Hot House Flowers

Dear Debbie,

I was in Meijer this past Monday picking up some oranges and cantaloupes, potatoes and apples. As William and I were walking toward the checkout lanes, we passed the floral department and I could smell them.

Those beautiful spring flowers that you always referred to as "hot house flowers."
I can remember how excited you would become when you would visit our local Kroger to find that a shipment of the those beautiful flowers had arrived.

Now when I see them and smell them, I think of you.

So, after looking them all over very carefully, I chose a small pot of bright yellow daffodils, in honor of you!



They have been an especially cheerful addition to my kitchen this week...a week when the winter winds have howled and a thick coat of ice has covered everything in sight.









Even warmer and friendlier than that pot of daffodils have been the phone calls and emails that I have received from you this week.

I love you, dear Debbie, and miss and pray for you every single day,

The Trees Are Alive!

The trees are alive!
I know they are.

(Cue William singing "The Trees Are Alive!" to the tune of "The Hills Are Alive.")

I have heard them in the middle of the night shaking off the thick layers of ice that enshroud them.

And this morning, I went outside to get a closer look at the beautiful light show that God was putting on...starring the trees!















The supporting roles are being played by the Forsythia...



...and the Live Forevers!



Not to mention the props in the play.
The birdbath...



and the bridge.



The trees are alive!
Have you ever seen a tree steam?
It's hard to capture in a picture, but this tree, and the others in my yard, have steam rolling off of them!
Hurry! Go look!



Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Enjoy the sunshine today!

A Reason to Celebrate

Dear Carrie, William, Josh, and Matty,

February 2...Groundhog Day!

As a little girl, your Grandma Carolyn did a great job of celebrating life.
She loved to make special days very special.
She was very good at creating traditions.

It was from Mom that I learned how important traditions are...how important it is to have traditions to ground us. Especially important are those traditions once we are grown--and those loved ones are no longer with us.

Groundhog Day is one of those days that I think is fun to make special--just because.

I love tuning in, early on February 2, to see what the folks in Punxsutawney, Pennsylavania are doing.
I love to see that chubby groundhog pulled out of his "burrow" to tell us whether we will have an early spring or not.
I love hearing your "ooohhhhhhs" and "aaahhhhhhs" and giggles over that furry guy with the big nose. William, you even asked if we could keep a pet groundhog.

My groundhogs have red noses because we just made it through a winter ice storm that left it very cold outside. His nose is red because he is cold.



Last night, we talked about what Groundhog Day is.
This morning, before you woke up, I made Groundhog Day muffins.

And, very appropriately--even though accidentally, my groundhogs looked scared.
Appropriately because they had a big fireworks show over Gobbler's Knob to the music of Star Wars right before dragging that poor little guy out of his tree trunk!



Did you know that February 2 is also called Candlemas?

The event is described in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:22–40). According to the gospel, Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after his birth to complete Mary's ritual purification after childbirth, and to perform the redemption of the firstborn, in obedience to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12-15).

In the United Kingdom, good weather at Candlemas is taken to indicate severe winter weather later:

"If Candlemas Day is clear and bright,
Winter will have another bite.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter is gone and will not come again."

It is also alleged to be the date that bears emerge from hibernation to inspect the weather as well as wolves, who if they choose to return to their lairs on this day is interpreted as meaning severe weather will continue for another forty days at least.



This morning, we watched Phil being pulled out of his tree trunk on Gobbler's Knob.

We watched the Club President of the Inner Circle speak "Groundhogese" to Phil.

We watched as Phil predicted that spring is "right around the corner."

"Of these 115 predictions on record so far, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring 15 times (13%). As to his accuracy, according to the StormFax Weather Almanac and records kept since 1887, Phil's predictions have been correct 39% of the time."

And then we ate breakfast!







I know that I've told you this story many times, but I'm going to tell you again.

When I was about 8 years old, I was taking a walk down the lane to Uncle Roland's house. Walking faithfully by my side was my dog Tippy.
It was a hot afternoon in the summertime, and we had almost made it all the way down the lane when a groundhog "jumped" out at me and Tippy!
My Tippy-dog took off after that groundhog...and I high-tailed it as fast as I could back up the lane to my house!
When I got home, I was out-of-breath and very afraid for Tippy. I could just imagine that mean old groundhog tearing Tippy apart!
I cried and waited for Tippy while Grandma Carolyn guaranteed that Tippy would be just fine.
And she was right.
After a while, Tippy came trotting up the lane.
I filled a big bowl of water for her. I even remember putting ice cubes in the bowl for her--because she deserved it!

That's my first groundhog story.
Now I have more.

Groundhogs.
Even a prognosticating rodent is reason to celebrate.

And...one day, I think that we should plan on making that trip to Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and be among all those crazy people up before dawn to wait on a groundhog to tell them whether it will be an early spring or not.

In fact, I think that one is going on my "bucket list" right now.

Enjoying the Journey,