Big brown eye searches,

long ears twitch, pink nose quivers -

         bunny on the prowl! 

Into the window,

onto the restless sleeper -

          full moon on the prowl! 

Cheeseburger and chips,

beans, coleslaw, watermelon -

        community meal.

 

at St Paul's Church. 

Green leaves fluttering

against a calm clear blue sky -

         a colorful world.

 

Not to mention varicolored birds, flowers, butterflies....and people!

Temperature dropping,

Monday night fog rolling in -

        No moon's gaze tonight.

 

Again "tem-pra-ture"! 

Compassion -

As I wait for my new glasses

(with pumped up prescription)

I feel for Leah and her "weak eyes"

(and for this family which is getting off  to a difficult start).

I am grateful for the ocular artists who are making "fun eyes" - cat eyes, sunflower eyes, star burst eyes - for people with prosthetic eyes.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/ocular-artistry-eye-prosthetics-become-canvases-for-self-expression.

I pray that I might find the fun in my various limitations, disabilities, and difficulties. 

From blue sky tonight

the moon turns three quarters, says

       "Got my eye on you"! 

The last little chunk,

SPAM, lettuce, and tomato -

         SLT sandwich!

 

Lunch today. 

Cruising down the lane -

two deer, one a fawn, crossing - 

       cruising down the lane. 

Clear sky, quiet lake,

a busy day winding down -

          a half moon rises. 

In sidewalk buckets -

tomatoes and potatoes -

      deer eating them both! 

Birds chirp, squirrels cheep,

leaves flutter, thrash in the wind -

       darkness approaching!

 

Thunderstorm - the animals are nervous. Or is that just my projecting? 

Eternal God, 
I went to bed last night
with a pillow, not a stone,
and I had no dream of angels
going up or down a plain ladder 
or an elegant staircase,
but here I am in one more morning.
I pray that this day will take me
one rung, one stairstep, one morning closer to you.

As evening settles,
through the smoke, clouds, maple leaves -
     a red ball - the sun!

Haven't seen it for a few days.

For just a moment,
a break in the clouds, smoke thinned -
       a ray of sunshine.

Closed (1) - farmer's market,

band concert, Third Street music.  

       -  Lawn rabbit munching. (2)

(1) due to wildfire smoke.  Numerous other places and activities were/are closed - even the casino, for Pete's sake! 

(2) so I'm kind of struggling with this one.  I'm trying to think about all these human activities and events that are closed so we can all stay inside, and then out on the lawn is a rabbit munching it's way along - as if all were normal, with no place really to go inside and get out of the smoke.  Well, down a rabbit hole, I guess. I don't know how much protection that would provide.  All in all, I could have used a few more syllables.

Here's another try -

Walk, farmer's market,

band concert, Third Street music.....

    - Lawn rabbit munching. 

Would help if there was a more "smoky" strike-through option! 

Clear blue sky - somewhere;

thunder and lightning - somewhere;

        but here it's just smoke!

 

Unhealthy air - wildfire smoke from places west of here. 

Mushy bananas
don't add to granola, but -
      make delicious bread!

"So how hot is it?"

Car says one hundred and two -

       "No, really, how hot?"

 

Really, it was 102 for a little while! 

Wonderful God,

it has been a good day.

The gateways of morning and now evening

have shone with golden sunlight

and sung with windy joy.

You have watered the earth twice -

once with gentleness, once with hail!

The pastures of the wilderness overflow;

the hills gird themselves with joy;

the meadows clothe themselves with flocks;

the valleys deck themselves with grain;

they shout and sing together for joy.

There has been good food to eat

and someone to share it with.

It has been a good day.

I know that in all of this I am blessed by you.

Thank you.

         

 Puppy catching ball,
elf in the wind, ski-jumper -
     cloud shapes passing by.

(Wish I had taken pictures to show)

SPAM-ku....
One last piece of SPAM.
Eggs? Salad? Pasta? Sandwich?
        What to do? What to.....

So that wraps up SPAM week for another year, boys and girls. Hope you enjoyed it - the week and the SPAM!  And did you know there is Maple SPAM?

 After two weeks it's

deer one, potatoes zero -

        the garden at camp. 

We need a fence - or more chicken wire!  I don't under3stand why there is this whole field of leaves and the deer eat the potato plants!

 

SPAM-ku - 

For Friday fish fry -

Cajun Panko grilled salmon.

       But tomorrow - SPAM! 

(Cajun Panko grilled SPAM?  Maybe.) 

 

 

 

A walk by the lake,

an evening reading a book -

      both are calling me.

 

And a SPAM-ku for today-

Pizza crust with sauce, 

onions, peppers, olives, cheese -

       SPAM sizzling on top! 

 Brilliant red sunset

fades to pink, to grey, to black

      as time goes by - night!

 

And SPAM-ku for the day -

   SPAM and Colby cubes,

   bar-b-que sauce, and toothpicks -

        laid out on Limoges. 

 

White clouds in blue sky,

Green trees around blue water -

      driving by Teal Lake. 

 

and

Baked beans, salsa, chips,

potato salad - no SPAM?!?!

     quick trip to the store! 

Below trees and shrubs,
a wide expanse of green grass -
       one rabbit munching.

 

Then -

Wrapped in golden crust -
Potatoes, onions, cheese, SPAM.
      - July 5 Pasty!

Ok - a day late, what with yesterday being Sunday and somehow it had slipped off my calendar that SPAM was introduced on July 5.  But SPAM Week is off and running!

All encompassing God,

gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love -

your mercy is over all that you have made.

Forgive our fickle and childish ways.

Give us ears to hear the flute

and grace to dance along;

Give us ears to hear when others wail

and grace to quiet our hearts and mourn along.

Help us shoulder the yoke Jesus offers -

easy or hard, heavy or light – always right.

And if there are camels that need watering......

Bikers (1), bagpipers,

two bands (2), just one horse, no clowns (3) -

       but we remember. (4)

 

(1) motorcycles to lead the parade, Ore-to-Shore mountain bikers along with a float.

(2) one was the high school band, the other the NMU pep band (with electric base) on a float.

(3) there were some Shriners in little go-karts. Might have been a clown or two with them but they were too far ahead of me to see.

(4) several bands, 6-8 horses all decked out - I don't know what else.  Boy/Girl Scouts?

 

 

 

City fireworks,

Nature's thunder and lightening -

          which show will we see? 

 

9pm, clouds and "chance of showers and thunderstorms"!

Neighbors and hot dogs

and friendly conversation (1) -

        good start for the Fourth!

(1) picnic in the driveway.

Dark clouds on the lake, (1)

sunset golden through the trees (2) -

          after dinner walk. 

(1) looking east.

(2) looking west.