I really miss having my camera working. Rachel has given me her old one. It needed batteries, and Ben put some in for me today. Hopefully I can post some pictures in near future. I want to post some of the chickens, which have grown so much. Eric has the chicken coop framed, and it is looking really good. The garden is almost completely in. It's taking a while to plant, because I have so much going on and can only work on it a couple of days a week. Today I worked in it, but it was mulching the areas around the fruit bushes. I got my mulch the old-fashioned way - mowing the yard, raking the clippings and hauling them out back. I have used black plastic for mulch for a number of years, and really like it, but I read that black plastic is not good for fruit bushes, so I am putting down a layer of newspaper, then covering them with the grass clippings. It's alot of work, but I like knowing that I am improving the soil and using what I have available in large amounts.

The chickens have almost outgrown the container we've kept them in. Most days we put them out into a small fenced area that Eric made for them. I love to watch chickens as they scratch for bugs. I keep wondering which ones are roosters. I think I may have two - not bad for just guessing in the store. Of course, two roosters are more than I wanted, but at least I do have some layers. I am really proud of the coop Eric is making for me. It's an A-frame, and will be portable (this is a real advantage, so we can move them before they scratch all the grass from a single area). If I remember right, it will have a mesh floor, so their dropping will fall to the ground. Rebekah still has nightmares of cleaning out the chicken coop in Maryland (her job - Jesse got to clean out the goat house - I don't know which was worse - let's just say neither one of them will ever have farm animals for themselves). It's just really going to be nice, and I am very proud of it. I'm proud of my husband for building it for me, and taking the time to make it really nice.

If all goes according to plan, I should have the main garden completely planted and mulched by tomorrow evening. It always gives me such pleasure to do this. After it's done, I just sit an look at it. This year I am experimenting with lasagna gardening in certain sections. I have a small potato patch planted that way, and I have an area that I started last year that will become my herb garden this year. I put down cardboard boxes (or newspaper), then covered it with straw, grass and potting soil. I planted sweet potatoes in it last year, but a rabbit or some such thing ate them before they produced, and I never did anything more with it. After I finish the main garden, I will put concrete blocks around the area, put some more straw and grass clipping in, cover that with newspapers, then garden soil. This will be my permanent herb garden. Speaking of herbs, my echinnacea died again this year. I think it was eaten by aphids while we were down south. I believe it's just a curse. I have seeds, and will start some more. Maybe someday....... I really did have high hopes for this year.

Well, that's it for tonight's update. Tomorrow will be Rebekah's first Mother's Day. I know it will have a different meaning for Kathy too. There are just mother's everywhere, and that's just fine with me.

Ponderings while mowing the yard

We have a large yard. There are many advantages to this, and only a few disadvantages. The main disadvantage comes when it is time to mow it. Even then it's not a huge disadvantage, because we have several in our home who can mow. But sometimes.......

Over the past month the grass grew to great heights. Between the rain, the trip down south, ball games and work schedules, the lawn just kept being put off. This week the day of reckoning came. I mowed some on Tuesday night (missing my son's ball game in order to do it). The front yard grass was so high that I had to set the deck up to mow, knowing that it would take another pass to make it look pretty. Wednesday night was church, and last night ball practice. So today was the day to mow the whole yard to a reasonable height. It took just under three hours, and there are still some areas that need a touch up. But at least it looks like some body cares. Ben has worked at mowing, which is why the whole yard wasn't in the same sorry shape as the front. Eric, who does an admirable job on this, has been working on the chicken coop in his spare time. As a side note, the chicken coop is looking really good. I can't wait until it is done.

I love to mow, because it gives me uninterrupted time to think great thoughts. At least they seem great while I'm out there. Today I was thinking about just what a wonderful gift language is. And equally great is the gift of literacy. I've heard the saying "readers are leaders" for over twenty years, and I've always believed it, though I don't believe I always understood just why it was true. Avid readers have access to all the accumulated knowledge of all the great minds throughout the years. What a wonderful gift!!!! Knowledge does not have to be forgotten with the passing of time, but can be built on and added to by those wise enough to make use of the written word.

I think part of the pain of death is the loss of a shared history that necessarily comes with it. All that a person is, all that he knows, all that he has done is lost if not recorded while there is life. A civilization, I think, cannot excel if there is no way to write down its history, which is nothing more than the collective stories of individuals. The gift of language and literacy is a means for keeping a person alive, even though they are dead, and to preserve a nation wise enough to learn from those who left a written record of the reasons why things were done as they were.

This is just some of what occupied my thoughts while mowing. I am not satisfied with how it sounds now that it is written, but I suppose it's because thoughts always seem more profound while sitting on a riding lawn mower.

A Clarification

I love a good storm - it's true. But not storms that result in lives lost and property destroyed. I cannot fathom what folks in TN. have gone through - often floods can be anticipated and prepared for when the rivers rise in the spring. But this flood could not have been anticipated. I am grieved when I think of the lives lost. I am sorry for people who have lost everything they had. I am sorry for those whose lives will be spent cleaning up the mess for days to come. I am sorry to have made light of such a serious situation.

Stormy weather

It was supposed to storm today.

I've been watching the weather all week, and while the worst is supposed to come tomorrow, we were "promised" a rainy day today. It rained enough this morning to cancel the ball games, but other than that it's just been cloudy, windy and gray. I had worried myself for several days, trying to find time to plant my garden before the rains came. Yesterday I worked in it for several hours and I have the sunburn to prove it. I got almost all the bedding plants in, but waited to plant the seeds. Seeds could be washed away if it does rain as much as promised.

I shouldn't complain. Tornadoes hit hard in Arkansas, and much of the area I grew up in is flooded tonight. West Tennessee got over 12 inches of rain. Parts of the interstate are closed, and a good part of Millington, TN is under water. At last report, five people have drown in the flood waters. I shouldn't complain. But I do love a good storm.

I think my love of storms came from my childhood. I spent many a night huddled in the hall while the tornado sirens wailed and daddy stood on the porch watching. But other times he would take us out into the weather, driving around to see what we could see. Once, when a severe tornado devastated Jonesboro, Ark., we drove over to see the damage. Mom took movies as we drove down street after street looking at the damage. This wasn't just a random trip to see the misery of others; my grandparents lived just outside of the city.

My husband grew up in northwest Pennsylvania. Tornadoes do hit in Pennsylvania, but not with as much regularity as in the southland. His childhood was not spent with the regular ritual of huddling in the hall while the sirens blew, thus he does not share my fondness of a good storm. He will not be the one jumping in the car to see if we can find the funnel cloud - but he will watch the blow-by-blow weather reports as the local stations monitor the weather. He will be quick with the comic remarks, and is fun to ride with while trying to get away from a storm (we have several funny stories about storms and the double wide trailer - but they won't be told tonight). But the truth be told, he is the one with good sense when it comes to storms, and every family ought to have someone with good sense.

So today it was supposed to storm....
The storms will come. We are forecast to have severe storms tomorrow, and could see rainfall amounts up to 10 inches. The creeks will rise, and I will drive around to see them as they rush furiously under the bridges. I will wonder just how many times the creeks can rage like that before the supports are damaged, and my life will follow a pattern that began in childhood. And my children, who have learned from me, will stand on the porch and watch the storm as it rages on its way......

Ramblings upon returning home

We are back from Lillian, AL. We're trying to settle back into the routine that is our life, and yet there is a knowledge that things will never be the same again. We knew these days were coming when we moved to Alabama, but somehow, when we moved it seemed like we still didn't see family as much because what had been a vacation trip suddenly became day trips that could be made anytime. And we all know that what can be done anytime never gets done at all.......

We left Lillian late Sunday night. It just seemed easier to do that than to stay the night, but it made for a long night's drive. Rachel made it to the missionary brunch, and Sara got to talk to the missionary her class supported. Later in the day, Sara had a softball game. Eric is staying home today, and we'll try to catch up on the work that was left undone, and so life goes on.

I know that Eric will face a lot of different emotions in the days to come - I've not walked this path, so I will not know what he's experiencing. It's a path that everyone must walk......

I remember a remark that my dad made when one of his closest friends died - about how all that his friend had been and all he knew was just gone - it couldn't be held onto. That's part of how I feel when I think of Eric's dad - he knew so much, did so much -- and now all that he was and all that he knew is gone from us. I know that we have hope in heaven - but there is a void on earth.

Boast not yourself of tomorrow, for you know not what a day will bring. Life changes suddenly.....

Ed Shaffer

I am in lower Alabama today with Eric's family. Last Wednesday afternoon, Eric's father passed away. It was not totally unexpected, as he had pulmonary fibrosis. We knew his disease was getting worse, but had no idea how close to the end he was. Life is filled with regrets, and I regret not sending Eric down to see his father, even if the rest of us could not go.

Ed was a wonderful man. I never knew a time that when he was not engaged with a project. He built a garage, a boat (?), model airplanes, a real airplane, a teardrop camper, refurbished an older camper, etc. These are only a few of the projects I remember his working on in all the years Eric and I have been married. If he was not involved in a project, his mind was actively planning the next one.

He and Alma were married 56 years. Their marriage could serve as an example to many young couples today. They were truly a team and did most things together. They have four children - their three sons are here now, and their daughter will be in tomorrow. It's fun to see the common bond these men have, and it's more than a little unnerving to catch a glimse of Ed in one of his son's expressions, or to hear his voice when one of them speaks.

For years, we were left to wonder about Ed's spiritual condition. He didn't go to church, and wasn't interested in talking about spiritual matters. But within days of his death, he accepted Christ as his savior. Many have "deathbed" conversions, and I, being the skeptic that I am, am inclined to wonder about the sincerity of such conversions. But not with Ed. If he said he did it, he did. He would never beat around the bush in what he said, and he was a man of integity. I look forward to seeing him again. I almost have to smile when I think of his amusement over seeing us run around like chickens trying to get ready for a sudden trip. It eases the pain to smile at such thoughts.

Any time of significant change is a time for reflection. There is so much to say - and so much to be left unsaid. Just know that I consider myself fortunate to have know such a man and to have married into his family.

Debby's Devotions

Last month a friend helped me start this blog, and I have enjoyed having an outlet for writing. But it seems I want to go in too many directions, and I am afraid it will make things too cluttered. So I have started Debby's Devotions as an outlet for what I have learned in my private bible study. This will give a voice to the deepest lessons learned, and still allow for fun in my "farm and family" blog. Someday I may even add a page for book reviews. But for now I'm just having fun and hope anyone who chooses to follow will have fun along with me. The address is located on my profile page.