Glass Bowl Coincidence

Ok......this cool coincidence just happened. This afternoon, I've been reboxing all our Christmas decorations.....sorting them into totes and toting said totes upstairs to my married son's old bedroom which will now serve as a storeroom, seeing as we do not have a usable attic. Moving the Christmas stuff frees up a closet near my computer room to now be used to store old photos. Cool, huh......yeah, I thought so, too.

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Anyhow, as I sorted through the strings of Christmas lights, I decided to keep one string downstairs for decorative lighting of some sort. I wanted to see how a string of white lights would look coiled in a big glass bowl, so I traipsed back up to the storeroom where there is a stack of glass bowls that were used at my daughter's wedding. We had bought them all at Goodwill stores; colorful candies were placed in them at the reception.

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I looked through the stack of bowls and chose one to take downstairs to try with the string of lights. After washing the bowl in the kitchen sink, I walked back into the computer room and right then the random screensaver photo that happened to be displayed was the above photo from my daughter's wedding.......showing THE VERY SAME GLASS BOWL!! (Please ignore the construction equipment outside the church window.) The bride and groom poured sand into the bowl during the wedding ceremony as a symbol of unity.......instead of lighting a unity candle. With the thousands of photos on my computer, the chance of that particular photo showing up right at that moment has to be pretty darn slim. Actually, its the ONLY photo of the bowl. I was pretty darn amazed. Life can be quite amazing at times. Never a dull moment.

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Black Shorts Coincidence

Once again I caught myself being unobservant and behind the times---a typical occurrence for me. The other day, I finally discovered Celia Rivenbark's column in the newspaper. Perhaps you are already a reader of her articles. I've noticed her photo and column in the past, but for some unknown reason assumed she wrote "mommy" articles aimed at young parents. Such writings would not be for me---hooray---as I am currently existing happily in a sort of no-mommy land, in between raising my own kids and becoming a grandparent......IF that's even in the cards.

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Anyhow, a few days ago as I was perusing the newspaper pages, the blurb beneath Celia's photo caught my eye: Celia Rivenbark writes a humor column for MCT news service. Her newest book is "Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny With a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits." Hmm......humor column sounded intriguing and her book title is definitely humorous, so I read the accompanying article,

401(k)'s Scary Enough for Halloween, and was impressed!

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Here's an interview with Celia Rivenbark, who resides in North Carolina.

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A few more random words on motherhood: Recently, my good friend----I'll refer to her here as Amy, though that's not her name----who is the mother of several young daughters called me on the phone. We chatted for almost an hour. Amy told me she needs to talk to someone like me occasionally to be reassured that she's doing the right thing by being a stay-at-home-mom. (Hmm......she may be off somewhat off target to be looking to me as an example to follow......I never really had a career in the first place.) She was formerly a math teacher, and will surely return to that career someday, but right now she's focusing on raising her family, with her youngest two daughters being not yet of school age.

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At one point in the phone conversation, something she said caught me off guard, and I wasn't sure how to respond. Amy said that she'd like to try and lose some weight, and was thinking of taking walks to get exercise. Then she mentioned her husband's opinion on the matter; he says that NOW is not the time to be thinking of herself, that in the future when the girls are older she can take time to do things like taking walks and such. As if wishing to lose a few pounds and get in better shape is selfish! Amy is a devout Christian and will most likely heed what her husband says. I just shook my head (good thing Amy couldn't see me), however. Of course, its none of my business, but she did bother mentioning it to me. I guess I look a bit askance at her husband's view that its somehow selfish for his wife to take time to do something that would impact her health in a positive way, AND would set a good example for their daughters.

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But, you would be proud of me........I kept my big mouth shut and did not tell Amy my thoughts on the matter! Her husband is a very pleasant guy, and I enjoy visiting with him, so perhaps in the future I can figure out how to sneak my opinion into a conversation......in a nice way, of course.

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As mentioned, Amy and I have a bond of friendship. Yesterday I spent the afternoon sorting and sacking up clothes to take to Goodwill. From my son's room were many out-grown items, including a few pairs of black mesh shorts, like kids wear for basketball practice and such. I kept hesitating to put the shorts into the Goodwill sack; I would hold them up and look them over, thinking that surely there is someone I could give these to. Shorts like this are rather expensive. They would be way too big for my nephew, and Amy's daughter, who is a freshman in high school, kept coming to mind. But, then I'd think, "No......she surely wouldn't want black shorts." Finally, I just gave up and threw the shorts into the Goodwill bag. Before evening chores, I loaded the sacks of clothes into the car, so they wouldn't be sitting in everyone's way here in the house.

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After chores, I jumped in the car and headed to choir practice, where Amy is our fearless leader. Afterwards, she and I talked for awhile. To my astonishment, Amy began to tell me how frustrated she had been the other day while at a large sporting goods store in Cedar Falls looking for BLACK MESH SHORTS for her daughter to wear for basketball practice!! But, there were none there in her daughter's size! She told me she even asked to speak to the manager, to tell him how upset she was that such a large store would not have those popular shorts in stock. Before I could tell her about the shorts in the Goodwill bag out in my car, Amy said, "Do you think you have any black shorts like that lying around your house? I will follow you home right now to get them." I started laughing and said, "Amy, guess what.....even as we speak, there are black shorts like that sitting in a sack out in my car. You can have them."

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This little coincidence warmed my heart and makes me believe that Amy and I share a special bond that goes beyond the ordinary. Or else, this type of occurrence is actually very ordinary and common between friends and loved ones, and that's a wonderful thing to know, too.

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Sorry to get carried away. If you have time, be sure to go back and click the link to Celia Rivenbark's entertaining article.

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Angel Mail Delivery?

For the past few months, I've been featuring the stained-glass windows from my church in Sunday blog posts, but that can't go on forever, as the number of windows in that venerable old building is finite, of course. Hm-m.......what to do next.......I don't know........we'll see. However, July 13......today.......has special significance for me, and this post will explain why.

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First of all, let me say that I just looked at my St. James Calendar of the Christian Year and discovered that July 13 is the day that the Eastern Christian Church remembers the Archangel Gabriel. I'm excited about that because my story here possibly has an angel involved, or possibly not.......I guess we'll just never know.

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My mom had one sibling, a sister, who I will refer to as "Aunt Lou", in this post. Aunt Lou passed on on All Saints' Day, November 1, 2000, after a short illness, at age 61. Aunt Lou's was born on today's date, July 13, in 1939.

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Aunt Lou never married, or had any children; she was a registered nurse, working many years in a hospital psychiatric unit. Maybe she was bit off-beat, compared to my mom's way of living, anyway. Aunt Lou smoked, drank alot of pop, and liquor, on occasion. She bleached and teased her hair, painted her fingernails, and wore plenty of jewelry and make-up. She was a fan of the Supremes, Dionne Warwick, and Barbra Streisand, and would travel occasionally to go to concerts. My mom was a fan of Tennessee Ernie Ford and church hymns and songs like "Mockingbird Hill", and "It Is No Secret". She didn't like rock music, and didn't let her kids drink much pop. When I was young, it was fun to snoop through Aunt Lou's celebrity magazines and record album collection, of which we certainly had none at home.

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Through the years, as my siblings and I were growing up, whenever our birthdays rolled around, Aunt Lou showed up with a card and gift. Sometimes, my mom would cringe at the items we received.......jewelry, jewelry boxes, radios, tape players, etc.,.......things that mom thought were not quite appropriate for us, perhaps.

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When I later had children of my own, Aunt Lou showered them with gifts, too, and would often show up randomly with pizza or a bucket of fried chicken. She always made sure I had a coffeemaker, too. She liked coffee!

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As stated above, Aunt Lou passed on in late fall of 2000. Subsequently, as the years and family birthdays came and went, we all missed receiving receiving cards, gifts, and visits from Aunt Lou.

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One hot, muggy afternoon in July, 2004, I was relieved to exit the kitchen after lunch to walk down the lane to pick up the mail. On the way back, I glanced through the letters........one was a notecard-sized envelope addressed in my mom's lovely handwriting. A note from Mom......that's always nice. Once back in the house, I opened it up and was surprised to find she was thanking me for the gifts I gave her on Mother's Day.......a whole two months previous!! Thank-you notes are important to my mom, and she normally sends them very promptly. The card is shown framed in the photo above, with lovely lilacs on its cover.

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Puzzled, I examined the envelope and found it had NO postmark on it! Just a little smudge of ink where the postmark should have been. How odd. Glancing at the calendar, it suddenly dawned on me that today was July 13, Aunt Lou's birthday!! What a strange little coincidence.......that my mom's very late Mother's Day note would arrive here on her late sister's birthday!!

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I picked up the phone and immediately called my mom and told her what I had just received in the mail. She was perplexed; she said she had put the thank-you note in the mail a couple days after Mother's Day! I said, "Mom......do you realize what today is?" She was quiet for a few seconds, then gasped, "It's Lou's birthday!! Oh, that's strange!"

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So, I was left to wonder and ponder: Where was that thank-you note for two months??! In a crevice at the Cedar Falls Post Office?? How exactly does something like this happen? Was it just random coincidence?? Perhaps. Perhaps not. This incident was a major factor in prompting my interest in reading about meaningful coincidence, which I learned, to my surprise, is a phenomenon that's been noticed and studied around the world since way before the time of Christ, including in ancient Greece and China, and probably elsewhere, but not recorded.

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I could say that God caused the thank-you note incident to happen (and, of course, God DID cause it, because God causes everything)......that it was miracle.......but what would we conclude the purpose of the miracle to be, for it seemed to be quite limited in scope, affecting only me, basically. LCMS Lutherans aren't much into talking about unusual things like that, anyway, and I would rather approach it from a scientific angle, anyway. If you check on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble, you'll find many books about coincidence. I try to stick with authors who approach the subject scientifically, to avoid new age mumbo-jumbo. In everyday life, it is a reality that meaningful coincidences occur, and I believe it is God at work. Being mindful of and attentive to this reality makes each day exciting, I think! SOMETHING special is going on out there!!

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Then again.......after just learning that July 13 is the messenger Archangel Gabriel's Day, as well as Aunt Lou's birthday........I'm wondering if maybe the thank-you note was delivered by Angel Postal Service!!

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The Fenton glass angel shown in the photo was one of the last birthday gifts I received from Aunt Lou.......in her hands the angel is clasping a glass stone of June's birthstone color, Alexandrite lavendar! The same color as the lilacs on the card!! Maybe Aunt Lou was sending me a message, through the timely/untimely Mother's Day thank-you note, saying, "You were like a daughter to me." The last time I saw Aunt Lou alive, during her sudden, final illness, she was struggling on a respirator and unable to speak, but her eyes were wide open as my daughter and I held her hand and told her we loved her. Sometimes, I wonder if our loved ones who have passed on are still around us, just in a different form, and using entirely different means to communicate.......clever and symbolic ways, usually beyond our ken.

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Kitties & Postscript

Here's three of Miss Kitty's kitties, now one month old (read of their arrival):

Cooperating by sitting still for the camera was not something these kitties were interested in doing!

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Here's a postscript concerning yesterday's blog post: I wrote that post around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, shortly after coming in from the field. That evening, after supper, I opened the newspaper for a quick glance-through, and listed there on the obituary page was the death notice of the woman from my telephone story! For several years she had been a nursing home resident, and passed away there on Tuesday morning!

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An interesting coincidence to ponder; that I would happen to see her son in the field next door prompting my thoughts of the telephone story, and this taking place close to the time she passed away! Were thoughts of her floating around in the air Tuesday morning, waiting to be picked up by a mind here and there? I've read that thoughts actually are waves of energy. All her family members would have been thinking about her, and praying for her. Her son in the tractor in the field next door was most certainly thinking about her. Did his thoughts travel?

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As my life marches onward and as more experiences happen, I have a growing belief that thoughts do travel somehow, and are perceived subconsciously by other minds. Light and sound are waves that travel and are picked up by our sensory apparatus, eyes and ears, and interpreted by our brains. If thoughts are waves of energy, too, then they could conceivably be received and interpreted by some part of us. We're simply not aware of such a sense, as we are with seeing, hearing, etc. Its not a problem for me to accept that God would have created peoples' minds to operate that way.

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Have a pleasant day!!

Dream of the Day

Sorry, I have to tell this little dream incident that just happened. Last night, as I was settling in to go to sleep, I reminded myself to tell my son in the morning to please wear a shirt and tie to church, since we would be having Communion and he would probably be an usher.

When my son got up this morning, the first thing he said to me was, "Mom....Grandpa was in my dream last night." I said, "Cool.....tell me about it."

(Grandpa is my father-in-law, who passed away last November.) My son said that in the dream he and Grandpa were in a vehicle and Grandpa gave him a box of items. The items were dress shirts and ties!!!! (My father-in-law did used to encourage dressing well for church.)

I told my son that I had been planning to tell him to wear a shirt and tie to church today, and evidently, Grandpa would want him to dress that way, too!!!

Anyone can say whatever they want about incidents like this......but, to me they indicate some possibilities.........that thoughts travel.....OR.....that our loved ones remain around us somehow in spirit, and they communicate with us in unusual and unorthodox ways. Its not spooky.......no, its just the way things are!

Cement Truck Accident

Shall we allow our thoughts meander to a season other than winter.......how about autumn? The photo below was taken on the day of this post. Back then, I couldn't upload photos due to a super slow dial-up connection.

The vantage point of this scene is a little roadside park high on a hill overlooking the tiny town of Eldorado, Iowa. "Eldorado" means a gilded place of great wealth. I doubt this village in Iowa contains a stash of gold, but on the day of this photo, this Eldorado was surrounded by GOLDEN corn fields! The sumac patch across the road provided a wealth of lovely deep red color, also.

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Yesterday morning brought an odd dream as I was waking up. In it, a family gathering was going on. One of my sister-in-laws was stirring a roaster full of multi-colored beans. Her back was covered with what appeared to be shredded mozzarella cheese. I was grabbing handfuls of the cheese and tossing it into the roaster of beans. (?????)

I told Husband about the dream when I got to the barn. (He just LOVES hearing about my weird dreams. He's long-suffering and tolerant, poor guy.) Anyway, last evening we received an email saying that another one of our sister-in-laws has a medical problem and will be flying to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on Monday. Its the first we've heard of this, so we have no idea what her medical problem is.

Sometimes, I think the purpose of dreams such as the one above is to sound an alert that someone needs prayer. The dream directed my attention to a sister-in-law......otherwise, they had not been on my mind lately.

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The following dream story happened in late summer of 2005: One morning, as I was waking up, a strange dream scene came and went. In it, a thing which looked like a watertower tank was flying low over our field by the road. The tank then landed across the road, in our neighbor's cornfield.

Again, on this morning, I happened to tell Husband about the dream, once I got to the barn. The following day, Husband, one of our sons, and my stepdad were up on the roof of our house, putting new shingles on. Suddenly, Husband hollered for me to bring the binoculars to him.......he said two police cars had just speeded by on our gravel road. (We live 1/4 mile off of it.) From up there on the roof Husband could see commotion on the road over by our neighbor's place. Pretty soon we heard and saw an ambulance go wailing by. Husband kept watching, and eventually said that it appeared a cement truck had gone into the ditch and overturned. Husband could see that the cement mixer's tank had rolled into our neighbor's cornfield! He looked down at me from the roof and said quietly, "Your dream." I hadn't even thought of that yet.

It turned out that the cement truck driver had lost control on loose gravel; he probably had been driving a bit too fast. Our neighbors rushed to the overturned truck's cab and found the driver conscious, but with his arm was pinned. It took the emergency workers 1-1/2 hours to extricate him from the cab! He had a badly broken arm and broken ribs, but no injuries that were life-threatening.

The only reason I'm telling this story is because it all happened. I have no idea how a precognitive dream can take place; I only know that it does happen occasionally. I've had to learn to put aside the idea that these types of dreams are odd or something to be feared. They are simply a normal life experience, albeit an intriguing, interesting one! As I said earlier, perhaps dreams like this are a heads-up alert for us to get busy and pray, even if the info is vague on who to pray for.

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If someone shows up in your dream tonight.......say a prayer for them when you wake up!!!

Some Trivia of the Day

I love interesting coincidences, and here is a famous one which occurred to a French poet named Emile Deschamps, who was born today in 1791:

"From the book, Coincidences in the Unknown, 1902, Camille Flammarion tells of the experience of his friend, Emile Deschamps. In his childhood, at a school in Orleans, Deschamps shared a table with a certain M.de Fortgibu, who had returned from England with a taste for plum puddings, then unknown in France. He insisted Deschamps try one. Ten years later, Deschamps passed a restaurant and saw a plum pudding being prepared inside. His early taste, long forgotten, urged him to enter and ask for a slice; but the pudding was reserved for another, and Deschamps was obliged to beg the favour from this stranger. It turned out to be M.de Fortgibu, and both were astonished at meeting again for the second time over the same dish. Many years passed again, and Deschamps was invited to a dinner party which featured an English plum pudding; and Deschamps delighted his hosts with the tale of his extraordinary encounter with de Fortgibu. They all joked about the possibility of the old man turning up. During the meal he really did. De Fortgibu has also been invited out to dinner, but by another occupant of the same building, and had lost his way. "Three times have I eaten plum pudding, and three times I have seen M.de Fortgibu!", said Deschamps.

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I first read of the above story several years ago in a book. Today the tale came to my attention via a daily trivia email which I subscribe to. Another piece of trivia for Feb. 20 is that today is the Feast Day of St. Wulfric, an English priest from the 1100's, who kept dogs and hawks as pets.

Trip to Colorado

(2/25/08: Sad news.....I think my camera has given up the ghost. But, let's move one to infinitely better news.....My son is engaged! A late summer wedding is being planned!)

Back in the summer of 2005, the above-mentioned son was on an electrical engineering internship out in Colorado. Dairy families don't do much travelling, but this opportunity to visit someone in Colorado was too tempting, so my older daughter and younger son and I made plans for a trip west.

That summer, here at home, we were starting a building project on our house, as you can see in the above photo. This was the phase it was at around the time of our trip, with the basement foundation blocks having just been set in place. You can see there is a trench surrounding the cement block walls. To reach the door to the main level of our house, we had to walk carefully across a plank over the trench.

Three days before we were to depart for Colorado, my younger son got up in the morning and told me about a dream he had just had. In the dream, he had fallen in our new basement area and injured his knee and had to wear a knee brace. I said, "Well, just be careful today, then, so that doesn't happen."

At some point during the day, I was sorting through a stack of magazines to get rid of, and found an ATV sales booklet with some nice, glossy photos of ATV's, and I set it aside to give to Husband's young nephew, Brett, the next time he came here. It turned out that Brett's family did stop in for a short visit that evening. They wanted to see how the house project was coming along. As they were getting into their vehicle to leave, I suddenly remembered about the ATV magazine, and I ran back to the house to get it, stepping carefully on the plank leading to the door.

Who knows how a person's memory can suddenly revert to complete forgetfulness......I grabbed the magazine off the kitchen counter and ran back out the door......evidently forgetting completely about the plank and the trench. Straight down I fell, into the trench, hitting my left knee on the way down on an edge of sidewalk cement jutting out over the trench.

Oh, man, it hurt! I stood there for a bit, grimacing and trying not to cry. Finally, I sidled my way around the foundation until I found a place to climb out. It was right at that moment that I remembered my son's dream.......the "Be Careful" message had been for ME!!

I could walk, but the knee really hurt, and it was already stiffening. I brushed the dirt off the ATV magazine, walked slowly over and gave it to Brett. They hadn't seen me fall, so I waited until after they drove away, then I told Husband about my fall......and always I feel so stupid when that happens......I imagine he'll think I'm making it up. I showed him my knee......(and you know we all have been guilty of saying this to someone)......instinctively, the first thing he said was, "What did you do that for??!" "@#$%#%^&" was what I felt like replying with, but I didn't!

That night, I iced the knee before trying to get into bed. It was impossible to find a pain-free position, and through my head were racing thoughts like, "What am I going to do about the trip?" I was so looking forward to seeing my son and spending time in the beauty of the mountains. All of our reservations for hotels and a trail ride had been made, and tickets had been purchased for a Rockies baseball game in Denver on July 4. We simply had to go.

The next day I phoned my daughter for her opinion on my injury.......she is a coach and has taken athletic training classes. I told her I hit the knee straight on.....there had been no twisting or side hit, so I believed there was no injury to the ACL. She said, too, it probably was not an ACL or MCL injury, thank goodness. I also talked to my pastor's wife at the time, for she also had athletic training experience. She told me that as long as my knee did not feel like it was going to give out as I walked, then it probably was not a ligament injury. So I had two opinions I trusted......there was no time to go to the doctor for it was a weekend.

My gait was ridiculous; I couldn't bend my knee at all. I felt like Chester from the old "Gunsmoke" TV show! The day before the trip, I bought a velcro knee wrap to wear, and decided that I would go to Colorado, bum knee and all. I could still take my turn at driving, for my right leg was fine. What I would have to forego on the trip would be the hiking and the trail-ride we had reservations for.

We left early in the morning on June 30, and arrived in Boulder, Colorado in late afternoon. The next day we were allowed to take a tour at the site of my son's internship, shown in the photo below:

We rode an elevator up inside a wind turbine tower and stood on top of the nacell, which is the box-like thing the blades are attached to. It was quite a dizzying place to be........it was a relief to finally get back down to the ground!These are the only two photos that would load onto this post. (The others wouldn't upload.....just a gray box was there.???)

The photo below shows the site where the various models of wind turbines are set up and studied. A steady supply of strong wind blows down from the mountains through that canyon in the distance, which is why the Wind Technology Center was built here, several miles south of Boulder, on the way to Golden. The mountains look so unreal! Way in the distance (you can hardly see them) are the high peaks of the Rocky Mountain National Park area, where we would be headed the next day.

That evening, while everyone else hiked on the Flatirons west of Boulder, I drove up a mountainside and enjoyed some spectacular views of Boulder and the surrounding area to the east. The next morning, we left Boulder and headed north and west toward Estes Park. It was 85 degrees when we left Boulder.......by the time we reached the Alpine Visitors' Center way up in Rocky Mountain National Park, it was 35 degrees!

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Trail Ridge Road takes drivers through the park, winding back and forth, higher and higher. We stopped wherever there was an overlook, to absorb the gorgeous scenery and feel the crisp mountain air. Sweaters and long pants were dug out of the trunk, and soon we were stopping at snow fields to take photos. At the Visitor's Center, I hobbled in and browsed in the gift shop, while the others climbed a long stairway trail up above the Center. A silver ring with a black diamond heart caught my eye, so I bought it, and wear it everytime I dress up, to remind me of this wonderful memory of being in the mountains!

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We drove back down Trail Ridge Road the way we came up, and found the road to Bear Lake. We walked the trail around this lovely upland lake, enjoying the various snowy mountain peaks which framed the lake from a distance.....Longs Peak and Hallett Peak being two of them.

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That night, we stayed at the Wildwood Inn resort near Estes Park......not far from the tumbling, rushing Fall River. Several weeks before, by a serendipitous online blessing, I had found this one night available at this resort.....usually they book their cabins a full week at a time. We enjoyed dinner that evening in the back room of a tiny Italian restaurant in Estes Park.

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The next day's schedule included the trail-ride. Everyone (except me) saddled up at the "Cowpoke Corner Corral", a few miles outside of Estes Park. When I went into the office to register, the owner laughed when she saw we were from Iowa. She said the horses are from Iowa, too, and are taken back to Manchester every year for the winter!! Pretty cool, we thought!

The tenderfeet horseriders in the above photo enjoyed a memorable afternoon of trail-riding. They had a great time! While they ambled along the wooded and scenic trails, I drove back to Estes Park and browsed in the tourist shops. I bought t-shirts for everyone and several colorful quartzite rocks which now reside on our fireplace mantle. As I was making my way through the crowds along the street, I felt a change in my sore knee.......like it had reached a turning point, and from then on it started feeling better and I could walk more normally! I sometimes wonder if the knee injury was meant to happen for some reason......it seems I was not supposed to hike or ride a horse on this trip!! Maybe the knee injury spared me from some worse injury.....who knows.

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In a happy, tired state, we left Estes Park and drove back to Boulder that evening. The next day, we ventured into Denver and spent time at the Zoo and were in attendance that evening for a Colorado Rockies baseball game. That was on the Fourth of July, and following the game the fans in the stadium were treated to a fantastic fireworks display! Unfortunately, my photo of the fireworks atop the big neon ROCKIES sign would not upload.

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The next day we left early from Boulder and headed back to Iowa, arriving safely at home late in the evening. It had been a whirlwind trip, blessed with traveling mercies and amazing scenery, providing for marvelous memories of Colorado! I just love the mountains!!! (You know......I don't know why we don't go to the Colorado high country more often, considering it takes only one day of driving to get there!)

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Any of you been to the Rocky Mountains? What is your favorite memory there?

Wake-up Dream

Five years ago today the following events took place. I can't prove that it happened, but I don't write fiction on this blog. I have no explanation for what happened, but here it is:

Similar to the photo above, it was in the early morning, when the light of a new day was breaking over the horizon. If you're lucky, like me, you wake up without the jarring insistence of an alarm clock, and you are sometimes aware of the world between sleep and full awake-ness.

Well, I think I was in that state when this experience happened. It could be called a dream, but it seemed of a different quality. I suddenly found myself walking arm in arm with an older woman. I couldn't see her face, but she had gray curly hair, and was wearing a red print dress and a necklace of odd-shaped red and black beads. We were struggling to make our way up a steep, slippery incline, at the top of which was an open doorway. Two or three times we almost made it to the top, but then slipped back down. Finally, we were able to reach the doorway, and I got a brief glimpse of the view beyond. It was a beautiful, glowing green meadow of flowers, grass, and trees. It looked pleasant, warm, and inviting. My glimpse was very brief, for as we reached the top, the inclined walkway we were on began to pitch forward like a teeter-totter would, and as we fell, I woke up.

Honestly, I had never had a dream anything like this one before. I usually didn't have much dream recall; they vanished upon my awakening. So I pondered this one all that morning, wondering what in the world it meant, if anything.

In the afternoon, we received a phone call from Husband's uncle. He informed us that his mother, Husband's grandmother, had died earlier in the day, alone in her home, about 20 miles from us. Although she was elderly, she hadn't been ill, so her death was unexpected.

Wow, I was completely stunned! I started to tell my family about the dream, but they looked at me like I was insane, so I shut my mouth.

As I listened to the details of Grandma's death, it seemed that it had occurred around the time of my dream or whatever it was.

I don't know what it was. Maybe it was her spirit telling me good-bye, or perhaps as she was dying, Grandma thought of her loved ones, and somehow her thoughts travelled and I was in a mindstate to receive them. Grandma and I had been pretty good friends. We had enjoyed many long talks, and had a bond.......she would call me every few weeks to come and trim her toenails, since she couldn't reach her feet anymore. She'd be there sitting in a chair, waiting for me with her feet soaking in a pan of warm water.

Some people view these kinds of stories with suspicion, and some people don't. If you don't care for this sort of thing, then surf away. This dream was like a wake-up call to me in a way......I almost divide my life into B.D. and A.D., "before the dream" and "after the dream". Since it happened, I pay attention to dreams, and keep a journal of them. Sometimes, they teach you about yourself, and occasionally, they teach you about someone else.

Probably there are lots of people out there who have had a similar experience. I wish that anyone who did could feel free to discuss such things. Sometimes, in our culture, it is difficult.

Apology to Working Moms

You know, a person just can't get away with anything.......Through the following experience, I think I was reprimanded for my backhanded criticism of working mothers in my post yesterday morning:


Husband and I attended our son's high school basketball game last evening. It was an intense contest, with our team coming out on top! Afterwards, we stopped at the local convenience store for bananas. As I stood waiting in line to check out, a man from my church moved into line beside me. He commented on the exciting basketball game, and then motioned to the ice cream container he was holding and said, "My wife instructed me to bring this home." I said, "Sounds like a great idea." Then he continued to talk, "She's having so much pain in her shoulders from sitting at a computer everyday at work. You know, she really wishes she could be a stay-at-home mom, and that's the way it should be, but things just got out of hand." (I thought it was odd he said "stay-at-home mom", because he and his wife are in their mid-50's, and her momming days are in the past.)


I thought, sheesh, did he read my blog post or something?? But, I knew that wasn't the case. I think it was important for me to realize that many moms would rather not have jobs away from home, and I should be grateful for my situation. This farm provides an adequate living for our family, and its more important, anyway, for Husband to have a person who is around the farm to help out as needed. We can't afford a hired man, so its me who is the helper. Now, I suppose, if I went out and got a job, then we could afford a hired man.......oh, my......hmm......I'll have to think on that.


On a different note, as I was entering the convenience store last night, I brushed by a man getting money out of the ATM machine. As I was picking out some decent bananas, the man came over to me and asked for directions to a certain highway. I told him, "Well, you're on the right road to that highway, just keep going south." He seemed to be in a hurry, and a case like that always leaves me wishing I knew more details. Like.....is there an emergency in your family? Are you in trouble? Don't you have a map? Too nosy by nature.....that I am.

The Man in the Glass

This proud rooster came from the attic of Father-in-Law's garage. This green-eyed chanticleer can't stand up on his own......he has holes in the back so he can be hung on a wall, but I like him better up here on the shelf. When we redid the kitchen two years ago, we allowed for this open area on top of the cupboards. Its fun to be able to display interesting items up there!

Yesterday morning I snapped that "Howdy" photo of myself reflected in the old window (to the right). A few hours later, I was sorting through a box of books from Father-in-Law's house, when a piece of paper fell out from between two books. It was this poem "The Man in the Glass". On the back were tape marks, as if it once was attached to something......a mirror, perhaps. This poem, which was unfamiliar to me, was written in 1934 by Dale Wimbrow. Read more info about the author here. (Thanks, Sherry, for teaching me how to do links!) ("Pelf" is actually a word......look it up in the dictionary.)

The Man in the Glass

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When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,

And the world makes you king for a day;

Just go to a mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say.

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For it isn't your father, mother , or wife

Whose judgment upon you must pass;

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

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You may be like the fellow that chiseled a plum,

And think you're a wonderful guy;

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

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He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,

For he's with you right to the end;

And you've passed your most dangerous test

If the man in the glass is your friend.

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You can fool the world down the pathway of years,

And get pats on the back as you pass;

But your final reward will be heartaches and tears

If you've cheated the man in the glass.

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Maybe this poem was given to Father-in-Law when he was a young man. The words can be altered to fit a woman, too. I think there's alot of truth in it......you need to be true to yourself, and be yourself, no matter what. You also need to attend to taking care of yourself first, so you be of service to others in your world. So you can do what a favorite song of mine says, "Give A Little Bit".

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I spent many years fretting inside because I wasn't out making money in a career like most of the women I knew. Many times I endured that question: "What do you do?" Most often it was asked by people with no farm background. One time, I was being introduced to one of my children's friends, and she pointedly asked me, "What do you do all day long??" Yes, she was a town person, and her mother had always worked at a job outside the home, so she couldn't comprehend a mother who didn't have a job.

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I've been much happier the past few years when I've finally admitted to myself that I really, really love being at home. When I finally learned to open my eyes to the amazing things and events in the world all around me, wherever I might be......that has been life-changing! (I really like that song, "Little Wonders", by Rob Thomas, too.) There are so many interesting and fascinating little wonders going on all the time! Notice them!!

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Oh, I hate it when the paragraphs and spacing stop working right. Does anyone know why that happens??!

Death, Taxes & Jury Duty

This photo is definitely by farmlight......."Morning by Farmlight".


This morning I headed out extra early to get the calves fed before it was time to get ready for jury duty. Around 7:45 a.m. I pulled my Envoy into the queue of vehicles carrying their occupants to jobs in town, or to early morning doctor appointments. A mile down the highway I met my brother-in-law, the plumbing contractor, on his way to a construction site, no doubt. I gave him a big wave, although he wouldn't expect to see me on the road at that hour, so he probably didn't notice. I need to keep that in mind.......that we rarely see what we don't expect to see.......so, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED! Life remains interesting and intriguing that way.

Once in town, I circled the courthouse a couple of times, looking for a decent parking spot, found one, fed the parking meter, shuffled through the metal detector, grabbed my courtroom assignment, and rode the elevator to the courtroom floor. The walls of the hallway were lined with photos of judges, familiar names from newspaper reports of trials over the years. People were slowly trickling into the courtroom and sitting in pew-like benches in the back. For over a half hour we sat there in silence......except for a person who was snoring up a storm in the back row. I kid you not, he was putting out high decibel sound.

I pulled a paperback book out of my bag. Last night while packing, I had thrown in a second book for good measure, in case I finished the first one. I noticed that not many people had brought reading materials with them. After a few minutes, the blond girl beside me turned to me and said laughingly, "You don't happen to have another book in that bag, do you?" I replied, "Believe it or not, I do.....", and I handed it to her and told her to keep it. It was The Bookman's Promise, by John Dunning. I'd bought it several months ago and hadn't gotten around to reading it.

Finally, all the important players arrived-----the judge, attorneys, court reporter, etc.-----and things got rolling. The judge talked for awhile, explaining what was going to take place. There were around 50 of us jury candidates there, and soon the court attendant started randomly drawing the names of 27 of us, during which I was NOT chosen. Those 27 had to move up front into the jury box and the first rows. Then we were all treated to the "voir dire", which is when the attorneys ask the jury panel questions to determine each juror's ability to evaluate the case fairly. "Voir dire" is of French and Latin origin and means "to speak the truth". (The previous two sentences are from the jury handbook we received when we arrived this morning.)

During the voir dire my gaze kept falling on a woman ahead of me, and I began to think she looked familiar, and that maybe she had been my roommate in the hospital psych unit two years ago, but I wasn't sure. The attorneys droned on and on, and although it was interesting to listen and watch the procedure, the hard wooden benches became very uncomfortable after awhile. Several of the chosen jury candidates were dismissed for various reasons, and more of us chosen to replace them......but I was NOT among those chosen.

Finally, we were dismissed for an hour-and-a-half lunch. Sheesh. Like what were we supposed to do with that time? This was interesting, though......that woman that I mentioned looked familiar to me.......well, on the way out of the courtroom for lunch break, she said to me, "You look familiar, but I don't know where I've seen you."! I said, "Uh.....have you ever been a patient in the psych unit?" She shook her head to the negative. It was a funny little moment.....kind of mixed up......I had been thinking she looked familiar, and then SHE tells me that I look familiar to her! She told me where she worked and it is a place I never go to, so I'm sure we've never seen each other before.

During the break, I drove to a mall area and browsed in Barnes & Noble. Wandering through a bookstore is always pleasant! I bought another John Dunning book, The Bookwoman's Last Fling, to replace the other one. Quite a title, isn't it. I can't wait to read it. The back cover says the author is able to make book-collecting sound as exciting as car racing!

Soon it was time to return downtown and search for another parking spot, which was easily found, and it even had an hour remaining on the meter. As I was running up the sidewalk by the courthouse, a black woman up ahead of me started waving my direction and shouting, "Where are you going?....What are your doing here?". I looked behind me to see if she was talking to someone back there, but no one was there. When I got closer to her, she laughed and said, "Oh, I thought you were my neighbor!" I wish I would have thought quick enough to reply, "I am......and you are mine!" (We are all each other's neighbors, you know.)

Back in the courtroom, we listened to the defense attorney's voir dire, during which he requested a couple dismissals. Two more names were drawn, but NOT mine! After that the two attorneys each struck names from the list of 27, until the jury of thirteen was finalized. Some of us in the back rows were having fun visiting.....the young woman next to me was going to funeral director's school, and living in the basement of a funeral home. She really wanted to be chosen for the jury.......she said they wouldn't have to worry about the people she might talk to after trial hours, because they were deceased people! She was a hoot. I would imagine that any person wishing to be involved in the funeral business should have a sense of humor like hers in order to survive being around grief all the time. Sometimes, I think such a sense of humor is needed simply to survive life in general.

(By the way, the snoring person did end up being dismissed for continually falling asleep during today's proceedings.......the judge felt he wouldn't be able to stay awake to listen to testimony in the trial......)

All in all, the day was a fascinating experience. It was fun to at least observe the process of seating a jury. "Law & Order" never shows us that. It was a relief to not be chosen, though. I probably would have argued to give the defendant another chance, making me a poor jury member.

(In a week or so, when I'm sure the trial is over with, I'll blog about another amusing little coincidence that occurred today, and my observations about the attorneys.......if I remember.)

One of the first things the court attendant said to us this morning was something about jury duty being one of those sure things in life for a U.S. citizen.......in the same category as death and taxes. Yes, death, taxes, and jury duty......you must participate when summoned!

Jury Duty Calls

Disgruntled is my state of mind tonight after making the requisite phone call this evening to the district court office and finding out my jury duty group has to report tomorrow morning. One other time, many years ago, I received a jury duty summons letter, but when I called in, they didn't need my group. I was hoping that would happen again this time, but no such luck.

What I dread the most is rushing through calf chores and rushing to get cleaned up, and driving 20 miles to be at the courthouse by 8:30 a.m. That will be sheer torture for the stay-at-home person that is me. Hopefully, I'll not be chosen for a jury.......maybe if I tell them the deputy county auditor is an old friend of mine, they'll let me go free due to conflict of interest. Its a long shot, I know. The jury summons letter said to bring reading materials along the first day as there would be alot of sitting around and waiting. No problem.......reading is one of my first loves.

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Quickly, I'll tell the third meaningful bird tale:

This one occurred just a couple months ago, shortly after my father-in-law's death. He had lived here and farmed this farm for many years before he retired to town. A few days after his death last November, late one evening, after I had gotten into bed, I heard the deep "whoo-whoo-ing" of an owl. It sounded like it was in a tree right next to our house. As in the other bird stories, I have to admit, owls are not uncommon to Iowa, but I had not heard an owl around our farmplace for many, many years.

The next evening around dusk, Husband heard the dogs barking and saw them jumping up against a tree trunk. He looked up in the tree and saw the owl......it was one of those big ones, a Great Horned Owl. The last time we saw one of those around here was back in the mid-1980's.....I remember that because it was shortly after we had moved here.

Anyway, I'm not saying the owl's appearance has anything to do with Father-in-law's passing, but the timing makes for an interesting bird coincidence, once again. We heard the owl each night for a couple of weeks, and then it was gone.

If you are a Christian and think that these bird stories are "for the birds", and that surely the Bible never mentions birds as messengers............please turn to Ecclesiastes 10:20. Maybe this bizarre verse appeals to those with mental problems, for listen to this: I discovered this verse maybe two years ago. Not long after that-----its a long story, for another blog post, another time------I was hospitalized in a psychiatric unit for several days. After resting and regaining my bearings there in my room with a surveillance camera staring at me, I opened the drawer by the bed and took out the Gideon Bible that was there. It had graffiti written all over it. I leafed through the pages, and turned to Ecclesiastes 10:20. Guess what......that verse had been circled in ink by someone-----a previous patient in that room, no doubt. Interesting, huh?! I thought so, too.

On that note, I'll retire to get my jury duty beauty sleep.

Wedding & Turkeys

I wish yesterday's too-hectic schedule would have been an isolated occurrence, but today turned out much the same.

We were invited to a wedding an hour-and-a-half away this morning at 11 a.m. I hadn't pressed the issue of going, but Husband decided last night that we should make the effort to go. So that meant rushing through morning milking chores and a shower and getting dressed up, and trying to hurry on roads made semi-slippery by a dusting of new snow.

The wedding was the type which triggered mixed emotions. The couple is very young, has a nine-month-old baby boy, and is expecting another baby in April. The bride is still in high school. Both bride and groom are somewhat mentally challenged......it is a long story. But, the groom's parents are very good friends of ours, so Husband felt we should show our support. We've known the boy since he was born, and it was evident early on that something was not quite right about him, but he was mainstreamed all through school. This young couple will need constant guidance and probably financial support from the adults in their lives, and it appeared today that they are surrounded by caring adults who are willing to help out. I hope so, for otherwise, this marriage looks rather hopeless. Most of the wedding attendants were adults, in fact, one of them is the special ed teacher at their high school. As the pastor said today during his wedding message, "Even though we take the wrong path sometimes, God can turn things around and bring good out of it." I pray so, on this case.

It will seem I'm switching subjects.....to birds......but, there is a connection.....maybe. In the book "The Three 'Only' Things, the author writes that in ancient times, birds were viewed as messengers from God. Other places, I've read about the ancient "language of the birds", knowledge of which has been lost to the mists of time. In particular, unusual birds that come to your attention should be viewed as having a meaningful and significant message for you.

So, with that in mind, I have three bird stories to relate.......I'm not saying I believe birds bring divine messages, but I'll simply tell what happened:

The first has to do with the groom in today's wedding. At about this same time last year, our good friend, the groom's father, stopped in to see us one day. In the course of the conversation, he informed us that his son's girlfriend was pregnant. It made me about heartsick to hear this news, though I tried not to show it. Right after our friend drove away that day in his pickup, Husband hollered to me to come outdoors........a wild turkey had flown by him and was sitting in a low tree branch by our house. We had NEVER, EVER seen a turkey here on this farm before that day! It was so strange. Now after reading about birds in that book, I looked up the word "turkey" in the dictionary, and found that it can have the meaning of "a creative work which is a hopeless failure". And that is just about how I felt that day about our friend's son's situation.......that he was not capable of being an adequate father to the baby that would soon be born to him......it was a hopeless situation.


Anyway, the coincidence of that wild turkey showing up here at our farm right as our friend left that day, is fascinating. Like I said, we had never seen a turkey here before, or since.

Indeed, also, today after leaving the tiny town where the wedding took place, we were driving a road which meandered between woodsy hills. Suddenly, Husband pointed and said, "Look.....there's some wild turkeys!" Their cluster of dark forms was easy to see on the snowy slope. So, do I think those turkeys bring a multiplied message of hopelessness.......no! There was nothing unusual about seeing them there in that wooded area.....that is the difference.......I think.

Of course, nothing is hopeless with God, so my prayer is that all will go well with this newly-married couple and their family.

Tomorrow I'll post the other two bird stories.

Pay Attention!

This will be a story similar to one of my previous posts, "Radio Reminder". This one happened the day before yesterday:

On that day, I had been reading some posts on an online Lutheran discussion board, and was composing in my head a comment to leave there. It was on the subject of the Incarnation of Christ, and I was ruminating throughout the day on certain aspects of Communion......especially the Real Presence.

Late in the afternoon, I walked down the lane to get the mail, and was surprised to find that our neighbor's mail had been delivered to our mailbox by mistake. When I got back to the house, I jumped in the car and drove down the road to give the mail to its rightful owner. As is my habit, I turned the radio on, and the first thing I heard was Mister Mister singing, ".....you're half of the flesh and blood that makes me whole......" (from their song, "Broken Wings"). Good grief, I thought......that's just what I've been thinking about today, and it went right along with the comment I was trying to put together in my mind to post on the discussion board.

Add up the unusual occurrence of the wrong mail being in our mailbox, and realize that that is the only reason I was in my car and turned on the radio at the exact moment the words of that song were being broadcast. Its fascinating, really. Author Robert Moss says we should always pay attention when unusual and unexpected things happen in our lives----even small, seemingly trivial events----and look for a meaningful message in them.

I have no problem seeing this type of significant coincidence as God's Providence. Carl Jung, of course, called it "synchronicity" or meaningful coincidence, and researched it for years, after noticing it occurring in his own life and the lives of his patients. I think it happens to everyone, but few are paying attention.

Pay attention!!

Radio Reminder

Its after 10 p.m. and sleep beckons, but I must stay awake until my son gets home from his basketball game. So I'll take the opportunity to relate this true little happening:

I love it when tiny unusual things take place; the following occurred last Friday evening. Because Husband's brothers would all be here on the weekend, I had gone to town to stock up on groceries. I finished shopping around 6:30 p.m. and phoned home to let them know I was on my way. My younger son answered-----he was home because his basketball game had been postponed due to the extreme cold. We talked for a couple minutes.......he informed me that our older son, Daniel, had called and said he, too, was coming home for the weekend. He lives 2 1/2 hours away, and I thought, "Great......another traveller to worry about in this awful weather." It was not an attitude of faith, but the mother instinct in me pushing forward.

As soon as I was done talking to my son on the phone, I turned on the radio in my vehicle. The first thing I heard was Elton John singing this line, "Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane.......I see his red taillights, heading this way.......". I smiled and shook my head; it was like a reminder that Someone was watching out for Daniel, and I should quit my worrying! He safely arrived home later in the evening.

High of ONE today!

Here's a photo fresh from this sub-zero morning in Iowa. Way to the right is a small glow which is a "sundog", testifying to the frigid temperatures. Fortunately we have no wind right now, but the forecast includes it for later today. Our high today is supposed to be ONE degree above zero, and tomorrow they say the high will be 5 BELOW zero. Fun.

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Here's a follow-up to that dream I wrote about a couple posts ago-----the one about a woman named "Ellen". I hadn't mentioned it to anyone. This morning as I was rinsing milkers in the milkhouse, Husband walked in and said, "Today is Ellen _____'s birthday. (The wife of the man in my dream!) I replied, "How do you know that?" He told me he had just heard it on the radio in the barn-----the local station he listens to announces birthdays each morning.

Anyway, this dream story is extremely trivial and of no importance, of course, but I'm always curious to know what makes this sort of thing happen. Truly, I hardly know this woman and certainly never knew her birthdate.

When I told Husband about it, he just rolled his eyes!

The Subject of Coincidence

I wasn't intending to blog on the subject of coincidence today, but it seems to be willing itself into being. Maybe because I read a chapter from The Three "Only" Things last evening.

This morning upon awakening, I could recall two brief dream scenes from during the night. In one, I was talking to an acquaintance. I had no awareness of what we were talking about, but I kept wishing I could think of his wife's first name, but just could not. In the second scene, I was saying repeatedly to someone, "Where is Beaver Lake?" I'm not familiar with any place by that name.

Anyway, while I was out doing calf chores this morning, I had to walk out to the burn pile. This took me by a pen of older calves, which I rarely pay any attention to. I happened to glance at their pen and just one calf was looking right at me with her nametag visible. The name on her tag was "Ellen"........and I realized right away that was the name of the man's wife in my dream last night. The name I couldn't think of while in the dream!

We'll see if anything comes of "Beaver Lake"! I'm not holding my breath.

When I opened my email this morning, there was one from an old friend who lives in Kentucky. She emails me very rarely. The title of her email was "You Can't Make This Stuff Up". It included a link to a news story about the recent tragic death of a policeman and his police dog in Kentucky. The dog had his own casket, and was buried in the cemetery next to his owner. My friend found this interesting not only because of the unusual story, but also because when she was here in Iowa over Christmas, we had discussed a recent funeral in our community, also involving a dog in a casket! A tragic accident had taken the lives of a young married couple. Shortly before that their dog had been diagnosed with leukemia, so the couple's family had the dog euthanized, and he lay at the feet of his mistress, in her casket! We had quite a discussion about this at our Christmas get-together, and in her email, my friend wrote that it seemed "bizarre" that a similar incident so quickly came to her attention.

Actually, I've never brought up the subject of coincidence with any of my friends, or with anyone at all, for that matter. Its so difficult to explain that one feels nutty trying to do so, which is why I'm appreciating the book The Three "Only" Things. The author does a good job of clearly describing coincidence, synchronicity, serendipity, and their connection to dreams and seemingly trivial occurrences in our daily lives. And he cites many examples from history, important discoveries, and famous people like Mark Twain. To me, the book takes coincidence and synchronicity out of the category of odd and weird, and gives it status as simply something that exists in normal, everyday life.

The first time I ever saw the word "synchronicity" was in Sue Monk Kidd's book, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter. I didn't agree with many things in her book, but the author's description of synchronicity was right on and hit me like a bullet. In my own past are many experiences that made me wonder, "How could that have possibly happened the way it did........just like it was set up, or planned." Hopefully, I can get these experiences out of my head and onto my blog. I have a drawer-full of journals filled with dreams and experiences, and need to take a look at those again, too.

Anyway, I'm just not able to ignore the unusual occurrences in life. Maybe my Christian faith is lacking in some way. I do all the stuff a Lutheran is supposed to do, but am not able to be numb to experiences. If there is one thing I fear most in life, it is not being able to FEEL.

Now, I need to quit this post and go do laundry and load the dishwasher. Then there are checkbooks to balance and tax info to prepare and the never-ending clutter of life to attend to. I have a sick calf to check on, too. The vet looked at her this morning and diagnosed pneumonia. I don't often care too much about any certain calf, but this one was born on Father-in-Law's birthday, which was also the day he passed away, and we named her after him. So I really want her to live and grow up and be around as a milk cow for many years!

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P.S. - Another small coincidence from a couple days ago. In some of my recent posts I have vented frustrations about my mom. Two days ago I received a forward from a pastor out in AZ.......(met him on a Lutheran discussion board, and he doesn't know about my blog.) The forwarded email was a lovely one about MOTHERS! Something you might expect to see around Mother's Day. I immediately realized I needed to absorb it and renew my appreciation for my mother. I don't often send forwards on, but this one I sent on to two friends, one whose mother just past away, and one whose mother is very ill with cancer.

Goodwill Angel

I had to pull myself out of hermit mode yesterday to watch my son play in a JV basketball game. The game was in the town where my mother and step-dad live, so they were there, too, giving me "peeps" to sit with.

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After the game, on the way to the grocery store, I made a quick stop at Goodwill, and found the lovely little angel pictured above. For $1.00, that made my day!

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On the way home, after exiting the interstate, at a stop-sign I was right behind a mini-van, close enough for me to read its license plate number. In Iowa, our plates have three digits followed by three letters. The license plate on the on the van in front of me had my daughter's birthday (month & day), and her initials! A little bit amazing, considering that that's the only vehicle in Iowa having that particular combination!!! Just a little synchronicity.....nothing momentously important.....but, interesting and meaningful for me!

B the Peace U Wish 2 C

Interesting little experiences came my way the day before yesterday. I had to take a long drive in pea-soup fog, on two-lane U.S. 63 in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. For over sixty miles my Envoy rolled along in the fog at about 50 mph, hemmed in by two pickup trucks, ahead of and behind me. The two glowing red taillights ahead of me became beacons of constancy, security, and comfort in the midst of the murky cloud of fog. Maybe I became almost hypnotized by them.

When that pickup ahead of me suddenly put its blinker on and turned onto another road, I felt momentarily disoriented and cut off from my secure moorings. I was uncomfortable not having a leader ahead of me. Soon, for some reason, I suddenly felt like I had missed my turn toward Stewartville, MN. I signaled, slowed down and pulled off at the next intersection, thinking it was where I needed to turn, but it wasn't. I happened to glance in my rearview mirror, and saw that the pickup following me had pulled over, also! As if we were somehow connected! I pulled back onto the highway, and the pickup did the same!

Maybe that driver behind me felt the same way I had felt about the vehicle which I had followed for so many miles. Like it was my friend, someone to depend on to lead the way through the fog. Thus, when I veered off the path momentarily, he instinctively did the same. It was an interesting little moment of perception.

In Stewartville, the city of many, many white-globed streetlights, an electronic sign proclaimed this message to passersby: "Be the Peace You Wish to See". Yes, truly, that is as much as any one of us can accomplish in this life. Start with your own self, and the place that self occupies in the world.......pray for grace to be a peaceful bit of space, wherever you happen to be, whatever situation you find yourself in. Don't fret about the chaos and confusion......(or fog!) around you...... just "B the peace U Wish 2 C". Be the Peace. And then maybe you can be a faithful beacon of God's comfort and constancy to those who happen to be in your vicinity.

As Christmas rapidly approaches.......Be the Peace!