Music Half Forgotten

We are deep in the midst of a major drought here; no measurable rain since sometime in April. The heat is relentless, with triple digits daily. The thermometer in the shade of my front porch reads 108 degrees almost every evening, as the sun beats down mercilessly on the land. I walk across my yard, and each step crunches like walking on pretzels; grass is not supposed to feel like this. The poor trees have gone into early dormancy; the majestic oaks in the woods have turned brown and the others are beginning to shed their leaves. It is fall three months early, without the cool October winds and the brilliant colors.

I have been trying desperately to save our trees and a few shrubs. At first, I was watering daily, until I realized that this was no ordinary dry spell. Now I have cut back to every other day, but may have to cut back more. Even with the watering, some of our youngest trees are starting to droop their sunburned leaves.

Yesterday the weatherman had excitedly predicted rain; the clouds came and the thunder boomed, but the heavens did not open; the rains did not come. This morning the sky is enticingly cloudy, and the prediction once again is for rain. We will see; God is in charge here, not the weatherman. Many churches and many Christians have come together to pray for rain; it will take more than just one rainfall to undo the damage here.

Meanwhile, my life is good. I am continuing to enjoy my retirement, and even mundane chores like housecleaning and laundry and grocery shopping are fun when they are done by choice, and not squeezed in out of necessity.  Although I miss many of my patients that I cared for, and many of my co-workers, I do not miss the stress or the pressure of my job. I am thankful that God allowed me to lay it down and to move in another direction for a time.

My Wednesday night classes are finished for now, and I thank you for the support of your prayers. I think much was accomplished; some walls were broken down and some bridges were built. I know much of what I had to say to these ladies was hard to hear. It is not always easy to take inventory of ourselves and to know that we need to come up higher in some areas; I could almost feel the pain some of them felt as they realized some hard truths. Jesus said that the truth would set us free; it is the truth about ourselves that finally brings freedom. I don’t know what Pastor has planned for the months to come, but I have decided to keep my options open and to be available if he needs me to teach again. And I am constantly evolving and trying to come up higher in all areas of my own life. Not always an easy task.

My precious charge Lydia is growing and changing daily. Lest I confuse anyone, I will remind you that I am simply her nanny; she belongs to friends of Summer and Tay.

I adore her, and love to see her face break into a smile when she sees me. She is big enough now that she can sit upright in my lap while I read to her; she is only 9 weeks old, and I know she doesn’t truly understand what I’m reading, but reading stimulates a different part of the brain than talking.

I started reading to Summer, even while she was still in my womb, and she grew up with a tremendous love of reading. She never grew tired of hearing me read to her, and she longed to be able to read by herself; so when she was 2 years old, I taught her to read, and she has never stopped. I hope that Lydia develops the same love of reading, and thirst for knowledge.

So now I am off to explore this day; the watering has already started and it’s time to go move the sprinkler again. Meanwhile, please pray for rain…

Listen……. It’s thundering.