SUNDAY STROLL- WOODY WOODPECKER ATE HERE

Here in the woods just off our front porch is a tree whose top broke off some time ago. It became a prime dining table for all the Woodpeckers in the woods.
As you can see here, the master drillers, the Pileated Woodpeckers prepared the table. Their boring into the wood sounds like a jack hammer: rat-a-tat-tat resounds throughout the woods.

Their evidence of dining pleasure is found all through the woods. Their call isn't exactly like Woody Woodpecker, but close enough to let you know they are here.

Today I'm keeping it short and close to the house. We will be away from home after church and I wanted to at least have a little stroll.

For more strolling make a bee line to The Quiet Country House.

GRACE NOTES

Grace Notes are musical ornamentation, added notes that give a lilt or character to the musical phrase being played. I find ideas and concepts that add to my personal experience and save them in my book of quotes and I believe they add that type of grace to my life. Along with a strong sense of God's Grace.

I love to sing, I think it must be a part of what it means to be human. We all seem to respond to music, the emotion, the danceable beat or rhythm. The sounds can lift our spirit or calm our anxiety. I wonder why that is so universally true. Over the years I have found the following thoughts that remind me of this inherent trait of human kind.

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Universe--

Uni - one, verse - song.

One Song!

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My idea is that there is music in the air;

the world is full of it and you simply take as much as you require.

Sir Edward Elgar

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"I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free,

for His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me."

song - His eye is on the sparrow.

Civilla Martin & Charles Gabriel

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"Bach gave us God's word,

Mozart gave us God's laughter,

Beethoven gave us God's fire,

God gave us music that we might pray without words"

Engraved on a German Opera House.

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This is my Symphony

To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury,

and refinement rather than fashion,

to be worthy, not respectable and wealthy, not rich;

to listen to stars and birds, babies and sages,

with heart, to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently,

await occasion, hurry never;

in a word,

to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the cement,

this is my symphony.

William Henry Channing

SUNDAY STROLL-MEDITATION GARDEN

This Memorial Day Weekend I want to invite you into the Meditation and Healing Garden in our church yard. Our church has several talented artist who worked all last summer on the mosaic wall.


Come sit and contemplate the heroic nature of human beings who through the ages were willing to die for friend, home or country. This is the time to say thank you, not to just soldiers, but all who serve to protect and preserve the concept of personal freedom. We need to be about healing one another's wounds.

Here in this garden are many herbs, mints, sage, balms, this Rosemary plant is turning into a shrub, don't you think.

The angel sits in the midst of Thyme and calls us to attend to the here and now. This is our time. I am a meditative and feel hope and peace in any natural setting. Here I pray for the healing of spirit and mind and heart of the world.

Stroll through other gardens and places at Aisling's place.

GRACE NOTES

This picture is from Journey to Wild Divine, a biofeedback game of adventure I play on my computer.

I realized a long time ago that life is pretty much what we choose to make of it. We don't always have control of what is happening, but we always have a choice in how we think about it. When it finally occurred to me that I am free to think what I want to think, I was amazed. I was so relieved and delighted to realize I didn't have to view the world the way my family thought or society directed. I am on my own in my own thoughts. What a Eureka moment.

The following quote says it pretty well.

ATTITUDES

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or wreck a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the inevitable, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our ATTITUDES"

Chuck Swindall

HOME COOKING-Kielbasa Skillet meal

May I introduce you to Fred.

I found this recipe some years ago in our magazine from Farm Bureau Insurance. The anonymous cook who submitted the skillet meal couldn't remember why the family had started calling it Fred, but Fred had become a favorite meal for her family. We have found it a nice addition to our table as well. I will give her version and say here I use it as a loose guideline.

Ingredients

1 lb. kielbasa (I use turkey)

1/2 stick butter

1/2 head coarsely chopped cabbage (I like long slivers like kraut)

4 medium potatoes, sliced

1 medium onion, sliced (I like a big onion)

Apple slices (the recipe says this is optional, I always use a whole big apple)

1/2 C. water ( I always have to use more)

Procedure

Slice kielbasa into 1/2 inch slices. In large skillet- preferably a big black cast iron one- over medium heat, brown the kielbasa in butter. Obviously I use an electric skillet and keep the heat too hot, hence the need to use more water.

Add all other ingredients and mix them well. Cover and reduce heat to low. The dish is done when the vegetables are tender. Season to taste.

I always cook according to the recipe the first time, haven't really looked at the original recipe again until today.

Hope you meat eaters try this at least once. I think you will like it.

SUNDAY STROLL-ALONG THE EDGES

Today I am strolling around the edge. Out in front are a couple of hanging baskets of Calibrachoa. To me they look like tiny petunias.
Out along the west side are the Rosa Rugosa, at least that is my hazarded guess. Our neighbor gave us the start. When the wind is right we can smell them at the house some 100 feet away. They have lots of thorns and big hips that are full of Vitamin C and used in teas.

The woods to the south are filled with wonderful trees including a gazillion Sassafras. The small twigs can be used as a toothbrush when you peel back a little bark and fray the end. It has the taste of root beer.

In the old garden area under the 'gone wild' peaches are these interesting wildflowers that I am considering to be either Lyre leaved Sage or Penstemon and then again something else all together.

Here are the 'wild peaches' that never get very big but are tasty to us, the birds and insects.

The woods are full of Mountain Laurel. This is the wondrous bud. Click it bigger to see the neat geometric shape of the buds.

Right now the buds are beginning to open and the clusters become delightful to behold when the flowers are fully open.

I include this Honey Suckle vine to show the tangled gnarly mess that nature sometimes creates.

Around the edges of the woods in the sunshine there are many blackberry patches to be found. Wild berries always seem to taste sweeter. It may have something to do with the difficult nature of picking them and the danger of snakes in the thickets.

Our property is backed up by my nephews place and these last two pictures are of the creek that runs through the south side of our woods and past their home on the way to the lake.

I hope you enjoyed the walk about and if you would like to continue with another stroller head on over to Aisling's place.

GRACE NOTES

It is my personal belief that God and the force we call Life are one and the same. Even if we disagree I hope you see a little of my reasoning in this wonderful reflection . You see I believe that no matter where you are or go, God is there, the very fabric of creation.

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The same stream of life that runs through my veins runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measure.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth into numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean cradle of birth and death in ebb and flow.

My limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.

And my pride is from the life throb of ages dancing in my blood at this moment.

Rabindranath Tagore