walking in the rain . . . .

i've begun rising at 5 am in order to get my walk in each day.  one is suppose to have 8 1/2 hours of sleep per day as well . . . ain't gonna happen!

so tuesday morning i had to leave the house by 7 -- therefore, no blog that day, and the same for yesterday and today.  so, now, i am able to post this blog which has been on my mind since monday!

on monday, at 5 am, i could not detect a cloud in the sky ... but re-thinking this position, i should have realized that there was also no moon nor stars either ... hum; mental note:  check the sky for clouds clearly before walking!

1/2 way through my walk -- the heavens blessed me with a downpour.  walking in the rain . . . .

three thoughts came to mind as the rain began to soak my sweatshirt;
thought #1:  do i stop and walk home (ok, i get the idea here -- i would have had to walk home anyway, so why cut my walk short, as i was already soaked!) 
thought # 2:  this thought thanks to a recurring image of my mother when she saw people out in the rain . . . "doesn't have enough sense to come in out of the rain" . . . (ok, i get that too, but honestly, where would i have gone?  under someone's porch, under a tree, or run for my life -- that was absolutely NOT going to happen!)
thought #3:  "remember your baptism, and be thankful".  i knew deep down, spiritually speaking, that this was 'the third time was a charm' to my thinking, anyway.  i'm already wet, i'm doing something healthy and i'm  not splashing in any puddles -- i did checked for nearby pubbles, however; several times!  and i needed to get home in order to leave by 7.  keep walking!

so, away i went, remembering my baptism and being thankful.  what does that mean, anyway? 

well, to me, it is a reminder that i am blessed, loved, and graced with an opportunity to share the love of god with others.  there are times, believe me, when that message is easily forgotten.  what was this storm reminding me?  in united methodist circles, we 'sprinkle' rather than pour or dunk.  that morning, i was experiencing the effects of episcopalian baptism; they pour, as do some others.  but the episcopalians need my support and i need theirs, so, that's what i thought about.  i'm sopping wet, and listening to music, and walking; happy as a clam.  what could be better than this?! 

safely home, with a hot bath and a healthy breakfast (do I detect a 'healthy trend' here?), and i was ready to start my day.

reflection.  had i not experienced the 'remember your baptism, and be thankful' thought that morning, i might have experienced a different kind of day.  i have no idea what the day might have been like but i know what the day was like, and it was a wholesome day.  no matter what; grace.

my suggestion next time there is a storm . . . go walking in the rain!  be renewed, be reminded . . . and use an umbrella if you do not want a grace-filled day!  me?  i'm looking for another storm . . . .

spring has sprung . . . .

spring has sprung -- part of a little jingle i learned in my scouting days.  so i thought of that today, of course, because it is the first day of spring; a beautiful day.

i took these three pictures on saturday, when we finally have had a very nice winter storm, at least in merced.  i've managed to walk in between downpours, so i've kept to my goal, and have reached my 2000 health miles prior to march 30.

we're told to keep walking anyway, even though we've reached our goal; we get $25 for achieving that goal, only no one has shared where that funding source is from!  i guess i could just say 'thank you' and leave it at that!

so a little bit about these spring pictures. . . .

prior to my mother's plan to move -- i believe she sensed that she would need to leave her home, and enter a retirement center where she could not keep everything she had -- including plants.  so, on one of my visits, she 'encouraged me' -- mom is very persuasive in her encouragements -- to take back the cymbidium i had given her when she moved to walnut creek in 1993 after retirement.

walnut creek is much milder than merced, and so i had to place the plant on the north side, where i never really see it; yes you guessed it, i hardly take care of it.  but by golly, after two winters, this plant still yields such grace!  i wonder if it thrives on neglect?!

this year yielded three spikes of orchards.  i clipped one on saturday because i finally noticed as i was finished my walk, that it was blooming!  i cut one spike and put it into the vase above; that was a vase that had not sell at mom's estate sale, so i thought it was an appropriate container.

i had another vase from a prior estate sale; this from a parishioner.  many members of our church will purchase a little something from a church member's estate sale to honor and remember them; i did the same.  so, here is this third picture. 

honestly, i never really understood orchards, so i'm not a great expert on them, but it amazes me that a plant you put in bark and water on occasion can yield such delicate blooms that piggy-back on one another and stay in bloom for long periods of time!

other plants don't do that.  case in point.  i wondered why my hanging baskets in the backyard were in such sorry state -- not that i give them much encouragement during the winter, but, still, i wouldn't call myself abusive!  anyway, as i was washing dishes yesterday, on the last day of winter, i began to understand why! 



those hanging baskets, of which i replaced the straw lining last summer, were being ceremoniously robbed by starlings and blue jays ... actually, there was a fight in the yard, that drew my attention; such a disturbance in my small little yard.  spring had sprung, and it was time to re-nest for the season, and evidently,the straw from MY baskets make a fine cosy nest.  i really should have invested my retirement in the hardware store industry, as it seems that i will be purchasing new straw liners again this season.

all of this is a reminder, of course, that spring has sprung ... the realization that after the winter season, when the cycle of life goes dormant, these signs of new life -- shoots of orchards and birds in search of nesting materials -- remind us that the cycle begins again with spring.  we need a period of rest and renewal so that the mystery of beautiful life can again emerge and we can begin again.

easter is not far off; the signs of life are all around us -- spring cleaning, showers that clean our systems and replenish our supplies, and shedding our sweat clothes for lighter ware.  literally, spring calls us to lighten up.  not a bad message to behold!  how will you spend your 'spring has sprung' day?

a little squeak when i walk

now that i am walking more...daily, pretty much over 7,000 steps, i have been able to accomplish at least two things related to my hearing.  one:  i am re-connecting with my walk(person) again, that has over 773 selections of music from my home library of cd's.  this actually helps motivate me to walk, since i hardly ever get to listen to my cd's at home -- and my car isn't equipped with a cd player (darn!  my cassette player is on the fritz, so that won't work in the car, either...does anyone use cassettes anymore, anyway?!)

but the real discovery to my hearing is a squeak.  i can hear that above the music that i play.  imagine my surprise when i thought people looked at me strangely because i was breathing heavily...not to be confused with being a heavy breather!  i even romanticized that people noticed that i was exercising, and were giving me support -- a thumbs up kind of look.  but, alas, no.  they heard my squeaking too.

i've never worn a pair of tennis shoes/walking shoes/athletic shoes or any other kind of shoes for that matter, that squeaked -- in this case, loudly!  i ended up laughing this morning because there was a very quiet piece of classical music being played, and all i could hear was the squeak; i wanted to turn around and shush the person making all that racket -- kind of like you do when a cell phone goes off in a movie and someone answers it, or someone unwraps their candy during a performance....

i laughed because, of course, i would have to have had to shush myself...in the quiet of the morning (i've started walking at 5:30ish -- in the dark once again, now that daylight savings time (ended?) (began?) (take your pick!)

i've heard of squeaking tennis on a basketball court, but not on a sidewalk.  do they make oil for tennis shoes?  i hate to get rid of them...they are in such great shape.  what to do...what to do.

no wonder jesus wore sandals.  a dirty/dusty road is filled with all kinds of noises; perhaps no one noticed if jesus sandals squeaked.  honestly, i can't imagine jesus squeaking....although he did make noise about issue such as injustice and being too tied to the law for our own good.  maybe that is where people got the concept of responding to the 'squeeky wheele'?!

no matter.  i hit the pavement running when i came into the office this morning.  no squeaking.  only the tap, tap, tap of my fingers punching the keyboard.  do fingers punch at keyboards, i wonder?  well, that will have to be some other day's topic.  i've have another appointment with the pavement!

and sense some of you asked...although i don't always get your comments to me unless you share them by email or facebook....i've accumulated 1800 health miles toward my goal of 2000 by march 30.  i'm pretty stoked, maybe that squeak is really a joyful noise?!

creation through cupcakes

i'm not often asked to be a judge; good thing! everybody would win!  so, when pastor jennifer, campus minister for our wesley clubs here in merced emailed me to be one of the judges during worship, it was with excited trepidation that i said yes...what will i do if they are all so good?!  ok, so my nightmare happened!

the theme on sunday was creation.  and that theme was carried through the whole worship experience on during the evening worship on the u.c. merced campus; this tree below was utilized as a prayer tree, in the center of the room -- much like the tree of life; people were invited to add leaves to the tree to share their prayers; very 'creative', don't you think?! 

through the use of multi-media, we experienced both the beauty and the reality of creation; survival of the fittest, as it were; but god is in the midst of everything.  we heard the creation stories from genesis chapters one and two, but also from the book of proverbs...ok, i'll give you a moment to run and get your bibles and try and find the creation story there-in.

and we heard about what happens when we expect, as humans, to know more/know everything -- to be like god, or better yet, be god, illustrated in the story of the book of job.  we live in a time when we want everything and to know everything.  problem is, of course:  we can't know everything!

below are two pictures of the three teams who put together such creative cupcakes -- the event became known as 'the cupcake wars'.  one team did ducks...two above water, and two with their tails in the air; what a hoot, eh?!

another team did apples a-la adam and eve, as well as the sun and the earth and butterflies.  all the ingredients had to be edible because, of course, in the true nature of united methodist fashion, they also became our fellowship treats!

the tray below represents the seven days of creation...well, six days, plus a day of rest...and let me assure you, after judging these creative cakes, i had to go home and rest!  so grueling, so nerve-wracking; too much creativity (and sugar) for my sunday evening!!!  see if you can't identify the six days of creation.

yes, awards were given, and i got a wesley club tee shirt for helping to judge!  i'll let you now 'be the judge' of who your favorite creation cup-cake might be...just use your imagination with the tasting part; they used pretzels, star bursts, coconut, icing that had been died many 'earthy colors'...

so, why all the fuss?  well, for one reason, during lent, sundays are 'a day of grace'; you get permission to 'go off' your lenten fast on sundays.  that is probably the church's best kept secret!  it is a reminder that god's grace is sufficient!

but more to the point, creation through cupcakes will leave a lasting impression -- well, it certainly will for me anyway -- about how god continues to invite us into the story of creation.  we are a part of god's creation, and we are invited to help god create anew in this day and age.  we can be co-creators with god. 

if you heard someone preach that message, you might say, 'yes, that's a good point'.  you might even yawn and say, 'i've heard that before'.  but imagine!  if you got to create the images of creation using cupcakes, that would be something you would remember, perhaps forever.  every time you woke in the morning or looked at that stars at night, or saw a fish or a butterfly or a duck or the person next door, you would recall that this was a visible way god lives with us; we might even treat one another with more dignity and respect.  and of course, on a sunday in lent, when you were given the opportunity to bite into a cupcake and enjoy 'sweet temptations guilt free', that experience would be a little bite of heaven.  and you might even give thanks to god, for this awesome taste of creation.