Snow Forecast for Pensacola
There is a possibility of snow forecast for Friday in Pensacola, FL.
Update on sleep-sacks – good old Amazon.com has several styles, and two are on their way!
The Five Legged Dog
“It’s like trying to buy a five-legged-dog,” my friend started out. When a friend starts a conversation with an opener like that, she has my full attention. “You look and you look, but you know at some point your going to have to give up one of the legs to find a dog to buy.”
We had been talking about house hunting. You know what you want. This house has most of it, but that house has all of it, at a price you can’t afford. Another house has everything, at a price you can afford, but you can see endless maintenance costs associated with ownership of that property. In short . . . there is no five legged dog. Somewhere along the way, you give up wanting it all and settle for good enough.
I think about that friend and her saying often. It’s become a family catch-phrase, they have heard me tell it so often. We’re all in search of that five legged dog.
(photo from public domain pictures)
Sleepless in Pensacola
It’s cold in Pensacola. The high tomorrow will be 47°F/8°C and the lows are around freezing. You think of Florida as being warm and sunny, but with the chill wind, it is COLD. Luckily, we brought some cold weather gear.
But when a Florida baby is born, they get lots and lots of clothes of lightweight cotton, and no heavy duty sleep-blankets. Heavy duty sleep blankets are for those babies up north – AdventureMan and I know, because we went looking for them tonight, for our little grandson. Even though they have turned up the heat, Florida houses can be chill in the cold weather, and we searched in vain for a good sleep blanket.
There are new ways of doing things, different from when we were raising our son thirty years ago. Now you have to be sure the baby is sleeping on his back (we were all told to be sure they slept on their stomachs) and there can be no blankets in the crib or bassinet, no soft toys, no pillows. They recommend sleep sacks because the baby stays warm and comfortable, while lowering any risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). They know so much more than when we were raising children.
I was able to spend a few hours with my grandson today, holding him while his parents napped or relaxed. AdventureMan made a big pot of nourishing and delicious Beef Vegetable Soup. He is spending time with his grandson now – when the grandson squawks, AdventureMan starts describing one of Napoleon’s campaigns and within minutes, the squalls diminish and baby is sound asleep. LLOOOLLLL! He is on duty now, while I have crawled into bed. This being a grandparent is great stuff – we get to sleep all night; Mommy is nursing, and so she has night duty. They both have big circles under their eyes and are talking about the effects of sleep deprivation – if you’ve ever been a parent, you will know exactly what they are talking about.
Think I had better order a sleep blanket!
Sparkles for Sparkle
As we are visiting in Pensacola, we often come across wreaths on doors, and here Christmas is long past. “What are these wreaths?” we wondered, only to learn that they are Mardi Gras wreaths, that near to New Orleans the Mardi Gras culture prevails and shiny glass beads and Mardi Gras parties abound.
Of course, we are having our own celebration these days. 🙂
Meanwhile, I took a photo of one of the wreaths for my sister, Sparkle, who loves New Orleans, loves masques and loves . . . SPARKLE!
The Most Wonderful Baby
One hour old 🙂
Hey Ayatollah! Leave Those Kids Alone!
Every now and then I make a new friend. I can see in their eyes – life! love! willingness to engage and take risks! people who don’t necessarily see things the way the majority does.
One of these friends, my Kuwaiti friend, is a treasure. She has the most amazing mind, and sends me the most amazing things.
You might look at me and think I am too old for Pink Floyd, but you would be wrong. Pink Floyd makes my blood run faster. They did when I was younger, they did when my own son discovered Pink Floyd, and then, watching this video my friend sent – WOW. There goes the adrenelin!
OK, YouTube won’t let me insert it in this post. Go to the original post, play the video. . . very creative, very moving:
http://www.blurredvisionmusic.com/
Don’t you love young people? They love justice, and they hate injustice. They hate unnecessary constrictions. They hate people telling them how to think. All that energy, all that passion, all that vision!
Most of my friends – like AdventureMan, like my Kuwaiti friend – are still 25 on the inside. 🙂
Most of my friends will get this video – and love it! 🙂
Life Intrudes
Yes, I am sorry. I left you with no indication that I wouldn’t be able to blog for a while, but – as it does for you – life intrudes. AdventureMan and I are on a GREAT adventure, a baby was born, and thus we became Grandma and Grandpa! We didn’t intend to be here for the birth, but babies have their own schedules, and we got here in time to spend time with our son and his wife AND to be able to see our new grandson before he was even an hour old.
Who ever thinks the thrills in life are over once you hit ‘grown-up’ is SO wrong. Life just keeps getting better and better, and is full of thrills – if you have the eyes to see, and the ears to hear, and the heart to know a miracle when you see one.
Every new baby is a miracle. We can’t make them happen – or not happen – by wishing. Babies, each and every one, are a miracle.
Photos? This was a mixed up trip. We have been on the run ever since we hit the ground. I have photos, but I left my card-reader in Doha. As soon as I can hit a store, I will show you a photo of the newest prince. 😉
Thanks for your patience with me.
Generosity of Spirit
In our Womens Bible Study Class, the discussion turned to how living in these lands, the cradle of our religion, has illuminated the reading of the bible in new ways for us. As I read this morning’s readings, I thought of all the loving kindness we have been shown at your hands, at the unending generosity of spirit you have shown us, living here, in this dry and thirsty land . . .
Abraham's Departure, by József Molnár
The Hittites tell Abraham he is a mighty prince among them, and welcome to bury Sarah where he would wish. Ephrom refuses to take payment for the cave Abraham wants to buy, insisting that Abraham accept it as a gift. This, near Hebron . . .
Abraham insists on paying for the land, and hands over, piece by piece, 400 pieces of silver.
Would that God would bless the land with a similar spirit, that the Jews and the Palestinians might find a way to share the land and to live together in peace, as a blessing to one another.
Genesis 23:1-20
23Sarah lived for one hundred and twenty-seven years; this was the length of Sarah’s life. 2And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3Abraham rose up from beside his dead, and said to the Hittites, 4‘I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying-place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.’
5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6‘Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead.’ 7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8He said to them, ‘If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron son of Zohar, 9so that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying-place.’ 10Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 11‘No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the presence of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.’ 12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13He said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, ‘If you only will listen to me! I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.’ 14Ephron answered Abraham, 15‘My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.’ 16Abraham agreed with Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, passed 18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, in the presence of all who went in at the gate of his city. 19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20The field and the cave that is in it passed from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a burying-place.
First Things First
“I have some WONDERFUL news for you!” I gushed to AdventureMan when he picked up the call, “I found a third of the last fruitcake in the refrigerator!” I knew he thought he has finished off the fruit cake and that we didn’t have any more.
Pause. Pause. Pause.
“Hello? Hello? Are you there, AdventureMan.”
AdventureMan comes on, his work-a-day brisk, official self.
“When you start a conversation with ‘I have some wonderful news for you'” he says, “the next words out of your mouth really need to be that I am a grandfather.”
LLLLLLOOOOOLLLLLL.
I can’t make that happen any faster than it is going to happen. Baby grandson is now almost a week overdue, and we are waiting, waiting, waiting for him to show up. This is an eagerly awaited arrival.
I guess he is also happy about the fruitcake, but he really wants a grandson! 🙂
Recent Comments
Catherine on Donna Leon Crossing Cultu… intlxpatr on Ignoring the Law thani on Ignoring the Law Anon. on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… Reeva Mills on Cahors to Bordeaux, Preparing… Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
Here There and Everywhere 