The Bird Songs.

 The Bird Songs.

 

Not just a male cardinal, but two or three other birds have been entertaining the neighborhood today. Supposedly, the cardinal might be declaring his territory, but he just sounds so very happy! The other birds seem to be acting like a chorus, too. It is almost impossible not to look for the birds in that Hackberry tree in the fence row. No one planted that tree any more than the elm tree on the north side of the fence, but whether a bird started it or however it got there, the birds seem to love it. Of course, the ornery squirrels enjoy getting up there and fussing at my dogs. Argh! Sitting at my desk the other day and heard something in the window. A squirrel was sitting on the AC unit in my office window!

 

It is not all that hot today, but you can bet the heat will be here soon. We have a chance of rain for the next few days if the weather station has its guesses on course. It doesn’t really matter too much right now, but Tuesday week the mower will be here to attempt to cut down some of this high grass. It is just growing like a hay field around here! If the hens were still in my yard, they would have a big job of trying to keep the grass down inside the “flower beds.” Have thought of removing the poles and railroad ties that keep those enclosed, but removing them would have to include putting those poles and ties somewhere. Not like this ol’ woman could move ANY of them! Once upon a time, she would have tried. Guess those days are pretty much long gone.

 

Finished one book and started another this morning. It’s not like the house is clean enough that it does not need some sweeping, but at least reading does not hurt as much as dragging around a vacuum cleaner. Don’t you know that Christ gets to rolling his eyes over the problems we have—physical, mental, emotional problems that persist in this life. Someday these will no longer be problems when our present life changes to an eternal one. Then all of us—yes, ALL of us—will be able to praise His name for the changes we will know as His family. He won’t have to listen to some ol’ woman gripe about how much it hurts to walk or bend or do anything at all. Right now, it just seems like a good time to listen to the birds sing His praises beside the river from His kingdom. Oh joy! Know my parents will love seeing and hearing those birds even if they were only able to see a limited few from their living room window while they lived in Petrolia. They will love seeing their friends that went on before them, too. Yep, sometimes reading brings some refreshing thoughts to my mind.

 

May all of you remember all the best things that this life has given you. Let us praise God for His love today and every day.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

More Floors and Other Work.

 More Floors and Other Work.

 

Mind you, only the living room and bedroom floors were cleaned with the dust mop. The hall and kitchen got a good Bissell cleaning rather than a Shark cleaning. The Shark is just too heavy and it pulls on me as much as the old woman pulls on it. Anyway, the sheets on my bed were changed and the laundry washed, dried, folded and put away. So, this morning a trip to church must have been accompanied by a bit of a frown since someone asked me if something was hurting. Yup. It was and still is. Just another day in Paradise.

 

The insurance nurse came after lunch and decided that at least one person around here was relatively healthy. He tickled my feet and made me stand on a scale. Isn’t that just wonderful. He also went through the big Ziplock bag of medicine bottles. Only four are taken on a regular basis, but it is better not to mess with those four and just keep growling when the others are needed. Asked a woman at services today what her doctor had said this past week. She said it appeared to him that she was doing ok for a woman over 90 years of age. Have a sneaking feeling that she is doing better than some of us who are much younger than she is. She does not appear to have an ounce of fat on her and she gets from one spot to the next with some determination! God has blessed her!

 

Looking forward to this coming Thursday when the ladies have decided to have some snacks together and a Bingo game with white elephant prizes. Love scrounging up white elephants. Also, love the history of white elephants to begin with! Look it up!

 

I can’t keep up with everyone who has wished me a happy birthday today, so will just have to post a general thank you to all for the good wishes when the computer gets turned back on tomorrow. But today Carla Beard called and we talked about her completion of a two-year program in her church so that she will be able to give communion and such. She will basically be an elder in her church. Guarantee the Baptists will probably never have women as pastors. Nevermind that Junia and her husband were apostles before Paul became a Christian, but she taught the same as a man. Can’t imagine what my parents would think about a woman being anything other than a music minister. Knowledge of scriptures and faith would never overcome the traditions of men. Oh well. God can handle things in His way.

 

Loved the patriotic songs we sang in church today! It is so good to be able to pray and study freely and speak publicly about one’s feelings and beliefs. Many men and women of our nation died to keep these freedoms. Our nation was founded on the belief and reliance on God. May it ever remain a God-fearing nation.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

More Mail.

 More Mail.

 

Of course, two pieces of mail were basically political junk stuff, but then there was also an envelope with a very sweet card inside. Max and Laisha sent the sweetest bear card. On the back it said, “Welcome to the whimsical world of Hallmark artist Mary Hamilton, where the bears are gentle, the conversation is kindly, and tea is served promptly on time.” Inside was a message from the two kids who lived across from me for over a year and a gift card to Cotton Patch. Just wish they could know how much fun that card was! Then the Amazon driver came and brought me a package from Jennifer that held two very slippery pillow cases that are supposed to be good for skin and hair. What is truly great about these slippery things is the zipper in one end that will keep the case on the pillow!! My pillows travel all over the bed for some strange reason! Once had a pair of satin sheets that had ME traveling all over the bed—whether or not the travel was intentional! Don’t remember who ended up with those sheets, but it might have been oldest son and his wife. Wondering if they traveled on their bed as much as they did on mine!

 

Haven’t accomplished much today, but what DID get done was necessary. Took some bags of ice and two gallons of tea to the kitchen at Lakeside Baptist Church for a get-together we are having Thursday. Jennifer wanted to know why they needed to be there TODAY rather than Thursday, but she has no idea how grouchy her mom has become. Only one thing at a time can get done in my estimation. Thursday the Texas caviar will need to be made and put in a container (black olives stuffed with cream cheese) and the grapes will need to be washed and clipped into sections that are easy to put on a plate. Then the “white elephant” gift will need to be loaded into the truck along with the food. The gift is going to be fun for whoever wins it in Bingo. It is a lamp with a magnifying page folded into it. Anyway, those little things are enough to do on Thursday other than getting myself over there. It does not take much to wear me out lately.

 

The only other thing the old woman did today was to spray the grass on the dressed stone sidewalk out to the workshop and the Bermuda grass on the front sidewalk. Did, however, walk over to Max and Laisha’s house to spray their grass that is beginning to come up between the sections of cement lawn. Patty’s part of the road also needs the spray, but my energy ran out first. Maybe another day.

 

Sterling called to tell me that we hit Iran, so you know the TV had to be turned on to check out the news. Ended up watching a political thing for an hour or so out of New York where Trump was trying to encourage folks to vote Republican. That state is almost as bad as California as to the type of people who have been elected. Sad, just sad. Nothing was said about any new attacks on Iran, so whatever Sterling saw must have been something older on the news. Just wish the mess could be finished and the bad guys wiped off the face of the earth. Guess that is almost too much to think about. Left alone, Iran will continue to be a vicious mess like rabid skunks that will stink up the entire world. Just thinking about 9-11 hurts.

 

Going to ask for some prayers from you all today. My nephew Daniel Wayne Pollard has a bone infection in one of the fingers he lost in a fan of the chicken house where he was working. Oh, the fingers have been gone for awhile now, but the infection just keeps coming back in one finger and making what’s left swell and hurt. He absolutely HAS to have this infection cleared up before he goes in on July 2^nd for the kidney transplant. His daughter Kristan is giving him one of her kidneys, but he can’t have any infection anywhere in his body before the transplant. Please pray that the doctors will get him in good shape before the transplant. Anyway, thank you for your prayers.

 

Thompson just came in here in my office to inform me that it was time for their dinner. Now they got “extra” food this morning when we went to Whataburger for their “mom” to get a caramel coffee and a taquito, but those two junior Whataburgers were just a bit small. The whole idea was to let them go out for a ride in the truck. We got back at just the right time for the mailman to get to see them behaving so sweetly and minding me while we walked up to the front door. He usually sees them barking and acting like big bad dogs. They really are sweet dogs, but we won’t tell their secret.

 

About time, and then some, to go bring the trash bin back across the road. Then maybe read a bit before bedtime. May even wave at Shona since she has her new grandson visiting here.

 

Let us pray for our troops and our leaders. May God bless them with common sense.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Raining Again.

 Raining Again.

 

Not griping, don’t ya see. But that was one big sploosh of water accompanied by thunder and lightning. The dogs were thoroughly nervous, too! At least everything got a good soaking.

 

Had a lightbulb flash out yesterday in the bathroom and pulled out my kitchen stool to change the bulb. Easy peasy reach. Then today used the same kitchen stool to reach for a flower vase on top of the kitchen cabinet. Had to step up to the second step on the stool. That second step makes me just a tad nervous. Got the vase down and cleaned it and now have the few carnations that were still pretty enough to put in that swan vase that Grandmother Pollard made for me. Think she really enjoyed those classes she took to make those swans out of Red River mud. It means something to me, too. The flowers were among those from the bouquet that the kids sent for Mother’s Day. The tiger lily blooms ended up all over the place, but they were pretty for a long time. Not sure what the blue bell looking flowers were supposed to be called, but would love to grow some like that.

 

Had a few groceries and things delivered today. It sounds incredibly lazy to have things delivered, but all the joints in my back and legs are reacting to the weather—or something. Anyway, will take my little buggy used to unload my groceries and deliver a couple of bags of ice and a couple of jugs of tea to the church. The secretary said that they have room in the freezer for the ice and room in the fridge for the tea. Just did not want to wait to take this stuff on Thursday when the gathering is planned.

 

Got a sweet postcard from Max and Laisha from Washington state. Wish they were still close enough to hug, but they will probably never be in this part of the world again. Guess prayer will just have to do the job instead of hugs.

 

Almost finished a book by a guy named Perry Stone called The Code of the Holy Spirit. It talks about the seven holy days that we learned about back beginning in ’73. Sterling was talking about it and calling the holy days “Jewish” days and saying that he was not a Jew but a Gentile. Argh. Israelites were not all Jewish, but try to explain that. Anyway, our discussion caused me to do some research about the term “gentile” and “goyim.” The internet is a wonderful tool, but a person would need more books of reference to ever get things ironed out enough to be easy to explain. Even this book may have to get a second reading to satisfy my feeling about some of his explanations (Stone’s, not Sterling’s).

 

It has been years since we kept all seven of God’s feast days. It makes me ask myself several questions about them now. We observed Passover by washing feet (women among women and men among men) and by taking the unleavened bread and the wine as Christ commanded his disciples that night when He took wine and bread with them. One year the sequence of events had me asking a minister to explain how Christ was in the grave three days and three nights if He was killed the next day. It finally occurred to me that His resurrection was the important event rather than the sequence of events. At His death on the day after Passover, the high priest wanted the body put in a grave before the holy day that began that night. His resurrection came on the day of First Fruits, so that showed that HE was the first fruits of many to come after Him. Anyway, it still boggles my mind that so many things happened just as God had them laid out in His instructions. And then there were those who were resurrected on the same day as His resurrection. Do you think that the prophetess Anna who held him in the temple after his birth was one of those who came out of the grave?

 

It looks as if the next few days and into next week may be pretty decent weather—that is if you don’t mind a little rain and cooler temps. This old woman will not gripe for now. It would be nice to be able to dust mop and maybe even wet mop on Saturday so that the living room would be decent or at least slightly less hairy by the time the insurance nurse is supposed to be here on Sunday afternoon. But if all the dog hair sticks to the floor and the furniture, at least it won’t be out of character for this house!! Dog hair is happy hair.

 

Let us pray for our president and other leaders that God will guide them and lead them. May God bless our troops and all those who protect and help us.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Reading Again.

 Reading Again.

 

Sterling sent five or six good books that he had forgotten to bring on their visit the last time he and Jacqui came. Think it cost a bit over $20 to mail them, but the one currently on my reading table would have cost that much to order from Amazon. Anyway, between reading the study guide for Bible class and reading one of his books, this ol’ woman has not accomplished much else today. Such is life.

 

Michelle Malay said that a copperhead got her oldest pup, Marlin, the other evening. The Benadryl saved his life and now the swelling is about to go down enough that he should be ok. It got him right in the side of the face, so his mouth and throat were badly swollen. She was afraid that it would choke him to death if the swelling did not go down. SO glad that we got our grass cut the other day. Now we just have to watch for the skunks!

 

A lady said something the other day that made me think about how judgmental we all tend to be. It’s not like any of us are ever going to be perfect, but we never need to let ourselves be overtaken with a spirit of anger when someone else shows their faults to us or makes a problem in our lives because of their habits or addictions. As much as we can love others, we know that God loves them more. We just need to keep our peace and pray for our life and theirs. Anyway, we never know when God will choose to have us finish this life and start on the next one. So, it seems better to have a good attitude when we leave this one.

 

This weather has certainly been strange. NOT that we have any reason to gripe! It was only 80 degrees today and we had a misting rain earlier in the morning. What is more, the wind did not blow a gale all day for a change. Anyway, we all know that the hot weather is just around the corner now. Got the electric bill of just slightly over $44, so that is another reason not to gripe. The company called Energy Ogre has saved me a bundle. They used to charge me $10 a month to keep me with the least expensive source of electricity, but now they went up to $12 a month. No big deal for that charge! Patty insists on staying with the same electric company they had when she moved here and her bill is constantly closer to $200 a month! Of course, that is both heating and cooling.

 

Speaking to my friend Roger this evening about how forgetful we have become. It just seems to me that my mind was always on other things in life other than who was where or what they were doing. He can remember names and relationships. About all that has mattered to me was my address and phone numbers—which haven’t changed that much in 58 years! And remembering the children’s phone numbers is still beyond me! Just another day in Paradise!

 

Let us pray for lack of confusion for ourselves and for our nation.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Fraud and Its Costs.

 Fraud and Its Costs.

 

Sometimes it seems that for every dollar we are taxed in some manner, we see that someone has figured out a way to steal at least half of it or more to use in ways never intended by the taxing authorities. One of the biggest thefts has become the federally funded agencies for Medicare or Medicaid.

 

“The administration is also launching a six-month nationwide moratorium on Medicaid enrollments for new hospice and at home care services. Oz said a third of all hospice programs receiving federal assistance in the United States are in Los Angeles.”

“There will be no new hospices,” Oz said. “We’re not taking any services, but there will be no new ones."

Oz said the administration suspended 800 hospices in the Los Angeles area alone. He said those entities charged $1.4 billion to taxpayers.

The administration’s announcement follows months of ramping up enforcement actions for fraud in federally funded programs. In February, the administration halted $259 million in Medicaid funds sent to Minnesota.

“We want to save the American people money, but we're also trying to preserve programs that exist for the benefit of the American people,” Vance said. “We're also trying to make sure that we do this in a way that's defensible.”

Other Big Grabs: AI to the Rescue or AI to Benefit Corporations?

 

“The contribution of AI data centers to higher bills is just one of the ways the development boom is affecting consumers. The facilities also compete for critical resources like water and land, and they can lower air quality and increase traffic, often while benefiting from changes to zoning laws and huge tax breaks.”

 

Recently our city (Wichita Falls, TX) has been interested in a new data center that might provide jobs for our area. It may be just another problem looking for a place to cause trouble in my personal estimation. We suffer from droughts on a regular basis, but has anyone considered how much of a drain a new data center might be on our sources of water? The excess electrical usage in an AI data center causes light pollution that throws off course migrating birds—not to mention the effect on insect populations. Then there are zoning laws that allow great swaths of a city to be populated with more concrete and heat sources. We need shade trees, not concrete.

 

Common sense truly is not all that common any longer. City leaders may buy up property that will benefit everyone—eventually—but having the sense to check out what has happened in other cities of the same size should probably be a requirement before decisions are made that affect the entire city.

 

Recently President Trump had 40 fountains in D.C. cleaned up and revitalized. Some people are still complaining. Then there is the reflective pool that had to be cleaned of tons of garbage\ sewerage. Maybe no one else sees the need to clean up places in our nation’s capital, but it is sad to think that a birthday party for this nation was about to be celebrated from the sewer.

 

Depending upon who we listen to, we have been told today that Iran was about to be hit by the U.S. tomorrow. But the main nations that included Arabia, UAE, and others asked that the strike be delayed. However, our forces have been set to strike when the word is sent—whenever that happens. It may be nerve wracking for the men and women on those ships and bases, but at the same time, we know that the so-called agreements are going to be just so much fertilizer from the sand pits. Let us pray for our troops and for our leaders that good decisions will be made in whatever situations that follow. Only God can be trusted completely. It is OUR job to pray that God’s will be done. We can’t keep all the corruption from happening in our own country; we can’t protect our cities from mismanagement or pollution; we can’t change the attitudes of those who choose to hate—but we can pray for the change of heart that all of us need. Let us pray.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Wobbles.

 Wobbles.

 

Sharon Dickerson, my “sister by another mother” who is not even kin to me, wanted me to ask for prayers for her brother Bill Wing. He was at a gas station and some woman backed into him, knocked him down, and ran over both of his legs. All the people there were screaming at her to stop, but maybe she did not hear. Anyway, he ended up at the hospital, but neither leg was actually broken, just mashed up and looking a bit like hamburger! Simply can’t imagine! This is the sort of thing that makes a person shiver about driving!

 

Got most of the plants put in the herb bed today, but simply started feeling as if my legs were going to collapse so went inside and sat down until things felt more sensible. Maybe tomorrow those things will get planted and watered. At least some mopping was accomplished here in the house. The dogs’ beds were rearranged and the kennel deconstructed and stored in the big closet. That felt like a major accomplishment! Took some things out of the closet that need to be recycled at the Women’s Refuge shop. Eventually, that closet will be much better organized. Have a dress jacket that might fit either Jennifer or Rachel—it was never mine but was left here some years ago. Oh well.

 

Need to buy a new water hose that is long enough and good enough to use out in the front yard. Had Julian haul the stupid white plastic one off the other day, and today decided that the one that needs a new end might work if a person knew how to put the end on correctly. Oh well. You can bet that the grass will start getting brown now just any day. The State Hospital has mowed their grass down to a short stubble. At least if it burns, it won’t have a lot of material to keep the fires burning. But it only takes a good stout breeze to flip a fire across acres of mesquite and brush along with the high weeds. Thankful we have a good fire department.

 

Received a request from the Lakeside City Volunteer Fire Department on a postcard. That seems like a good way to mail something out. Postcards used to be quite a bit less expensive than anything in an envelope. Of course, a postcard has to be printed and set up in something like Publisher if it is going to be in color. Anyway, whoever designed this one did a very good job.

 

Really need to quit for the day and get some rest. Sylvia keeps spreading out all over the floor so that walking around her has become a challenge. Dogs! Really do love these two critters!

 

Let us be reminded how blessed we are by our heavenly father. He takes care of all our needs both big and small. Let us be grateful and be as generous as possible to those who need the same blessings.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.