Presents were savored,
People were delighted,
Aromas were enticing,
Affection was plentiful,
Food was intoxicating,
Company, my children, was a gift that I enjoyed thoroughly.
I went to sleep content and dreamed.
I found myself, this morning, googling my childhood home, I satellited in and retraced the steps between my front door and my best friends house. I looked for the woods between the railroad tracks where we used to build our fort. I even found my old schools. The playground was missing.
What is it about relatives that makes you go back in time?
My mother fixes my plate and then minds my children as if they were five again.
My mind wonders back to old adventures, to old haunts; Gatorland, Lake Mary and the zoo with the monkey that escaped, fishing under the bridge and riding my bike across town. Was it better then?
I stop myself.
Then I didn't have my children and my daughter didn't have her love. How could I be happier without them?
What is it about relatives that sends you back?
Hey I made it down to the river, man the water's up!
That made my Christmas,
that and the long walk through the woods it took to get to that perfect tree just made for me to lay back on and go to sleep while listening to the river.
I hope you've found some peace,
I hope you found some joy,
I hope you caught a glimpse of Jesus
in this holiday season
Merry Christmas
As soon as I got in the car I grabbed the steering wheel and prayed
"Oh God, help me"
"Help me to not spend too much"
"Help me to not buy selfishly or greedily or unnecessarily"
I wasn't joking
I was serious.
And it worked!
What a pleasant shopping day I had. I bought Christmas lights and snuck over to a friend's house and wrapped them around her front porch railings, not before she came out and spotted me.
I was able to take my daughter shopping for a couple hours (her sweetie's been out of town for work most of the month and she's very, very lonely).
And I finished up the day shopping with my son.
The neatest part to me was that at the end of the day, after trying hard not to spend too much money on a particular present I found it on sale, so so so so on sale.
God blesses!
Of the blessing that others have
Or the blessings that others are
That I have not
Or that I am not
But let me satisfied
With the blessings that I am given
And that I am able to be
Man that's a hard lump to swallow!
Here's a copy of a 'letter to the editor' that I intend to send to the telegraph until it's posted or the problem is solved.
"My mother was a child during WWII. She remembers the depression well. She has set out to save the planet one recycled toilet paper roll at a time. She's only recently stopped saving milk gallon jugs. She drives me crazy but she's right. Let me say that again for clarification. She's right.
I'm not a liberal. I have a tendency to put them in the same category as Yankees and people who went to the other high school but on this point they are right. We should be better stewards of our planet.
My great grandmother came to visit from west Texas several years ago. She was dumbstruck by the trees. Trees are what I'm interested in saving, forests full of them.
About a year ago I was out in Oaky Woods with a friend. We were coming back from a search for river access. We are kayakers. We were driving slowly enjoying the day when we came up on a large bird eating road-kill. It stood about two and half to three feet off the ground, with blue-grey feathers and had a sleek head, like a hawk. We watched it for a few minutes before it flew away. The wing span was awesome. (I asked a ranger. He said, "No, it was not an eagle". I disagree.)
On another day I was out there with my parents for a short hike when we came upon the biggest bear I have ever seen in the wild. He easily stood eight feet off the ground on his hind legs. Since we were in a car when he did this, it was wonderful. Yes, we still went hiking that day.
I could go on but you get the picture or maybe you don't. Just about two miles further down that same dirt road is the site of the new "privately owned city" that has caused so much controversy. "No Trespassing" signs now hang from trees where I saw the bear. Houses are being built where I saw the bird. Soon a water treatment plant will be built where we looked for river access.
I won't go into the politics because frankly I don't understand them and thinking about the obvious greediness of the owners only serves to make me angry. I definitely won't say anything about the Governor who sounds like he's done some insider trading, but what do I know. I will say that Oaky Woods is part of a stretch of woods in middle Georgia that has been called one of the few wild places left in the nation. We should be proud; instead we're tearing it down.
Please get involved; call your representatives, call Sonny's office, write a letter to the editor, explain the issue to as many people as you can. At the least buy a bumper sticker. Chuck's Bait and Tackle in Warner Robins has them for a dollar, or you can buy one at http://www.saveoakywoods.com/. Also sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/4gahunt/petition.html
Save Oaky Woods."
There was a moment today.
I was sitting with a child at a table in the hallway of the school. She was being disciplined. She was unhappily writing a letter of apology to her teacher. She had stopped listening to me.
I turned to look out the window for a minute. I noticed the sunshine on the pane and the movement of the leaves on the ground. I wondered if it would be cold on the playground. I stretched a little and sighed a deeply contented sigh. “This was the life”, I thought to myself, “teaching children like this”. I looked back at the girl and smiled, even this moment has bliss.
