Limbo

It feels like nothing's happening. Our Missouri house is finished but we're waiting on paperwork so the construction loan can be converted. And waiting... The renovation cost us a lot more than we'd estimated, so we're rethinking our original plan, which was for me and the four younger children to move out there next month. We think we ought to get the extra debt we went into paid down first before starting to move...

On the other hand, a lot is happening. My oldest son has been taking EMT classes this summer, and right now he's running some errands related to putting in his application for a volunteer position at the local fire and rescue station. This afternoon will be his first day on the job as a bagger (working for tips) at the commissary.

Tomorrow, the kids are going down to the county fair -- their group of volunteers at George Washington's birthplace is putting on a play in the evening. Mike won't be able to go since he has to stay home and milk the goats, but a friend and I are going. I haven't been to a county fair in ages and I'm looking forward to it.

We had a yard sale last weekend, advertised in the local paper and everything, but we had a lousy turnout. We've always done really well at yard sales, but this (along with an unadvertised attempt two weeks earlier) is the first time we've had one since moving here four years ago. I don't think it'll be worth it to try again. We were trying to get rid of stuff preparatory to moving, plus make a little money. Usually we just drop stuff off at the local charity thrift store. We have a few items that the thrift store won't take, like a bed, so I guess we'll try Craigslist or something like that. I'd hate to have to take it to the dump.

And of course, there's painting and repairs that we need to do to get the house ready to go on the market in the spring.

So I have plenty of regular, daily work to be doing, but I don't like not knowing for sure what our longer-range goals are. I have a hard time staying on task when I don't have a clear goal and timeline before me. So far, all of our deadlines have been receding, which makes it feel like we're not accomplishing our goals, but when I compare where we are today with where we were this time last, we really have made progress... just a whole lot slower than we originally thought.

All this slowness and waiting gives us plenty of time to second-guess ourselves, too. We keep wondering if we're really making the right decisions. We know that in the end God works all things together for good, but it sure would be comfortable if we had some way of knowing that what we're doing now, today, is Good in itself -- is pleasing to the Lord -- and not just stupid mistakes that he'll eventually make good in spite of us.

Eldorado

by Edgar Allan Poe

Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old —
This knight so bold —
And o’er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow —
“Shadow,” said he,
“Where can it be —
This land of Eldorado?”

“Over the mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,”
The shade replied —
“If you seek for Eldorado!”

Good news!

I just discovered (tipped off by a commenter at Cindy's blog) that all my blog posts from the WordPress blog are still available. I subscribed to them myself via Google Reader so I could figure out how the thing worked before I started subscribing to other people's blogs.

Of course, the comments are lost, and I'm sorry for that -- the conversation is the fun part of blogging -- but I'll be reposting the worthwhile ones here, under their original dates, as time allows.

Not every "environmentalist" is a wacko

It's been a while since I mentioned this, but when we moved out here four years ago our area hadn't had enough rain in a couple of years. The people we bought our house from told us to be careful about watering gardens because we have a shallow well (it's about 40' deep and also known as a surface well, as opposed to a deep well -- the kind that's hundreds of feet deep and goes into the underground water in the bedrock).

When a contractor started putting up two houses close to ours a few months later, a visiting neighbor and longtime resident of this area said that he was worried about how many people were moving out to our county and drilling deep wells. He said that the water table was dropping and he was concerned about there simply not being enough. I thought it was a bit of an overreaction.

Then, a year later, our well went dry.

The next day, the level had come back up enough to reach the pump, but we instituted emergency rationing of water.

We also bought a truck load of water from a company in a nearby town, which resold city water they bought from various municipalities in our area. I've forgotten how much it was now -- something like 300 gallons for several cents a gallon. It filled our well, and it's never gone dry again for which I'm very thankful because the drought has gotten so bad that the cities here quit selling water a month or two after we bought.

It's been raining a lot this year -- almost back to normal as the natives tell us, but I've only let up a little on the water-rationing.

We never watered our grass, but since the well went dry we no longer water our gardens from the hose. Instead we use old water from the animals' drinking buckets and grey water from the house. We don't let the water run at the sink while brushing teeth or washing hands. We scrape plates into the chickens' scrap bucket instead of rinsing the dishes. We take quick showers (or "military" showers where you get wet, turn off the water, soap up, turn on the water and rinse). And guess what -- we don't flush the toilets after every use.

I've gotten so much in the habit of not wasting water that it freaks me out when I see people running the kitchen faucet full-blast while they slowly rinse dishes... one at a time... and place them... slowly... one by one... into... the... dishwasher...

And it saddens me to read about people wasting water on purpose just to spite the enviro-wackos, as the first commenter under in this post says he did.

People, clean water is a precious thing and not to be taken for granted.

Lamentations 3

22 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness.

24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul;
therefore will I hope in him.

25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him,
to the soul that seeketh him.

26 It is good that a man should both hope
and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

27 It is good for a man
that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence,
because he hath borne it upon him.

29 He putteth his mouth in the dust;
if so be there may be hope.

30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him:
he is filled full with reproach.

31 For the LORD will not cast off for ever:

32 But though he cause grief,
yet will he have compassion
according to the multitude of his mercies.

33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

blog worries

I'm getting ready to update my blogger template -- I never have before because I prefer doing things in HTML and I'm a little worried that if I get the "new and improved" template it'll make things worse for me, but I can't figure out what else to do. Blogger's comments have never worked for me (there's some conflict with my code) and I'm trying to get Disqus comments instead, since I already have an account with them, but trying to figure out where to put the code is taking too much time -- I can't simply replace the old Sensus Plenior code for some reason. It makes the comment box and all the comments show up under each post on the main page.

Well, here goes nothin!

Thankful Thursday

[Reposted from badgermum.cumbeeclan.com]

As I've mentioned, summer is my least favorite season, but there are lots of lovely things to be thankful for.

lightening bugs
magnolia blossoms, fully a foot across
the smell of freshly cut grass
being able to use the clothesline
home-grown tomatoes
watermelon, home grown or not
homemade ice cream
the Perseids
mockingbird songs morning and evening
crickets, cicadas, and all the other singing bugs
newly hatched guineas
thunderstorms

Monday evening as the sun was setting, we stood admiring the pink-gold clouds to the west of the house when a rainbow came out in the east. While we were admiring it, it started raining. We had sunset clouds, sunset rain, and a rainbow all at once. I've never seen anything like it -- the rain took on the clouds' pinkish gold color and the air was filled with a golden light and our roof looked like it was shingled in gold. No lightening, so we even got to run around in it.

What are you thankful for?

Trinity season

On the Church calendar, Trinity season is that long stretch of nothing after Easter/Ascension/Pentecost and before Advent/Christmas/Epiphany seasons. It covers the dog days of summer, which we’re just coming into. That’s a classical reference — it has something to do with Sirius, the dog star, but I always thought it was because you spend your days dragging around, panting like a dog.

Summer is my least favorite of all the seasons, even though I love the home-grown tomatoes, because I dislike being hot and sticky in spite of air conditioning. Someone should invent a set of personal gills for use in the South in summer — maybe the heat would be bearable if I could just get a lungful of oxygen.

I love the spring and we took off nearly the whole two months from Easter to Trinity, so we could be outside doing yardwork, gardening, and just enjoying life. But Trinity arrived, reminding me that we have all kinds of work to do as we wait for Christ’s return. The last Sunday before Advent is Christ the King, when we remember that he really will come again, and we are to be busy about his work until then.

So we went back to school on the Monday after Trinity. No summer break for us this year, which works out well since my mom and stepdad won’t be able to come out here or take the kids home with them for visits this summer as they usually do. We can have a twelve week term and then take off the month of September (my other favorite time to be out of school), when my folks will be free to visit.

I don’t know if we’ll do this again in future years, but for this year, so far it’s working out well.

"Responsible, contributing citizens"

Yesterday the newsletter from our local government school district came in the mail (addressed to “Postal Patron,” so I suppose everyone gets one: your tax dollars at work), and the first thing I noticed before opening it was the mission statement:

The mission of __________ County Schools is to engage all students in meaningful learning experiences in order for them to become responsible, contributing citizens and life-long learners.

Sounds fine, but what do they mean by that?

The first article is about a certain brand of video camera and its use in the classroom. The article details kids using it to record their presentations in English and Spanish classes (biographies presented in character, and creating advertisements for English; a fashion show for Spanish) as well as an art teacher creating a movie of her students’ artwork which she’ll post on her website so the students can share it with their parents.

The article is summarized thusly: “The [brand name] video camera has proven to be an invaluable tool for education. Many of our students at [the middle school] say they will ask their parents to purchase one for them.”

Class, what have we learned today?

A Responsible Citizen is a consumer!

Recipe: Creamy Spinach

We had this last week from the spinach Valerie M. brought me from her garden when she came for a visit last Sunday. It’s my favorite way to eat spinach — I could eat it all day long!

Fresh spinach
butter
prepared horseradish*
cream or half and half
salt
pepper

Wash the spinach leaves and place in a large covered pot. If you’re using prewashed leaves, you’ll need to rinse them so they’ll be moist. Place the pot over a medium flame and heat until simmering; reduce heat and cook just until wilted. Drain the water; press the leaves with the back of a spoon in order to squeeze out any more liquid, and drain that, too. Add the rest of the ingredients and transfer to a heated serving bowl.

Spinach is high in oxalic acid which can irritate the linings of your mouth and stomach and prevents the absorption of calcium, so if you shouldn’t eat it raw often, but cooking neutralizes it. Don’t skimp on the butter and cream, and don’t use vegetable oil-based substitutes. Spinach is high in carotnoids from which your body makes Vitamin A, but it can only do that if you have animal fat along with the carotenoids.

*Note that “prepared horseradish” isn’t the same thing as the creamy horseradish sauce that looks like mayonnaise and goes on a rueben.