Length of Time

When folks say time is short, they are referring to our time (life) here on earth.  When they say time lasts forever, they are speaking of eternity - an infinite, indeterminately long period of time.  Stevie Wonder said "Time is long, but life is short."  That's the truth of it.



Time and grace heals our wounds, but time is not always a friend.  I know how short life can be. I've lost loved ones, friends, and students who were young.  Accidents and sudden illness can take away a life quickly.  Cancer, diabetes, aneurysms, embolisms, and other catastrophic events can change a person's health and life in a moment.  What about my family and friends who have not accepted God's words of life?  What if they were to die today?







I pray that my faith will be a guiding light and an influence upon those around me who do not yet know God, and an encouragement and example to those who know Him but are spiritually malnourished.  I actually fall into this second category much too often.

Saturday started with the predicted rain, coming down light but continuous.  Perfect for getting my new seed to germinate, although the ground temperature needed to be in the 60's.

Fireplace without the fire going, but has the LED lights on,
which makes it look like hot coals and embers in there.

Time was ticking and I had a long 'to do' list before Courtney's arrival.  So I hit it quickly with laundry (including bed and bath linens), cleaning bathrooms, making the guest bed in Britney's room, hanging a few more pictures, going grocery shopping, and doing a little cooking.  Seen below, the sunset painting is one of Britney's I recently unpacked and just hung up.

I also spent some time in my Bible Study.  It is hard for me to 'slow down' the busyness of life and take time to read, meditate on God's words, and pray.  One can not or should not, study fast.  You need to take time to let things sink in.  Well, in the middle of my study time, I got a phone call from a friend, asking if I had heard the bad news that Judy Gibson passed away during the night.  My first reaction was complete and utter dismay, trembling, and a sick feeling. 
I was shaking all over, but then I came to my senses, and remembered that I had just texted with Judy a few hours earlier about our rendezvous time for the evening.  Long story short, it turns out it was a different Judy Gibson.  Boy was that a wake-up call however.  Any one of us, at any time, can be swiped from the face of this earth.  My only hope, is that we will each be called home to heaven.  It took my nerves a while to calm down.

Courtney arrived about 3:30.  I had taken medicine for my cold (sinus headache, earache, post nasal drip, & sore throat) and was feeling l needed a nap.  Her allergies were bothering her, so we watched a movie (Zootopia) here at home rather than going out to the theater.  The movie was cute. 

We met Judy and Shirley at Reds for dinner, followed by Karaoke.  Terry wasn't the DJ, so we missed out on his great voice, but there were some good singers that we enjoyed, along with the conversation and food.


A little old lady, whom I haven't seen at Reds in ages, was there, and as usual, dancing up a storm.  She really enjoys moving to music, and I must admit, I got up and joined her during a few songs.

Once home, Courtney started a movie (about 11 pm) but I was quick to climb into bed.  Courtney took this photo of Maggie who had crawled under the blanket on her doggie bed. 

I didn't get up until almost 7:00 Sunday morning.  I was feeling pretty lousy.  I took more cold medicine along with all my morning vitamins and dietary supplements.  Courtney, who slept on the couch in the balcony, not in Britney's bed, got woken and was up just a half hour after me.  She did not feel well either, and reported that Mike had been sick.  We had banana muffins for breakfast, and then she fell back to sleep in front of the fire, and I got this blog started.


We were lazy girls all morning, but eventually got dressed and went to the barn.  Neither of us felt great and Courtney decided riding Zorro was a bigger task than she felt like tackling with the way she was feeling.  We each brought our own horse in and got them all cleaned up. 




Courtney decided to do some work in the pony pen (seen below) and I hopped on Amiga, bareback.  I soon discovered how sore I still was from our mishap last Thursday.  At least Amiga seemed sound, with no signs of stiffness.  She was very wound up though.  I took this video of Courtney working Zorro while I sat on Amiga. 

 

We turned our horses back out to pasture (seen left, Amiga heading to the herd) and then we returned home for a late 3:00 lunch, consisting of a big salad, made to each of our liking.  And then, too soon, Courtney was on the road for home.  The length of time together never seems long enough, for me anyway. 😍

I took Maggie on an hour walk, got back, and settled in for a quiet evening at home.  I took care of a few household chores and then computerized, read, and watched TV.  My right ear, head, and throat really hurt.

Monday morning sunrise reflected in the pond.

Time seemed to stand still during parts of the night.  I felt absolutely horrible.  My pounding head, cough, ringing ears, runny nose, and aching body would not let me rest peacefully.

Upon waking Monday morning, I decided a trip to the Dr. was going to be necessary.  No one really knows the length of time they are going to be sick.  With a vacation coming up, I did not have time to 'ride this cold' out.  But, I didn't feel like going anywhere, especially to a doctor.  I called once they were open and was able to get in at 10:45.

The doctor appointment and trip to the pharmacy took almost two hours of my time, but I guess that isn't too bad.  This is the arsenal of drugs I now had.  I was being treated for an upper respiratory infection.  The Dr. said my right Eustachian tube was totally compressed from all the pressure in my sinuses, thus the earache.

I took the two antibiotic tablets with lunch and then took Maggie on a 30 minute walk.  I figured fresh air, sunshine, and exercise might do us good.  It was exhausting and I was starting to feel achy again.  Once home, I laid down out on the deck in the sun to read and nap.  Maggie joined me.

The Amaryllis is now in full bloom.

It had clouded up and I started feeling cold, so in we came and I turned the fire on and took a better nap in front of it.  Then I got too hot.  I think I might have started to run a fever.  I just couldn't get comfortable.  I really started aching all over, coughing, and was feverish.  I finally decided to take more Mucinex.  It wasn't in the Dr's. orders, but I needed something for the pain.  It helped a lot, and by the time I went to bed, I was able to rest.

Tuesday morning I needed another Mucinex to clear my head and relieve me of the aches.  Later, I decided I felt good enough to go to Bible Study, which I did.  I prayed I wouldn't share any germs. 

My noon antibiotic gave me a little intestinal upset like it had the day before, but not so bad I couldn't go for a long walk.  I took Maggie on the Seven Bridges hiking trail, thus these photos.






Joe arrived home from his one week Florida golf vacation shortly after I got back with the dog.  I was still feeling bad enough that I wasn't up to conversing (pulling information from him) about his week.




It wasn't that cold out, but the increasing winds pushed in the clouds which carried rain.  I had a cup of tea out on the back porch, watching the rain, which had just started.  Later I heated up some soup for dinner.  And before bed, Joe and I watched TV with the fire going.  I took more meds before going to bed, and hoped the length of time this ailment lasted, would be short.

Wednesday I rolled out of bed at 6 am, feeling pretty good actually.  I love that the sky is already light at this time of day.  It was 53 degrees, misting, and the birds were singing.  It felt like spring.  A pair of ducks were feeding on corn down back and mucking around in the pond.

It ended up raining all morning.  I worked on my Bible Study and then went to the library to return the Janet Evanovich book I had finished and get the next one in the series.



Still being low on energy, after lunch I laid on the couch on the balcony and started my new book.  Then I took a nap with Stevie curled up against my side.  It was nice.  But I woke abruptly, realizing I had forgotten to take today's antibiotic, so scurried down stairs to do that before forgetting.  I felt I needed to do something productive, so worked at cleaning off my desk.  Then I stained the duck house with our dark accent deck stain.





Before the sun went down, I took Maggie for a long walk.  We saw this herd of deer when heading up Baltusrol Dr.  There were at least seven of them that scurried across the road and into the woods.  Seen below, if you look closely, you should see seven I think.  They are so well camouflaged.  I count the tails and noses.

Forty minutes later, as we were coming back by way of Snead, we saw the deer again.  I think it was the same herd, and they were still on the move.  In left photo, you should be able to count seven of them.

Joe was at poker, so I spent more time than necessary, here at my computer.  Oh well, it entertains and helps me feel connected to some of the people I know and love.  I actually won solitaire twice in a row.  Unbelievable!


Thursday morning Joe helped me install the duck house down by the pond.  We hung it on this large white pine.  Some dead branches had to be removed first.


I am so excited to have it up.  It would be wonderful to get some ducky inhabitants.

Its a little hard to see it in this first (right) photo.  The two pictures below give you a better view of it's location.

Since we had the ladder out, we did some tree trimming.  I soon discovered being up 15 feet was a bit shaky for me because I was still feeling rather dizzy from my head congestion.  So Joe climbed the ladder to do the trimming.  Time was short so we didn't get much done.  I headed to the barn and Joe was soon off to golf.

Seen left, Amiga with a mouth full of grass (actually winter wheat).  I let her graze here every time I ride.



The three dogs accompanied me as usual, and we met Karen and Jan on Marmaduke, a paved road.  It was a beautiful day to ride.  Amiga was a little stiff in the back left hip again, but held up well.  We rode for almost two hours, going on the dirt roads, which have perfect footing.






Once home, I had to eat and nap before continuing my outdoor work.  I still don't have all my energy back.  I skipped going to my usual weight and stretch workout (third one to miss now), but did clean leaves out of some of the flower beds.



I noticed the Lenten rose (seen right) were blooming once I uncovered the leaves from on top of them.

Joe grilled pork chops for dinner and we started watching the old series "Missing."  I remember the broken hearted search for a dog years ago and can't even imagine if it were a child.  Length of time would take on a whole different realm in this situation.  

Friday morning the ducks were back.  It was warm, sunny, but windy.  Joe left to golf at 8:00.  I worked at this blog, Bible Study and was out the door by 10:30.

Amiga let me walk right up to her out in the pasture.  She has been very good about letting me catch her.

Georgia cools off and gets a drink when we get to the creek.

She was a little stiff leaving the barn, but got better as we went down the trail.  I gave her a few minutes of grazing time out in the bean field, and it is because of this, partly, that I think she likes going out on the trail.



It was windy, partly cloudy, but a very warm day.  I took the new trail to Stratford, where I met up with Jan.  We headed out in a different direction, going to the east side of Westchester.
We rode for 2 1/2 hours.  Cash and Amiga both got tired, and near the end of our ride were dragging a little bit.  Amiga even got a little tripsy.  Our horses are so good to work so hard for us. 

Can you see what the dogs are doing up ahead in the left photo?  They and the horses got quite warm.  So the dogs took every opportunity to cool off whenever possible.  The right photo shows a closer view of what was going on in the left photo.  Silly dogs.  They stayed with us until the last half hour, where they cut through the golf course to get home early.

Back at the bean field, I got off Amiga to stretch my legs, let her rest, and reward her with some good eatin's.  I gave her 15 minutes of chow time.  The length of time of our ride was the longest one since last fall.  After the long rest, when I got back on and rode the last half mile back to the barn, Amiga was a bit stiff again.

The Daffodils are now in full bloom.

I wanted to rest once I got home, but the length of time remaining in my day was short, so I got to work in the yard.  I finished trimming the tall trees so we could then store the big ladder back under the porch.  Then I started trimming bushes until time ran out.



After getting cleaned up, Joe and I were off to Jan and Mike's where we enjoyed their beautiful back porch along with cocktails.  Time is short, maybe shorter than you think, so spend it in good company.

Next, Joe and I went to Legends for their "Breakfast for Dinner" Buffet.  I ended up with this huge omelet at the 'make your own' station, and then added more bacon and hash browns to my plate.  I squeezed in fruit and then a waffle with strawberry sauce on top.  I don't usually eat like there's no tomorrow, because when tomorrow comes, there are consequences to pay.  

I like this prayer - "Dear Lord, If tomorrow never comes on this earth, I pray that I will leave behind a testimony that points to you. Help me to live as if today were my last before entering eternity, for I know not what the day may bring. I pray that I will love others with a godly love, that I will be kind and considerate, that I will share who you are and what you have done, that I will smile at those I see throughout the day, that I will remember and pray for others, that I will appreciate every little thing and have an attitude of gratitude, that I will be honest and responsible in all things. Thank you for blessing me and loving me and filling me with your spirit. Please feed my soul and give me strength today.  May you be glorified and my family be blessed. May I touch lives and sow seeds throughout the day. Amen."