CLAY AND WATTLES

Etc.

Election Day: We will soon have a new president-elect. I hope you voted - it's a privilege and a responsibility to do so.

Dreams: Last week I dreamed about Teri one night and Mama a couple of nights later. Last night I dreamed about the old store at Oldham and asking permission to take some of the crystals from old lamps, which then also became Christmas ornaments. I had pockets full of prisms, sparkly/shiny angels, snowflakes and then there was a pretty pink satin jacket that turned into a bag of some kind, into which I kept putting all these ornaments. Maybe it was all the beautiful ornaments at Cordial Cottage I saw last Saturday.

Geese: This morning I heard geese flying directly over the house and I rushed out into the back yard to see them. I love seeing them fly in formation and hear them herald their southern flight across our town. When I'm driving and see a flock I will slow down and roll my window down to hear them. This morning as soon as I opened the back door and glimpsed them through the trees. They were honking this morning. It sounded just like "Barack, Barack!" You can hear all sorts of things in an MRI machine, too.

Pancakes: I could hardly believe it when Carolyn said yesterday that we'd get to go out to eat today. It's Kiwanis Pancake Day - again! Hasn't it just been about 3 months since we went to First Baptist in Forrest City and had pancakes for lunch? This is unreal. I have time amnesia, I think.

Ballgames and Musicals: MS State plays Arkansas in Starkville on November 22. MS State has a new Jumbo-Tron. I haven't been to a game since last year. I love the State campus and the ballgames and I want to see the Jumbo-Tron. And it is only about 30 minutes from Sher's house, where we could spend the night and not do one of those one-day trips that Paul does. (I refuse to do one-dayers plus ballgame sandwiched between trips.) Being November 22, it will be cold. We don't know the time yet - it could be a night game, so it would be even colder. I don't do cold well. (Nor heat.) Then there is "Mamma Mia" at the Orpheum which runs November 18-23. Norma called me about that last night and I tried and tried to figure a way to maybe do both. I don't think that's possible, though. Sher said we can spend the night at her house and have "pre-Thanksgiving" on Sunday.

Thanksgiving: Still in the planning stage. I have to talk to Aunt Ginny. Amy doesn't know if she's going to have to work that day. But I think we will be in Iuka at some point, and at Mike's either for dinner, dessert or just visit. Probably spend one night at Mama Nick's, if she promises not to try to cook breakfast. I can do that.

Freezers: We've had our old chest-type freezer for probably 37 or 38 years, ever since we lived on Cottonwood, before Amy was born. It still runs. It collects things I can't get to because there are too many things sitting on top of it. This past weekend I cleaned it out and defrosted it and right now there is only one thing sitting on top of it - the Crock Pot. The freezer sits beside the dryer so I think the reason all the frost accumulates on that end is because it gets warm on that end. It is also a good place to put laundry until a "better" time to put it away. Last night I would not even lay a pair of socks on top of it because it only takes one pair of socks a stack to make! So now it is clean and organized with boxes of cereal and meat I got at Hay's sale before their move. (Remember Seinfeld's boxes of cereal on his fridge? That's what the inside of the freezer looks like.) If that old thing ever stops running I don't think there's any way to get it out of the utility room; we would probably use it to store something, like a cedar chest.

Books and Audio Books: The last two books on tape I have just had to turn back in - My Sister, My Love (Joyce Carrol Oates) and Testimony (Anita Shreve). They have just been too weird/disturbing/things I don't want to listen to. Maybe I'll re-listen to all the Jan Karon books again. (I've already done those twice through.) Or all the Tony Hillerman mysteries, or Southern Sisters mysteries. Looking forward to John Grogan's The Longest Trip Home. He wrote Marley and Me, which will be a movie out soon with Jennifer Anniston and Owen Wilson - should be hilarious. Possibly Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed. Yesterday I ordered the hardcover edition of the new ESV Study Bible, which Bro. Matt recommended some months ago. "So many books, so little time!"

Libraries and Librarians: Wanda Smith is retiring around Thanksgiving after many years of service at the Cross County Library. Angie Houttekier (I hope I spelled her name correctly) will be "Wanda, Jr." and is already there for training. I know Angie from her working at EACC in the Learning Resources Center. She's a sweet, smart, lovely young lady and will be a great asset to the library. I'll miss Wanda so much, seeing here there; I'm glad she's in my Sunday School class! If you go by the library tell Wanda congratulations and best wishes, and a welcome to Angie. Capricia Page, Library Director (not sure of correct title) does an excellent job, as well as all the library staff. We take our libraries for granted and they're a wonderful community resource.

Movie Interiors: This blog (Rosy Little Things) had a neat list to add to today. She started with nine movies whose interiors/sets she likes and asked for other favorites from readers. You can see the different lists in her comments. She also does other neat things on her site: cooking, sewing, crafts, photography. (Some of mine include You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Under the Tuscan Sun, Something's Gotta Give. If you have favorite movies you like for the interiors, I'd be glad to see them listed here! I thought this was a neat idea. Movie Interiors. The movie may have been not so good, but loved the interior!)

Missionaries: It's a blessing to be able to be in contact with several missionaries from our church. Kirk Owens is in East Asia and we email frequently. He's a great writer, photographer, athlete (some of the pictures of the terrain they have to navigate attests to that!), and most of all has a heart for the people he's working with. Kirk has been a real blessing to me and made me even more aware of the importance of walking the talk, depending on God, loving others, and enjoying life! Matt and Lynsey Argo are in Central Asia and I get their updates also. These are all young people whom I've had the privilege of seeing grow up in our church, or even later surrender whole-heartedly to God's leading. Bren is my home missionary - she is my life-long friend and has done so much to help me be centered and grounded in faith in Christ. So many people have loved and influenced me. I just hope I am passing along the torch somewhat. I often feel as if I am afloat out there, but I know Who trims the sails. And He also has His Hand on the rudder.