July 20 – “Ninja porcupine”

Well.  No VBS news.  Didn’t see Kel’s kids.  Cailyn only stopped by for a few minutes so her Daddy could fax something.  No FaceTime calls from Zak and Caleb.  Grandkid withdrawal.  I couldn’t bring myself to do no work even though Friday is supposed to be a day off, but I did force myself to cut back some.  Chris helped with that.  She asked me to help her update her quilting notebook.  That’s where she keeps a photo record of every quilt she has made.  In it she puts samples of the material, pictures of the finished quilt and even a picture of the person she made it for.  Interesting record to have.  Once we got the photos copied that she still needed, we spent some time actually labeling the pictures on the computer for easier access next time.  Great way to spend some time together and get something accomplished at the same time. 

Speaking of accomplished, I finished scanning the last of the pictures in our photo album.  They are all officially digitized now.  My next task is to arrange a few of the years into an easier to find order.  Once that is done we’ll have as chronological a pictorial history of our life together as is humanly possible for this particular human.  I’m hoping to get to that today.  The plan is to get the yard mowed first – if it doesn’t rain.  Sounds really strange to be really expecting it to rain here on the island.  That just doesn’t happen all that often in the summer unless there is a tropical storm system involved.  Not that I’m asking for one by any means.  I have enjoyed the respite we have had for the last few years after Hurricane Ike.  I’d be happy to go for a few years longer. 

Ah, mowing the yard.  Brings back such odd memories.  The last time I mowed it was hot.  Really hot.  There was a time or two that I considered stopping, but that would have made the yard look really silly.  So I kept going, the voice of my junior high school football coach ringing in my ears, “Suck it up.  Don’t stop now.  Don’t be a baby.”  Sigh.  They don’t make ‘em like they used to, do they?  I kept going until I started getting heartburn and began belching.  I know.  That sounds really strange.  The rest of the day I had heartburn and belching issues.  It was miserable.  I sure didn’t know heat could do all that. 

And the time before that, I ended up with some unexplained scratches on the back of my leg.  No idea where they came from.  In fact I never even noticed them.  Cailyn was the one who expressed concern.  I told her I had no idea what happened, and she immediately said, “I know what happened, DadDad.”  Well, this had to be good.  Never one to muzzle creativity, I encouraged her a bit.  Well, more than a bit.  So she continued, “They were made by a porcupine.  See, he was hiding in the high grass over in 40 Steps and he jumped out at you backwards while you were mowing and scratched you.  Then he hid in the grass again really fastly.”  A ninja porcupine.  I will be sure to watch out for him today.

Psalms 102:1-2 says, “Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you.  Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress.  Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.”

Father, thank you for those rare days when there is nothing absolutely pressing that we have to get done.  We could sure use a few more of them.  Amen.