Friday, April 11, 2014

Ode To A Tiger Moth

Much to my chagrin, and the bird's delight, it's warmed up so quickly that the bugs are out in force. Jack (of Jack Russell Terrorist fame) found a Tiger Moth resting on a weed next to the carport in the early morning light. The picture didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. I used the wrong camera, so, I dressed it up with a "Picture Frame" in my Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 and thought I'd share. 


Moths

Adrift in the liberating, late light
of August, delicate, frivolous,
they make their way to my front porch
and flutter near the glassed-in bulb,
translucent as a thought suddenly
wondered aloud, illumining the air
that's thick with honeysuckle and dusk.
You and I are doing our best
at conversation, keeping it light, steering clear
of what we'd like to say.
You leave, and the night becomes
cluttered with moths, some tattered,
their dumbly curious filaments
startling against my cheek. How quickly,
instinctively, I brush them away.
Dazed, they cling to the outer darkness
like pale reminders of ourselves.
Others seem to want so desperately
to get inside. Months later, I'll find
the woolens, snug in their resting places,
full of missing pieces.


In spite of the seemingly endless bad news, the sad checkbook balances and the fear of living under an unchecked, lawless government, I still hope everyone has had a pleasant day.

Funny Friday ~ Scotch With Two Drops Of Water

Scotch with two drops of water.
 
A lady goes to the bar on a cruise ship and orders a Scotch with two drops of water. As the bartender gives her the drink she says, "I'm on this cruise to celebrate my 80th birthday and it's today."
 
The bartender says, "Well, since it's your birthday, I'll buy you a drink. In fact, this one is on me."
As the woman finishes her drink, the woman to her right says, "I would like to buy you a drink, too."
 
The old woman says, " Thank you. Bartender, I want a Scotch with two drops of water."
 
"Coming up," says the bartender.
As she finishes that drink, the man to her left says, "I would like to buy you one, too."
 
The old woman says, "Thank you. Bartender, I want another Scotch with two drops of water."
 
"Coming right up," the bartender says. As he gives her the drink, he says, "Ma'am, I'm dying of curiosity. Why the Scotch with only two drops of water?"
 
The old woman replies, "Sonny, when you're my age, you've learned how to hold your liquor. Holding your water, however, is a whole other issue."
 
 
                 'OLD' IS WHEN...                 
Your sweetie says, 'Let's go upstairs
and make love,' and you answer,
'Pick one; I can't do both!'
 
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
Your friends compliment you
on your new alligator shoes
and you're barefoot.
 
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
A sexy babe catches your fancy
and your pacemaker opens the garage door,
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
Going braless
pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
You don't care where your spouse goes,
just as long as you don't have to go along.
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police 
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
'Getting a little action'
means you don't need to take any fiber today.
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
'Getting lucky' means you find your car
in the parking lot.
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
An 'all nighter' means not getting up
to use the bathroom.
 
AND 
 
'OLD' IS WHEN...
You are not sure these are jokes
 
 

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Follow Me ...

Too bad butlers don't have "follow" buttons.

I don't know what I've done (I'm sure it was me) but I've lost my "Follower" button on Blogger and can't seem to get it back. Even clicking on the Add A Gadget button in the Layout section doesn't help. It's not even listed as an option.

Dang.

Aw well. Onward and upward. I hope other bloggers can still follow me, but, like Scarlett, I'll worry about that later.

How do you like my new blogger header? Hubby snapped that of me while we where walking home on our country dirt road today. The building in the distance is the Mill Creek Primitive Baptist Church. I thought it looked almost, well, prophetic. I'm walking home and looking Home. *smile* Huh? Get it? Guess ya had to be there ... *giggle*

Our little vegetable garden is coming along nicely.


The above photo is from March 30th.

And below is the one from today:

"Give my creation LIIIIIFE!"

I can't wait to be munching down on fresh Zucchini, Yellow Squash Ford Hook Limas and the like. Even the Giant Zinnia's are doing well. I'm so pleased.

One of the joys of country living is one has to be pretty self sufficient. If something goes wrong, you have to deal with it. I don't mind this but sometimes it's a bit of a bother. Today the points on the well pump decided that this would be a good day to no longer function. GREAT! (not) *lol* Thankfully, it's no big problem. Our Go-To-Guy for the well repairs saved our bacon in no time.


A few dollars spent later, we're back in business. Hubby did try to repair it himself (he's so smart) but well pumps use special parts and we still would have needed our rescuer. Thank you Lord for people with these special skills.

And this was an absolutely lovely Spring day. And what could be wrong with that!? *smile*


"This is the day the LORD has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it."
NLT [Psalm 118:24]
 
 


Monday, April 7, 2014

Part Twelve: Saturday Matinees or How I Learned to Love Dubbed Japanese Monster Movies (Phew)

As I stated in his first post, once weekly I plan to feature a guest writer, my husband. Since we have no children, he has been painstakingly writing down the stories of his childhood to share them with his then 9 year old niece. I wanted her to know what kind of childhood her beloved Uncle was able to enjoy. While enjoying them myself I thought these are so much fun to read, why not share them? So here are the short missives of his memories of growing up in wilds of Florida during the 1950's and 1960's. They're packed with misadventures, romance, and all the confusing things that can happen in our youth. Even though his hometown of Jacksonville is a big city with over a million residents now, during his childhood it was several small communities surrounded by countryside.

This is his story.

(Please note: None of the photos in this post are from our files. They are all from the internet.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Saturday Matinees or How I Learned to Love Dubbed Japanese Monster Movies (Phew)
by Steven R. Hudson

There is only so much fun that three boys can have on hot summer days. The Mealer boys and I had picked the last of the season's Blackberries. We had caught Water Snakes and tadpoles down at the creek and gone skinny dipping with the other neighborhood boys at the forest pond. A new drainage canal had being dug through the woods behind Center Park and we had rolled down the giant earth mounds left by the excavation machines as we played "King of the Mountain",  coming home so dirty that I was made to strip off my shorts and wash down with a garden hose before being allowed inside. We needed a new activity and our moms came through for us.

I guess moms need a break from the tedium of housework and child care and what better way than to drop off your kids at the Arlington Theater for a Saturday matinee triple feature. While the kids enjoy the movies, mom can shop to her heart's content at Woolworths without having to listen to the whinings of bored children.

So Saturday became movie day that summer. Our moms would drop us off at the little theater on Arlington Road, a dollar bill in our pockets. Admission was only 25 cents which left enough for a large Coke, popcorn and a candy bar. Ike was president and things were cheap in 1959 and '60. Corny science fiction and cheesy monster movies were the common fare at these kid centered matinees with a weekly serial western thrown in to keep you coming back for more. The marquee showed the day's exciting lineup. "Mole People", "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", "Earth Versus Flying Saucers", "The Blob", but my favorites were the Japanese flicks like "Mothra", "Rodan" and "Godzilla". The dubbing in the Asian movies was always entertaining in itself, the mix of Japanese names and dubbed American voices and slang, "Wow Ichimura, that was a close call man".

The matinee I best remember is the one we never got to see, the one I named the "Raisinets Incident". The incident started innocently enough. We paid our
admission and headed straight for the snack bar as we always did. We had each bought a box of chocolate covered raisins called Raisinets along with our staples, Cokes and popcorn. It was not long into the first feature when one of us said something (can't remember who) funny and that started us giggling which, strangely enough led to us tossing Raisinets at one another. Suddenly a low voice behind us said, "You three boys come with me." Busted! We were thrown out on the street and into the summer heat. It would be many hours before our moms would be by to pick us up. We wandered up and down the sidewalk, gazed into store fronts and killed the time as best we could. After a time that seemed like eternity our moms finally came to take us home. "How was the movie" they asked. "It was pretty good" we answered.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Two Minutes With The Bible ~ Boldness Today

Boldness Today

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Printer Friendly Version

Some may suppose that it would require little boldness today to proclaim grace in all its purity. Who is ever persecuted now, at least in free, enlightened lands, for preaching God’s grace? Ah, but do not be deceived. Satan was no less active in his opposition to the truth when Constantine exalted the professing Church to prominence than when his predecessors persecuted the Church and sent its members to death by fire and sword. Indeed, the devil was doubtless more successful in Constantine’s day than he had been when persecution raged.

Does any believer in the Word of God suppose that Satan has relented in his opposition to the truth today, just because men, at least in this land, are not burned at the stake or thrown to the lions? Do not be misled. Satan’s enmity against God and against His Word continues undiminished. His hatred of “the gospel of the grace of God,” is as bitter, and his opposition to it as determined as it ever was. But well does he know that the constant discouragements connected with being in the minority often succeed in silencing those who would stand against physical persecution.

Today Satan uses the new evangelicalism with its highly- organized, highly-financed campaigns — and its woeful lack of doctrinal and dispensational teaching of the Word — to neutralize the saints. Multitudes are attracted to these neo-evangelical extravaganzas, at which the participants are for the most part performers, and those who stand for the truth often feel very small as compared to the vast unthinking majority. But let us never forget that God uses “things that are not” to accomplish His work (See I Cor. 1: 26-29).

Let us, who know and love the truth, then, determine by God’s grace that nothing shall make us unfaithful to our glorious commission; that, whatever the cost, we shall faithfully and boldly proclaim to others the unadulterated gospel of the grace of God, “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery.”



To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Georgia Springtime Flowers

The one (there's only one) bad thing about being retired is I keep forgetting what day it is. So, instead of a Throwback Thursday post, how about some pretty Spring flowers from around our property.

Cherokee Rose
Georgia State Flower
 
Wisteria

We've spent the day working around the yard clearing trees, picking up debris, all that 'fun' stuff that goes with property management. So, for a treat, we plan to ride our motorcycles to a Barbeque joint this evening to meet with our local Swamp Runners Group. It's a friendly little group with like-minded Christian riders. We make plans to ride en masse to a predestined Restaurant or event on the weekend. And, notably, this will be my first night ride ever. Yes, I promise to be careful. Night riding can be very dangerous.

What are your plans for the evening?

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Two Wheeled Musing

The weather was perfect for two wheels: slight wind, hazy enough to tone down the bright sunshine, and 70 degree temperatures. Can life be any more perfect? Me thinks not!

First to Baxley to lunch at Captain Joe's Seafood.

After a scrumptious meal of fish sandwich and a turkey burger, the trusty steeds carried us to a drug store to purchase a birthday card for our brother-in-law. Cards always brighten my day, so, I assume it's a joy for others. I hope so.  

After insuring aforesaid birthday greetings was safely winging it's way to beloved brother-in-law, we took the long way around the barn home through the Bacon County countryside. Bacon county has some of the most interesting motorcycle roads in southeast Georgia. We had so much fun that we put more than 120 miles on the bikes.

It was truly a good day.

What was your day like?