It Was The Kind Of Day . . .

~ It was the kind of day when every dog on my running route barked, not with the joy of being a dog, but AT me.

~ It was the kind of day when I had a technological success that I can never repeat because I have no idea how I did it.

~ It was the kind of day when the crepemyrtles were one scant day past their perfection.

~ It was the kind of day to buy Adirondack chairs at the new Walmart and then place them in a neighborly, Joanna-Beatty-Taft way in the front yard, recline, sip tea, and glimpse through the hemlocks the back of the new Walmart.

~ It was the kind of day when a friend told Andrew to send something to her phone and he responded that he didn’t have a Smartphone because he is a luddite, and she said yes she knew what a luddite was because she looked it up on her Smartphone.

~ It was the kind of day to regret never mastering algebra and calculus because I have to teach kids in a few weeks how to score high on a test that includes both, but also a day to pull myself up by my bootstraps and resolve that any woman with a grain of sense can ‘simplify a cubed root with variables’!  It isn’t rocket science.  It’s a recipe for cooking down an herbed rutabaga stew.

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~ It was the kind of day to visit the girls – and allied children I claim as mine – and marvel at who they are.

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13702396_1106462936094388_954237630_oAdrienne, Eliot, Mad-Dog, Abby, Eliza, Justin, Callie, Will, Sarah

~ It was the kind of day when a dollar bought a squeeze bottle for soap at the kitchen sink, because pretty matters.

~ It was the kind of day to discover that if I lay on the left side of the bed, I can see the mountain as I read the Bible – “Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee. How great Thou art!”

It was that kind of day.

~

It Occurred To Me: Random Reflections In Midsummer

It occurred to me today:

~That as move-in day approaches for Will, and thrilled as I am he is mountain-bound, my secret dreams somehow include him going to ALL THREE of his college choices because I enjoy picturing him living each very different life. And though he would die of mortification to hear me say this, I know, as a mother knows these things, that he could be quarterback of all their football teams. Or the soccer equivalent.  Or basketball.  Actually, all three.

~That for all my mockery of those craft fair people, just pull out the paints and in two seconds I am looking around for saw blades and rocks to paint.  Lesson:  You are who you mock!

~That God does for sure have a sense of humor.  I’ll let it go at that.

~That hummingbirds are sugarwater-snobs just like the rest of us.  Last year we used some of my dad’s top shelf sugar water from an outdoor gear shop called Werner’s and enjoyed a front row seat at the Hummingbird Opera which reached its theatrical climax when a wasp defended his place at the water jar and took the field.  Gripping! Epic!  This year, we mixed our own humble sugar water.  So far, two hummingbirds have deigned to fly by and get our hopes up, but neither hovered.  And that’s it. The shame and rejection are reminiscent of an 8th grade banquet I went to – dateless and foolish enough to order a second coke for which I was required payment at school on Monday before all the upperclassmen.  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

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~That that one-too-many thing piled on my to-do list always ends up being a source of blessing and joy.  It happened to me again this week.  Note to self:  Thank God on the front side, even while it still seems to be a burden.  It’s not; it never is.  Even if I tattooed “It’s never a burden!” on my forearm, I am faithless enough to still be shocked when rain produces flowers.  Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

~That God allows me to call Him ‘sweet’ when I am telling Him I love Him, even though He is also righteous judge, enthroned king, mighty and terrible. I am so glad I serve a God who is not box-able, but who is still mine.

~That the brokenness of the fall means we are all mismatched.  Some friends long for things that others have and wish they didn’t. So much cracked when Adam and Eve disobeyed on our behalf.

~That there is something about the violin that plays not just to the ears, but to the marrow and cells.  Especially if Joyah Pettus is playing it.

Well, that’s what occurred to me today.

Little thoughts are worth cataloguing.

~