The 21st Century

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century.  I have a computer and a cell phone but I’m not on Facebook or Instagram, or Twitter . In fact, I’m not sure what Instagram is and I have no idea, nor inclination to learn, how to Tweet. I haven’t watched a TV show in years because my TV has a tube and is analog (we keep it around so we can watch an occasional DVD).  I’ve happily washed dishes by hand for many months because our dishwasher broke.  During the summer I hang the wash outside to dry, not because the dryer broke but to save some money.  And more so, along with washing dishes, I like doing something, being a part of the job, not just turning the machine on or off.  I believe building a fire in the wood stove is an accomplishment to be enjoyed, an accomplishment that turning on the furnace doesn’t afford.

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century. Then I come back to my senses and am ever so thankful for indoor plumbing, and air conditioning on hot, hot summer days, and cars with heaters that get me to and from wherever it is I am going, and Google, that helps me instantly look up the author of a book I’ve heard about, and my cell phone that lets me text a note to a friend or make a call home, from anywhere.

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century.  But if I was, I’m thankful.

Full of Thanks

My grandbaby is coming for Thanksgiving.  And he’s bringing his parents.

Our road is, again, flooded.  But my house isn’t!

It was 60 degrees today. Perfect for a walk down the road to check the flooding.  There’s quite a river there, where there shouldn’t be a river.

I didn’t get up til 7:00 this morning, ‘cuz I had the day off.

I’m on page 471 of the 625 page book, Personal History by Katherine Graham. (An interesting woman with an interesting life.  But I’m glad she didn’t live to 100.  It’s taken me a couple of weeks to get to page 471 and she’s only 60-some years old.)

My grandbaby is coming for Thanksgiving.

I’ve whittled my pile of papers down to a reasonable height.

My pantry is organized and full.

My refrigerator is clean and full.

My laundry room is clean. And not full of laundry.

Did I tell you my grandbaby is coming for Thanksgiving?

So much to be thankful for.

Blessings!  

Water Falls

I was closing the front door behind me to go for my morning walk yesterday when I heard an odd sound from near the pump house. It was early and still dark. The sound wasn’t an animal sound and it wasn’t the wind and it wasn’t cars or the neighbors, of which we have few and they are not close by. I didn’t know what it was but I was pretty sure that I shouldn’t be hearing it at this hour of the morning.   I shone my flashlight on the pump house.  It was just dark like a pump house in the dark of the morning.

So I walked down to the pump house as I do each morning and pushed open the door to get in and get some food for the chicken and take out the chicken’s water that is stored in the pump house on very cold nights, to keep the water from freezing.  As I stepped in I heard the sound that I should not be hearing at this hour, or at any hour, in my pump house. It was the sound of water falling inside my pump house.

Water was shooting out of a hole in our filtration system and landing under our pump. So I frantically called hubby who was on his way to work.  We established that this was not good and that–after I bailed a couple of buckets of water out of the filtration tank so it was no longer spilling out of the hole–I should turn off the breakers and head to work.  Hubby came home a couple of hours early.  Apparently one of the pipes had frozen, backing up the filtration system so it was overflowing in the pump house.  Hubby got it thawed out and cleaned up and we’re back in business.

Water not pouring inside my pump house, but pumping through the pipes into my house, is a glorious thing.

 

What I’ve Learned From My Grandbaby

My grandbaby is almost 5 months old.  And in these 5 brief months he has taught me several things:

For instance, when you are hungry, you are hungry.  No one else can feel your hunger so let ’em know. Now.  Loudly.

Likewise, when you are sleepy, you are sleepy.  No matter that company has come to see you or that you are in church.  When it’s time to sleep, sleep you should.  Snoring may even be included.

And when bodily functions call, well, you answer.  No apologies;  it’s life, get over it.

On the other hand, those may not be the best things to emulate.  But there is one gesture that we  could all copy.  Smiling

Smile because you see new and pretty things like shiny lights and puppies.  Smile because you had a happy thought. Smile at people and brighten their day.  Smile because so much of life is good.  Smile because God loves you.

Just do it.

 

(Me with my daughter, mother of my grandbaby.  Smiling)