Heading for Evansville

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning (Saturday) for Evansville (Indiana) for the Indiana District LWML convention. A friend and fellow church member from Indianapolis is driving and I'm meeting her at 6:45 a.m. Ray will drive me to Mooresville and then he'll be on his own until I get home Sunday evening about 5:30. There's food in the fridge and he's very good at making egg sandwiches whenever I'm away. Currently, I'm VP of our LWML Zone, but the president had a family conflict and because of that I'll have some responsibilities to take care of while at the convention.

Earlier today I had my annual eye appointment and nothing major has changed since a year ago. The doctor did mention that the cataract in my left eye has changed since last year but he said it may be 10 years before I need to do anything or it could be next year. They have no way of predicting the future of a cataract.

As I drove to the optometrist, it was heart breaking to see several fields of corn that appear ruined because of the prolonged dry spell. Some areas north of Indianapolis did get rain this afternoon, but I don't think the fields I saw today would be helped if we had rain tonight or tomorrow.

I need to finish packing and try to get a good night's sleep. Sweet dreams everyone!

Happy Birthday

Sending birthday wishes to granddaughter Kylie!  No longer a pre-schooler, she is a mother herself taking care of her 4-year-old while she recovers from back surgery. I have many memories of her as a four-year-old when we spent lots of time taking care of her. The years have flown by!!

Photo from Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012

Ray mowed the lawn this afternoon. Let me explain. He wasn't cutting grass but mostly raising lots of dust as he cut mostly weeds and, in particular, buckhorn plants that had sent their spikes upward over a good portion of the yard. The shortage of rain is getting serious!

Trifecta!

Today is an important day in our family in fact I'm calling it a trifecta! Not in order of importance, because I couldn't rate the occasions, I would first like to offer tribute to all the Dads in the family.

Verse: My father gave me the greatest gift anyone can give
another person; he believed in me.  Valvano

I hope this is true for you. Looking back, I know it was for me.

Second, today is the wedding anniversary of my sister Gloria and Ross her spouse of 51 years. Congratulations to a beautiful couple who continue to do amazing things.

They received this beautiful embroidered counted
cross stitch plaque from our sister Judy

Third, today is the 100th anniversary of our Mother's birth! Here's a favorite photo of her.

Not sure when this was taken.
Was it her 80th?

I'll be running a qualifier race this morning and I'm planning to run in honor of Mom. I'm sure I'll be remembering some of the good times we had! Love you, Mom!

Indiana Senior Games

The Indiana Senior Games are being held this weekend and are a qualifier for the national Senior Olympics next summer in Cleveland. The Indiana Games are under new management this year and we had a difficult time getting information but did get registered. This morning we headed north to Westfield, about an hour's drive, where the track and field events were scheduled. Ray was entered in the racewalk, but had been told earlier that he probably wouldn't have to compete since there were only two entries. Of course, we had to show up and were told that he would automatically qualify for next summer.

I entered the road race but that won't be held until tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. when it should be in the high 70s. I'm not planning on setting any records. It's been two years since the last qualifier so we searched for the Monon Center in Carmel where the race begins and finally found it. I'm almost sure we would not have found the start line in time for the start of the race tomorrow if we hadn't searched today. And that would not have been good.

On the way home I noticed a field of wheat about half harvested. It's only the middle of June and I usually think of wheat harvesting around the 4th of July. The weather is sure playing with us this year.

It is very dry here but a stray thundershower gave Lafayette quite a bit of rain this afternoon and now there are warnings of flash floods in that area. Isn't that weird? A flash flood in the middle of a very dry spell!

The Oasis

VBS is over for another year. A fun week for the kids and, with a smaller enrollment and a good sized staff, the logistics were manageable. I was able to work on another project during some of the hours that I was there. The volunteers who stayed to help clean up were treated to pizza for lunch. Now that's a deal one can't pass up. However, didn't get any workouts in this week or any running! A week off should make me stronger, right? We'll soon see.

It may sound like a broken record, but we need rain. Our lawn is going dormant. Even the clover is drying up and that's hard to kill.

Road sides and lawns are looking poorly, but
most crops are still looking OK

I can't imagine how our garden would look if Ray hadn't watered it several times in the past month or so. It really is an oasis. I picked several zucchini today and sugar pea pods. The green beans are blooming and we have several large cucumbers in the kitchen.

The 20 tomato plants are behind Ray.
The zucchini plants are the best ever with
the green beans in the foreground.

I'm not looking forward to getting our next water bill.

Vacation Bible School

Just completed day two of VBS. I'm enjoying time visiting with other members of the congregation, greeting people as they come and go and helping out with whatever I can do. It's also great to see granddaughter Kylie bringing Jayden to VBS. He's enjoying it for the very first time. A great experience for him in a lightly structured program. Each age group has an adult leader and they rotate from one experience to the next, spending about 20 minutes in each setting. They are constantly moving from inside to outside or to singing or craft or snacks, etc. I think they move about six or seven times. I'm guessing no one gets bored.

Jayden - age 4

Isn't he a handsome young lad?

The theme is Amazing Desert Journey. The kids are collecting funds to help provide clean water for places in the world that don't have safe water to drink. They are also collecting socks for kids in Johnson County.

Waiting for the rain!

I seem to write a lot about the weather, but it sure does affect our lives and homes. Our lawn is beginning to look like late July. The last several days we've been promised rain on Monday and Tuesday but today the predictions are changing to maybe only 1/4 inch. Ouch! That's not nearly enough. I'm hoping when we wake in the morning there will be a revised and updated forecast with at least an inch of rain. Dreamer!

Thinking back to earlier today to the church service, the Pastor began his sermon by saying that people blame society, courts and government for their problems. They don't want to take responsibility for their actions and/or mistakes. We hide because of our sin but God seeks us. You see the sermon was based on a passage about Adam and Eve and the Snake in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-15). Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden and hid from God. Why didn't they want to see God? They knew they were guilty. They were trying to cover up their sin. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the Snake. They were hiding from God and the truth. The Good News for those who hide from God is that Jesus came to take the blame. We never need to hide from a God who loves us!

Tomorrow our annual Vacation Bible School begins and I've been asked to help again. My main responsibility is registration and clerical type work. Last year we were headed to California for our Big Trip and I missed VBS. Of course, this means I have to be ready to leave the house each morning in order to arrive before 9 a.m. Usually, when I leave the house for a workout I only comb my hair and wear workout clothes -- but tomorrow I need to do a bit more to look presentable.

It's a Tough Life!

Yes, for some muskrats liking our neighborhood, life is pretty tough -- in fact, it's over. For the past several days and weeks, Ray has noticed muskrats swimming around. It's always hard to find their haunts but he did locate several possibilities and put out traps. He's done this several times over the years. We don't want the population to increase and the animals can do damage to the bank and dam. I've taken a picture or two of past catches, but this time he had four muskrats laid in a row from biggest to smallest.

Nothing except some big flies had bothered them when the photo was taken

Quite often when we have a dead muskrat or mole, some other critters find them and they disappear. We never have had to bury any. So late this afternoon, the word was out and Turkey Vultures were flying high in the sky thinking that supper wasn't that far away. (Update: Ray checked on the status of the carcasses and they have all disappeared - 5:00 p.m.)

Yesterday, we learned how dependent we are on modern-day technology and the Internet. We have a DSL line and have had good service, but yesterday afternoon, we suddenly couldn't connect. We couldn't even make an outgoing phone call. I tried resetting the modem but that didn't correct the problem. After an hour or so I called Technical Support (on my cell phone) and the tech dude tried to locate the problem. When he couldn't, he wrote a ticket for someone to look into the problem. We really didn't know how long it would take but a few hours later we had a phone call -- service was back -- and the problem was caused by some down or broken wire. The phone company is working in our area doing lots of digging and installation so that by this fall we'll have fiber optics. Wonder if someone doing that work had a hand in our down time.

Lovin' this weather

The last three mornings have been ideal for running. The temps have been in the mid 50s. We usually get to the Rec Center about 8 a.m. Plainfield is a remarkable small town considering its wealth of running and cycling trails. Cyclists, walkers, and furry friends can be seen almost any day. The trail I ran this week is shaded and so it may be even cooler. Just about perfect! I know this weather pattern isn't going to last but I wish it would be a bit longer.

For a about the last six years or so I've been "playing" around with Photoshop Elements, a photo editing program that is simpler than it's big brother -- Photoshop. Just this past week I learned a new technique called "Pop Art." I took a photo from last February's Mardi Gras of my daughter-in-law and, using the what I had just learned, made the following:

Hope she likes it -- I'm making a print for Christy

Twilight Zone--sort of

This morning I was reminded of an incident from last week. Let me begin by explaining that when we head to the Rec Center I am dressed for the day, meaning that if we are going to be running the trail system, I just get out of the car and am ready to start. Ray, on the other hand, goes inside to the locker room and changes into the proper gear.

Last Thursday I went out on my run, as usual, and when I was finished I headed to the car to get my gym bag. Imagine what I felt when the car wasn't in the place where we had parked! I know we don't always park in the same spot but that's when I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone -- sort of. I look around to see if Ray had parked the car in another spot, but then I began to realize that he had probably had to leave to get who knows what. Sure enough he showed up a about 15 minutes later explaining that when he got to the locker room earlier in the morning, he realized he hadn't packed any running shorts! So he made a quick decision to return home to get what he needed. He really made a quick turn around. But, for me, the first moments when the car wasn't where it was supposed to be was really quite weird.

This evening as I was looking out the bedroom window I saw a flock of baby Wood Ducks being chaperoned by their attentive mother. I quickly grabbed my camera and installed the zoom lens and caught a couple of photos. We don't mind Wood Ducks occupying our small lake, but we do chase Canada Geese.

We first saw them a few days ago, but this was the
first time they were in photo range

As they swam away to the far side,
notice the reflection in the water from the late afternoon sun

Bug Bites

Yesterday I was bothered by some itching and large welts on several areas of my body. After lunch I visited the Minute Clinic at a CVS pharmacy. I'm now taking a steroid and feel much better. Maybe I could have managed without a visit to the clinic, but she verified that it appeared to be bug bites. Earlier last week I picked berries wearing shorts and that may have been the occasion that I was bitten. The curious thing is that I didn't have any reaction until Friday. I've been cautious all year about wearing pants when in the garden, but one slip did me in. I've been using some repellent but was in a hurry that day and paid for it a few days later. Could have been fleas or chiggers or something like that. I'll never know, but it seems I get a dose of this every summer and you would think I would be wiser by now.

At church today, the sermon was based on an Old Testament text from the book of Isaiah. God was looking for a servant leader. Isaiah responded "Here am I--send me." The pastor posed the question "Are we ready to serve God by serving God's people?" What is a servant leader? One way is by being an example to others. We can serve by ministering to the needs of others. We offer the excuse that we are not good enough to serve. God, however, forgives our sins and gives us the skills and talents and opportunities to connect to others. We can say with Isaiah "Here I am Lord--send me." Those who serve get back more than they give.

Today was a pleasant day but it did feel rather hot when the sun was beaming down so brightly. Since we aren't expecting any rain overnight, I asked Ray to fill our hand sprayer with weed killer several times. We should see the results in a few days. I wish we would have an inch or two of rain. I see cracks in the ground and it really is difficult to pull weeds when the ground is dry.