Snapshots of Tug Hill

Abandoned barns and houses,

Shattered timbers on crumbling walls,

Ruins of pastoral life.

Piles of dirty snow,

On sheltered north slopes,

Remnants of the winter past.

Clumps of brilliant daffodils,

In the middle of nowhere,

Random or planned once upon a time.

Unimaginable mélange,

Junk scattered about a yard,

Relics of forgotten lives.

The fragrance of wood smoke,

Wafting up from chimneys,

Relief from the morning chill.

Gentle streams through fields,

Plunging down hillsides become

Raging torrents of spring.

Horse-drawn Amish buggies,

Plodding on the shoulder

Remembrances of pastoral life.

Riding on Tug Hill.

Following the Rules

While we were visiting my daughter’s family in Florida last week, I had an interesting conversation with her 7 year old girl.  My daughter was still at work, but sweet granddaughter Maddie was home from school and still wearing her school uniform.  She went out to play with her older sister and Grandpa , but shortly came back in.

I was sitting on the sofa waiting for the timer to go off, so I could take a cake out of the oven.  She knelt at the end of the sofa with her elbows on the arms of the sofa and her cute face resting on her hands.

“Grandma, my mother’s rule is that I have to change out of my school clothes before I go outside to play.”

“Well then, Maddie, you had better run upstairs and change.”

“….Although….I do not feel that I should have to obey my mother’s rule, since my mother is not here.”

Stifling my laughter…. “Well, the thing is that if you obey your mother’s rule even when she is not here, it gives her reason to trust you.”

She pondered this for about 2 seconds, and then ran upstairs to change before returning to outdoor play.

I hope and pray that she will remember this concept and build it into her code of conduct.  Obeying even when the enforcer is not present is a wonderful principle.  It prevents all kinds of trouble and pain in life.  It causes others to view us as people of integrity.  I have many times over the years said to children and grandchildren, “If you discipline yourself, then no one else has to discipline you.”

If only they could all grasp the concept early and hang on to it for a lifetime.

Reasons to be Happy

My husband and I are currently in Florida to visit our daughter, son-in-law and 2 granddaughters.  My daughter told the girls that when she was little, I used to make homemade candy Easter eggs.  Yesterday we colored hard-boiled eggs, so the candy eggs are now on the agenda.  This morning, before the girls went off to school, I inquired about which flavors they would like to make.  A trip to the grocery store was in order to pick up the necessary ingredients.

My husband went in the store with me and pushed the cart.  When we were finished and headed toward our car in the parking lot, we were laughing and talking.  A gentleman, a bit older than we are, passed us heading into the store and said, “You two don’t have any reason to be so happy!”  We just laughed, knowing he was joking, but it did get me to thinking.

Why am I happy today?

1.        I am in Florida to visit family whom I wish I could see more often, so I delight in every day here.

2.       Bill and I have been married for almost 46 years, and we still like each other.

3.       Easter is a yearly reminder that Christ is risen.  Because He is alive, I have life in Him now and for eternity.

So…if I look happy coming out of the grocery store or anywhere else…I have good reason!

Old Man in a Chair

Old man sitting in a chair,

Staring out…who knows where?

Through the years and back to youth?

Hiding in shadows, avoiding truth?

You no longer hear the sounds,

Or see the visions that surround.

Your world is bounded by the chair.

And out of focus, even there.

If you feebly change your place,

Fatigue and weakness slow your pace.

Haltingly you walk and shuffle,

The gift of pain for your trouble.

Gone your youth full of play,

Gone your long hard working day.

Also gone, your loving wife,

Gone the exuberance of life.

That crystal clarity of mind

Is something you no longer find.

Random images now flow,

Fleeting thoughts come and go.

And so you sit as time creeps by,

Waiting for the chair to die.

For the physical to dissolve and fade.

For the spirit to survive…remade.