Her Father’s Homestead

I spent two hours yesterday with an amazing young woman whom I’ve come to know and love.  She’s smart, funny, musical, bilingual, beautiful and though she’s young enough to be my daughter, I call her Friend.   As I’ve told her parents over the years, she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  And in a few days her life takes a new turn as she heads to Europe. I’ll miss her, became teary-eyed during our goodbye hugs; I am so very proud to know her and so privileged to be part of her life.

We shared a sandwich, talked and talked and talked some more - about the world in which we live, goals and dreams, family, mutual friends, politics, you name it; we covered a lot of ground as we always do.   Thankfully we have the Internet and she’ll be blogging, so I can track her experiences. And I am certain that she will absolutely thrive and return to us an even more beautiful person than she is today.

We share important characteristics - our faith and the fact that we are both pastor’s daughters - for starters.  While we have a fair amount in common,  as women of different generations - very different life experiences.  It is so inspiring and encouraging to observe her moving confidently into a world substantially different than what was available to me 30+ years ago.  And she’s made wise choices.

As I think of her now and reflect on our time together, I’m hopeful.  The future is bright with young women such as my friend - women who’ll be the mothers and wives and leaders of tomorrow.  So as she goes off to foreign lands to live and learn and grow, I pray she soars like the Biblical eagle lifted high on the wings of the Lord.

Travel well- Godspeed.  And I say with love, Bon voyage, my friend!

How’s that for a post-Thanksgiving title?  Literally, though, I awoke to the unpleasant surprise that an animal had not only gone after my trash, but pried the cover off, despite the bungee cord attaching it to the can and to the porch railing, tipped it over, ripped open the bag and spread the contents all around.    And while this occurred in the night, I didn’t hear a bark or growl from either of my ferocious guard dogs, not even Shadow, who sleeps in the back porch with the mission of guarding the back entrance.  Makes me wonder …

So dressed for the “wintry mix” that was falling, I picked up the trash I had thrown away over the last week and a half.  The bag didn’t get to the road on Wednesday because I missed the deadline.  Yes, folks, where I live if the trash isn’t up to the road by 6 a.m. on pickup day, at noon, the pickup guys slap a big orange sticker on it and leave without it.  I have yet to figure out how they know if it’s out there by 6:00.  Does our county pay someone to drive around and take notes?  Photos maybe, and then relay that information to the pickup guys? I don’t get it.  Sounds like one of those “rules for the sake of rules” things to me.

At 6:00 a.m. Wednesday morning I was working at my computer and apparently not thinking about trash.  Thus there was a bag in the trash can just waiting for whatever animal strolled in overnight.  Possum, coon, feral cats?  Who knows?  Seeing as Shadow the ferocious guard dog didn’t sound an alarm, I didn’t see the intruder(s).

The point?  In this greatest nation on the planet, we sure throw away a lot of stuff.  With Thanksgiving and Black Friday dominating the news, we’re seeing evidence of plenty and the grab for more.  I know “commerce makes the world go round”, am involved in it myself as both buyer and seller.  But the magnitude bothers me.  With all we have are we a thankful nation, instilling the value of appreciation and thankfulness in our children?  Hard to tell.

Just looking at my trash says I am, no doubt, a consumer, minimal compared to those with children at home, perhaps, but still, I was out there this morning, picking up trash.  And it gave me lots to think about.

How about you?  If someone rifled through your trash, what would they learn about you?  And if some animal spread it all over your front yard, would you be out there fast, before anyone could see?  Pickin’ up the trash - food for thought ….

Another week has flown by.  The weekend with old friends is already a week in the past and  the first week of a new adventure is now history!  As my Meghan would say, “Holy cats!!”

The four days up north were wonderful.  Good friends, lots of laughs, fun in the sun and GREAT food.  We do know how to eat very well - as in good for you and just plain good.

I came home and started school.  You bet, after over 30 years I’ve returned to school - college  - online no less.  Last time I went off to college with an electric typewriter and that was high tech.  This time I’m not even physically going anywhere thanks to the Internet.  It’s been a fantastic, fun, challenging and funny week.  I’ve written two essays, taken four quizzes and one exam. Had to e-mail professors with numerous questions, mostly tech-related and then negotiated my way through a Help Desk and “met” all kinds of new classmates from all walks of life.  All without ever seeing a human being and often in the comfort of my jammies

Moving into Week Two and my first major paper.  I have much of it in my head, but getting it into a Word document, properly formatted, now that will take time out of each of the next several days.   So true to the title, this is short and sweet because at 1:30  a.m. I do need to get some sleep.  Bonne nuit….