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.

***********************************************

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!

Snow Graphics

During the night, a blanket of fresh snow descended quietly here and on much of Iowa, as my daughter who lives near Des Moines phoned and said the school where she teaches has cancelled classes today. Our school also has a snow day, so our sophomore son is home helping Husband with the livestock chores.

After my barn chores were done this morning, I ran outside and snapped as many photos as possible before my fingers froze. The snow artwork etched on the trees is fascinating!


I see a scary face in the first photo below:

Since we're stuck with all this snow, we might as well find something interesting about it!

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!

***********************************************

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.

Tux & Betsy

Well, I was searching for a close-up photo of our dog, Betsy, but instead found her in the background of this one. My kitty friend, Tuxedo, poses on the pumpkin.

Lois Lenski Book & TV Nonsense

Today I'm trying to rearrange and organize my Christmas decoration closet. Its one of those cubbyholes under a stairway, and awkward to get things into and out of. One of the boxes is full of children's Christmas books, from when my kids were small. I was adding a book I got at Goodwill last week, Lois Lenski's Christmas Stories. In the beginning of the book, the author explains how Christmas celebrations were banned by the Puritans in New England in the 1600's. They considered the holiday revelry sinful. Lenski then contrasts this with the German Lutherans' view of Christmas......on page 35 begins a story called "The Pink China Bonbon Dish". Here is the first paragraph (it reminds me that I shouldn't be so hard on Lutheranism and evidently Lois Lenski grew up Lutheran):

"Christmas has always been a period of deep joy and gladness to all Lutherans. It was Martin Luther who first used the evergreen tree as its symbol, and O Tannenbaum has always been a favorite German Christmas song. Many other German customs, including the baking of sprengerli and pfeffernuesse, were common.......in the early 1900's. This was before the days of the automobile, when life was simpler, centered around a smaller area governed largely by the family horse-and-buggy. Perhaps one reason why Christmas assumed such vast importance in family life at that time, was the lack of other competition in the way of celebration or diversion. Children moved in small circles, met fewer people, traveled little, and made most of their own amusements out of their own creativity and ingenuity. Premanufactured entertainment was never handed out to them."

The last sentence is an eye-opener. Can we even imagine a world devoid of "premanufactured entertainment"? A couple posts ago, I was lamenting some of the changes that have occurred concerning church activities over the last few decades, and it seems that maybe TV-watching has something to do with it.......certainly TV is "premanufactured entertainment". Lazy minds are probably the result, but who would even be cognizant of that anymore? Our world is so media-saturated.......we're drowning in it.

Last evening, I watched a TV show while Husband went to our son's basketball game. I don't often simply sit there and stare at the TV. The show was OK, but it was the commercials that were so very intrusive. Close-up pictures in your face, quickly changing from scene to scene. It almost made my eyes hurt, so I shut them during the commercials. Why should anyone watch them anyway? Unless you are truly interested in buying that car, or that cell phone, or whatever. What a pile of garbage we allow to be funneled into our eyes, ears, and absorbed into our minds.

And another thing that was ridiculous........flitting by on the TV screen during the entire show were little reminders, telling us viewers what network we were watching and reminding us to watch other shows. Plus, a message about another show stayed in the corner of the screen THE WHOLE TIME. What is up with this nonsense?

My friend Betsy

Here's a good buddy, Betsy, our Australian Shepherd. She loves to trot along on walks, and here in this photo she scans the road ditch for birds or a little critter to chase. She's always ready and willing to herd the cattle, and help with any other livestock chores. She's a great watchdog, too, alerting us to vehicles arriving, or to unwanted wildlife around the farmstead........such as skunks! The cats scatter when she comes their way, and she's an expert mouser, sniffing them out in the feed room at every opportunity. Each morning, she expectantly waits by the door of the house, and escorts us sleepyheads to the barn. A more faithful friend is not to be found!

Frustrations with Mom & Steers

The above frosty evergreen photo was taken on December 16, a cold, but very clear day. Today, January 14, is the first time we've had a clear, sunny day since then. Murky fog veiled our area several times, causing school delays and activity postponements. Mostly, though, the days have simply been overcast with the usual drab winter clouds overhead.

********************************

For a Monday, today hasn't been too bad. My step-dad is here working on the basement room project, meaning Mom is here, too. She is drinking coffee, which she isn't allowed to do at home, and reading two books she bought at a second-hand shop last week-----The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, and My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. Quite a combination, eh? She paid 25 cents for each.

********************************

This morning as I was preparing to leave to run errands, Mom whispered to me, "Could you please buy me a Mounds candy bar somewhere." Not a problem. But I would go nuts even more than I am if I were in a marriage where I wasn't free to make coffee in my own home or buy a candy bar. That's how it is in her marriage, though, but she knows better than to complain about it to me. Its right there under the surface, though. Two marriages......both to controlling men.

********************************

In her first marriage, from my childhood on, whenever things were bad between her and my dad, she would tell me all about it. For years that went on, until it got to the point where it was giving me stomachaches, and disrupting my home life. I finally told my mom, "I've had it. I will not listen to anymore of this. If you want to stay with a man who is abusive, go right ahead.......but don't come running to me anymore." Shortly after that, she left my father, and proceeded through a very bitter divorce, during which my dad, an alcoholic, placed all the blame on ME!!!!

************************************

Why am I ranting about this? Maybe because Mom is around here today, and all the old memories come flooding back. Its better for me if I don't see her very often. I know the Bible says, "Honor thy father and mother." Its been difficult at times, and I have absolutely no one to discuss it with. Very few people understand such things.

***********************************

Let's switch subjects.......this afternoon I had some fun#%!.......helping Husband load steers into the trailer. As always, when we start, I can envision being trampled by the big galoots. With a small scraper as a weapon, I took my position out in the cowyard. Then Husband pointed and said, "You go chase them out of the pen", as if that's my specialty or something. Great. I crept along the fence, ready at any moment to jump up on it to get out of the way if the steers came galloping at me. There were four of them, with big hairy heads staring my way. Fortunately, they seemed rather relaxed, and sauntered slowly out of the pen into the open area of the cowyard. There they kicked up their heels a bit, running around the silo and back, probably wondering what on earth was going on. We had to attempt to quietly coax them, two at a time, into an alleyway that leads into the barn. Our two cattle dogs bit at their tails and hooves to keep them moving. I stood in my spot, doing what you need to do when herding cattle.......make yourself seem large. Spread your arms wide and wave them so you look bigger than you really are. Hollering helps, too. Finally, the task was successfully accomplished. The dogs excitedly ran up to be petted and praised for their hard work. They love it! Wish I felt the same!! I was simply thankful to have survived another session with the steers!

***********************************

Why won't the spaces work between the paragraphs? Does anyone know? Am I doing something wrong?

Sundog

There's a "sundog" in the sky in the center of the above photo. The scientific name is "parhelion", defined in the dictionary as, "A bright circular spot on a solar halo, sometimes seen on either side of the sun and level with it." We see these occasionally, only in winter, when the temperatures are very cold, and the sun is brightly shining.

Soul Maintenance

Today being Sunday, I attended the local soul maintenance session.......in other words, "church". Back in my misguided Baptist days, worship was what church was all about. For Lutherans, however, church is not something you do, like worship.......it is what God does. Through the pastor, that is.

So this morning, I dutifully sang and spoke the proper words at the proper times, and listened to the sermon. The pastor's first words were, "In all my years of being a pastor, I've not noticed people being very concerned about the righteousness of God." Huh? He lost me right there. Then he went on to point out that faith is not about "Jesus in your heart". That only opens the door to heaven, he said. Evidently, it doesn't get you through that door. Like anyone has ever reported back on that subject.......besides Jesus Himself.

This afternoon was our church's Annual Meeting, which Husband attended. When he got home, he said, "Our church is falling apart. Nobody cares." (And he was not talking about the church building.) I told him that I've come to the conclusion that our church is not an isolated case. I think we're seeing the spiritual evolution of people raised with television. We are now into the second generation of people raised with TV......and you can also include many other electronic gadgets......which are magnets for people's attention and focus.

Our youth group, which was very active AND led by the pastor, back when I first joined this Lutheran church 30 years ago, is basicly defunct. Everyone is so busy with sports and other fluff, and the last pastor that was here showed little interest in doing youth activities. Not that I blame him, with kids so focused on everything else except church, and parents going right along with it. Husband said the guys at the meeting today were all itching to get home to watch the NFL play-off game.

Times have changed, and there's nothing that can be done about that. Back when Father-in-law was a teenager, the church youth group, called the Walther League, was the main social outlet for young people. They could hardly wait to join following Confirmation at age 14. Their group met with other church youth groups in the area for rollerskating, softball, etc. Many a young Lutheran met their future spouse during Walther League activities, and, indeed, that is how Husband's parents met.

Husband also expressed concern that our church is spending thousands of dollars to refurbish the old organ. With so few people coming to church anymore......he wonders what the point is. I said, "Well, maybe this can be our church's main goal and reason for being.......to keep the antique organ in operation." It is quite special, really, as far as organs go. Maybe our church building can become a museum someday. It's over 130 years old, and beautiful in a creaky, cavernous sort of way. But mostly it is full of memories of those who have passed through on their life's way. After 30 years of being there, I've become immersed in the group, like it or not, and often on Sunday I sit there and think about the ones who have died. I remember where they used to sit, and the timbre of their voices when they sang hymns and spoke the Lord's Prayer. I miss so many of those voices, but it seems we're supposed to just forget about them because they're in the heavenly congregation now.

I've read that Orthodox Church tradition includes staying close in spirit to departed loved ones.......the communion of saints, cloud of witnesses.......I truly wouldn't have a problem with that at all. If only there was a church like that handy.

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.

*************************************

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!

*************************************

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!

Milk-Can Still-Life

My daughter----bless her heart----made fun of this photo when she saw it today. But, I rather like it.

Winter Fenceline Photos

Well, you do what you can to find beauty on a cold January day in Iowa. These photos were taken during my walk this morning, with fingers nearly frozen on the camera.

When you're desperate for an interesting photo subject, fencelines and fenceposts can fill the bill. In winter, they stand in sharp contrast to their snow-covered surroundings.





I should take lots of photos of farm fencelines, because they're gradually disappearing from the landscape. Erected many decades ago when all farmers pastured cattle and horses in the fields, fences are now mostly obsolete. The crop farmers of today simply take the fences out to accomodate their huge tractors and combines. As the fencelines disappear, so do trees and bushes which provided nesting places for birds.

On our farm, we do maintain our fences for the times in the summer and fall when Husband decides to pasture cows, heifers, or calves. There's something peaceful about seeing cattle out grazing in a green pasture. Why that is, I don't know.

Flew the Coop

These frosty tree branches were from a couple weeks ago.......they were striking against the deep blue sky that morning. So here they are randomly adorning this post. (I just got DSL hooked up this afternoon, and wanted to see how much faster photos will upload. It took about 1/3 the time as with dial-up.)

Yesterday, I flew the coop-----ran away from my problems-----for the afternoon, at least. My home-from-college daughter had cleaned her closet, so we headed to a town that has a Goodwill Store. Its a town of about 7000 residents. When I was growing up, it was a shopping mecca, with a business district sporting a Penneys, Sears, Montgomery Wards, Spurgeons, Woolworth's, Ben Franklin, and several smaller clothing and shoe stores. When I was a senior in high school, Mom splurged and spent $50 for my prom dress at one of those shops. That was expensive back then!

The main street now is barely a shadow of what it was back then. All those stores are gone, victims of shopping malls in bigger towns, and economic hard times in the area. There is a large Goodwill Store there, where we deposited the bags full of my daughter's closet gleanings, and several consignment stores. We decided to check out a couple of them. First we went to a large antique/thrift shop which had a sign on the door saying the store had gone out of business back in December. Disappointed, we peered in the windows and could see that the store was still full of stuff. I wonder what they will do with all of it. Hopefully, it will reopen someday.

Next, we went into a consignment shop, which if I remember correctly, is where a children's clothing store used to be years ago. Now the store is dim and little smelly, but we took a look around anyway. I like to snoop for old books and antique canning jars. Right away I spotted a stack of old books, and hopefully scanned their titles. The top one was, of all things, a book of magical spells and incantations, so we moved on to other items. There was the usual collection of knicknacks, jewelry, framed pictures, etc. Upstairs were some more old books, and I ended up buying two.

One, a little book of poetry from 1899, Songs of the Treetop and Meadow, had its owner's name written insided the front cover, Olive M. Burrows, 8/20/1906. The other book is Shepherd Psalm, by F.B. Meyer. It seems quite old, too, although there's no copyright date in it. The store had Christian music playing, but besides the spell book, I also saw a big witchcraft book, rather odd companions to the music. I decided I probably won't go back there.

Next we shopped at Goodwill, always intriguing and fun! I found a couple items to give my sister for her birthday, and a pretty Marjolein Bastin teapot. In the book section, I bought two by Robert James Waller, an Iowa author, one the famous Bridges of Madison County. The movie by that name, with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, was rather fruity, although the scene near the end where she's deciding whether to jump out of the pickup or not, just about rips my heart out, for some reason. The scene that cracked me up the most was when Francesca (Meryl Streep) was out driving a tractor and was able to hear the telephone ringing in the house. Believe me, that could never happen.

After Goodwill, we grabbed a bite at Subway, and shopped some more at a Pamida store on the edge of town. We like Pamida.......its like a miniature Walmart.......but minus the exhaustion from pushing your cart through that huge expanse of retail space, and then way out to your parking spot, too. The gigantic size of stores nowadays is getting a bit ridiculous.

Later in the evening, when I was at home reading the newspaper, one of the headlines concerned a bizarre story out of Sioux City------two young girls killed by their stepfather during a ritual. He told authorities he had been "casting a spell that had gone bad". And to think we saw that spell casting book today in that shop. Yikes.

In A Remodeling Funk

Well, I just reread my previous post, written by a person who had stayed up too late. I was posting so late because my computer had crashed.......Windows had gotten deleted somehow. The only unusual thing I had done the day before was use the Sunday School lesson CD to print off an Epiphany activity sheet. Was there something harmful in the CD? Who knows.

Anyway, I put in a phone call to Dell Tech Support, and a nice girl talked me through reinstalling Windows. It took almost 2 hours, but it was successful. Whew!

Thus, today I've been very tired, and feel in danger of sliding into a serious January funk. For one thing, I'm irritated that another remodeling project has been started in our house.......in the basement. I don't even care about the basement, or that it looks like a basement, with old exposed wood beams to give it character. But, my step-dad, an extremely gifted and capable person who thrives on projects like this, has the notion that our basement should be finished off. So he talked Husband into it. That means I will have people at my house everyday for who knows how long. Its just my mom and step-dad, which doesn't sound like much, but when they're around, my mood just plummets.

I'm now convinced that my breakdown of a year-and-a-half ago was related to them being here every day of a year-long house project. We built a new room and renovated our kitchen. Redoing a kitchen sounds like a wonderful idea, but it includes a truckload of stress. You still have to provide meals, even though you are without appliances and plumbing for several weeks. Additionally, we live far away from grocery stores and restaurants. I thought I was handling it quite well, but evidently must have been in denial and internalizing the stress, and eventually it blew.

Besides being a superb craftsman, my step-dad is a fabulous cook and baker. He makes everything from scratch, and keeps his kitchen absurdly neat and tidy, with nothing on the countertops......not one speck of clutter. Try having a person like that at your house every day......and cooking for them! And my mom......well, I love her, of course, but as soon as she enters my field of vision, I feel drained. She is sweet and perfect now, but our past baggage together includes issues from her first marriage to my father, an alcoholic. Especially, it affected her first two children, me, the oldest, and my next younger sister. When I was a kid, Mom confided in me, and conversely, took things out on my sister. Fear, anxiety, and strange situations have been companions to my sister and me since childhood, and they just don't shake off. They hang around.

Maybe if I'd had this blog to vent to during our previous remodeling project, I could have avoided the embarrassing and costly mental breakdown. Live and learn.

Quantum Epiphany

Epiphany Sunday manifested itself today, and privileged I was to be a substitute Sunday School teacher, for I enjoy the biblical story of The Three Kings. They probably were not kings, the Bible identifies them as wise men, and the number three comes from the fact that there are three gifts mentioned. There may have two Wise Men......or six, or ten.

The regular teacher had forgotten to include the lesson papers for the students, so we ad libbed. There were three students in attendance......perfect to be the three wise men. I brought along some shiny gold bows and a bottle of perfume to be the gifts. We read the story from the Bible, then set off to find the Christ Child. We tip-toed through the hallway and down into the empty church basement, looking for stars along the way. In the church sanctuary, we spied many stars on the Christmas trees and on banners hung between the stained-glass windows. I had brought along a snow-globe with the Holy Family inside, so that was the Epiphany for us. The children knelt and presented their gifts. Then they pretended to be asleep and have the dream warning them not to go back and report to King Herod. They returned home to their Sunday School classroom by another route, as per the Bible story. Our alternate path took us by the deacons who were getting things ready for the church service, putting hymn numbers up on the board, etc. They smiled when we told them what we were doing.

Later, during his sermon, the pastor burst our bubble of awe concerning the Three Wise Men. He described them as clueless occultists! Thank goodness they did pay attention to their dreams, though! He then chided anyone who might be tempted to view coincidences as something special, or as a message from God. Maybe this pastor who I hardly know has read my mind, and was preaching to me personally........so go my paranoid thoughts. But, nonetheless, I'm intrigued by scientific studies of meaningful coincidence. Could it be a coincidence that he preached about coincidence?!

After his sermon, the pastor rushed so fast through the Lord's Prayer that we could not get all the words in. How ridiculous is that? These pastors are so hung up on following all the proper "rubrics" of the service, chanting just so, etc., etc., but then think nothing of rushing through the Lord's Prayer and ruining it for the congregation. On the way out of church, as I shook his hand, I told him, "Good sermon, but the Lord's Prayer was done way too fast."

Back to coincidence.......this afternoon after a Sunday dinner of turkey, dressing, mashed potatos and gravy, I retired to the sofa and read from Robert Moss' book The Three "Only" Things. In chapter 5, "Where Mind and Matter Meet", he writes: "The great psychologist Carl Jung lived by coincidence. He achieved a profound understanding that through the study of coincidence we will come to grasp that there is no real separation between mind and matter at any level of reality------a finding confirmed by the best of our physicists.........the incidents of our lives and patterns of our world are connected by meaning , and that meaningful coincidence may guide us to the hidden order of events..........I want to reclaim the word coincidence because I like the notion of things 'falling together' with the implied action of a hidden hand."

And here's an interesting tidbit: "........the idea that coincidences are important is troubling to some in the psychiatric community.........a Swiss psychiatrist named Klaus Conrad made up the word apophenia to describe a psychotic condition he defined as the 'unmotivated seeing of connections' accompanied by a 'specific experience of an abnormal meaningfulness'." (Maybe he was a Lutheran........they're not supposed to "experience" the meaningful in their religious life.)

In conclusion, this sentence from page 109 hit home with me: "When we navigate by coincidence, we move effortlessly into creative flow. When we project our delusions onto the world around us, we put ourselves in a place of blockage and pain." I did that once, and, yes, it resulted in pain. Not physical pain, but mental pain from making a complete idiot of myself.

Somehow, the thought comes that the Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is an attempt at intentionally setting up a meaningful coincidence. The bread and wine are coincidentally the Body and Blood of Christ due to the Words spoken over them by the Pastor. Maybe quantum physics is involved........Moss writes: "Quantum physics shows us the universe as a dynamic web of connection.........Particles that have once been in contact with each other remain connected through all space and time........Subatomic particles exist in all possible states until they are observed------at which point something definite emerges from the soup of possibilities." When the pastor speaks the Words of Institution, is that akin to "observing" or recognizing the Body and Blood of Christ......bringing it into reality in the bread and wine??

Homeschooler Relatives

Hey, yesterday's post was my 100th one! I'll celebrate by taking a sip of coffee.

Last evening, I watched the Special Features on Disc 5 of the "Medium" first season set. It was interesting to learn how the show was conceived and developed, how the cast was chosen, and where the weird title music came from. The show's creator, Glenn Gordon Caron, explained how the real-life Allison DuBois, and her family, inspire the story lines. He talked about the importance of the low-key portrayal of Allison's family (right down to the very lived-in house), and how integral that is to the show, almost more so than Allison's crime-solving abilities. They feel the normal family scenes balance out Allison's abnormal adventures, and make for a more believable show. They first pitched "Medium" to ABC, where it was rejected, and then they ended up at NBC as a mid-season replacement in 2004.

*************

Continuing with another thought-line from the prior post: There's more I could say about some of the relatives that homeschool----- Husband's two nephews and their wives. Both families spent time here last month during the days after Father-in-law's death.

One of the families lives in a suburb of Chicago, and their version of homeschooling includes many activities shared with other homeschoolers. That is good......the kids are socializing and making friends. The three little girls dress in the usual way, jeans and tees for play, and nice dresses for church.

The other nephew's family, however, is another story. They live in a more remote area in a southern state, and are involved with a strict Baptist church. The wife and daughters wear skirts and dresses all the time! One of the little girls surprised my daughter with this question: "Why are you wearing pants?" My daughter replied, "Because I like to, and they keep me warm." Making girls wear dresses all the time is just too far out of the mainstream, in my opinion. And it would never be practical here on the farm.

In the past, Father-in-law expressed concerns to us about this grandson of his who would write letters encouraging his grandpa to "accept Christ". That sort of talk is difficult for a life-long Lutheran to comprehend. At the end of one of the letters, the grandson wrote: "There are absolutely no reasons for rejecting Christ. But, whether you accept Christ or not, we are still your grandkids and still love you no matter what." This was a few years ago, and Father-in-law at some point told this grandson that he had crossed the line of propriety between a grandson and grandfather.

Anyway, while the nephew was here, he and I had a couple conversations. I tried, in a brief way, to explain some Lutheran beliefs to him, especially about the idea of "accepting Christ". That you can't talk someone into doing it, because the only thing that can take place is Christ accepting us. I grew up in the same Baptist church that his mother did, so I understand where all his ideas originate. Probably, he heard many criticisms of Lutheran beliefs as he grew up. As are any of us, he was a captive to whatever beliefs his parents taught him.

My main concern, now, after seeing the situation, is that he and his wife are raising their kids with odd beliefs and a negative view of the world. I also noticed that he didn't seem to help his wife much with their four kids, aged 18 months to 7 years. At the funeral home visitation, he just stood in the corner while his wife struggled with the children. I almost went over and said something to him, but decided not to. His behavior seemed strange for someone who is supposedly a devout Christian.

His wife, who used to be overweight, now looks almost anorexic. She told me that she was able to have success losing weight once she became convicted of the sinfulness of her overeating. Looks like she may now have to become convicted of the sinfulness of her undereating. This family is in my prayers. I wish them the best, but I can't agree with much of what they're doing.

Home Alone & Pondering

I'm enjoying a rare evening alone; Husband went to watch our son's high school basketball game. I washed milkers so he could get there on time. He better not complain about going alone......over the years I've attended countless school events alone while he milked cows. Turn-about is fair play.....so they say.

So how best to enjoy my little bit of quiet time alone here at home? Well, obviously, first of all, I'm blogging. Then I plan to make some popcorn and watch an episode from the Medium DVD (the first season) I bought for Christmas. I wish "Medium" was not the name given to this show. Allison is not a medium, as in one who tries to contact the dead. She receives information in dreams, an ability she did not seek out. Also, Allison's husband and three daughters, and their family interactions, add much to the show, and their house looks like a normal lived-in home, sort of cluttered and messy.

Actually, also, I'm reading a book about dreams and coincidence right now-----The Three "Only" Things-----by Robert Moss. Because of my own experiences with dreams, I believe there is a method to the madness of dreaming, but it is conveyed in a complicated language. A language forgotten in our modern age. Awhile back I read Moss' book Dreamways of the Iroquois, in which he writes of how ancient peoples viewed dreaming. It was tremendously important to them and in the Bible we get hints of this, although Christianity has turned away from putting stock in dreams. They are "only" dreams......something to be ignored. That's the gist of Moss' book, The Three "Only" Things. The other two are coincidence and imagination.

In the barn this morning, Husband had the radio tuned to the Glenn Beck Show. Beck's fill-in was taking calls concerning last evening's Iowa Caucus victors, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee. Sounds like Huckabee has the backing of home-schoolers, who are a significant sub-culture. My brother and his wife homeschool their four children. I admire people who can commit to such an undertaking, but I always hope they are also providing for their children's social development. My brother and I have argued on that point.

My sister-----whose children attend school----- and I, believe that my brother and his wife are telling their kids that school is a bad place where they would be made fun of. Things their son has said leads us to this conclusion. He acts like he wishes he could go to school, and its too bad that he'll grow up with no school buddies to remember. But, my brother and his wife are doing what they think is best, so more power to them.

I could feel like a failure, probably, because I didn't attempt homeschooling. Some of Husband's relatives homeschool, too, and one of them asked me once why I never homeschooled! Sheesh. How could I ever explain it to them. It would never have worked here on this very busy livestock farm. My husband is around all the time, expecting meals and help whenever he needs it. Most days I was overwhelmed by trying to get laundry done, cook meals, do yardwork, help Husband, etc., etc. These women that homeschool have husbands who are gone all day at a job. They have no farm responsibilities-----their total focus is on their kids, all day long. Thus, homeschooling works for them, but it doesn't work for everyone. Period.

So, bless them all if they want to support Mike Huckabee. Maybe he is the right person to be our next president-----I certainly don't know at this point, though.

Why is it that sometimes the spaces between my paragraphs are omitted? That's why this last half of my post looks like one gigantic paragraph, and I don't like it.

Chilly Caucus Night

Wow! Its so cool to see Iowa plastered all over the national news. And, believe me, it is cool, as in frigid, in Iowa right now. Today has been cold, and windy to boot. The presidential hopefuls must rue the fact of being forced to spend time in Iowa in January. Why couldn't it be Florida, or California, or Arizona! Why, Iowa!? And, I'm sure I can't answer that. I have no idea how Iowa came to be host to the first caucuses of the year.

We've had our share of phone calls from various campaigns over the past few days. Ron Paul's people called several times yesterday.......with a recorded voice saying that if we want less government, vote for their man. Many flyers have come in the mail......today's were from Mike Huckabee.......what a name.......how would "President Huckabee" sound? Kind of odd. I'm not sure about him anyway......seems like he blew in from nowhere with his "I'm a Christian" claims. As if that should tell us he is capable of being president.

But, why am I even commenting. I won't make it to a caucus tonight. The Democratic one is at a local high school, and the Republican one is a county-wide one being held about 20 miles away. It would be interesting to go, but it won't work out for me.

Truly, I have no favorite candidate. But, I've watched a few debates on TV, and many news reports. Nobody yet stands out to me in a special way. Although, someone impressed me the other day on a news report.......Michelle Obama. I had not seen her before, or heard her speak. Oddly enough, she has more of an aura of leadership than her husband does, in my limited opinion.

John Edwards reminds me of my son's orthodontist, and not that that matters. Edwards seems like a nice person, although strong Southern accents make me cringe. Hillary......well, I don't know......there's a lot of iffy baggage in her political past. Mitt Romney.......I don't know about him, either.......he looks too perfect.

Well, the phone just rang, and it was another recording from the Ron Paul campaign, warning me that Fred Thompson has voted to fund pro-abortion groups.

I'd better quit blogging and go watch the caucus results come in......and sit close to the phone in case another campaign calls.

****************************************************

9:00 p.m. - Caucus report, straight from my son who attended his precinct's Republican caucus in Davenport. Good for him! I'm glad he went.

He said in his precinct's room, there were 105 votes cast. Mike Huckabee won with 38 votes, and Mitt Romney came in second with 33. He thinks McCain got 22 votes, and Fred Thompson, 11. Rudy Giuliani nabbed 1 vote.

My son said it all was very informal. They sat around in their caucus room, listening to a few people speak up for various candidates. Then they cast their votes on little slips of paper, and waited to hear the results after the votes were counted.

He said the Democratic caucuses were going on in the same school building he was in, and on his way out he overheard a woman say, "Well, at least Hillary didn't win."

It will be interesting to see if the voting of this Davenport precinct comes very close to reflecting the overall results in Iowa on this chilly caucus night.

************************************************************

10:00 p.m. - News reports say Barack Obama has won on the Democratic side, with John Edwards and Hillary Clinton running neck in neck for second place. I wonder if Obama's win is at all related to his wife's active campaigning in the last few days here in Iowa. Like I said earlier......she is impressive.

Mike Huckabee is the winner for the Republicans, with Mitt Romney second. Huckabee's victory speech was just on TV. With Chuck Norris smiling right behind him, Huckabee called himself a "choice for change" and said his win will ignite a "prairie fire of new hope and zeal".

Green Knowe Book Series

Ok, I did some searching concerning those "Greenhow" books I mentioned in the last post. The actual name is "Green Knowe", and the author of the series of books is Lucy M. Boston. She wrote of an actual estate in England which she purchased and restored in the 1930's. She was 62 when she started writing the stories.


There are six books in the series: The Children of Green Knowe, The River of Green Knowe, The Stranger at Green Knowe, An Enemy at Green Knowe, The Treasure of Green Knowe, and The Stones of Green Knowe. I think I may have read three or four of them years ago in grade school. Funny thing, I could not remember the author's name, or the correct titles of the books, but I can clearly recall where these books were on the shelves there in our school library.......along the west wall, near the door. I can date the time I read them to third grade or after, because that was when our school did a building project and moved the library. In the previous library location, I remember where the Billy & Blaze books were, and the Little House series of books, so that would have been during second grade or before.

Anyway, the Green Knowe series, originally published in the 1960's, has been reissued, so I ordered a set from Amazon. I'll loan them to my niece and nephew first, then keep them to read to grandchildren, if any ever come along.

Why didn't I ever look for these books when my own children were small? I don't know. Sometimes I think I was in some sort of stupor for many years, trying to keep up with taking care of things around the house and farm, and being responsible for little kids and school-agers. It was an exhausting time, and with me not being the most energetic person in the world, lots of things didn't get attended to.

More Frosty Photos

Kitty said, "Why, certainly, I will go sit on that branch and pose for a photo for your blog.......duh."

Frost sprouts from this remnant stem of a mullein plant.

Friend Kitty tried to catch the wispy frost as it fluttered from the tree branches.

Happy New Year!!!!!!