Hot days and birthdays

The weather is still very hot here in NW Arkansas. The drought is ever so evident as we travel around the area - the fields are brown, leaves are turning brown and falling off the trees, deer are starting to come into towns to search for food, lots of grasshoppers and bugs abound, and gardens are drying up for lack of rain. Many people just stopped watering their lawns and gardens because it is too expensive to water, as well as the fact that the water just evaporates as soon as it hits the air. This drought is prevalent all across the plains, and even into Texas. We did get a short shower last week - you could hear the trees and ground just swallowing as fast as it could to absorb the life saving liquid. I did find these tomatoes in the garden, thriving and ripening despite the effects of the outside conditions.  Just as we do, growing, thriving and ripening with the Living Water,  despite the wordly influences - struggling to survive and flourish regardless of what  others say or do! As Christians, we need to struggle forward, keeping the end victory in mind - eternal life with Jesus.

These tomatoes grew and ripened despite the odds

As I said before, it is sooooooooooooo hot in Texas------

Last week was Fred's 70th birthday, as well as our son-in-law's birthday, just a day apart. On Saturday, our daughters here in Arkansas planned a cook-out, which our excellent grilling/smoking son-in-law presided over. Actually he carefully guarded the cooking process, trying hard not to reveal his secrets of wonderful tasting food.  We were presented with venison burgers, regular hamburgers (seasoned in a special way by our daughter) and brats, cooked  Wisconsin style!!! All topped off with a delicious ice cream cake from DQ.

secret cooking going on

  

it looks absolutely mouth watering.


Notice the pan simmering in back - onions and mushrooms!!!!!

                                            

the final touch - ice cream cake

It was a very relaxing, peaceful day, despite the scorching heat. I had some old pictures that I have been scanning into my computer, so we spent time laughing over them, trying to figure out who some were, and when they were taken. There was one particular picture that I always thought was my sister-in-law with our oldest daughter who was only 2 at the time (she is 49 now!), and after all these years realized that it was me!!! Revelation!!!!! Things that we have always perceived as true sometimes surprisingly turn out to be entirely different. So a lesson was learned - keep an open mind. We left feeling very full indeed - full physically and emotionally - oh - yes - also with 3 pairs of jeans I have to shorten for my grand-daughter. 

Another page in the saga of the Catholic kid in Chicago: We walked 10 city blocks to and from school  every day, regardless of the weather.  Mother did not drive, so we just made the best of it.  After a warm breakfast (sometimes chocolate pudding - Mother thought that was the way to get us to drink milk), we were off. I loved it - to be able to tag along with the boys and listen to them talk and plan the week-end. Those 10 long blocks were an adventure to me. We would hear and see emergency equipment, sirens blaring, screaming past us, sometimes even see the actual accident, drunks and hobos out in the early morning, neighbors fretting and arguing.There were so many colors, languages, and names. Life was pretty simple and intriguing to us at that time. The biggest challenge of the day was to be dismissed from school and get home without committing some sort of sin - one we would have to confess on Friday to Father Dorney (my favorite priest) before we took communion. So many rules - walk in straight lines on the edge of the sidewalk for two blocks so as not to step on the neighbors grass, no talking, no skipping, no noises at all. I usually committed at least 3 sins in one short block. Another rule was no non-Catholic friends - oh how I envied the public school kids on our walk home. Luckily we were beyond the 2 block mark, so we could walk in groups and listen  to the kids from Ella Flagg Young Public School. They seemed so - worldly. They talked loud, laughed often, sometimes swore, ate bologna and mustard sandwiches on Friday and didn't have to confess their sins afterwards! How little did I know that God knew all of our sins, and our confession to Him is part of our obedience and faith.