Two purple thrushes

sitting in a tree, "talking" -

      Cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep! 

 Fair to Third  Third to

The Pete (1), Ridge to Lakeshore Drive (2) -

        Marquette labyrinth.

 (1) Peter White Public Library.

(2) and yes it's actually "Lakeshore Blvd", not "Drive", but "Drive" fits, "Blvd" doesn't. 

 

Or at least my walk for the day. Takes me past the bank (which gives out popcorn on Weds.), a variety of coffee shops, and the shoreline.

 Cool air in basement,

fan on the landing - A.C.?

        Not really, I guess. 

 Like an F-15

 the dragon-fly maneuvers,

    patrolling the pond. 

 

               Or

 

Glides, banks, dives, sweeps, turns -

the F-15 dragon-fly

    patrols over pond. 

 

I like the action words in the second one. 

 Well ok, I'll just say that I am beginning to have an issue with this lesson (Luke 11) and that today's prayer might be a bit difficult.  It's about when prayers aren't answered.  And I know (and have preached) the "standard" answers to this issue.  I know sometimes it's just not the answer I want; I know praying changes me inside; I know sometimes I'm not praying for the "right thing" (although if the only prayers that get answered are prayers for the "right thing" - well); I know sometimes you just have to keep on praying and trust; I know Jesus prayed "Thy will not mine", but there is a whole lot going on that is "not thy will" so I guess maybe that's what this prayer is really about....

 

Heavenly Father/Mother/Grandparent/Auntie/Uncle/Friend -

Jesus teaches and encourages us to

ask,

  and seek,

    and knock....

and as I look back, sometimes my prayer has been answered (1).

But just as often it seems I have gotten a stone instead of bread,

and a serpent instead of a fish,

and a dead silence instead of a voice saying "Welcome, come in." 

So today I pray for the strength and determination to keep on praying, even when it doesn't (2) make any difference. 

 

(1) or at least I have seen your hand at work in my life. 

(2) "seem to" if that makes us more comfortable

 

 

 

Purple thrush chirping, 
water splashing, leaves rustling -
        Soft sounds that bring peace.

 Potato salad,

hot dogs, burgers, bratwurst, beans -

          menu of summer.

 

Seem to be on a food trip here. And I lead with the potato salad!

Basel, cilantro,
dill, parsley, garlic scapes, thyme -
       now what's for supper?

 

Pasta with pesto? Omlet? Herb pizza? Sandwich? Soup? All good!

Yesterday it rained;

today the sun is shining -

   That's just how life goes.

             or

     But life still goes on.

             or 

     Life is like that - No?

 

 Ok, a couple of things.  

+Actually that's just turned around - yesterday was sunny, after a few sprinkles, and today it is raining, as forecast!  

+And then what I was trying to get at here is not that it rains and then the sun shines and then it rains, etc., but rather that life has it's ups and downs just like the weather changes.  So I think I like the second last line best.  

 Circles on the pond(1);

"Mostly sunny, high - eighty"(2). 

       Maybe tomorrow!

 

(1) code for "It's raining, or at least sprinkling"

(2) current weather forecast! 

 Weed whacking the trail

from here to there was mostly

      just "whackin' bracken".

 

Ok - a little bit dippy, but I just like that last line.  And the nice thing about doing a haiku a day is that when you do a kind of dippy one, there is always tomorrow. 

 Two prayers today, one more serious, one more whimsical - 

Generous God,

you set out a summer fruit basket of

kindness, gentleness, justice, fairness, respect, and love.

For the times and ways that we have received from this basket,

we are thankful.

For the times and ways that we have withheld these blessings from others,

we repent.

We pray that the words of Jesus might inspire us to do better from now on.

 

 

 Dear God,

sometimes we are like Martha and we "do"....

Sometimes we are like Mary and we just "be"..... 

So - do, be, do, be do.... 

Help us know which is right for us now. 

Soft the news drones on,
Sunlight filters through the tree -
        Slowly I doze off.........

 Dark clouds but no rain,

two chapters of new author -

     Libe walk successful!

 

The book is The Ghost Walker by Margaret Coel.  She writes mysteries about Father John O'Malley, a Jesuit from Boston serving at the St Francis Mission on the Arapaho Wind River Reservation. (Recommended by Tony Hillerman!)  First two chapters kept me reading.

 Salad in sunshine,
now dessert in the shadow -
        It's time to go home.

 Yesterday - ninety,

Today -  fifty-six and rain.

       What do chipmunks think?

 

Potatoes look good,

onions, tomatoes also -

         squash kind of so-so.

 Flopped up ears, big doe 

eyes, standing still, looking at

     my tomato plants! 

 Eternal God,

when the need was so very great,

when things were "way out of plumb",

you sent and spoke through

  not an official,

  not a politician,

  not a network pundit,

but a "herdsman from Tekoa

  and a dresser of sycamore trees".

Still today Amos speaks to us

  of justice and righteousness;

still today Jesus (a carpenter!) speaks to us

  of kindness and neighborliness.

Help us hear the Word you are saying to us through them,

  that our lives might be "in plumb",

  and our neighborhoods secure and at peace. 

 Circles on the lake,

pitter patter on the roof -

       light summer sprinkles.

                Or

      dark clouds are coming.

         Or

    blue sky is spreading.

 

It was a bit of everything. 

 Thick tomato slab,

bread, mayo, fresh moz, basil -

      First of the summer!

 

Tomato sandwich - and it was good. 

 Roaming roar and whoosh

of lawn mower, leaf blower -

        sounds of the season. 

 Over the roadway, 

below and between the trees -

       small view of big lake. 

 

 

Lake Superior, that is! 

 Out from the garage -

one goes right, the other left -

      lawn mower Gran Prix!

 

I was driving by the NMU maintenance area on Wright St, and two of the big riding lawn mowers came out, one after another.

 Snowplow in tall grass

watching bare road, sighs longing -

       sits ready to pounce! 

 

Long time till snowfall, big fella. 

 O Lord, our Lord,

how wonderful is your name in all the world.

Your glory shines and is proclaimed to the highest heavens

in the faces and the words of the children.

Naaman listened to the ("unnamed") little girl

(well he listened to his unnamed wife who listened to the unnamed girl)

and he eventually found health and strength

and perhaps even a shot at peace.

I pray, and I invite others to pray with me,

that our leaders today

(and we, ourselves - we are all leading someone somewhere)

would show the same wisdom.

 

 Sorry to be a little slow with this one.  We were at camp and it is just a hassle to connect up there.  You have to climb a steep hill in the woods across the road, or walk around the bay and climb a hill there, and then sometimes the call drops in the middle and you have to start over, and it just looked like a lot to type into my phone.  So - home and using the computer.

 

And this thought/prayer comes after my experience handing out flag stickers to the children along the July 4 parade route.  It's in some ways such a demeaning experience for them.  They sit on the curb and people throw mostly cheap candy into the road in front of them.  I'd walk up holding out a flag sticker on my finger and say "Flag sticker?" and they would just light up and say "Yes, please" and "Can I have one?" and (prompted by parents!) "Thank you."

 

And I thought any leader who doesn't just drop everything and focus on feeding and clothing and educating and healing and caring for the children really isn't worth following anywhere.  Unfortunately that does include me - I go along living my comfortable life while children struggle and suffer.

 

So anyway -  sorry to be a little late with this.  Here's a bonus holdover from the week - the SPAM prayer for evening. 

 

Search our hearts and minds, O Lord.

Preserve us in your grace. 

And when at last the evening comes

May we rest in peace. 

 Twilight settles in

- silver arc, "BOOM", sparkles rain -

        twilight settles in.

 

SPAMku

Potatoes, Sprechers, 

Mixed greens with avoca  -  WHAT?!

   We forgot the SPAM?!

 

So that's it for SPAM week, boys and girls.  Disclaimer - we did not really forget the SPAM, just didn't have it on the menu, even though this is SPAM Day - the day it was introduced! 

 

 

 

Flags, Harleys, fire trucks, 

high school band, bag pipes and drums -

     July Fourth Parade!

We were walking and singing and handing out flag stickers and copies of the constitution with the Yoopers Unite group.  It was fun - and hot!

 

 SPAMku

Fireworks sparkle,

Music plays, folks are dancing,

       Spam sizzles on grill. 

Night falls - red sunset, 

half moon, trees sparkle in breeze -

          Nature's fireworks. 

 

 SPAMku

Strawberries and cream,

Spam chunks and barbecue sauce -

       Wimbledon today!

 

 and no line judges!  Disclaimer - I don't really think they are doing Spam chunks in sauce or cream or anything else.  It's a pretty good idea, though.

 C.J. Box, Storm Watch (1);

Buechner, The Eyes of the Heart (2) -

     Free Table, The Pete(3)!

 

Ok - 

(1)  a Joe Pickett thriller (just read the first few chapters.  Reminds me of  William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor books.)

(2) a thoughtful memoir by Frederick Buechner - one of my heroes

(3) these were almost back-to-back on the Free Table at The Peter White Public Library!

 

SPAMku -

 

A filling, pleasing

casserole for a cold day -

     Split Peas And Muenster!

 

and toss a few Spam cubes in it - yum!

 April, May, and June 

("the girls") cleaned up winter. Now -

         summer is on us.

 

 

SPAMku -

White bread, Velveeta,

Mayo, lettuce, tomato,

     Fried Spam slab - "Yes, please"!