Psalm 5

¹Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.

²Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

³My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

My favorite posts

We all write things that we like but then they disappear into our archive. This post, which I will add to occasionally, will be linked to my sidebar.

Where I am from

Some views around our neck of the woods

More views from our neck of the woods

You don't have to have a lump to have breast cancer

Sing it with me

Like I said in an earlier post, I have added Playlist to the blog. Currently there are six songs on my playlist. Most people popping in here will only hear part of one. :) I'm prepared for that.

The player starts with Ave Maria by Schubert. This is a very beautiful song and one I have only learned to enjoy within the past year or so. Schubert composed this when he was 28. He is reported to have written to his father and stepmother that people "wondered greatly at my piety, which I expressed in a hymn to the Holy Virgin and which, it appears, grips every soul and turns it to devotion."

The second song is Deeper Than the Holler by Randy Travis. A rather large leap between the two, I know. This is the first song my beloved sang to me. It is "our" song. 'Nuff said.

Third is El Shaddai by Amy Grant. This was a favorite of several of my friends in college and it became a favorite of mine.

Fourth is Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. I like Johnny Cash. My father liked Johnny Cash. I grew up listening to Johnny Cash. I also grew up hearing stories of my father as a very young man playing guitar for a group called The Tobacco Tags -- don't bother googling it, I've tried and can't find anything. The Tobacco Tags supposedly did some back up work for The Carter Family from which came June Carter Cash.

Fifth is Wildwood Flower by The Carter Family. Reread the last two sentences of the previous paragraph. This song is also an inside joke for Dana.

Last but not least is Family Tree by Darryl Worley. I like this one a lot. It had been around for awhile but it finally sank into my brain when I was expecting William. It was playing in the background when I let Lawrence know I was expecting William. Is it any wonder he gives me the "Are you trying to tell me something" look when I play this song?

UPDATED: Every now and then I will rearrange the order of the songs and add a few more. I have also switched it so that you must click play instead of it starting automatically.

Arrow of Light and crossing over

Tonight we went to a cook out. Not just any cook out, mind you; this was the Arrow of Light/crossing over cook out/camping trip for the second year Webelos Scouts. The Tigers were there, too. Some of the Boy Scouts supervised the Webelos in preparing food for their hobo dinners while others manned the grills to cook the food for the family members present.

After everyone had their fill of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, pretzels, potato salad, and fruit salad, the Tigers crossed over to the rank of Wolf Cub Scouts. And then the four second year Webelos were given their patches and awards --especially their Arrow of Light patches -- and then they crossed over to be received into the Boy Scout troop.

Allan was the only first year Webelos and he was recognized and allowed to cross over to the rank of second year Webelos. (We live in a small community so our Pack will have to do a lot of recruiting over the summer.)

After the crossover ceremony, there were s’mores and skits. Finally around 10 o’clock I loaded the girls and William into the van to come home -- but the Scouts were still going strong! The enthusiasm of the Boy Scouts was a wonderful thing to see. They were polite to the parents and siblings of the Cub Scouts. These young men seem to represent all that is still good in our world.

By the way, the crossing over bridge at the top of the post -- it was made this week by my ever talented husband! I am so proud of him for his hard work!

Autumn leaf fabric

This is a swatch of fabric from 1968. My oldest sister had picked it out and someone my mother knew made a dress for her. Someone else (I'm thinking my sister) made a dress for my Tippee Toes doll out of this. I haven't been able to find the doll dress; I'm afraid it was in storage and became a mouse nest with the rest of the doll things I had been saving to pass on to my daughters.

Somehow I fell heir to the last piece of the fabric. There is enough to make a pillow for the couch in my family room. I wish I could find some more of this -- at least enough to make a second pillow. Don't get me wrong though -- I am glad I have as much of it as I do. It brings back memories of my childhood and the sister who loved me enough to share her special fabric.

Favorite Things

Who can think of favorite things without thinking of the Rodgers & Hammerstein song that made the phrase? And, yes, the movie is one of my favorite things.

I was 18 or 19 before I ever saw The Sound of Music. It seems to be on television at least once a year now, but it wasn't regular programming when I was growing up. We have the DVD and the three older children have watched it with me. Marie saw a pamphlet for a local theater that will be hosting two showings of it later this year; we are hoping to go.

Movies like this are few and far between any more. There is no gratuitous sex, violence, or language. Instead The Sound of Music is a love story -- love of God, love of country, love of family, and, yes, the love that develops between a man and a woman. The Sound of Music is also a wonderful example of good versus evil with good winning out.

Today's popular movies -- including ones aimed at children -- are often rife with questionable language, gratuitous violence, and if not sex, then sexual innuendo. Now you can see why a classic movie with a great storyline that entertains and lifts your spirits is one of my favorite things.