June 13 – “Ready position”

I got a haircut the other day. I know, how boring can that be, right?  I did draw the new stylist, though.  Not like she was fresh out of school or anything.  She had just moved here from Huntsville, but she obviously didn’t know the routine.  The computer couldn’t even recognize her fingerprint.  She had to stop working on me twice to get that straightened out.  I do like the haircut, though.  Shorter than usual, but great time of year for shorter than usual.  She did ask some curious questions.  “Is it OK if I clean out your ears?”  (Not sure what to expect there.  A Q-tip?).  “Would you like me to trim your eyebrows?”  I know I don’t have one of those caveman eyebrow lines that cover your whole forehead, so I said sure.  She then assured me, “Your wife is sure to notice.”  It doesn’t take much for Chris to notice things.  She noticed right away the hair was much shorter than usual.  Can’t say she noticed the eyebrows, though. 

The haircut did make it a bit cooler for when we worked in the yard yesterday.  Mowed and edged and trimmed some trees and cleaned out our little shed.  Our task was delayed briefly at its start, though. We had to go get a new air filter and some gas for the lawn mower.  Who knew clogged air filters were such a problem on lawn mowers?  Not something my Dad ever taught me.  So pay attention, oh my sins, to this bit of sage advice.  Clean the air filter. 

While I restocked the weed eater with line, our neighbors from across the street came over to talk.  Actually they wanted to let us know that they were moving because the landlord was going up on the rent by $300 a month.  Yep.  Pretty ridiculous.  When they asked him why, he replied, “Because the curb appeal is so much better now.”  And who made the curb appeal?  Yep.  Mario and Carolyn, the renters.  Out of their own pockets.  Sure doesn’t seem fair.  They would have every right to pull up all the flowers and take them with them (except they’re moving to an apartment).  They could reseed the stickerburs they have eradicated, but Mario and Carolyn are good people.  I don’t foresee that happening.  We’ll miss them.

Kel’s kids came over last night.  Mom and Dad were originally supposed to go look for a house to move into, but the realtor canceled on them.  Since they already had babysitters, they decided to go see Jurassic World instead.  That’s OK, I smoked all the kids in a rousing game of CandyLand, so there.  I got a kick out of the new game they created.  Mario Cart.  No, not the video game.  They were the actual character and ran races through the kitchen, around the hall, into the office, and back into the kitchen.  I’m not sure why, but it was obviously the most fun thing they have done in weeks.  All three of the boys were laughing so hard they had to stop several times to catch their breath.  Gotta love the unfettered joy of youth.  In recognition of the huge first inning the Astros had (8 runs.  And yes, I was watching the game), they switched from Mario Cart to kitchen baseball.  Small rubber ball.  Hand-bats.  First base in the counter corner.  Second is the fridge.  Third is the stove.  Home is the bookcase.  Pretty wild game that baseball.  I did some umpiring, but they decided they could handle any disputes by just redoing the play (That, my friends is how you play sandlot baseball).  Chris even joined in the fun.  Josiah managed to toss a ball up into the light fixture in the ceiling.  Hey, some pitchers have those days where they just can’t find the plate.  It’s a little tougher when there is no plate.  Noa made her way onto the playing field more times than they cared to be patient with, but her appearances were always hilarious.  Once she eased her way behind Micah who had dug in to bat.  She duplicated his stance perfectly.  Another time she went onto the playing field, spread her legs just a bit and squatted into a perfect “ready position.”  Coach Dad … someone’s been listening. 

Psalms 33:21 says, “In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.”

Father, thank you for those youngsters you have placed in our lives.  Help us remember that they really are listening … and watching.  We never cease to be models for their behavior.  Make us Holy Spirit models.  Amen.