June 17 – “Neighborhood excitement”

We had a little neighborhood excitement at the house next door yesterday.  Police action.  No guns drawn or anything like that, though.  They were here because the car had its windshield and driver’s side window bashed in with a baseball bat.  No, it’s not something the rest of the neighborhood needs to be especially wary of.  We didn’t see what happened, although we did hear it.  Lots of yelling and screaming, which in itself is not that unusual.  And when we went out front to put the trash can out for pickup, the police were watching as one person walked away from the house.  I later went out with a broom and dustpan to clean up the glass in the street.  About that time the residents drove up and assured me that they were going to clean it up right away.  They indeed did.  Pretty ingenious approach, too.  One guy brought out a leaf rake and piled the larger pieces on it.  Another finally came out with the more conventional broom and dustpan.  Things have been eerily quiet over there since then …

With things calmed down, we ventured out to WalMart.  The primary targets were Tylenol and Benadryl, but there were a few detours along the way.  Chris made her way into the garden center, of course.  Well, made “our” way I suppose would be more accurate.  She needed a bigger pot to transplant a plant that has gotten unwieldy.  And some more dirt, too.  She found a pretty big one that apparently checked all the boxes she was seeking.  We also looked at the white porch rocking chairs we are planning to get to replace the ones we have now.  Those are a little scary to sit in.  Kind of shaky at the joints.  We decided to wait until I could go back with the truck.  Next we strolled around the store and just happened to come across the movie section.  Sadly, none were loose enough to accidentally fall into the cart this time.  I’ll have to check back later when I have more time to peruse the wares.  As it turned out we forgot air conditioner filters anyway, so I will have another opportunity.  We concluded our run in the bananas section.  Can’t run too low on that daily treat. 

Now I have to figure out how to create another email address for the church retreat center.  I thought about doing it through our website, but I think keeping it simple and letting Yahoo do all the work will be a better way to go.  If I can just remember how to do that …

Psalms 28:7 says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.  My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”

Father, please bring peace to the family next door.  You know what they need.  Amen.