'ON STAGE'

The hollyhock, as if to declare her unwillingness to share center stage with the roses, has been quietly waiting (and growing) in the wings until now to make her grand entrance!

I'm certain we are in for a great show!

However, a quick glance to her right, and she will see a rather eager "up and coming" star preparing for it's cue.

It looks as though before it's over, they are going to have to share the spotlight.

In fact, if you could see ALL that's going on backstage, you would know that very soon the stage will be full!

Will keep you "posted" as the drama unfolds.

SUNRISE IN THE CITY

Where others see but the dawn coming over the hill, I see the soul of God shouting for joy.

William Blake (emphasis added)

A "POSTSCRIPT" TO TODAY'S PREVIOUS POST

I just got back from my morning walk. running....(oh my no, I don't run!) a little late today. Well, it is a holiday.....and that's what is on my mind at this moment.

You see, The Hill is quiet this morning. Oh, I encountered folks riding bikes, watering lawns, working on their cars, and I saw one elderly gentleman (barefooted he was) slipping out of his house to buy a morning newspaper at the corner stand.

I'm quite sure that behind many of the closed doors, there is preparation going on....potatos being peeled for a big bowl of potato salad, beans baking in the oven, and cupcakes being iced....all for getting together with family and friends for the annual Memorial Day cookout!

But The Hill is quiet....The businesses are closed....because you see, it's a Holiday.
A special one at that.

I am very thankful that there are some places that still pause to remember. A place where daily commerce is set aside and tradition, family, and yes flag and country are celebrated!

And I am thankful that God has planted me in such a place!

MEMORIAL DAY 2006

That They Have Not Died In Vain

The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead today,
Is not a rose wreath, white and red,
In memory of the blood they shed;
It is to stand beside each mound,
Each couch of consecrated ground,
And pledge ourselves as warrior true
Unto the work they died to do.

Into God's valleys where they lie
At rest, beneath the open sky,
Triumphant now o'er every foe,
As living tributes let us go.
No wreath of rose or immortelles
Or spoken word or tolling bells
Will do today, unless we give
Our pledge that liberty shall live.

Our hearts must be the roses red
We place above our hero dead;
Today beside their graves we must
Renew allegiance to their trust;
Must bare our heads and humbly say
We hold the Flag as dear as they,
And stand, as once they stood to die
To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.

The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead today
Is not of speech or roses red,
But living, throbbing hearts instead,
That shall renew the pledge they sealed
With death upon the battlefield;
That freedom's flag shall bear no stain
And free men wear no tyrant's chain.

Edgar A Guest

This is from my Granmother Holmes' book copyrighted 1917
Written on the title page is "Christmas 1920 - to Mother from Hazel"
There is a small scrap of paper there with these words in Grandmother's hand "never, never throw this book away".

Can we even comprehend those who have died serving the cause of freedom since this poem was written.

I hope and pray that I will never, never forget the price that has been paid so that I can sit on my front porch, can fly (or even choose not to) the flag of this country, and breathe the air of freedom.

Let There Be Peace On Earth, and Let It Begin With Me.

EARLY MORNING

In The Garden

I come to the garden alone,
while the dew is still on the roses,
and the voice I hear
falling on my ear,
the Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me,
and He talks with me,
and He tells me I am His own;
and the joy we share as we tarry there,
none other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
and the melody that He gave to me
within my heart is ringing.

And He walks with me,
and He talks with me,
and He tells me I am His own;
and the joy we share as we tarry there,
none other has ever known.

I'd stay in the garden with Him
though the night around me be falling,
but He bids me go; thru the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling.

And He walks with me,
and He talks with me,
and He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
none other has ever known.

Austin Miles
#314 United Methodist Hymnal

HIS PRESENCE

This was shared by "Ladybug" My thanks to her.


A garden is a lovesome thing.
God wot!
Rose plot,
Fringed pool,
Ferned grot..
The veriest school of peace;
and yet the fool
contends that God is not...

Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign;
'Tis very sure God walks in mine.

Thomas Edward Brown

More on this thought tomorrow....

GRATITUDE

Isn't it a wonderful morning?

The world looks like something God had just imagined for His own pleasure.
Lucy Maud Montgomery

Thank you Lord for sharing!

ANTICIPATION II

I looked it up....(love this easy acces to Mr Webster through cyper space!)

Among his thoughts were hope, high hopes, joy, outlook, promise, and trust.

Take your pick..and think on it today....all day!

I choose Promise. My garden is full of it; as is Life itself.


In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise; butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter there's a spring that waits to be,
unrevealaed until its season, something God alone can see.


There's a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
there's a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.

From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.


In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.

In our death, a resurrection, at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Hymn of Promise
Natalie Sleeth
# 707 United Methodist Hymnal

ANTICIPATION

Perhaps one of the greatest joys of gardening is the watching and waiting.

When I was a child, we would very often on a Sunday afternoon visit my "country kin" (my dad's brothers who were farmers in rural Cape Girardeau County).

That's what you did on Sunday afternoons...went visiting.

I don't think we called ahead. Well, eveyone didn't have a phone. I don't mean they didn't carry one in pocket or purse, or have one strapped to their belt or clipped on an ear. I mean they didn't have a phone!

Well, I digress.

Back to the visiting.

We were never there very long before the resident uncle would invite the men to see the garden.

Very often this "viewing" produced nothing more than a few tiny sprouts that had managed to break through the rich, dark earth as if to say, "here we come!". It somehow seemed to be very significant to everyone.

Subsequent Sunday visits would offer a "show" of first buds, followed by blooms, with each holding a promise; a red, ripe, juicy tomato or a steaming pot of fresh green beans, cooked with lots of onion and seasoned with bacon grease!

For as we are reminded in Genesis 1:29, "Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth...that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.' ".

As a child I thought this was an odd thing to do....these on-going inspections of the garden. I mean really "what's the big deal?".

But now I understand. And as most of you who visit 5117 Wilson Ave can attest to, sooner or later you will hear, "come see the garden".

I thank each of you for sharing the "anticipation" with me.

Hope you will come back for another visit to see what these buds will bring forth

SLIGHT DELAY

Dear friends and family,

Computer going into computer hospital for a little R&R. Please keep checking back!

FIRST ROSE OF SUMMER

"Count among your blessings the quiet beauty of a single flower." Maryalein Bastin

GOOD MORNING!

The Infinite has sowed His name in the heaven in burning stars, but on the earth He has sowed His name in tender flowers.

Jean Paul Richter

TAKE TIME

Every garden needs a place to sit...to rest...to feel renewed.This is a special bench....it came from my dear mother's front porch. Sweet memories.

THE OTHER SIDE

" Much of what is sacred is hidden in the ordinary, everyday moments of our lives. To see something of the sacred in those moments takes slowing down so we can live our lives more reflectivdely." Ken Gore

Who knows, today might hold something very special within the repeated routine of life that we all live in. It might be reflected in someone we live with everyday and somehow have perhaps let the realization of the awesome gift of their presence in our lives begin to diminish.

Today tell someone you love that you love them. (or better yet....show them)

Before we go any further, I wanted to share the other side of my garden. More to come later about this. "

ABUNDANT SUNSHINE1

The early morning dew glistened like diamonds early this day.

"For in the true nature of things, if we will rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver."

Martin Luther


Am posting several pics from earlier this spring.

WELCOME TO MY GARDEN

I plan to post pictures of my ever changing garden. Here's several I took today.

GLORIOUS MORNING!

This is the day the Lord has made!

This is my first blog entry. Thank you Mike for encouraging me to start this "journal".

It seems appropriate to me to begin this venture on May Day! You see, I hope to share the joy and wondrous beauty of God's handiwork in my garden, and this day brings back childhood memories of how we celebrated May Day by making up small baskets of flowers from my family's garden, and then hanging them on our neighbors door knobs, ringing the bell and running as fast as we could! What fun.

And so instead of your front door, I now can share my flowers across the world via the magic of the internet.