First Thursday In May: National Day Of Prayer

Because of the faith of many of our founding fathers, public prayer and national days of prayer have a long-standing and significant history in American tradition. The Supreme Court affirmed the right of state legislatures to open their sessions with prayer in Marsh vs. Chambers (1983).

The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President Lincoln's proclamation of a day of "humiliation, fasting, and prayer" in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual, national day of prayer. In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May. Each year, the president signs a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year, all 50 state governors plus the governors of several U.S. territories signed similar proclamations.

This Thursday remember to pray for our country, Israel, and our families.

On Cherry Street And The Pet Rat

Yesterday my husband and I met our daughter for breakfast. We had a fun day! We spent the morning looking at new plants at this large nursery. As we got ready to part, my daughter gave me a book, that I had given her many years ago. It was a very old book, that meant so much to me. She and I read it together when she was young:) It was an old reader from school, that I had read as a child..."On Cherry Street". Today it's probably an antique! I looked in it last night, and saw all the scribblings on the pages, and wondered if she had drawn them. Back then I would have probably scolded her for writing in a book, but now they are treasures! How I love each and every scribble in this book. They mean far more to me than any riches in the world!

I remember back to the days when she was little, how I miss those days! She was always climbing trees, pitching balls, playing on the swing set with the neighborhood kids, and making friends with every stray animal that came into our yard! That's how we got Garfield, our cat...when she was only about 6 or so. She and her Dad were in the back yard cleaning fish. When they saw a small black kitten crying with hunger at the smell of the fish. My husband, who doesn't like cats, even felt sorry for this one. Someone had dunked the little thing in tar. We wondered how anyone could do that to a kitten. It took weeks to slowly pull the tar off of him. He was so small. When we were done getting all the tar off, we were surprised to see a beautiful white kitten...with gorgeous markings! She loved that cat from day one!

She also gave me something else yesterday. A package with a gummy pet rat! I had bought her the same kind when she was a child....and they are very hard to find. I didn't know they still made them! Way back when, for some reason we got into an argument over something. To this day, I don't remember what it was about! I was out shopping one day, and saw this large gummy rat. She loved that kind of candy, plus she had gerbils...so I knew she would like it. I took it to her, as a peace offering. As soon as she saw it, she laughed. A few years later I was cleaning out her closet. I found a fuzzy, sticky long thing...in a pocket of her coat. I looked at it closely, and it was the the pet rat! I asked her about it later, and she said she wanted to save it:) It meant something special to both of us, and so she hadn't ate it. But unwrapped it and carried it in her coat pocket.

I will treasure the book, and gummy rat that she gave me yesterday! I will not unwrap my rat though! They don't do well in the air without a wrapper! I put the book and rat on my pie safe, and there they will stay forever! Wrapped in many fond memories and love of my daughter:)
Love you honey!

Blue Water

One of my daughter's mother in law went to the Caribbean last summer. I meant to put these pictures on last year! Just came across them today. I'm just a "tad" bit slow, I know! I love under water pictures! It looks surreal, doesn't it? The colors are so vivid. They must have bought an under water camera. They took these when they went diving. I do LOVE these pictures. But this is as close I get to the water! I can't swim! A few years back I went with my husband in a boat, while he fished. I read a book, and just loved it! It was so peaceful:) When the day was done, he rowed back. As we began to dock the boat, I took my life jacket off. I stood up to grab hold of the dock, to pull the boat closer. As I did, I lost my balance and fell. I THOUGHT that by the docks the water would be shallow water. THOUGHT WRONG! I now know why there is no swimming allowed there. I went down, and it seemed like forever! I never touched the bottom at all. For some reason, even though my mouth was shut, water was running down my throat. Is that how people drown? It goes through your nose? Anyway, the farther down I went, I could no longer see the light. There was sea weed everywhere. Luckily when I came back up, my husband was able to grab my hand. I don't think I could have come back up a second time, due to all the water I had swallowed.. I stayed next to the boat for a long time, before trying to get back in....because I was having a hard time breathing. We later found out by one of the people that work at this park, that it is over 30 feet deep there! My husband just asked me this week, if I wanted to go fishing with him again. Can you guess my answer? :)

To Mow Or Not To Mow, That Is The Question!

Spring is upon us! We haven't been able to mow yet, due to the wet grounds. So the grass is getting very long! I have been picking up sticks off and on all week. Digging around sidewalks and bushes. Today I was inspecting the grounds, to see if possibly I could mow today. Most is still too wet. Some looked as if it could be mowed. While looking at the grass, I picked up more sticks. I was just about to head for another LONG branch laying in the tall grass...when all of a sudden it MOVED!!!!!!!!! It was a snake! It was about 2-3 feet long. I stood still, and to my amazement didn't scream. I slowly backed up, and went away. This is why I don't like the grass to get long here! I want to SEE what's ahead of me! Not sure I will mow the dry parts, may leave it for my husband to do! *sigh* 

Or I may anyway...I do love to mow! Why should I let a little snake scare me? I think I will mow with the tractor instead:)