Brief!

Another week has come and gone, and what a busy one it was! I have been a working grandma all week - helping Grace with poor, sick little Cora; taking Maryanne's kids for a couple of days; then having Rick, Susanna, and their kids for the rest of the week. It was delightful - so many of those little adorable things called grandchildren coming and going, one after the other....

Then, yesterday I taught Sunday School and had nursery duty, so someone else's baby slept in my arms the whole service! Providential that the baby was so tired, as I got to hear the guest preacher who took over from Wayne...An English man who introduced his time by recounting the reduced numbers of churches in his area of northeast England - 90% fewer than a century ago...Fallen, fallen is England the Great!

Our weather the last couple of days has been the glorious fall sunshine with deep blue skies that have been the norm most of our years here, but not this season...So good to get out and walk across the bridge, around the museum etc. What a beautiful community this is!

God willing, we are set to go to Canada the end of next week. We hope to leave Thursday for Tim and AIleen's, then Tuesday for Ottawa. If possible, I would then like to go to Montreal and the Eastern Townships for a couple of days from there. An ambitious schedule, but one I would be thrilled with, if goes according to plan.

So, I will close with a little Emma-ism, as I gave her noodles that didn't match her idea of proper portions: Mimi, that is very much little!....

Saturday

Wednesday was Grandparents' Day at Anna and Josh's school, so I headed over there early in the morning. I love the school atmosphere. I breathe in the smells, delight in the background hum of noises that follow you down the halls...The invitation was to share lunch with the children in the cafeteria and I must admit there was more than a hum there - quite a din, in fact. First, Joshie's class came in and I sat with him while he ate his from-home lunch. Interestingly, the little boy who seems to be his best friend - who sat across from us seems to be - surprise! surprise! -Dutch! During the meal, his cupcake slid onto the floor and under Josh's feet, resulting in mush all through the treads of his brand new sneakers...Uh-oh! Tears! But I took them to the washroom and managed to get most of it out...He kept hinting to me that the most stupendous surprise was waiting for me in his classroom, and wouldn't say any more than it had a handprint on it, and a poem...We went back to the room after lunch and there was indeed a Joshie card, which Mimi loves!

Classes resumed for Josh, and Anna come to the cafeteria about an hour later. She was so delighted to see me there - hugs and kisses, kisses and hugs! It was interesting seeing her classmates - looking so much older than Josh and his friends. We sat beside the boy who wants to marry her, but didn't have a proper chance to vet him. Pat will have to do that when he can.

I stayed the night in Woodstock in order to have a proper visit with the kids, then headed home the next day via Costco. Just before I left, Grace arrived for an overnight visit to alleviate the loneliness of new-motherhood. So glad that can happen...Home again to clean our house and the church, preparing for the weekend...Rick and Susanna are leaving NYC today, hoping to arrive at Maryanne's late this evening, so tomorrow Dad, Andrew and I will also go after church. We can then celebrate Susanna's birthday as an almost complete family...Yet always with a big hole in the middle when Tim, Aileen and their kids are missing...

To backtrack for a minute, spent much of Friday trying to figure out how to renew my Permanent Resident status here...very confusing, ambiguous instructions...Called lawyers, senators, congressmen...Guess I will try to send in everything but the kitchen sink in terms of documentation, hoping the right pieces will be included!

Finally, I have been reading a kids' biography of the Wright brothers - brought up in a Christian family, though unsure whether or not they personally believed - not enough information. The most interesting paragraph in the book came toward the end, when they had begun to fly regularly and consistently around their hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Nobody in the world could do what they were doing. They were FLYING, in public view, around tram lines....What was the response? "Strangely, even though passengers on the interurban trolley occasionally saw their plane in the air, they were not impressed. If those derby-hatted boys are really flying, the newspapers would mention it. But since the papers were silent, they merely shrugged. Indeed, one day as Wilber and Orville were heading toward Simms Station, (where they flew) they heard a burly man exclaim angrily, 'That would be as impossible as for a man to fly.'".. Frightening! People believe what they are told, rather than the plain evidence of their eyes, ears and minds - common sense, in its original meaning...Good grief!

Hmmm

Saturday night John went out the back door to do something and came in with the unwelcome news that our bbq was gone - missing in action! Cover and all! All right! Who might the suspects be? The young people across the road that had a party Friday night? Several cars were parked in the church lot...Did some of them come out late that evening and think it looked like easy pickings? But John says no. They had only cars - no trucks - and very nice ones at that. They look like people who work for a living, rather than steal...Then who, say I?...Who else but, asks my trusty husband, the people who live behind us?...A whirling mass of humanity, constantly shifting - various sexes, colors, ages come and go - Most looking like they do NOT work for a living....I am miffed and phone the local police. A young man is there within minutes. I tell him the bbq was certainly not valuable, but - it was ours! And I do not like the thought of thieves prowling about the house when I am alone so much...Is this indeed a dangerous neighbourhood? Does he have ideas as to who the thieves might be? We chat a little longer, and our neighbours - the very ones - come driving up in their beat-up car, pony tails and dreadlocks flying. "I think that might be your answer", says he. Seems he knows them well. She has two older sons who are around alot, live down the street....We concur that the bbq probably took a hike in that direction...But what do we do? No answers as no proof of anything...In any case, he is a personable and intelligent young man and we talk for almost an hour about this and that...The next afternoon, I tell my sad tale to the women in our church Bible study...And the next day, the bbq fairies bring it back, yes, the very one, and place in the right spot, looking like it had never wandered. Am I accusing someone in the church of stealing it? Of course not. But I wouldn't be surprised if one of the (scary) men had a talk with the suspects...Or maybe they saw the big, burly policeman beckoning in their direction ....Or maybe they had sudden and intense qualms of conscience. I don't know. But I am content....

Bits and Pieces

I found "Hermans Hermits on the Danny Kaye Show" the other day. It featured kids dancing in front of "Herman" as he sang. Did people ever really dance like that? Unbelievably graceless and ugly...I knew as a teen I couldn't dance, but I now wonder whether anyone could!...Grammie had a cousin, Howard Hamilton, who was the General manager of the Montreal Forum. So when the group played there, he got Aunt Laura and I, plus one of Aunt Laura's friend, tickets to see them. We spent hours hand-lettering signs telling the group we loved them, and - forgot them at home. Just as well!..As usual, Bapa was commandeered to drive us there - which he did with good grace. A funny little memory...

I was telling Dad this morning about Nick's new independence-not allowing his parents to show him physical affection while in public. Dad responded by saying how, when he and Grandma visited New York City together when Dad was a teen, he wouldn't even walk with her, but stayed several paces behind. We began to crack up as we pictured it...Beautiful, stylish Grandma walking alone while her pimply, overweight, awkward son stayed behind so as not to be seen with her! Ha! HA! Ha! If teens only saw themselves objectively! But good that they don't. How many would get through those years?

I have been reading Numbers in the OT. Remember the daughters of Zelophehad - no brothers and their father died, so they petitioned to be allowed to inherit their fathers' land? That right was granted them, and they could "marry whom they thought best", as long as they chose within the clan - in order to safeguard the land to their father's tribe...Corinthian widows also could marry whoever they wanted as long as he was "in the Lord"...I have been reading several books about women in Muslim countries lately, and am amazed how much freedom the true God has given to women. SO glad I am a Christian!

In the NT, am about to begin Romans with my new ESV with study notes. Am excited - my favorite book of the Bible...Here are a couple of introductory sentences from my Bible..."All the reformers saw Romans as the God-given key to understanding all Scripture...From the vantage point given by Romans, the whole landscape of the Bible is open to view, and the relation of the parts to the whole becomes plain..." Amen! "If you ain't Paul-ine, you ain't (properly) Christ-ine!"

Coffee

Alright, all you committed coffee drinkers out there - and I know I have at least several in my small audience - Why is it that very strong coffee bothers me physically much less than weaker coffee? I was talking with Flora this morning and she has noticed the exact same phenomenon...Has to be a reason! Any theories?

Silver

Several months ago, I read that silver is a wonderful bacteria reducer in hospitals. I believe that if it is used in air vents, it prevents bacteria from being blown from area to area - kills them....I was reading online last night that the anti-bacterial properties of silver have long been known...Apparently, farmers traditionally used silver buckets to store their fresh milk, if possible - kept it from spoiling...People used to throw a silver dollar in wells, in rain barrels to protect their water. Finally, during times of plague, parents would give their small children silver spoons to suck on in order to kill incoming bacteria - Thus, the saying, "Born with a silver spoon in his mouth". Interesting, huh?

In any case, I'm off the the trailer park in a few minutes - to vacuum a flea-infested unit and wait for the exterminator to come and finish off the job! May drop in on Grace enroute if I have the time.

NYT

The New York Times alluded to the Book of Revelation on their website in July...What was it about? THE EUPHRATES RIVER IS DRYING UP...As is forecast in Revelation 16:12...Amazing.