October 14th - Autumn Amazes - and I'm a little behind!

Sadly, the INVASIVE honeysuckle is ready to feed birds and squirrels in abundance again this year.

Most experts advise keeping children away from the berries. Seems a few varieties are okay, but some are poisonous. So we explain to Rowan that we are not allowed to eat those. Only birds like them.

Love this shot. Nothing like a walk with the young'n to get you seeing things straight!!

 

Now if you Shuffle your feet you can make those leaves CRUNCH! Explain shuffle to a two year old!

 

REALLY, Pop?

Rowan is good at mimicing bird calls.

And if you find a REALLY good stick,

you can drag it ALL the way to the car! (Gigi loves those curls!)

 

Rowan's thinking, "Are you SURE about that?"

 

Pop shows him how the corn grows.

And they take just one ear home for his birds and wild life.

Maybe out of focus, but this Rowan in ACTION!

 

Hey! Look!!

 

 

 

 

Radical acceptance requires Total Surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Leaves Turning Colors

 

Popular Science printed this recently under FYI

Why Do Leaves Turn Different Colors? Short Answer: Different trees make different pigments.

 

Long Answer: Leaves are loaded with chlorophyll, which makes them green. But all green plants also carry a set of chemicals called carotenoids. On their own, these look yellow or orange - carotenoids give color to corn and carrots, for example - but they're invisible beneath the chlorophyllic green of a leaf for most of the year. In the fall, when the leaves are nearing the end of their life cycle, the chlorophyll breaks down, and the yellow-orange is revealed. "The color of a leaf is subtractive, like crayons on a piece of paper," says David Lee, formerly of Florida International Univeristy, who has studied leaf color since 1973.

 

In one corner of our yard: Ornamental grass, pyracantha shrubs, gingko tree and yellow poplar "Tulip tree."

 

Most trees have evoloved to produce a different set of chemicals, called anthocyanins, when it's bright and cold in autumn. These have a reddish tint and are responsible for the color of a blueberry. They're also sometimes made in newly sprouting leaves, which explains their sometimes reddish tint. Where chlorophyll and the anthocyanins coexist, the color of a leaf may run to bronze, as in ash trees. At high enough concentrations, anthocyanins will make a leaf look almost purple, as in Japanese maples.

 

More drab autumn colors form as leaves really die and complete the breakdown of the chloroplasts. When they're all dried out, the pigments link up together into what Lee calls a "brownish gunk."

 

 

The bright red leaves here are the forsythia which will give us our first harbinger of spring with those golden flowers! What a blessing :-)

 

Ornamental grasses in the side yard.

 

Radical acceptance requires Total Surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

One of the highlights of our trip happened the first day. We flew from CIncinnati to Salt Lake City, then drove into Idaho and stopped at the Lava Hot Springs. Great way to relax after the flight and travel through unknown areas.

 

 

From the website at http://www.lavahotsprings.com/hotpools.html

"Bubbling out of natural underground springs, the hot water is laden with minerals, but has no sulfur and therefore no bad odor.

"Over 2.5 million gallons a day course through the hot springs and are diverted into the Portneuf River keeping the springs ever changing and clean. The spring's temperatures range from approximately 102˚ to 112˚ degrees.

• Open 363 Days A Year! Hours and Rates
• Pure all natural Mineral Water
• No chemicals, no sulfur, no odor
• Natural water temperature 102F -110F
• Four outdoor gravel bottom pools

Fine print says "Except where they found hot springs, pre-historic Indians had a hard time getting hot water. They wove water-tight baskets into which they put heated rocks. Here they had plenty of hot water for baths and for processing hides without going to all the work of heating baskets. This was one oftheir major campgrounds, especially in winter. After 1868, when they began to stay mostly on the Fort Hill Indian Reservation , this location lost its importance as a winter camp."

This is how it looked when we were there, except there were PEOPLE! Not many, but a few. One woman was recovering from cancer treatments. She was there with her husband, two children and her mother.

It would have been neat to see it in the snow!

 

 

 

 

Radical acceptance requires Total Surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Faeries In the Yard?

Our Trick of Treat night was postponed until November 1st due to storm predictions and high winds. The morning after the storm, when Bob took his walk with the dog, he came home and called me outside to see this.

Now from time to time we get a few mushrooms in the yard,

 

but if you look closely you can see a ring of these huge mushrooms!

What? Maybe there were faeries dancing in the yard last night?

The dictionary defines them as

1. A tiny, mischievous, imaginary being; a fairy.

2. The land or realm of the fairies.

 

Mushrooms nestled next the rock wall, (guess these were for the wall flowers?)

 

Giants littered over the yard, but in a sort of pattern!

 

Obviously, we were delighted and amazed. They disappeared almost overnight.

 

Largest 'shrooms we have ever seen in our yard!

Will wonders never cease!? Hope not.

 

 

 

Radical acceptance requires Total Surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Upper Room Quotation

Here is a family photo.

My father's parents....

The psalmist wrote, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”

— Psalm 71:18 (NIV)

"My husband and I have begun researching our family ancestry. During this process we have visited many cemeteries to take pictures of family grave markers. Some of the markers are simple, small headstones. Others are grand monuments. Many quote a scripture verse, or say how much the person was loved and will be missed.

The passing of time, however, has been an enemy to these well-intentioned memorials. Many are fading, falling down, broken, and cracked. Some plots are covered up with vegetation, and not all monuments are readable.

If King David and King Solomon had grand burial sites, time and generations have hidden the locations. But their failures and victories, their works of faith that live on in the psalms and writings in the Bible, remind us of our need for God.

Memorials of stone, marble, and brass may not last. But our life of faith and the example we set will be passed down from generation to generation — a permanent monument that will stand the test of time."

Prayer: Dear Father, help us to live in a way that those who come after us will find in our lives true examples of faith in you. Amen.

Shelby H. Grant (North Carolina)

Yes, Lord, help us to pass on our faith before we join You.

Radical acceptance requires Total Surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Me at 63 + 1 day

Saw this in the CBD website. Just might have to buy it!

It says: "Rush not. Be still. It takes the time that it takes."

 

With a maiden name of Rush and the life verse of

 

Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,in quietness and trust is your strength,

but you would have none of it.

and

Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth.”

 

Yeah, guess I might need this!

 

 

 

 

 

Radical acceptance requires Total Surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Aslan

If Aslan wanted to come and reconfigure some things within you, would you let Him?

 

 

 

Wikipedia says: "Aslan is depicted as a talking lion, the King of Beasts, son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea, lord of Narnia; a wise, compassionate, magical authority (both temporal and spiritual); mysterious and benevolent guide to the human children who visit; guardian and saviour of Narnia. The author, C. S. Lewis, described Aslan as an alternative version of Christ; that is, as the form in which Christ might have appeared in a fantasy world.

Throughout the series, it is stated that Aslan is "not a tame lion," since, despite his gentle and loving nature, he is powerful and can be dangerous.

 

Recently, during Healing Touch, I heard The Lord say that Aslan wanted to come and be with me. How could I refuse? The symbol to me of The Lion of Judah, both a symbol in Judaism and Christianity, brings great comfort and trust.

 

The Lion has huge paws, but this time He did not use His claws within those paws. He simply came to knead loose some of the things clogging my journey.

When I was a child my parents had friends, Matt and Peg, who had no children. They did have a huge boxer dog. I remember the dog taking a liking to me. At one point I was lying on the floor between the dog's forepaws. We rested together and even watched a TV show. Aslan let me know He wanted to comfort and hold me the same way that Boxer had. Sure, why not?

At age 63 today, why would I hesitate to let the King of Kings and Lord of Lords remodel me from the inside out? I got nothing to lose and everything to gain!

 

Radical acceptance requires Total Surrender to the Holy Spirit.