Like Cool Clear Water . . . Ahhh!

Proverbs 25:25 says, “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.”

Briana

This morning, I found a message in my e-mail inbox from Briana.  Briana is our granddaughter and she is in Mexico on a 2-month internship.

This week has been mostly filled with orientation events.  She has learned to use their kitchen, and will soon be cooking breakfast for over 100 people.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?

She has three prayer requests:

1. Health – she has been having some minor headaches

2. Relationships – particularly with other staff members

3. Language ability – she finds hearing and speaking Spanish is more difficult than reading for comprehension.  She has been in contact [online] with Claudia for sometime and they have become friends.  Now, they are together, face-to-face, and they are finding it difficult to communicate orally.  FWIW, Briana studied Spanish through High School and in her first year at college. 

Briana concludes that we should hear from her again in about a week or so.  Sounds like she is busy and very happy to be there doing what she is doing.  It sounds good to me, except maybe that part about getting up very early to fix breakfast for the entire staff.  On second thought, that would be good too.

How Would You Respond?

I recently received this in an e-mail that concluded:

Send this To every friend that you have on-line,
Including the person who sent it to you.
0 Replies – you may need to work on your ‘people skills’
2 Replies – you are nice but probably need to be more outgoing
4 Replies – you have picked your friends well!
6 Replies – you are downright popular
8 Replies or More – you are totally awesome
(and that’s probably why you’re on MY list)
I wonder what mine will be. 

 How would you reply?

Me?  I am of the opinion that messages like this are why they invented the delete key.  Acting in accord with that opinion, I hit the delete key.

Who originates messages like that?  Some control freak?  Ego maniac?  Other?  I’d really like to know.

Mid Afternoon

Come mid-afternoon, I get a little bit drowsy.  Especially on a quiet day, and that describes most days around here.  I like that.  No, I love that.  A lot!

I get drowsy.  Midnight gets hungry. It is time for him to eat again.  Or at least he seems to think that it is time for him to eat.

“Hey!  Wake up old timer.  It’s time to feed me.  Please!  Feed me now.

What’s a guy to do?  Time to ante . . .  And that means “feed the kitty.”  So that’s what I do.

Busy Week

Briana the [almost] birthday girl

Sunday, we had a special lunch with family.  The gathering was to celebrate Briana’s birthday (coming on Monday) and Father’s Day (coming on Sunday).  It makes sense.  No, really it does.

Briana leaves Sunday morning (tomorrow) for a two-month internship with a mission group in Mexico.  She’ll return shortly before college classes start this fall.

Bryant cooked burgers on the grill.  Barbara made potato salad and a veggie salad (super good with broccoli, cauliflower, golden raisins, and sunflower seeds plus a nice dressing).  Briana prepared dessert.

Briana’s Strawberry/rhubarb pie!

Briana asked, “What’s you favorite kind of pie?”  I replied, “Rhubarb.”  She said, “Right, but why is it so red?”  (It was time for some fun.)  “You added some cherries?”  “No.”  “Cranberries?”  “No.”  Raspberries–I love those too.”  “Not that either.”  “Oh, I know . . . red apples.”  “Don’t be silly.”  “Ahh, strawberries?”  “Yes, but you knew that, didn’t you?”  Some days, a body can’t get away with anything.  The pie was every bit as good as it looks.  It was a very nice day.

Monday through Friday, Sylvia spent her mornings as a counsellor at horsemanship camp.  She had to be out of the house early, which meant she was gone before I got out of bed most mornings.  The one rain day, only started raining in the afternoon.  It did not disrupt the schedule.

Friday evening was our church’s father/son banquet.  Sylvia was involved in the planning, preparation and serving.  I had emcee duties.  Bryant brought our guest speaker from Grand Rapids.  We had a great time, but returned home quite late.

Oh Deer

Earlier visitors on a different day.

We finally prepared, planted and fenced around the garden.  Sylvia had finished the planting and was watering the garden.  I was standing by a window that look out in that direction.  Then I saw that on the other side of the lower lawn, on the far side of the cattails, two young deer were watching her.  They watched intently as the stood on the edge of the grass.  I walked swiftly to retrieve the camera from the office at the other end of the house.  I returned just in time to see the deer leap into the tall grass and quickly disappear.  It usually works that way for me.

A couple of evenings ago, Sylvia called me to come to the same window.  A doe and a small, spotted fawn stood on the lawn near the pine trees.  I watched for a while and went for the camera.  I returned to find the fawn had taken refuge in the tall grass near the pines.  The mother continued grazing on the grass and then followed the fawn. 

Maybe if I went for the camera quicker I’d get a shot?  With my luck, I’d just see less.  Yes, I know.  Keep the camera by the window.  Why didn’t I think of that?

Back to the Tall Grass

The pictures in yesterday’s post caught my attention.  The splashes of yellow, orange, white and purple in that field of green tend to lift my spirits.  I decided to use a shot for wall paper on my monitor.  I chose this shot:

Click on photo to see larger image

Actually this shot is cropped a bit tighter and has a different aspect ratio than that of my wall paper.  Among the grass I see clover, buckhorn (top, left of center) and hawk weed both orange and yellow.  (I’ve always called the orange hawk weed Indian paintbrush.)

As it appears here, it lacks “snap.”  At least it does to my eyes.  I decided to put Photoshop Elements to work and try a couple of graphic filters on this image.  The first filter I tried is called “poster edges.”

Click on photo to see larger image

I was very pleased with the results.  The first photo appears a bit blurred to me.  This filter sharpens element edges and makes the various parts stand out better as the contrast is also enhanced.  It looks great here, but on my desktop the icons didn’t show as well as I’d like.  I wanted something a bit softer so that that the sharp edges of the icons would be more apparent to the eye..  Here’s what happened.

Click on photo to see larger image

This is the original photo with the watercolor filter applied.  I adjusted filter parameters, such as brush size and detail, to get the desired effect.  An image similar to this one now graces my Windows desktop.

Once in a while the image captured by the camera is exactly what I had in mind.  Frequently, I find it necessary to crop and touch up a picture.  It takes time and patience, but the results are worth the effort.

Don’t have fancy software nor the budget to purchase it?  Check out the Photo Editing and Photo Fun gadget in the right-hand column of Doreen’s blog.

Old Glory

This morning I visited String to Short to Tie.  My friend Vanilla has a salute to Flag Day there today, and it triggered some thoughts.

I first thought of the feeling of pride I have for my nation.  I’m talking about the republic for which our flag stands.  Founded through fire and forged upon the anvil.  A nation based on the firm conviction that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.

I thought also of ancestors who paid the price beneath that flag to purchase and protect the freedom that this nation affords.

I remembered how I felt upon returning to the states after three years absence.  The celebrations of our bicentennial were just beginning and the flag was on prominent display.  That was so precious to Sylvia and to me.  No longer would we be required to fly a foreign flag in our window on that nation’s holidays.  No longer would police drive by to see that the alien flag was on display as required.

I especially thought of my father, a WWII veteran.  Dad had a flag pole near the front door of his house.  Every day he would raise the flag in the morning and take it down in the evening. I have the flag that adorned his coffin.  It is still folded as it was when the honor guard removed it on that day.

Is the flag special to you?