A Charmed Life

I was at a Christian Women’s Writing Retreat this weekend and came home all excited to tell everyone about it. (They didn’t have very good WiFi at the retreat center, which is why I haven’t blogged since Wednesday.) I’ve also wanted to finish up telling you about our camping trip to Michigan this past July. But as usual, life got in the way, and there is something more pressing that I need to share.

Last Monday, when I got home from work, Hubby asked when I last saw our cat Fred. Just the day before he had been laying in the rocks on the back side of the house. He actually was laying so still, on his side rather stretched out, that I checked to be sure he was breathing. He was, so I didn’t think any more about it.

He didn’t materialize all week. Hubby was sure that he had met his demise, hopefully from old age (though he had only just turned 14), and not from some tragic accident where suffering was involved. I held out hope that he would show up. Fred and two of our other cats stay outside most of the time, and on occasion one of them will go on what we call a “walk-about”. They might wander off for a few days or a week or two and then return home like a gallant warrior.

Eight years ago, I blogged about the death of my favorite cat, Bam-Bam (you can read about that by clicking here). The discovery of Fred’s body last night wasn’t too much different, but I won’t go into detail. I can tell you that he didn’t appear to have suffered.

That’s all I got. Except for these.  

 Fred with Betty and Ches. What a trio of babies.

 I had an adorable picture of him as a kitten, sitting in Hubby's slipper, but I just couldn't find it. I'll share it when it turns up.

 Ches, Fred and Betty, being babies again. So much for being outside cats, right?

 You've seen those videos of cats being afraid of cucumbers? Apparently zucchini is only boring. Yes, Fred is yawning.

 Cats being lazy. I guess that's what they are good at.

 Last picture I have of Fred (with Ches) taken the end of July.

 Just so that you don’t get all, “oh, poor Chris, so sorry for your loss”, Fred was a pain. He was messed up in the head. If I haven’t already told you that, I’m not going to go elaborate here. You just have to trust me. Yes, I will miss him, things will be different without him, but, really, I'm totally fine with this. 

2018 Camping Post #3 - A Sad Story

 Last Friday I told you about the first half of our second day of camping, when we visited the Iron County Historical Museum in Caspian, Michigan. From there, we drove to one of the saddest places I’ve ever been to.

 Chicagon Lake and Pentoga Park.

 Without rewriting the entire story, I’ll tell you just that this is the site of ancient Indian burial grounds. In 1891, the chief sold the land when he and his tribe moved. The county ended up with it in 1924 and decided to make a park there on the banks of beautiful Chicagon Lake..

 Not only does that seem disgraceful to the Ojibway members buried there and to their descendants -

 But can you imagine pulling up to your campsite with your RV, ready to set up your camp for the night and you see all these graves right behind your site?

 Very morbid I think. I grew very sad at this place. Sad for the Ojibway tribe and for all the other Native tribes who have suffered at the hands of the White Man.

 Driving down a back road after leaving Pentoga Park, this momma and her babies graced us with their presence.

 I guess maybe it is always about the Circle of Life.

 Speaking of life, this little town of Alpha didn’t have much.

  Even in its mining heyday, it’s hard to believe that the area needed this big of a high school.

  Or maybe they did just for the basketball team.

 What do you think, Dino? Ready to get back among the living?

Refreshed by God's Dew

 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.

(Psalm 23:1-3a New International Version)

Every morning, the dog wakes us up between 4 and 6 am, and either my husband or I dutifully let him out. One morning last week, I had the early morning detail, and when I came back to bed after letting the dog in and feeding him, Hubby asked if it was raining out, as rain was in the forecast most of the week. I answered him, “no, it’s just dewy out.”

“Dewy?” he asked.

“Yea, you know, dewy. As in it hasn’t rained but the deck is wet from dew.”

He was so impressed that he rolled over and went back to sleep. As is my morning routine, I pulled out my book “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young and read the day’s devotion. The opening sentence for that day read, “Let the Dew of My Presence refresh your mind and heart.”

Further in that paragraph was written, “As dew refreshes grass and flowers during the stillness of the night, so My Presence revitalizes you as you sit quietly with Me.”

Now, I know that many people would say, what a coincidence. Believers don’t refer to such things as coincidences. They might call them God-incidences or that those are times when God winks at you or that God is sending you a sign. I don’t even label those little occurrences. I just look up to the heavens, maybe wink at God myself, and say, “You got this, God, just like always.”  

 Thank You, Lord, Father for always having everything covered and taken care of. Amen.

2018 Camping Post #2 - Stepping Back in Time

 Welcome to the second day of our camping trip this past July. Tuesday morning, we drove from Bewabic State Park to Iron River and to the Iron County Historical Museum and Park in Caspian. It was only $10 per person to get in (Dino was free, but he had to stay outside the buildings, but there were enough of them to walk around). For all the buildings and exhibits they had, it was well worth the price. I wish we would have spent more time there, I don’t know why we didn’t except I guess sometimes a person can get overwhelmed with all that history.

 I would love to expound on each of these pictures, but that would take me forever. I’m just going to tell you that if you love history or Michigan’s UP, you need to take a drive to this place sometime.

 In the meantime, enjoy this small spattering of pictures. (With my usual snap-happiness, I took 140 pictures here. I am really gypping you by only share this many of them.)  

 Spending just ten minutes in this jail cell would deter me from a life of crime. 

The school house. 

 A typical miner's cabin. 

 And how the other one-half lived. (Or more like the one-twentieth.) 

 Inside the school house. 

 Mining at the turn of the last century was a dangerous life. 

What you think, Dino? Enough history for one day? 

 Definitely enough for this puppy. 

2018 Camping Post #1 - Finally

 Oh, for goodness sakes! I am still so behind on everything. Here it is the first week of September, schools are back in session, and I still haven’t told you about our camping trip in July!

 You may recall that I did blog about how sick I was the entire week, but here’s my journal entry from the first day of camping:

       Monday, July 16, 2018 - Last Thursday, I came down with a cold, which is just beyond a cold now. It has morphed into a cruel aberration that has possessed my entire head. I am so disgusted, I cannot even remember the last time I went on a vacation where there was not one malady or another afflicting me. We just got back from Lifest yesterday, three days of God-filled inspiration, right? Yea, coz I feel so inspired right about now. I just don’t even get it. I mean, come on God, just tell me what you want me to do? You really don’t want me to ever take time off work and get out of town and just enjoy myself? Who am I, Job?

       Sorry for the rant, but I just don’t get it. Why I am not entitled to a simple, pain-free vacation? I really want to just keep ragging about this. Because I am soooo MISERABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

       I probably should just go to bed and I don’t know, lay here awake for yet another night because I cannot breathe!

       Ok, seriously, get a grip.

 Wow, that was pretty pathetic, wasn’t it? Talk about feeling sorry myself. Yikes! Even if the cold and congestion didn’t get much better all that week, and the hubby came down with it the end of the week (and kept asking, “how many days do I have left of this???”), we still had a good time. It turned out to be relaxing and low-key.

 Packed up Monday morning, July 16. Two things to notice in this first picture – the awning is on the side of the camper and Hubby has to pull it past a tree to get it out of the driveway.

 Here you may notice that the awning has been removed. It brushed up against that tree just enough to pull it loose in enough spots, that I thought, “let’s just rip it off”. Done.

 A few hours later, camp is set up at Bewabic State Park just west of Crystal Falls, Michigan.

 The next morning, we took a walk around the park, past this building, which was the original bathhouse, built by the CCC in 1936.

 And past Fortune Lake, with its geese.

 Our destination was this little island.

 Had to cross this bridge to get there.

 View of the campground on the other side of lake.

 Batman’s previous home. Actually I need one of these in my backyard. They say if you put up a bat house, they will come. Could it be that easy to have mosquito eradication around my house?

 What do you think, Dino? Ok, you just want to head back to camp for a treat, right? So, that's what we did. It was a better vacation than the one I'm having this week, where I am painting the living room. Uck!

What We are Meant to Become

 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

Romans 12:6a (New International Version)

 If you read my blog post on Friday, you may remember that Hubby and I were going to paint the living room this weekend. It’s taking longer than anticipated (imagine that!). We finished the ceiling yesterday and plan to attack the walls today.

 If you’ve read many of my past posts, you also know that I voraciously snap pictures and my favorite theme is before, during and after shots. Yes, they will be coming, but today I only have this one. Before we started moving the furniture out of the way, I found my silly little Alice, sitting there trying to decide if she wants to be a lion or a football player.

 Just like Alice, I’ve often wondered what I should be when I grow up, if I would ever achieve those lofty goals I had as a kid. Or if I would have to accept my fate in life.

 I think we can become anything we want to. But I also think that it will be so much easier if we first turn our lives over to God. He’s got it so much more together than we ever could. Let Him show us what gifts He has given each us, gifts which will allow us to find our dreams and reach them.

Heavenly Father, thank You for shaping each of us into the person we are. Send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts and minds so we can become what we are meant to be. Amen.

(And God, thank You for giving me a career other than painting. You knew I’d never earn a living doing that!)