house.  However, my daily walk found the mailbox fruitful the other day when I found my new ubscription to MaryJane's Farm magazine.  I quickly sat down and devoured it.  Here's an excerpt I'd like to share:

The Gift
by Alisen Payette, Missouri

I have learned a lot in the past eight years living on our small Missouri farm.  I hae always loved food, but participating in the planting, growing, harvesting, and storage has caused me to appreciate it in a different way.  I have come to say that my favorite thing about farming is sitting down to a completelyy homegrown meal in the middle of January.  Just this last winter, I realized what a gift this lifestyle has truly been---and the awareness came in the form of a pie.

With each fork-filled bite, I tasted more than the pie...it was an experience, a memory.  I looked at my neighbor, who had created this savory dessert to close an amazing meal.  I thought of her pigs who had lazily watched her work the warm days of summer...they became the lard she rendered in the cool of the fall...which eventually helped create the rich, flaky crust that danced among my taste buds.  I thought of the rhubarb, carefully tended, harvested, and prepared by her hands.  As fresh cream slowly melded with the juice of the pie, I thought of the cow from the nearby farm who was led from the field to the barn and back again.  I felt as if I were eating a gift wrapped in love, hard work, and true appreciation for the food itself.
Gosh, I wish I could describe how this writing makes me feel. 
I have such dreams friends....

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Thoughts on a Sunday

November 21

Today brought me the challenge of finding a sitting, reading, writing place outside where it was sunny and calm.  But if the spot had sunshine, it also had wind, and if the spot was wind-blocked, it was also sun-blocked.  I settled for sun combined with wind and I made due.  But as I struggled holding down my pages with one hand, and constantly tucking hair behind my ear with the other, I couldn't keep the thoughts of Lizzie Borden at bay.

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I laid across the bed of a wagon filled with scrap metal and let the sun warm my face.  I closed my eyes and when I opened them, it was as if I was looking at the sky for the first time ever.  I don't recall it ever looking so blue.

Jason pulled up to catch the horses.  He didn't even notice me sprawled on that wagon of junk.  The cows in the next pasture lined the fence to stare and watch the action of horses avoiding harnesses.  The horses lost.  They were loaded into a trailer and driven off.  One by one the cows grew bored and dispersed to munch the grasses.  I wonder why the phrase isn't "curiosity killed the cow"?

*************************

I haven't seen the cat for several days.  Why do I have a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach that she is flattened underneath one of the seven huge round hay bales that are lined up like soldiers in front of the house?  All except one is in formation.  I imagine a sargeant in its face yelling.  But the day is too nice for screaming.

************************

I can't wait until this trailer is in a completed state.  I could be working to make that possible, but after all it is Sunday. 

Happy Resting.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Funny Stuff My Niece Says

Funny #1----

She loves Halloween and last year she went as a bunch of grapes.  This year she told me she was going to go as an apple. 
Grapes last year and an apple this year.  I do believe she has a theme going on. 
Pumping her fist in the air she cheered, "Go Protein!!!"



Author's Note:  Everyone thought she was a tomato.



Funny #2----

The new home we bought is rather close to railroad tracks.  At first we thought the rattling of the trains would really bother us, but Ashlynn paused in the painting of her bedroom and announced,
"I've hardly noticed the last four trains that have gone by here."

The Winner

The winner of the $25 gift card is Brandi Cayce!

Brandi said,

How about"The Promise Land". Those folks suffered through some trials and tribulations too. And, who would not like to buy some home grown veggies from "The Promise Land?"
This was a fun contest and I enjoyed reading all the responses.

There were funny ones like "Oleo Acres---The Cheap Spread"
 "Habitat for Insanity", and
 "Hillbilly Hell" .

There were  faith based ones like
"Hope Acres"
"God's Acres"
and "Beulah Land".

There were lucky ones like
"The Branded Ace"
or "The Golden Nuggett".

Thanks for all the ideas and we'll do this again soon!!!