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Musings on anything. |
 My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| My church today celebrated a reunion of ex-prisoners who played hand bells through an outreach of my church. These are women who found deep meaning and purpose in making music and having fellowship together. While the rest of society looked down on them, families abandoned them, they grew together and learned a skill you can't use everywhere. It takes a lot of discipline to play the bells. They had the whole service, reading scripture, sharing testimony, thanking the leaders who had made them feel valid and loved. (For sure not the warden.) We had a catered lunch with them afterwards. Many of them brought family and friends. We don't have many kids on a regular basis, so seeing the little ones running around and stirring in church was welcome. We have "church in the round" for such occasions. That means round tables are set up with cloths and centerpieces, instead of rows of chairs. It makes for a more relaxed and casual atmosphere, although we're pretty casual to start. It was time well spent. Their music was beautiful. I didn't hear one wrong note. Some of them hadn't touched a bell in years, but they spent yesterday and 2 hours before church today, brushing up. If you've ever played hand bells, or listened to many concerts, you know it's not as easy as it looks. They love the director, now in his late 70's, who has moved out of town to a retirement home, but made the trip back for them. Volunteers from those early days were there to play with them. It was meaningful to them and to us. It probably will be the last reunion this side of Heaven. They didn't pay for hotels; volunteers gave them a place to stay, dinner last night, and breakfast today. |
| I've discovered I've handled my geraniums incorrectly. I was right to break off the dead leaves and finished blooms, but then I dropped them onto the top of the pot, thinking it would be like natural mulch. According to the video on YouTube that I watched yesterday, that is a no-no. You must not leave the debris on the top of the soil. So I went out and cleaned the pots and filled an empty pot with stems, etc., I went though all the other plants and herbs, too. I don't know why I was leaving spotted leaves on the sage plants. I knew they'd never be green again and ready for harvest. But the tops of the soil were covered with withered leaves. Again, I think that probably is bad, holding in bacteria and infesting the soil. So I cleaned those plants off and used the leaf blower on my deck. Right now, I'm overrun with yellow jackets. A relative already put gas in a nest in the front yard. But they're buzzing on all four sides of the house. I can sit at my dining room window and see them darting up into the cedar tree and down to the Rose of Sharon bush, which is overgrown. That's pretty high up. I always think of them as being near the ground, since that's where they nest. My house is a split level, and the dining room is upstairs, so they're way off the ground. I work outside for a while; then they find me and I quietly walk away. You never want to run from a yellow jacket or swat at one. Tonight while on the WDC site, one buzzed around the lamp on my desk. Yep, I got up and left the room. I sprayed around and stayed out for a while. I haven't seen him again, or his little dead body. So I know he's still here. I've had trouble sleeping this week, so tonight I'll lie awake, afraid he'll sting me in the dark. |
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These days I just have houseplants and one lonely portulaca that came up by seed and has bloomed this past week. I've been "home" for three months and the plants have responded well. But, I long for Thailand.
. Isn't it funny how we take things like electricity and plumbing for granted... until we don't have them. Happy for you!