Monday Musings

First, some random pictures for a random post:

~ mushrooms/toadstools (what's the difference?) at the Virginia Safari Park...I have never seen such interesting mushrooms/toadstools! (mushstools? toadrooms?)...isn't God's creative genius simply mind-boggling?
~ a big, old (and I mean that literally) tortoise at the Safari Park
~ Josiah sleeping on the way home from the Park...the funny thing to me about this picture is that when we saw that Josiah was falling asleep but didn't really have good support for his head (except for his seatbelt strap), Jeff said, "Do you want my jacket to use as a pillow?"...to which Josiah said, "I have my jacket; I'll use that"...so he wadded it up and put it on the OPPOSITE side of his head from where it would have done any good at cushioning!...the downside of having Josiah in a booster seat instead of a regular carseat is that there are no sides to lean against to fall asleep
~ David was so tired and, despite the exciting Clifford book in his lap, couldn't keep himself from drifting off...when I noticed that his eyes were shut, I tried to remove his sunglasses; but he woke up and insisted that they remain on his face...he soon fell asleep again, sunglasses and all!

**********

I have a confession to make. I love country music--some country music, that is. I'm definitely not into the I-lost-my-love-so-let-me-go-look-in-a-bar type of country music, know what I mean? However, despite my deep love for country music, I rarely listen to it because on a country radio station, you just never know what songs will be coming on; and I want to do everything I can to protect my little boys' ears from the I-lost-my-love...(you know the rest) kind of songs.

Recently though, I happened to have the radio on at two different times when I was sitting in the minivan with Tobin waiting for Jeff, Josiah, and David to come back to the car from an errand. (Yes, Jeff, this is what I do while you guys are in the bank: I listen to country music. My guilty secret is out.) :) And I heard two songs that I had never heard before, but both of them brought tears to my eyes...happy tears, of course...although, if you've read much of this blog, you know that's not TOO difficult to do! But they were the kinds of heart-warming, make-you-appreciate-the-simple-things-of-life songs that are, in my opinion, the very best of country music.

So what were they? One was "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins. And the other was "Love Is a Beautiful Thing" by Phil Vassar. Ah, good stuff! :)

**********

Speaking of the simple things of life--the country life--spring is here! Have you noticed? I threw open the windows on a warm day last week to enjoy the fresh air, but it wasn't too long until Josiah said, "WHAT is that smell?"

"Well, my dear boy, it's...cow poop." A beautiful warm, spring day is a perfect opportunity for the farmers to spread manure!

"It smells like Hershey Kisses with throw-up," replied my son. "Can you shut the windows?"

On a more pleasant note, here are some other signs of spring: daffodils bursting forth in the front flowerbed, hyacinths splashing their bright colors around the base of my fringe trees, green grass (it's amazing how suddenly the grass greened up...from brown to vibrant green in less than a week, I'd say...it's gorgeous!), tiny leaves beginning to unfold on our maples and lilacs, tulips getting ready to explode and paint the flowerbed by the woodshed in all sorts of colors, forsythia putting out a few sunshiny yellow blooms (although our forsythia is way late compared to most of the rest in this area). It's a wonderful time of year!

Which reminds me...time to do a few special spring jobs. I need to wash some sweaters and put them away until fall, and I also need to take our Christmas candles out of the windows because open windows with breezes blowing through and Christmas candles that can fall onto the floor just don't go together. Why, you might wonder, do we still have our Christmas candles up? Long ago, on a choir trip through part of Pennsylvania, we traveled through an area where it was very common for people to keep candles in their windows all year long. I thought it was the most beautiful thing to see all these homes with white candles in them when it wasn't even the Christmas season. So now that we live here, I'm able to participate a little in that tradition by keeping ours up until it's warm enough to open windows on a regular basis. Today is a bit on the chilly side--only in the 50s--but soon it will be time to take down the candles and open wide the windows! But, if Josiah has his way, only on days when no farmers have spread manure...

I guess this must be the day for confession because I have another one to make. The smell of manure doesn't bother me in the least because it simply reminds me of home. When you grow up in the country, you just get used to it...I guess. Anyway, when we lived far, far away, in the metropolis of southern California, I used to get great satisfaction out of going to Home Depot and wandering in the aisles of the garden section until I found the bags of steer manure that they sold there for using as fertilizer. When no one was around, I would stop and get close to the bags and take deep breaths of that good country air. It swept me away...home to the pastures of Virginia...home to my grandparents' farm in Pennsylvania...home to the country where I couldn't wait to be! :)

**********

Yesterday the five of us ate lunch at Shoney's after our church service; and as we were ordering, we all kept saying, "I want the buffet"..."I'll just have the buffet"..."buffet for me"...etc. David, not wanting to be left out, said, "I want the buffet." Then, perhaps thinking that the "buffet" was a type of food like spaghetti or pancakes, he asked, "Is the buffet hot???" Oh, funny boy, it helps to know what you're ordering before you clamor loudly that you want it! :)

Later during our meal, I said, "David, don't pick your nose," as he was engaging in that very activity at our table. He said, "I pick my nose in bed at night." So I began to talk about how it's not polite to do that in public but if you need to, it's OK to go into a bathroom or your bedroom to do it, etc. Then he asked, "Can I put my boogers in my mouth at night?" :)