Tip Of My Tongue

There must be more to life than this
Some kind of loving, harmonious bliss.

Free of judgment, condemnation, and suspicion
Staying true to myself, trusting intuition.

Aspirations abounding, spilling, no drought
The nightmare withholding, resistance cries out.

Visions of thrill, peace, and ease
Glimpses of you do my heart seize
Yet thoughts in tandem cannot appease.

Expectations, limitations, pushed to prove
Internally nimble, ready to move.

Striving, contriving through effortful days
Straining for focus through the opinion-thick haze.

Success from the highest of heights to be sung
Sitting.....waiting.....on the tip of my tongue.

The "Sandbox"

I've been asked how the spinach seeds are coming along.  Well, as it turns out, it's not just the weather conditions, insects, or possible blight that one has to contend with when growing vegetables.  Gardens and pots are also vulnerable to the daily threat of rats with bushy tails.  Apparently a pot of soil is to a squirrel what a sandbox is to a child.

In the case of my spinach pots, the local squirrels have no respect. Do I expect more from them? No. But really, they have access to several gardens  and yet they choose the pots... 

Even though squirrels are not nearly as prolific as rabbits, there is no apparent shortage of them.  A female squirrel gives birth to 3-4 babies in the early Spring and usually again in the Fall which isn't a lot compared to a rabbit having several litters per year of approximately 2-10 young in each.

So far there is only one spinach sprout in one of the three pots.  Would you be surprised if I told you that it's the only pot of the three that does not exhibit signs of having been 'played' in?  And  there the lonely spinach sprout grows.....

Good thing it's early enough in the season that I can sow some more seeds. This gardener WILL succeed!  : )

I'm not sure what the best way of warding off squirrels is yet...most attempts in previous years have failed...  My most recent idea is to post a sign as follows beside the pots:

DIG AT YOUR OWN RISK  

 

Yes, this is a barbecued squirrel. Photo credit: Luke Sidey

In case you were wondering, it IS true what they say about youtube.  You can find anything there.  The bbq squirrel photo piqued my curiosity which led me to search a video on youtube on how to skin a squirrel.  Don't do it if you are squeamish!

 

The Interruption

I was a privileged guest at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration this past Saturday.  How many people do you know who have been married THAT long?!?!  Impressive eh?  When a couple has been married that long you may think that either they are the perfect match, very stubborn and determined, or they don't see much of each other! ; ) In case you're wondering, this particular couple attributes the survival of their marriage to God's faithfulness.

Early in the celebration, I was sitting at a table near the entrance to the party room.  It was the perfect place to see people as they arrived and to have the opportunity to say HI and to exchange a few words.  You know those typical words and phrases that are used when you're reunited with old friends and acquaintances?  "How are you?  It's been so long since I've seen you.  It's so nice to see you. What have you been up to?"  Well,  one of the people I said hello to was only an acquaintance and so I asked a question to get to know her a bit better.  She had just launched into her reply when someone broadsided our conversation by coming in close and saying a loud and bulldozing hello to me.  Can you picture the situation?  Your attention is pulled in two different directions and your senses have a tendency to zero in on the most demanding of the two stimuli.

Unfortunately the conversation train was completely derailed and never arrived at its destination.  Opportunity lost.

I was disappointed and wondered how I could better handle that type of situation in the future.  It's these social skills that you have to learn by trial and error I guess.  I don't want to be rude to someone by ignoring them, or miss opportunities to say Hi to people and yet it's not right for someone to be more than briefly interrupted.

Any advice for me????

 















What do you do in a situation like this?