I've got to love a site that has the following quote at
the top.

Good things, when short, are twice as good.
Tom Stoppard

Farm Update:

We can't find Samantha (Sam). She is the littlest of the
three triplets. Hattie and I divided up the field and
tramped all over it. Later Hattie took Max, Joel's German
Shepherd, to look again. Probably a coyote or bobcat got
her.

A Thunderstorm
by Emily Dickinson

The wind begun to rock the grass
With threatening tunes and low, -
He flung a menace at the earth,
A menace at the sky.

The leaves unhooked themselves from trees
And started all abroad;
The dust did scoop itself like hands
And throw away the road.

The wagons quickened on the streets,
The thunder hurried slow;
The lightning showed a yellow beak,
And then a livid claw.

The birds put up the bars to nests,
The cattle fled to barns;
There came one drop of giant rain,
And then, as if the hands

That held the dams had parted hold,
The waters wrecked the sky,
But overlooked my father's house,
Just quartering a tree.




A Thunderstorm
By Archibald Lampman

A moment the wild swallows like a flight
Of withered gust-caught leaves, serenely high,
Toss in the windrack up the muttering sky.
The leaves hang still. Above the weird twilight,
The hurrying centres of the storm unite
And spreading with huge trunk and rolling fringe,
Each wheeled upon its own tremendous hinge,
Tower darkening on. And now from heaven's height,
With the long roar of elm-trees swept and swayed,
And pelted waters, on the vanished plain
Plunges the blast. Behind the wild white flash
That splits abroad the pealing thunder-crash,
Over bleared fields and gardens disarrayed,
Column on column comes the drenching rain.

Up and Down the Gravel

1. Hattie's goat had triplets. This is the first time she
has had a critter that gave birth. It has been pretty exciting.
Since the mama is a first-timer it is a little unusual for
her to have triplets. And it is more unusual for them all
to survive. So far, though, so good. Hattie (or Kent) is/are
going out twice a day with a bottle to supplement a little
milk for now. Chances are the mama just doesn't have quite
enough this first time around.

2. Joel's goose eggs are due to hatch in a few days. That
should be interesting. I've never been around baby geese.

3. Dad and Mom returned yesterday from another trip to the
Big City for chemo. They are always relieved to be back in
Fern Nook again.

4. G'ma Opal and I had some lovely talk over the weekend. We
talked cookie recipes, cousins, and family history. I was
asking her once again about her Uncle Warren's family. He was
her Dad's brother and lived a ways north through the woods of
where she lived.

It is such a fascinating family to me. They had 10 children...
nine girls and a boy, and out of all those they only got one
grandchild. I've always thought that sad and have wondered
whether it was a genetic issue or if there was some other
emotional thing going on.

We also talked of Ivy Crow, G'ma's neighbor for an eon of years and
how she, when a young woman, would walk to Mayberry, a trek of 11
or so miles, work all day and then walk back home. Of course,
sometimes someone would pick her up on the highway and take her
part of the way, but she couldn't count on that happening.

I think it goes without saying that there's no actor out
there today the least bit like Charlton Heston. If they had
the audacity to remake "Commandments" or "Ben Hur" today,
they'd inevitably have to cast someone with a shorter shadow.
But then the moviemakers would make the part smaller too. In
the 21st Century, we look for heroes who make us feel better
by comparison, not heroes who make us want to be greater than
we are.

From Brandywine Books: You can find the rest of the tribute
to Charlton Heston here.

I did not know that my favorite harbinger of spring, the
peeper, only lived in fishless ponds.

They are a small treefrog and are pinkish, gray or tan with
a dark X on the back.

I just thought you'd like to know.

They are also some of God's great symphony players on spring
nights.

From Prudence is Not a Frequent Google by John Mark Reynolds

This is why there has never been a greater need for the
old virtues, recognized by pagan philosophers and Christian
saints, of moderation, chastity, and charity. Moderation
will not speak when others will speak and so leave a mystery.
Chastity allows for the mystery of what could be and charity
is always a mystery.

Tip of the Bonnet to Challies

From Uncle Weatherman Jim:

My rain total for April to date: 4.7 inches.

April 1st 0.1

April 2nd 0.5

April 3rd 3.8

April 4th 0.3


Year to date 30.15

Jan/08 2.25

Feb/08 5.1

Mar/08 18.1

Apr/08 4.7

That’s a whole bunch of H2O, over 2 ½ feet, the ponds are full. Ducks are looking for cover. I still haven’t found any gopher wood.


Jimmy

There are a lot of images of God floating around in the minds
of people.

Some are looking for a lover. Some are looking for a lap
to crawl up in. Some for a Santa Claus figure who will fulfill
their Christmas list of wants. So, as I was driving to Mayberry
to do the weekly errands yesterday, I thought about just exactly
what is my image of God. More specifically I thought about what
I want from God personally.

There really is only one thing I want. I want Him to BE God.
I am looking for the sovereign, the almighty, the omnipotent,
the ruler, the One Who is in control.

As I meander through the days of my life I want to know that
when I see a beautiful sunrise, He is sovereign. When I stub
my toe on a chair leg, He is almighty. When I am eating a
piece of delicious cake, He is omnipotent. When I have a cold,
He is in control.

LIfe can be big and frightening one moment and lovely and filled
with warm fuzzies the next. Through the rain, the sunshine, the
lazy days on the river, the tense days in the hospital, the
playing of cards around the table, the disappointments in
relationships or circumstances, the sweet fellowship of
friends and family, the flat tires, and the sharing of delicious
meals, thank God that He is there and He is not silent.

He has communicated to us, in His Word, a small part of who He
is.

Psalm 103:19
The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.

And so, today, as I go about the dailyness of life, with all its
ups and down, I will remember that God is in His heaven, and all
is right with the world.

The rains continue, but the fields are devastatingly green.
They are a deep, emerald green. As Kent and I were driving
down (never up) a gravel road yesterday the fields beside
us and off into the distance reminded me of the Old Country.

Not that I have ever lived in (or even visited) the Old Country,
but our friend Letty did. She is in her late seventies and came
to America from Scotland back when she was in her late teens or
early twenties.

Several years ago she was visiting with us here in Fern Nook
and as we were eating she told us that recently she had
attended a Celtic Festival in Arkansas. It was deep into the
fall months and the weather was damp and cold. As she was
browsing about she fell into conversation with a man. He
commented on the nasty weather and Letty said, "Yes, it is
unpleasant. What are we doing here? Isn't this why we left
the Old Country to begin with?"

But certainly the beautiful emerald green fields must make up
for a lot of damp, cold weather.

Up and Down the Gravel:

This comes from the email of the weatherman who lives 1/10th
of a mile to the north of me...and who is my very own uncle.

This is for those that may be wondering just how much
rain I have recorded for the month of March.

TaaaDaaaa! The total is 18.1 inches. The year to date total
is 24.45 inches.

What a difference a year makes! Let’s compare.

March 2007

Ave High 70.7

Ave Low 47.6

Precip. 1.45

March 2008

Ave High 60.2

Ave Low 40.5

Precip 18.1


Last March we had 8 days of 80 and above. This March we had zero 80 degree days.

You think we got our April showers early this year?


Jimmy

Rain and headache. Headache and rain. Rain and headache.
Ad Nauseam.

But that was through the yesterdays. Then came a trip to the
doctor and a shot that broke the headache cycle.

The sun burst out gloriously yesterday. The fields are green,
green, green from all the rain.

This morning at 5:30 there was a newly risen golden sliver of
moon floating above the tree line to the East. This was followed
by a lovely gentle sunrise.

And to top it all off, the Proverbs are such fun to read.

Today as I was reading through the 15th chapter I circled every
verse that had to do with the words we speak. Ouch.

Here is just one:

vs. 4
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life,
But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

I dropped by G'ma's house yesterday afternoon for an hour
or so. She was playing Sol and had already lost, so she was
cheating. She told me she'd played several evenings last
week for 3 or 4 games and lost everyone. Then a day or so
ago she played one game and won and got up from the table
and left...she knows when to fold 'em.

She is tickled pink because she had Uncle Jim pick her up
a new floor lamp in town this past weekend. It is quite bright
and makes it much easier for her to read and do crossword
puzzles.

Saturday night when she went to bed she pulled on her favorite
jammies and the elastic in the pants was totally shot. She
pulled them off and put on another pair, but the next morning
when she woke up she found a piece of good elastic and decided
to mend her jammie pants. The pants were a little short in the
waist and she decided to extend that as well. So she went to
look through her scraps and found the pieces that she had cut
off from the pants when she first bought them. Being a Fleetwood
she has to hem everything she buys. (But who, besides G'ma Opal,
would ever save the cut off part from the bottom of the pants
legs?)

Anyhow, she laid out the two leg bottoms and they didn't quite
make it all the way around the waist, so she added a few inches
of a different material. She used her new lamp to pin it all
together and then her machine cooperated and let her sew everything
together.

She is just as happy as a clam with her mending.

As she said yesterday, "Counting from when I was conceived I am
going on 99 and I can still bathe myself and take care of myself.
And I can fix my own jammies!" Well I admit, I paraphrased a
little, but she said something like that.

The idea of "contextualization" by adjusting Christianity to existing beliefs, values, and traditions was probably the twentieth century's most significant contribution to ministry strategy—and it is not a good one. It has made the church indistinguishable from the world, indistinct in its message, and (frankly) ineffectual as an evangelistic force in an unbelieving culture.

You can find the whole article at Pyromaniacs.

Likewise Mark Dever in the book A God Entranced Vision of all
Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards says:

Conformity to the world in our churches makes our evangelistic
task all the more difficult. As Nigel Lee of Inter-Varisty
once said, "We become so like the unbelievers they have no
questions they want to ask us." May we so live that people
are made constructively curious.

I am a light sleeper. Last night, about an hour after I
went to bed I was awakened by a noise outside my window.
It took me a few seconds to wonder what was making the
noise before I lifted my head and looked out. Though
there was a cloudy sky, enough moonlight shone through
to show me a black plastic bag caught in the eddy that
the wind always makes between the back of the trailer,
the side of the new room, and the side of the furnace
room. The bag was swirling along the concrete pad and
making a raspy noise as it went.

I was hoping I could ignore it and fall asleep, but just
then there was a funny beeping from my dresser. I listened
to the beep two or three times and then went over to
investigate. The cordless phone hadn't been settled tight
in its cradle and the battery was getting low. I settled
it and it became quiet.

I went to bed, but the bag was swirling and rasping and I
knew I'd better just deal with it. So I went out the back
door, collected the bag, and brought it into the house out
of the wind.

Then I lay back down and began to listen to all the other
night noises. I was rather wide awake by this time.

There was the wind itself as it found its way about and around
all the corners and sides of the house. It always makes some
eerie howls in doing so. Then farther away was the whooshing
of the wind through the trees along the big pond at the edge
of the field.

There were the peepers, my little buddies, just peeping away
like mad because it was a warm night.

There was the sound of a vehicle going down the gravel. I tried
to figure out who it was and since it sounded like a motorcycle
being driven slowly I figured it was KM (Fernnookians will know
who I mean.)

There was distant thunder rolling about somewhere. I love distant
thunder. I love close up thunder, too. Both have their merits.

And finally, the sound that was keeping me awake most of all, there
was a gentle snore coming from beside me. Hmmm.

I got up, went into the kitchen and took a melatonin. I lay back
down, carefully poked Kent and asked him to roll over, which he
very obligingly did and then I drifted off to....dreamland.

Up and Down the Gravel

Things have been buzzing up and down the gravel lately.

First, there have been a lot of card games. G'ma Opal and
Dad played Mom and Hattie in High Five a week or so ago.
Mom almost did her famous Shirley Shuffle when she caught
Dad cheating. She and Hattie were vindicated though, and
they won the game.

Derrill and Becky and the girls were down from The Big City
over Easter weekend. Becky played G'ma in several games of
Gin Rummy and G'ma lost every one.

Then for Easter dinner, Gm'a, Jim and Jenny joined us down
at Mom and Dad's for the Big Feast. Stacy and the kids came
to visit after we had eaten. Of course there was a ritual
game of High Five and G'ma lost again! I'm surprised she
is able to sleep at all these days with all those plays she
must be mulling over during the sma' wees.

G'ma has had some other excitement this week as well. She
had a new roof put on her house Saturday. Along with putting
up the roof the workers cut down some trees for her and
they even managed to break a window in the meantime. It
happened during the cutting down of one of the trees. One
of the men was between the house and the tree to brace it
and keep it from falling on the house. He was backed up
against the window and he was pushing so hard against the
tree that his bottom just went through the window.

Things are pretty much back to normal from all the flooding.
We've sent what we had here down into Arkansas as the Current
River flows into the rivers down there.

Tandy really, really wanted to bake Easter cupcakes this year.
She began asking me to help her make them 2 or 3 weeks before
the holiday. Finally on Friday we were able to make them.
We made chocolate cupcakes with green and red dyed coconut
on top. Then we put jelly beans in the red and green coconut
grass.

Life is going to be busy for the next several weeks as Tyler
enters his final ball season during his high school years. It
is a good thing we enjoy watching as much as he enjoys playing.
There is a dark lining to this silver cloud though...it is his
white ball uniform. Actually though, I have gotten to the
place where I really don't care how it turns out anymore. It
has become a hopeless cause and not worth a half hour of
scrubbing after each game. I'll just toss it in the washer
and hang it up to dry.

"The enjoyment of him is our highest happiness, and is
the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.
To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely
better than the most pleasant accommodations here; better
than fathers or mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or
the company of any or all earthly friends. These are but
shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered
beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God
is the fountain. These are but drops; but God is the ocean."

Jonathan Edwards from his sermon "The Christian Pilgrim"

The Mayberry Flood of '08















Our favorite fast food restaurant knocked out of business.















Greenville Ford















The west side of the Current River Bridge














Fred's

If, for those of you who are Mayberry expats or wannabes,
you are wondering just how flooded we are right now,
imagine the restroom/concession stand at the ballpark
standing with just its roof above water and you will have
a good idea.

When the deluge fell, Tyler was cut off from home. He
called from the church and said that he couldn't get home.
Since the church is warm, has facilities and water, and
has food in the kitchen, we thought he might have to camp
out there overnight. Tandy hadn't been able to get home from
the Sheltered Workshop either, and had gone home with her
van driver. He and his wife are good friends of the
family and were more than willing to keep her as long
as needed.

In the early evening on Tuesday, though, the rain slacked
off a tich for an hour or so. It was long enough for the
creeks to ebb a bit and for Dad to take his truck to gather
the lost chickens of Fern Nook so they could be on their
home roost for the night. I'm thinking it would have been
a LONG night for Tyler to have had to sleep on a pew in the
church.

We even had two leaks in our home; we've never had leaks in
our house.

Uncle Jim, official weather keeper that he is, sent me a
report of 10.6 inches. There may have been a wee bit more
than that all told, since that report was slightly before
the clouds started to break up.

I am glad to be one of the hillbillies that live ON the hill
and not at the bottom of it.

Tyler went to check Over The Hill last evening. I wish we
could have seen it Tuesday! It was still incredible though.
He said at one point Little Black Creek was probably 80 feet
across. He could tell how far up the hill the creek has risen
during the night.

I apologize for no pictures. The camera got left in Dad's
truck yesterday. Maybe I can get some before the Sparkling
Jewel (Current River) completely recedes.

Early this morning Tyler needed some plastic eggs to take
to an Easter party he was helping to host for the kids from
the State School. I sent him to the shed to get the box
that stores our Easter baskets, grass, and plastic eggs.

It is times like this that make me covet my neighbor's
basement.

When he brought the box in I told him to watch out for roaches
as they are notorious for running around in the boxes I have
stored in the shed. Little by little I have been able to
either find places to store those boxes in my house, or I
have decided we didn't really need what was in the boxes after
all and they've been eliminated, but the Easter box still
lives in the shed for 51 weeks out of the year.

As we were digging around and counting out plastic eggs for
the kids, Tyler pulled out a ziplock bag with pink grass in
it. This particular bag of grass, of course, is always
destined for Hattie's basket. The boys do not do pink. She
does. Tyler said, as he held the bag aloft, "Look, it is
filled with mouse poison pellets."

Sure 'nuff. It was. Some little mousy has been entering
the bag, which was not quite shut tight, and he has been
storing mouse pellet poison in there. We took the bag out
to the porch and that was when I noticed THEM...the roaches,
dozens of little babies, all crawling around in the bag of
pink grass and supposedly chomping down the mouse poison,
which doesn't seem to hurt roaches AT ALL.

They snuck in when I wasn't looking. Isn't that what happens
to the church? When we are not looking, falsities sneak in
and before we know it they have settled down as though they
are expecting to stay a long time.

I Timothy 4:16
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them,
for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who
hear you.