I have seen teasing signs and tidbits of spring in our neck of the woods at Coward's corner!
1. About two weeks ago we saw geese heading NORTH. Are they confused or is spring early? If confused, is it due to global warming? Just a thought, these days every abnormal event is attributed to the global warming phenomenon.
2. A yellow crocus has bloomed and faded. The purple crocus have yet to show their royalty.
3. The spring bulbs are shooting up greenery preceding their color explosion of reds, yellows, whites.
4. Along with the spring bulbs' greenery bursting forth, so are the ignominious thick green spikes, the spring forerunner of the late summer blooming Naked Ladies.
5. The blustering wind is howling as if trying to usher in March, come Monday! If the spring or summer has copious rainfall, mushrooms surprise us, especially this red one, looking like a sugar cookie with red icing!
6. Luckie is shedding her winter coat even though our temperatures are averaging 32 degrees. Friday the housecleaner emptied the Bissell reservoir twice; it was packed with dog hair.
7. My casting arm is itching to move in my awkward casting motion like a phantom shadow boxer. Muscle cramps may be the only reality until spring brings warmer temperatures.
8. I am looking longingly to new spring clothes calling me. Since I've lost a little weight I need a few replacements as my old duds are beginning to slip and slide a bit daringly.
9. My forsythias are about to burst up on the scene in their golden glory.
10. It is nearly time for the redbud trees to paint pastel subdued reddish haze on the hills.
11. My nose, eyes and ears are itching--a sign spring pollen is drifting in from somewhere.
11. Lent and Easter are early this year.
12. We started spring housecleaning early by employing a housecleaner.
13. Soon, the Dogwoods will bloom heralding in Easter with their Legend of the Dogwood; Dogwoods blooming are a sign the crappie are spawning. Yeah, we have a few traditions we claim as Ozark hillbilly indicators of the seasons.
14. Husband is tuning up the riding lawn tractor, another omen of spring. Somehow the steering wheel is broken. He said the tractor had a wreck, no details provided. Not sure if this was a self inflicted wound like runaway tractor, or if a two legged creature was practicing for a tractor rally. We have a local annual lawn tractor competition. It is life in the Ozarks.
15. Above all else the various species of fish are moving to the shallows for the annual ritual of spawning. This is the best time to catch fish in a deep clear water lake!!!
Oops! I just remembered one of the old wives's tales. Thunder in February, frost in April. Among all our unusual abundance of snow, was also thunder, even snow thunder.
Bring it on! Spring!!! Photos: 1. Yellow Crocus 2. Purple Crocus 3. Red Toadstool Mushroom 4. Dogwoods 5. Husband on half-sister's tractor [his Sears tractor is about 1/3 that size!] 6. Our fishing boat (Photos 1,2, 3 &4 made with my 1st old Kodak 2 megapixel camera; 5 & 6 -Nikon D50)
December 31, 2010 I will have completed 6 years of service to my small community as alderman on City Council. For the most part it has been business as usual, a few intra-council disagreements, but generally non-combative interactions trying to solve our problems which are common to all small cities.
Imagine my surprise when we arrived at morning worship services to have mail from a citizen in my community, addressed to me in care of my church! We are in the phone book, and our address is readily available at City Hall. My church affiliation probably was obtained from a campaign mass mailing.
The scrawling, nearly illegible envelope was troubling as its return address indicated an highly imaginary title of the sender. The return address took fully 1/3rd of the upper left hand corner of the envelope.
Inside was a rambling diatribe, not necessarily addressed AT me, but there were enough radical words for me to conclude this person is radical, mentally disturbed, perhaps demented.
After regaling about not voting for me, his/her reasoning descended into justification of saving me from unholy liars, STD satatist (may be satanists) troublesome degenerates, postal criminals, greedy crimes inspectors, unholy disgraceful liars, and cops in bosses uniforms. COP is defined as cocaine, opium prostitutes (if I read it correctly).
There are several illegible paragraphs, but it is a continuing diatribe of slanderous names. Best I can tell, he/she claims to be kidnapped by the "Holy Blessed Religious Roman Catholic Holy Sacrament Communion."
The three-holed, lined notebook page is written on both sides in large, scrawling handwriting, with many misspelled, illegible words, incomplete sentences and a few run-on sentences.
The ending, specifically invited my husband and I to correspond with him/her on "valid, unspoken opinions of various subjects."
I have forgotten how to correspond on lined or unlined notebook paper, and I will continue to forget--HA HA. Hope he/she doesn't have e-mail..........
My initial reaction is I don't need the Secret Service or other bodyguard provisions. However, I will be at our police chief's door at 9 a.m. today, Feb. 22 for reassurance. Incidentally, Feb. 22 is our 41st wedding anniversary. What a way to celebrate, but then most of our life has been anything but mundane.
Truthfully, we celebrated with a church couple Saturday night in Harrison AR at the Cadron Creek Catfish House Too. The original Cadron Creek Catfish House is in Bee Branch, AR further south on Highway 65 from this location.
[Warning: today's blog is a treatise with spiritual, religious content. If not interested, return another day, for a lighter menu. Thanks for stopping by!] Some of you write beautiful, heart-felt poetry or prose that touch people deeply. I believe them when their comments include tears of sadness or joy, or deep emotion. Some of you quote ancient writings of philosophers, wiser than any of us.
Certain music and art has the ability to evoke similar emotion at the core of my being. However, despite my love of one gospel song, it has yet to reach the joy, and ecstasy in me of that inspires a great number of Christian believers.
That song is entitled THE KING IS COMING. I have not found a recording in the rendition of what I am trying to say. The words are very moving, so moving I've seen entire audiences sing, weep, march to the music, or fall prostrate on their knees.Another such song is IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL (a personal funeral selection) THE KING IS COMING! Words by William J. Gaither and Gloria Gaither (1,2, and 3), Charles Millhuff, verse 3 in part. Musicby William J. Gaither
The marketplace is empty, No more traffic in the streets, All the builders' tools are silent,No more time to harvestwheat; Busy housewives cease their labors, In the courtroom no debate, Workon earth is all suspended As the King comes thro' the gate.
CHORUS: O the King is coming, The King is coming! I just heard the trumpets sounding, And now His face I see; O the King is coming, The King is coming! Praise God, He's coming for me!
Happy faces line the hallways; Those whose lives have been redeemed, Broken homesthat He has mended, Those from prison He has freed; Little children and the aged Hand in hand stand all aglow, Who were crippled, broken, ruined, Clad in garmentswhite as snow.
CHORUS O the King is coming,The King is coming! I just heard the trumpets sounding, And now His face I see; O the King is coming, The King is coming! Praise God, He's coming for me!
I can hear the chariots rumble, I can see the marching throng, The flurry of God's trumpets Spells the end of sin and wrong: Regalrobesare now unfolding, Heaven's grandstand's all in place, Heaven's choir now assembled, Start to sing "Amazing Grace!"
CHORUS O the King is coming, The King is coming! I just heard the trumpets sounding, And now His face I see; O the King is coming, The King is coming! Praise God, He's coming for me!
It is a very personal song, ending with the phrase, Praise God! He's Coming for Me." All the conjecture of the song I can feel, the lump in the throat, the near tears in the eyes and the urgency of excitement, but that final ecstasy, for which I am searching, I expect I will only feel the day He COMES FOR ME.
YouTube music video[many renditions available on YOUTUBE]
I have seen teasing signs and tidbits of spring in our neck of the woods at Coward's corner!
2. A yellow crocus has bloomed and faded. The purple crocus have yet to show their royalty.
5. The blustering wind is howling as if trying to usher in March, come Monday! If the spring or summer has copious rainfall, mushrooms surprise us, especially this red one, looking like a sugar cookie with red icing!
13. Soon, the Dogwoods will bloom heralding in Easter with their Legend of the Dogwood; Dogwoods blooming are a sign the crappie are spawning. Yeah, we have a few traditions we claim as Ozark hillbilly indicators of the seasons.
14. Husband is tuning up the riding lawn tractor, another omen of spring. Somehow the steering wheel is broken. He said the tractor had a wreck, no details provided. Not sure if this was a self inflicted wound like runaway tractor, or if a two legged creature was practicing for a tractor rally. We have a local annual lawn tractor competition. It is life in the Ozarks.
to catch fish in a deep clear water lake!!!
