Bookworm Room posts this video of the Great Chinese State
Circus performing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

Make sure to watch the whole thing. It is incredible!

A Political Commentary for Today from Plutarch's Lives
Vol. I...

"For a ruler's first aim is to maintain his office which
is done no less by avoiding what is unfit than by
observing what is suitable."

Up and Down the Gravel:

1. Uncle Jim took G'ma Opal to the Cape to visit a cardiologist.
They had quite an adventure. Jim decided it would be best to
go the night before and stay in a motel. We all agreed. G'ma
has a harder time in the mornings. But I think they both missed
their own beds a lot.

The end result of the trip is that G'ma decided not to do anything,
at least not now. The results would be iffy even if the procedure
were successful. She toddles around pretty good yet and at this
point the status quo is a good option.

Since yesterday was a gorgeous day, she was just absolutely crazy
about getting out and planting something, ANYTHING, in the ground.

Dad went to town and bought her some manure and took some wood
down and built a largish box to put the manure in. Then she
got to work planting onions. It was a glorious day for the
General.

3. G'ma and I had a disagreement about time zones and, though
I truly hate to admit it, the General was correct.

3. Dad took Mom to The Big City for her chemo treatment and this
time her white counts were high enough for her to get it. She
had to get a white blood shot as well and that has her feeling
all over achy.

4. Joel and Hattie had quite an adventure with the bull the other
day. Everyone else was gone and Hattie was trying to get Max
away from the bull. When she did she accidentally left the gate
open. It took them about 2 hours to get the bull back to his
own field.

5. The last two weeks have been strewn with breakages and spills.
First the breakages. My niece Kinsey hit her elbow to some glass
bowls I had sitting in my parent's living room. Inside the bowls
I had set a glass syrup container. The bowls survived the hit,
but the syrup container didn't. A few days later, Kent and Hattie
were playing ball in the living room and the ball hit a picture
of the Gonzalez family, it fell over and the glass in the frame
broke. Then Joel borrowed my nutgrinder to crunch up dog food for
the ducks. Apparently nutgrinders are not made to crunch up dog
food. Finally, a few days ago I was boiling eggs for tuna salad
and I asked Hattie to set the timer on the microwave. She totally
by accident just started the microwave and it ran for 8 or so
minutes with nothing in it and then conked out.

The spills started with the same ball game that broke the picture
glass and a glass of cranberry juice was spilled on some tax
papers. They weren't that important, so no big deal though. Then
Hattie spilled a large glass of water in the new room when she
was painting. Easily sopped up. On Sunday, one of my two year
olds spilled a glass of water during snack time. Oh well! And
then yesterday a glass of water was spilled during lunch time and
ran down onto the floor.

All these things keep life fun and interesting. They also serve
as a continued reminder that the things of this life are to be
held onto very lightly. What is a spilled glass of water or a
microwave in the light of an eternity to be spent with our
Almighty God?

6. Kent says we will probably have a calf today. That would be
fun. Maybe. As long as the birth is easy. We've had some
doosies in the past.

7. Joel says he has to get a chicken/duck house built NOW. It
just goes to prove what Kent and I know by experience. If you
want to have a fence, get a cow. You'll put up a fence as soon
as you quit chasing the cow all over the neighborhood one time.
Just so, if you want to have a chicken coop, buy some chicks.

The coop will be built. Trust me.

From "The Digital Age--A New Dark Age?: A Look At How
Christianity Can Speak To Those Lost In A Storm of Information"

Complicating such a view is the fact that we are now living
in what is now being called by some thinkers a "post-literate"
society. Many, especially in the West, are technically literate,
that is, they technically can read, but are functionally
illiterate, or, they choose not to read or they can only
read in a simple way or understand literal meanings. Some
champions of the new media forms do not see this as a
negative and embrace new forms of communication. But one
only needs to read Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death
to understand the dangerous implications of a media-driven
epistemology. And Postman was writing even before the advent
of the internet and other such technologies. It will take
decades to fully understand the results of a shift away
from a fluent, text-based literacy to a "computer" literacy,
but so far, the studies in education and psychology have
not been positive. In short, our advanced technology has
left us dumbed down and numbed, unable to think critically
or in a sophisticated manner.

For the rest of the article go to The Resurgance

Tip of the Bonnet to Challies

"...I picture historic Christianity as a broad river whose
main stream flows along a central channel while eddies,
stagnant pools, backwaters, and expanses of mud abound
along its banks. Then I cite the teachings of such men
as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Owen, and Warfield, and Edwards
with them, as so many buoys marking out the central channel
for all who are concerned to be found in it."

From the essay "The Glory of God and the Reviving of Religion"
by J.I. Packer which is found in A God Entranced Vision of
all Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards by John Piper and
Justin Taylor.

The birds are this year's key to a Fernnook Spring.

Of course, there are the ducks and chicks that Joel
has (BTW one of the fat ones that will eventually
ask to be eaten bit the dust). Chicks can be
tricksy like that...as I well know.

There are the chubby and cheerful robins that are spread
hopping all over the front yard.

There are the many smaller birds that are busily building
their nests in the bushes in front of our home. Hattie
worried yesterday because one of them is in the midst
of thorns. That seemed rather painful to her, but I
explained that the thorns were really a protection for
the little bird family.

On Saturday Kent and the kids were playing basketball
outside when Tyler came running in to get his binoculars.
They called me out to see the bald eagle that was
swooping to the east. Tyler got some pictures with
his binoculars, but the eagle was too far away to get
any that were clear. I think that is the first time
I have seen an eagle in a natural setting.

On Sunday I was puttering in the house when I heard a
raucously loud noise outside. Thinking it was a gaggle
of geese flying over, I ran out to see. No geese. Rather,
the noise was made by a large flock of (ugh) starlings
across the gravel in an overgrown field. They were perching
by the hundreds in a brushy group of trees. Suddenly,
on my left, not more than 20 feet away, a hawk, flying
like a bullet, shot past. He was calling out his high
pitched eee eee eee battle cry. Unfortunately I was not
able to see what happened when he reached the starling
flock. Hopefully he got himself a good dinner.

I guess we'd better think about getting the hummingbird
feeders out and cleaned up, though we still have a little
time before they arrive.

Oh, lovely, lovely, lovely spring. It is such a beautiful
reminder of the hope God has laid before us for eternal life.

Just For Fun...I have to admit this was my second time
to try it.

58

In the wee hours of Friday morning, somewhere around
2 a.m., I was out putting wood in the fire. It was
cold and it was snowing, and it was mostly silent, but
one brave little peeper was peepering. The calendar
(my Missouri Conservation calendar) says that mid-March
is the time that peeper calling is at its peak. That
means there must be some building up to the peak time,
and the peepers have just not had much build up time
this year. But, I guess, that little fella is going
by what is real and not by his miniscule feelings. It
is time to peep and he is going to peep no matter what
circumstances are surrounding him.

Often, and often again, we need to respond to God in the
same way the little peeper is responding to the onset of
spring. We may not feel so blessed...yet God is faithful
to His own.

Jonathan Edward's daughter, Ester, lost her husband Aaron
Burr and in just a short time her infant son, Aaron Jr.
was deathly ill. She wrote to her father to tell him that
even in the midst of her grief God was sustaining her, and
his response showed her the way to deeper trust.

"Indeed, he is a faithful God; he will remember his covenant
forever; and never will fail them that trust in him. But
don't be surprised, or think some strange thing has happened
to you, if after this light, clouds of darkness should return.
Perpetual sunshine is not usual in this world, even to God's
true saints. But I hope, if God should hide his face in some
respect, even this will be a faithfulness to you, to purify
you, and fit you for further and better light." (Letter
written November 20, 1757)

My friend keeps peeping because he knows it is time to
peep. Even so we trust because we know it is time to trust.

On the Book Pile:

Kent- Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
Culture Shift by R. Albert Mohler Jr.
The Truth War by John MacArthur

Laurie-The Church & the Age of Reason 1648-1789
by Gerald R. Cragg
A God Entranced Vision of All Things:
The Legacy of Jonathan Edward by John Piper
and Justin Taylor
Plutarch's Lives Vol. I

Joel-The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria Von Trapp

Billy-A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
by Mark Twain
Anne of Windy Poplars by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Tyler-Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Charles Spurgeon (A Biography)
The Legacy of Sovereign Joy by John Piper

Hattie-Little Women by Louis Mae Alcott

Of Interest:

Could Repunzel's hair withstand the climbing prince?
Look at what the folks at Live Science say.

Tip of the bonnet to Wittingshire

This rendition of The Star Spangled Banner will have you
standing as you listen.

Tip of the bonnet to Amy of Amy's Humble Musings

I changed the picture for this update of Up and Down
the Gravel to remind me that somewhere in the world
it is warm and the sun is shining. This picture is
from when Becky and I were crossing from Cebu to CDO
back in September. Believe me, though it may look
luxurious and romantic, being on this particular boat
was like being on Noah's Ark. All night long there was
a huge rocking back and forth which caused the public
toilet doors to bang loudly and regularly. There were
dogs barking, cats meowing, and roosters crowing. There
were roaches crawling around and lots of unpleasant smells.
Yet, despite all that, it was an incredible experience and
one I wouldn't trade.

Speaking of Becky, her flight was delayed 12 hours due to
weather in St. Louis. She is now home though and probably
experiencing quite a change from hot tropics to snowy Big
City weather. She'll never believe that she missed some
lovely spring days while she was gone, since she flew out
in an ice storm and flew home in a snow storm.

Mom couldn't get her chemo treatment on Monday because her
blood counts were too low. At least that meant we were able
to caravan back to Mayberry before the worst of the storm
hit The Big City.

Billy had to spend the night with Kent's cousin, Mike, who
lives very near WU. He's offered for Billy to come there
if Bill needs to and after the storm Tuesday it looked like
a good idea. Mike picked him up in his four wheel drive
vehicle and dropped him back off on Wednesday morning. Billy
also found out that he got the internship at Ozark Border
that he applied for. He is very pleased, and by the end
of today will be even more pleased, as he heads home for
spring break.

Joel has been bringing the ducks down in the evenings to
our place. They are cute and they are already getting quite
large. He lost one of his Rhode Island Red chicks. Max just
continues to be huge.

I don't have any news on G'ma Opal or Jim or others since
getting back from my trip up north.

But, even in the snow the peepers are going at it full force.
That does give one hope. In the morning the birds are madly
chirping. Spring is right there; she wants to burst out,
but this year it is a fight to the finish with Winter. We
are supposed to get more snow tomorrow. Oh well, live is
still delicious, and such a beautiful gift from God. All
that He pours into our days are His grace surrounding us.
The difficulties, the heartbreaks and the sunshine things
are all part of His incredible tapestry for us. I will
embrace it all today.

Jonathan Edwards on our relationship to God

"God himself is the great good which (the redeemed) are
brought to the possession of and enjoyment of by redemption.
He is the highest good and the sum of all good which Christ
purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the
portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure,
their food, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament
and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory."

From The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 17

We've got snow again, but Dad and Mom and I were able to
get clear of The Big City before the worst hit there.

The question is will Becky (aka Philippine Sister) be able
to fly to St. Louis tonight? They are expecting a pile of
snow up there.

Joel's chicks are a mixture of Rhode Island Reds and Cornish
something or others. That is a confusing sentence. What I
mean is he got two different breeds. He told me the Cornish
something or others are really big chickens. They are meat
birds. They are so big they will break their own legs just
by walking around. He said they practically ask to be eaten.

Ha! As though I am going to clean one for him. He cleans it,
though, and I'll cook it.

Which reminds me of my all time favorite chicken joke. I know
I've told it here before, but a good joke is a good joke.

Q. Why did the chicken cross the road?
A. To prove to the possum that it could be done!

This is not a Mayberry story, but it is too good not
to share. This is straight from the history of Jim
and Gerry, my in-laws.

Years ago, probably 40 or more, they lived in a little
house on the corner of a street. Gerry wanted to add
a room onto the house.

Their neighbor, Mr. Beem, worked for a concrete business
and he told them that if they would dig out for the footings,
he would have the company trucks stop by at the end of a
work day and pour their leftover concrete into the spot
where it was needed.

So Opa began to dig. They wanted to go three feet down
for the footings and the room was to be about 20 by 10.
He dug and dug and dug...and finally they rented a ditchwitch
to finish the digging.

The machine threw all the dirt into a big mound in
the yard. The mound resembled a new grave. Opa got a big
rock, set it at the top of the mound of dirt and wrote the
following words on it.

Here lies Gerry,
Friend so true,
'Til she found digging
For me to do.

Students at a major university were asked some 40 or
so years ago whether or not they thought God could really
understand what an atom was.

The general consensus was, "No".

No?

They (the students) could study and comprehend atoms, but
God could not. What a perfect illustration of the utterly
foolish pride of man this is.

The creator could not understand His creation. The sustainer
of all things could not know that which He sustained. How odd.

Psalm 147:4,5
He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by name.
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding is infinite.

Or, as the Westminster Catechism says in Question 4.

What is God?
God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in his
being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.

Another offering of interesting sentences. This time,
though, they are strung together.

Theology doesn't just think. Theology walks. Theology weeps. Theology bleeds.

From The Henry Institute on The Great Commission.

Some sentences reach out and grab your attention. They
create fodder to be chewed on. Here are a few I've come
across lately that have given me pause and caused me to
think a bit on them.

From the Viking Lars Walker of Brandywine Books:
You can be wrong because you went the wrong way, or you can
be wrong because you went the right way, but insufficiently.

From A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, which I was
reading aloud to Hattie in bed last night.
...she had been true to her duties. She was truest to them
in the season of trial, as all the quietly loyal and good
will always be.
(I read this twice over to Hattie, but really to myself,
because I wanted it to sink in.)

Up and Down the Gravel:

1. Winter does not want to let loose its death grip. G'ma Opal
is sure she'd feel better if she could get out a little bit.
She is coveting the onion sets in the Mayberry grocery store.

2. I've only heard the peepers twice so far. It takes three
times, according to hillbilly tradition, to be on the brink
of spring.

3. Monday night we had a combined birthday party for Tandy and
Uncle Jim. Fried catfish was on the menu. We filled it out
with spinach salad, asparagus vegetable medley, canned pears
and cottage cheese, and chocolate cake topped with pecans.
Then to finish the night G'ma Opal and Joel took on Mom and
Hattie in a game of High Five. The General lost; I hope she
slept okay afterward.

4. We hosted a volleyball tournament this past weekend. When
the weekends are as full (as they usually are) as this last one
was, it is hard for me to catch up on other things and find time
to update the blog. My apologies. And now I am headed into
another full weekend. I head to The Big City on Friday for a
Ladies Day happening at my in-law's church. It has become a
Harding Women tradition...a mini family reunion of sorts. Of
course, I'll get to see Billy while I'm there, though he says
he'll be studying all weekend. Nothing new about that, is there?

Then I'll stick around through Monday and play second support
member when Mom has chemo session #4. Philippine sister usually
does this, but she is in the Philippines right now, how odd!

5. Joel has his second batch of eggs incubating. He is also
going to pick up some live chicks on Saturday and has invited
Hattie down to meet them. He has been working hard on building
himself a snug little chicken coop. I'll post some pictures of
them when they get here. He is talking ducks now too...in
addition to the geese he is supposed to be getting. He is going
to have some fun now keeping them all out of where they are not
supposed to be. And, my question is, what will Max think of all
this? It should prove to be a very interesting little experiment.

Early this morning, around 4:30, I crept outside to load
the wood furnace. As I was opening the door to go into
the furnace room, I paused to listen to the wind in the
trees back in the woods behind our house. The almost full
moon was getting low in the sky. It was lovely.

Later, around 6:00, I went back outside to get the fire
going a little stronger and the moon was huge and yellow
and framed in its setting between a pine tree and an oak.

Yet later I was passing by the front door and when I looked
out I saw this...



















I remembered something Kent said a few weeks ago when he sat
down to dinner. He looked at all the abundance of good food
we had and said, "I can't believe we get all this here and
then still have Heaven to look forward to."

Of course, that is a retake of Philip Henry when he sat down
to eat in the 1600's and said, "All this and Heaven too!"

Far longer ago Paul the Apostle had a similar take on things.

Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

News From Up and Down the Gravel

Last night I heard an owl hoot from the backwoods. Our
wood furnace had the house temperature at 80 or so degrees
and we had the bedroom window open. I was reading A Tale
of Two Cities by Dickens, and was thrilled to hear my
friend hoot.

Several times over the past week one of my children has
come into the house to report that geese are flying overhead.
That will give anybody a thrill!

The thaw last Friday, after the ice storm, was one of the
most incredible happenings I've ever seen. That morning we
woke to a frozen world, but by the early afternoon it was no
longer so. The ice was thawing and dripping so quickly it
sounded as though we were in a hard rain. When the wind
would blow, a thousand pieces of ice would crash down to
the ground. It reminded me of the thaw in Narnia after Aslan
has returned and the White Witch's power is beginning to
fade.

G'ma Opal survived the freeze, but she has had to go to the
Doctor several times for her heart. She is supposed to see
a cardiologist at the Cape in the middle of March. We could
not help but be tickled when she told us that during her stay
in the hospital a week and a half ago her heart was beating
so hard the whole bed was shaking. The 97 year old general
only weighs about 95 pounds. SHE may have been shaking, but
the whole bed? We are all agreed that we highly doubt it.

Joel has to start over with incubating eggs since his died when
we lost electricity. This time he is getting both chicken and
goose eggs. That'll be interesting.

















We had company from The Big City over the weekend. My sister
and her girls came. We ate and played cards. And we played
cards and ate. And we built a fire. Of Course. It was just
a little fire, but it WAS a fire. We cooked hot dogs and we
made cherry and apple pies in the pie irons. They are fun to
cook with. We've had ours since we were little girls. You
just butter the inside of the irons and use two pieces of bread
and put whatever you want to inside, then bake it well in the
fire, open, and eat.