FACES OF FALL PART 2

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today." Matthew 6:34

This was the bible reading in Monday's Upper Room. I am great about worrying about tomorrow and therefore the reading was a good one for me. I realize that this is Thursday but I did not have any more "color" pictures until now. I am trying to use my pocket camera again but it is taking very blurred pictures and I don't know quite how to correct it. I will have to read the directions again I guess. I did play golf yesterday (temp - 71) and it was nice. I played with a terrible headache and could not swing fully and therefore played like a goat but the fresh air and companionship was great. Here are two pictures from my yard. I thought that it was cool to have one beautiful rose blooming.

FACES OF FALL PART 1

Today is actually a nice day with sunshine so I will be out taking some pictures of glorious colored trees. However here are several pictures - one from September and one from the Pennsylvania mountains on our way home last weekend. On a personal note, I have very weird dreams. Some are just bizarre but others are outright scary. This morning I was telling John about last night's dream. He just looked at me and said that listening to my dreams was sort of like listening to a Steven King mini short story!! He did say that it is no wonder I wake up tired.

GRANDPARENTS DAY

Before we left for Baltimore and the wedding, we were down at school for Grandparent Day for the 3rd graders. We drove the 2 1/2 hours for a 45 minute lunch/book fair/and recess. I am very glad that I am not a parent with small ones. The playground was organized chaos and the boys played football and their pants ended up dirty and wet from falling on the ground. They had to spend the rest of the day in those pants. We did not come back that day but rather stayed the night so we could spent time with our granddaughter. She and I had fun. We left after we dropped her off at school. It is already becoming hard to find the time when we can see them. Now that they are in school it becomes a scheduling nightmare. Oh well, I grab whatever time I can get just to be with them (and my son and daughter-in-law and of course my granddog). No pictures though. I did not take my camera. I figured that they would like the break from me constantly taking their pictures.

BALTIMORE

Have wedding? Will travel! This past weekend, we were in Baltimore Maryland for a wedding. The last child of a group of 5 couples was married on Saturday. He is one of the oldest of the children but waited for the right person and he achieved his goal 100%. The woman he married is wonderful. She has a great personality and apparently a good heart. One of the dances spotlighted during the reception was with her uncle. They have a special bond since apparently she donated a kidney to him. That takes a very special type of person. The weather was great for the wedding although a bit dicey earlier in the day. The wedding was outside and when the ring bearer came down the "aisle" he was carrying a sign that said "Run, Uncle Rob"!!. I am not sure he understood the sign and might have been puzzled by all the laughter. It was a civil ceremony and the vows were unique. We were included in both the rehearsal dinner and of course the reception. The food was great especially the appetizers. Four of us are from this area and one couple is from the east coast. We had not seen them in several years and the two of us were in a different hotel and therefore spent a lot of time together and it was great. We try to get together about once a year or no more than every 1 1/2 years but it had been awhile. We are going to try to see them in the spring. It is nice to be with people that you have known for a long time (in this case about 30 years). A lot of catching up and sharing stories about grandkids.

1 Corinthians 15:55

"O death, where is thy victory? O death where is thy sting?"

It has been an odd sort of week. I read about the 23 year old Miami University graduate who passed away from pneumonia as probably a result of swine flu. Upon further investigation, I did found out that she did not seek treatment until she was very very ill. I state that part only because the whole H1N1 (swine flu) thing scares me. It attacks those who are not supposed to leave this world first. My grandfather died from the flu during the 1918 flu epidemic. My grandmother died two years later leaving my father (a 4 year old) without parents. On Wednesday I heard that a former friend (the former part is complicated) died from a massive stroke. I did hear last night that as long as a month and half ago he had exhibited a slurring of words so maybe this could have been prevented. He was 63 years old. Last night my daughter-in-law told me that an eight year old boy on the football team lost his mother Tuesday night. She did have a disease and right now there is not a cause of death but when the boy and his father returned from football practice they found that their wife and mother was dead. My heart hurts for that little boy. The weather has turned. Wednesday we froze playing in the 9 hole closing golf scramble and today it is very rainy and as such also very cold. The whole ugly weather thing coupled with very troubling news this week has definetly dampened my spirits. On a brighter note, a good friend had a hip replacement this past Monday and is doing very well. So there is some good news out there. I hope that everyone reading this can offer a prayer for the family of the 23 year old, that little boy who lost his mother, the family of the stroke victim and pray for continued recovery for the friend with the new hip. We all need all the help we can get.