Every day there's a parade at my house. I live on a working horse farm. Each morning and evening when my brother-in-law leaves his house and heads toward the barn, he is followed by his big red dog (a Labrador Retriever) and a sleek black cat.
The dog, Scout, and the cat, Boo, are best friends. Boo occasionally gets side-tracked as he hunts for a mouse or a bird, while Scout sometimes takes a quick detour into the pond but they're never far from each other. Watching Boo kitty tumble with frogs in the yard is a hoot. But when the barn swallows know he's coming, they'll dive bomb him and taunt him like little fighter planes in an air raid. I love to imagine what Boo is thinking. Oh give it your best shot, you little pipsqueaks. Come any closer and you're toast! Before you can blink an eye, Boo has gone from hunched in the grass to a leap in the air.
The gift of bones and feathers ends up on my sister-in-law's front porch.
Scout and Boo were named after character's in Harper Lee's classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. My sister-in-law is a lover of books, which makes living next door to her nothing but pure pleasure. Drinking my morning coffee, watching the parade of Gordon, Scout, and Boo gives me my first smile of the day. They are nothing less than God's gift to me each morning.
Blessings to you and yours.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Is The Grass Greener?
It's July.
Summer in Ohio. Cool, crisp nights, sun-filled days. Low 80s, usually. Some humidity. A shower passes from time-to-time. But Ohio summers are the best. Everything is green and the pastures are full of new life. Only occasional air conditioning is needed.
In North Carolina you can drink the air. You can't find a spot of cool shade to save your life. 95 is the norm. Parched earth dots the landscape. Wavy heat rises above blacktop roads. You can't live without air conditioning. Most hibernate until Autumn.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Until winter.
But then ... there's always North Carolina ice. And road crews that don't know what to do with it.
Ahhh, but there's always a great restaurant to choose from in Ohio. You can brave the snow to get there because the road crews were prepared. I wouldn't travel ice-covered roads for any restaurant in North Carolina. Sorry. It's true. I don't miss all the fried food and BBQ.
But let's face it. There's good and bad everywhere you go. I just didn't realize how much I missed Ohio until I came back. My memories of the south are fond ones. I'm southern in my heart, but right now ... I'm enjoying the culture, the food, and the true hospitality of the north.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Blessings to you and yours.
Summer in Ohio. Cool, crisp nights, sun-filled days. Low 80s, usually. Some humidity. A shower passes from time-to-time. But Ohio summers are the best. Everything is green and the pastures are full of new life. Only occasional air conditioning is needed.
In North Carolina you can drink the air. You can't find a spot of cool shade to save your life. 95 is the norm. Parched earth dots the landscape. Wavy heat rises above blacktop roads. You can't live without air conditioning. Most hibernate until Autumn.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Until winter.
But then ... there's always North Carolina ice. And road crews that don't know what to do with it.
Ahhh, but there's always a great restaurant to choose from in Ohio. You can brave the snow to get there because the road crews were prepared. I wouldn't travel ice-covered roads for any restaurant in North Carolina. Sorry. It's true. I don't miss all the fried food and BBQ.
But let's face it. There's good and bad everywhere you go. I just didn't realize how much I missed Ohio until I came back. My memories of the south are fond ones. I'm southern in my heart, but right now ... I'm enjoying the culture, the food, and the true hospitality of the north.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Blessings to you and yours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)