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Across The Silent Night Sky
The weekend was a mellow, mild, and very welcome time to be at home and with my wife. We didn’t launch into any major projects, but did a lot of what I call “piddling around,” and enjoyed being outside in the warm weather. I’ve learned not to overestimate my stamina anymore, so I don’t plan day-long series of projects. I do one, take a break, assess how I feel, then move on to another one IF I still have gas in my tank. We have had problems with squirrels getting into Mrs. Orr’s flowers in pots on the porches, so I cut circles from hardware fabric, cut a circle in…
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Free Stu Scheller!
When Jinx and I stepped outside Sunday morning into the mist, I saw a funnel spider’s web in the grass. It was one of the larger ones I’ve seen in a while, big as a plate and perfectly situated. I knelt down as best I could in the grass and examined the structure. How many hours did it take to build? How successful was it in trapping food for its builder? All those little struts and girders and beams and buttresses and studs and strips and joists…all from the body of the one who erected it and then retreated back into the funnel to await that trembling signal of live…
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The Last Monday of Summer
The light was eerie this morning, filtered through a mist that seemed lighter yet more substantial than usual. As Jinx and I patrolled the high ridges and scanned for deer, it was as silent as a shepherd’s crook. The moon was hidden by clouds, but I could sense its power and presence behind the vapor veil, and was reminded that the full moon will be upon us tonight. A corridor of high tulip poplars lines our driveway, and a hoot owl was perched somewhere in them this morning in the darkness. He called his mournful Morse code into the new morning — whoo, whoo, whoo-whooooooo — and I thought of…
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Fright And Grief
When I arrived home tonight, Mrs. Orr was cooking up a feast of salmon patties, new potatoes, green beans and a cucumber & tomato salad. We ate, and then Jinx and I went out for our evening stroll. A couple of years ago, one of my readers helped me identify a type of milkweed I’d never seen before. That same strain of milkweed is everywhere this year. As Jinx and I walked, I counted more than eighty of the plants along a twenty yard stretch of our road. The butterflies will be well pleased. Back at the house, I decided to set all of my wife’s pot flowers (as in…
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Please Pray
Our eldest son Jason was taken to hospital this morning. “Feels like someone standing on my chest,” he told my wife. We’re awaiting the cardiologist to perform a catheterization. Please pray for Jason, for his wife, for his children, and for my wife. He’s very calm and resolute, but this is a stressful time for the family, especially the waiting. I don’t understand prayer, but I rely on it. And I appreciate any that you might offer, dear friends. ~ S.K. Orr
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Fragility Of Life
I took a long, slow walk last evening, saying my Rosary as I strolled. Tiny spring flowers were peeking up through the mast, winking in the dimming light, reminding me that life returns, that certain promises are always kept. While whispering the ancient prayers, I also kept an eye out for the bull over whose health I have been so concerned lately. I never saw him. I will continue to look for him, and in the meantime, I will continue to hope that he was healed as miraculously as our little dog Dixee was. I hope he is on a sunny slope this morning, cropping grass and eyeing the cows…
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The Tenacity Of Unbelief
When I came home yesterday, I walked for a long time, looking for the sick bull. I never did find him. But my wife brought Dixee home from the vet. The little creature had been checked from stem to stern, ultrasound, lab work, pokings and proddings….and had been pronounced sound. No sign of anything amiss. “Perhaps it’s gas!” said the helpful vet. Our small dog clearly felt much better, ate a good supper, ran with speed and joy, and slept at our feet during the evening hours before bedtime. We talked much about her symptoms, the scare she’d given us, and the vet’s pronouncements. We decided that gas might be…
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Beasts Of Hearth And Field
Yesterday I described a neighbor’s sick bull and asked for prayer for the bull. Tonight I want to ask anyone reading this blog to please pray for our little dog, who is very sick. Dixee is a rescue dog; in fact, all of our animals were rescued from various unpleasant situations. She came to us years ago when a construction worker brought him to my wife and told her that the scroungy, trembling little mutt had been hanging out at a construction site and had apparently been abandoned. She looked to be part poodle and part terrier of some sort, and she was hungry and frightened. My wife brought her…