Is she sleeping? She really is. After a long day of personal study, companionship study, language study, family history work, walks, zoom meetings, zoom lessons and follow-up calls she finalizes it all by writing in her journal. Then, as she concludes her day she opens her journal and writes down all her thoughts, her feelings, things learned, struggles and new goals . . . and then it all became so much and the pen stopped. Her eyes closed and she slept.
The dog got his doghouse but he never went in it. He preferred the comfort of the beds of young lads. We added a cushion and some coaxing but nothing worked. So the doghouse sat on the hill. The next dog Max was way too chubby to get in that doghouse and so it sat. There were a number of dogs after those two and the lads became teenagers. Tank came to stay but he was a “best friend” and best friends don’t live in dog houses. The little white house rotted and became an eyesore. Today it was torched but truly there were no memories evoked from the burn because it never really was the dog’s house.
I’m gearing up to paint the garage. These items are necessary: pre-chosen Pandora stations ready to go, Bose speaker charged, my favorite blue ladder with prior paint speckles, Crocs for my feet that will need lots of comfort, a table close by with all my paint supplies, thin gardening gloves because I am a messy painter, an oversized t-shirt with sweat pants, hair band and bobby pins so my hair is totally pulled back, good weather and some bottled Diet Pepsi so bugs don’t fly into my can.
When you buy classic there are no regrets. For Micah’s wedding I purchased two yellow Dr. Pepper wooden crates off of Ebay and I have never regretted that purchase once. I was in my craft room “thinking” and “gazing” and thought how that exemplary find has never got outdated nor boring. I love them. It could be they are vintage which mostly describes a piece that is thirty to one hundred years old. They aren’t antiques – those are way old. Perhaps they are retro – pieces from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. Yup – I am enamored with my retro buy.
We have been good and we have social distanced. We haven’t had Sunday dinners for over a month. We have missed each other horribly. The cousins needed to be with one another again. Grammie’s playroom was quiet, clean and lonely. We finally decided we were ok to plan a dinner. We were all so happy to eat and visit. The kids played hard and went outside for a bit. Then we heard Cal. . . and then we saw Cal . . . and of course .. . it all happened at Grammie’s house.
It has been quite disheartening to scan through Hulu, then Netflix and then Amazon Prime to be solely disappointed at the lack of good, clean entertainment to watch. I like to relax in the evenings to a good show or movie but lately the chore to watch anything of worth has been very dismal. I welcomed these mindful words by Richard G. Scott given back in 1994. He said, “Some bad thoughts come by themselves. Others come because we invite them by what we look at and listen to. Talking about or looking at immodest pictures … can stimulate powerful emotions. It will tempt you to watch improper videos or movies. These things surround you, but you must not participate in them. Work at keeping your thoughts clean by thinking of something good. The mind can think of only one thing at a time. Use that fact to crowd out ugly thoughts. Above all, don’t feed thoughts by reading or watching things that are wrong. If you don’t control your thoughts, Satan will keep tempting you until you eventually act them out.” And to that I will stay close to Hallmark and Disney!
This picture reminds me of my brain and also Willoughby the dog in the Fox and the Hound, “which way did he go?” At times my brain moves in all sorts of directions. Since spring is officially shining down on us I can’t decide where to start, what project to start with, what to paint, where to stack the wood and where we will lay the top soil in the yard that was dug up. It also looks like me trying to decide what to have for dinner. I could have a taco, or a hot dog but then maybe I’ll just put a baked potato in – mmm that will be good. Also, I am thinking I could start working on my pictures after I’m done scrapbooking Kyla’s book or should I work on Mike’s stuff? I wonder what I should do? Which direction is the best? I hope other people’s brains are like this so I’m not alone but in reality I often have to talk myself into a calm mode and just say “breathe” and make a list. It will be all ok. And that is what I do and that is the way I go.
She carefully bent down to pick it up, it was fresh, big and bold. She knew it was a keeper and carried it back to be placed in a book with enough papers to help it flatten and preserve. No distinct purpose but it was a “pretty” and those need no reasons. The leaf was of perfect form, with veins worth studying and colors so carefully right off of nature’s pallet. There it lay in the darkened pages for thirteen years until it saw light. The leaf is brittle and as delicate as tea paper. The moisture is gone and just a brush of air could snap off a piece of a vein in a whim. Where shall the treasure be placed since it is hers? Perhaps in a book being made about that journey so long ago would be the best choice of all.
So exactly how old is too old? This box of Baker’s Premium White Chocolate has been in my cupboard – well for a long time. I remember buying it for some event we were doing and ended up not using it. And so it sat. I never keep expired things in my fridge – it gives me the creepies but this box of chocolate just kept hanging around. It pled for mercy every year and I gave in and let it stay. Today I flipped it over and looked at the expiration date. It said November 27, 2012. Gone.
During the 1918 influenza pandemic, the greatest minds of the early 20th century focused on stopping the horror that the flu left in its wake. These scientists, many who would later become Nobel laureates, did everything they could think of to identify the pathogen and devise prophylactic and treatment strategies. Nothing worked. Looking back, the only things that really made any difference were the same simple things that we can personally do to avoid infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19: washing our hands, not touching our faces, social distancing, disinfecting surfaces, and not going to work when sick (among others). See the poster from 1918 (though known as the Spanish Flu, it did not originate in Spain).
What should we do to avoid spiritual “illness”? Often, we are told that what really makes a difference is daily prayer, daily scripture study, daily repentance, and conscientiously preparing for worthily partaking of the sacrament (among others). We may be guilty of saying, “No, there has got to be something more effective.” That is the essence of Naaman’s reluctance to dip himself in the river Jordan seven times. Eventually, drugs were developed that could treat leprosy, but Naaman would have had to wait about 2,800 years for those miracle drugs.
When faced with an easily transmitted infectious agent, I pray we do not let our guard slip, even for a day. When faced with temptations that easily beset us, I pray we do not let our guard slip, even for a day.
Dale G. Renlund
Tara Truly 