Gone In A Flash

"To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality." --Henri Cartier-Bresson

I know that the macro photo contest was over a few months ago, but when I got home from work today, I saw this guy perched on top of my backyard gate--sunning himself, I presume. I couldn't resist running inside to grab my camera, carefully sneaking up on him and snapping a couple of shots. His eyes were half open, but you could tell he was warily watching me. As I tried to get one last shot, he was gone----over the top and down the back side of the gate!

Heel!

"Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend." --Corey Ford

Last night, Emmi and I began obedience training. Along with Carol & Ron and their lab, Buddy, we drove downtown to receive our new training collars and leads and then waited for class to begin. About 12 of us were there with our dogs and the dogs were all amazingly well-behaved. Most were larger breeds or mixed breeds, so Emmi and a little Schnauzer were the only small dogs there.

It was so hot and humid that class had to stop a little early (mostly for the humans, I'm afraid), but we did learn how to teach our dogs to "sit", "stay" and "heel". According to our teacher, from now on, I must be sure that Emmi knows who is boss! (Personally, I think she already knows----and most of the time it's not me!!) Actually things went pretty well and Emmi "sat" with just a little help and "heeled" very well while we were there in class. Now, that doesn't mean she'll be able to do it back at home, but hopefully by next week, if we practice each day, Emmi will soon be sitting upon command.

Summer is Here!

"Ah, summer-what power you have to make us suffer and like it." --Russell Baker

Well, I know that if you look at the calendar, summer has not yet officially arrived. That date is still a week or so away. But, this evening, when I let Emmi out I saw the unmistakable evidence that summer has indeed made it to Shreveport.

When we first went out the back door, I caught a glimmer of something out of the corner of my eye. As I looked in that direction to investigate, it was gone. Maybe I was mistaken---maybe it was a reflection off the storm door. But, no! A few seconds later there it was again. . . in a different spot. And then another. . . . and another. . . Fireflies!!! Or lightning bugs as we called them in my youth.

I have such great memories of spending long summer evenings out in our big backyard catching lightning bugs. And when we went camping, we'd poke a few holes in the top of a clean pickle jar and fill it with the ones we'd caught, hoping that they would serve as a lantern for us if we caught enough. Of course, that never happened---we generally let them go after a few hours. But, the fascination with them hasn't stopped. Before I knew it this evening, I found that I'd spent longer than I'd realized just watching their flickers in random spots around the yard.

Yep, summer's here. Must be almost time for watermelon, too.

Sweat On My Brow

"Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat." ---Ann Landers

Well, nothing like picking the hottest days of the year so far to work outside. After picking up Dan at his group home Thursday evening, he joined me to work on the front flowerbed yesterday afternoon. I'd had to work in the morning, so it was right after lunch before we could get started. The day before, there had been a great breeze blowing all day, but yesterday, it was completely gone. In its place was humidity and heat!! Lots of it!! We worked for several hours with lots of water breaks and the front flowerbed looks really nice now. But, we decided that today we had to start much earlier. So, at 8:30 this morning, we set out to clean out the back storage sheds. Now, these storage sheds have been there a long time and serve as the only storage I have, since I don't have access to my attic. One is filled with holiday decorations, lawn mowers, tools and just about everything else you can think of. It's been straightened in the past few years, but not really much has been thrown out. The other shed hasn't been cleaned out in a number of years. It used to house toys for the girls----basketballs, drawing paper, etc---and also some antique furniture that I'm not using right now. Over the years, a few small "varmints" have been in there from time to time, so the girls and I have been a bit wary of going in and really cleaning.
But, today I did it!! With Dan hauling things to the curb, I cleaned out both buildings!!! I sorted and sweated. . .and swept and sweated . . . and even sweated some more! But, they look so much better!!!! My dream is to tear them both down and replace them with one building that is wired for electricity and has shelving. But, until then, this is a definite improvement. My next project to tackle will have to be the weeds in this back flowerbed---or should I say "jungle"?.

A New Song

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." --Antione de Saint Exupery

Last night I went to see Ken Medema in concert at our church. He participated in the worship service Sunday morning and in other conference activities (this is that week), but last night had a concert. It was so wonderful---it really is hard to even put into words how great it was.

Ken is blind and has an amazing gift of playing the piano and composing music. I was introduced to him as a teenager when our youth choir sang some of his early compositions. I've seen him in concert before, but this time he composed and improvised music to fit messages spoken to him during the evening. The gift there was amazing!! To be able to put into word and melody the thoughts and feelings of others and to share that so fluently---It was just great! As the concert ended, I found myself wishing that it didn't have to and wondering when I'd get to hear him again.

Ken told my friend, Carol, that instead of visualizing music as the thoughts come to him (because he has never seen music), he actually feels it beginning to fill him, as if it is running through his veins. And when he begins to play and sing the new song, it is almost as if he is bleeding the music. It is evident when you see him that this is true---what a powerful presence!