The Only Thing Dependable Is Change

Two days after my last post, my youngest jumped (apparently impressively) and ended in a bad landing. And a trip to the ER, and a walking boot. Two thousand, six hundred and twenty-nine miles away from his mother. Away from me.

When the call came, I was driving through Smokey Mountain Foothills trying to go to my first quilt show. Hands-free blue tooth allowed my eyes to remain on the road, but my heart was already at the Pacific coastline. Two thousand, six hundred and twenty-nine miles away.

My body followed my heart after a long weekend waiting to get the patient into an orthopedic surgeon. I spent an almost-week in the green northwest and circled around home. To be welcomed with sciatica like I've never had before.

We had had other news in February. My oldest had fractured his back and we had been waiting to hear he was cleared to return to work. I've informed them that I am done for the year. There is no more excitement to be had.

I would like to be bored for a while. I hear it is nice. And I am still not a fan of airplanes. Twenty-some years after my last flight, I found myself surrounded  by thousands of other travelers...Air travel is worse than it used to be. But I was blessed by much kindness. I am grateful that things were not worse. 

Lets see what joy April will offer. Counting...

Sing a New Song

One of the best things about living where we do is the birds. We have Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice (Titmouses, Titmeese??), a variety of Blackbirds, several different Woodpeckers, many types of Finches, Blue Jays, doves, Orioles, my personal favorite Cardinals and a rare Blue Bird. I've even had a small falcon land on my deck twice. And then there are the Mockingbirds. Oh my, I have one particular visitor who sings a whole aria of calls. It's a good thing they are entertainers because they are also pushy and bully some of the other birds. And there are more...I'm still looking them up.

I hear the hummingbirds will make an appearance soon. My poor husband will have to help me hang more feeders. We can't have pets at this house, so I feed the birds. Which also nets me some interaction with the neighboring squirrels. They are very bold. We have conversations...I tell them off (not too much) and they laugh and laugh.

I have never seen and heard so many birds before. I mean I knew about them...but this is about seeing them daily. Listening to their songs. My father was a bird lover and the last few years of his life one of his favorite things was to sit at his desk and look at the birds. He would have loved it here. Sadly he passed away shortly after we moved here. Some days I think I'm turning into him.

Pictures and videos should accompany this post. But they don't. I'm struggling to remember how to do things here...last week I managed a picture. Not sure how I did that. My IT guy (my husband) did a few updates for me. I got sidetracked with other projects and promptly lost any technical knowledge I had is less than a week.

Practice makes perfect. I am pretty sure that is what God is trying to remind me. Not just about the blogging...but most importantly about life. Especially my life with Him. This Lent has been as much about adding things as giving up things. Sometimes you have to give up some habits to make room for better habits. Apparently I've forgotten some of my good habits from a few years ago.

But God is patient and merciful. He allows renewal, a Springtime of the heart.

Pretty sure I'll figure out some of the things I knew about blogging in the upcoming weeks. There's no doubt if I keep persisting I will revisit some of my better habits to keep building my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

Counting joys (and birds!!),

Julie

Forsythia

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."~Greek Proverb~

My green thumb needs polishing and physically gardening is not something I'm able to do a lot of. But gardeners plant for more than themselves. When we moved here my heart was thrilled to find a previous gardener had left a very nice yard, landscaped and planted to enjoy all year. 

Forsythia is something that I've loved for-EVER, but never personally had. Well...obviously I do now. My neighbor was quite insistent with the landlord that the bush not be trimmed. She is an avid gardener. I am grateful for her request every day. This bush is shelter for so many birds. I have been amazed at the variety and number of birds in my backyard. For now I can't have pets, so I feed the birds...and several squirrels who help themselves. 

This explosion of cheerful sunshine in flowers is definitely a thing to count as joy. 

The Heart of the Tree

WHAT does he plant who plants a tree?

 He plants a friend of sun and sky;

He plants the flag of breezes free;

The shaft of beauty, towering high. 

He plants a home to heaven anigh

For song and mother-croon of bird

In hushed and happy twilight heard --

The treble of heaven's harmony --

These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?

He plants cool shade and tender rain,

And seed and bud of days to be,

And years that fade and flush again;

He plants the glory of the plain;

He plants the forest's heritage;

The harvest of a coming age;

They joy that unborn eyes shall see --

These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?

He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,

In love of home and loyalty

And far-cast thought of civic good --

His blessing on the neighborhood

Who in the hollow of His hand

Holds all the growth of all our land --

A nation's growth from sea to sea

Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.

Henry Cuyler Bunner

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Try, try again...Right?

So many changes. Allowing myself to put off much. Many false starts. Many revisions. Many recreations of self...definitely a work in progress.

Two moves. Several job attempts on both my part and my husbands. Two children, grown and flown. Parenting does not get easier as they get older...that's all I got on that right now.

Sometimes I feel like a pioneer in a covered wagon (but with a bathroom, a modern kitchen and a computer), traversing the land. Leaving fragments of my life behind. Dumping out what seemed so necessary at the start. Holding on to things I probably should have let go of.

There's a lot to do today, but I felt drawn to peek in here again. If you have a spare prayer, I would take one...there's a few hitches in my git-along and I really need to get moving forward.

This Lent has been an eye opener already.

I'd like to spend more time here again. That would be nice.

Today, from my table, I see mountains, hear so many birds, see one of my cardinals visiting a feeder and see a beautiful forsythia.

Counting it all joy,

Julie

I go away for a few days...okay, four years...and come back and things have changed!! What's up with that?

Very unsure if I remember how to do this. Pretty sure no one is looking, so I guess it doesn't matter.

But I'm back. Hopefully for more than a day. I'm going to go dust the cobwebs out of the corners and see how things work now.

If you remember me give me a shout.