It is that time of year again...actually, it is a bit early, but with this warm weather the rattlesnakes are coming out to enjoy the day also. So let me tell you about our first encounter this year:
It was a nice, but warm (~90*) day today and as soon as the sun went down a cool breeze came in. The dogs (and cat) were very excitable this evening. We called the dogs in around 9pm because Pete was circling the house...probably looking for trouble to dig up (pun intended). Pascal (the cat) stayed outside and did not want to come in yet. Alesha went out to hang some more clothes (with Pascal around, she feels reasonably safe since he can see creepy things in the dark better than we can). Alesha came back in, but Pascal wanted to stay out. We had our windows open to feel the breeze come through the house. Alesha went to the window and heard a strange, but somewhat familiar sound, but she did not think, "Snake!" (keep in mind that our new house makes many interesting sounds that we constantly mistake for other things...in fact, just now (I thought) I heard Levi crying in bed, but no, it was just the water heater screaming quietly in its closet). Alesha stepped outside on to our porch to listen to the sound better; she saw Pascal about 10 feet away staring at the house and the strange yet familiar sound made complete sense. It was a rattlesnake! So I got the gun, and blew him in half on the 1st shot (yea!...I do not consider myself a very good shot...especially, when trying to hit a skinny piece of rope laying next to my new house). I took another shot at the snake, because I really wanted the head separated from the body. Eventually, I used a hoe to finish him off. It was all quite an exciting evening. I saved the body...well, what is left of the body for the kids to play with in the morning. ;-)
Enjoy!
Taylor
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
"Just for Thank You..."
Glory and I had a fun conversation the other day, and I thought you might want to listen in...
- Glory: "Mama, I'm gonna turn on the light - is that O.K.?"
- Me: "No, let's leave it off for now; it's pretty bright in here. We have to pay money to use that light, but we can use the skylight for free.
- Glory: (confused look)
- Me: "Do you have to pay for the sunshine, Glory?"
- Glory: "Yes."
- Me: (Laughing a bit), "Who do you give the money to?"
- Glory: "the LORD"
- Me: (Laughing a bit harder), "No, Glory, the Lord doesn't make us pay for the sunshine. He gives it to everybody for free. We do give money to the Lord, though, you're right..."
- Glory: (interrupting my explanation), "Yeah, just for THANK YOU!"
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Blogging @ Home
Well, I have some good news for those of you who want more detailed information per blog entry...this may be one of my last entries! Yup, it is possible that Alesha will be slowly taking over the blog. We are trying out a new wireless internet connection offered by our cell phone provider. It offers reasonably high speed access that I may be able to use for my work (the intent of my job is that I work from home, but this has never been realized since I required high speed access with minimal latency far out of town...this rules out DSL, cable, and satellite). Currently, I am trying out the wireless access to see if it will meet my work needs (I have 15 days to use and abuse it). If it is acceptable, then we will have to figure out some way for me to work from a currently only two-bedroom house...details, details. A perk of having this internet capability at home is that we can use it for personal use (as long as it does not interfere with my work). So here we go, Wireless Internet, on trial!
For those of you techies, our provider uses CDMA instead of GSP (?). If you know anything about it, then I would like to hear from you. I really want to push this connection to the limit during my trial period so that there are fewer surprises later on.
Enjoy!
Taylor
For those of you techies, our provider uses CDMA instead of GSP (?). If you know anything about it, then I would like to hear from you. I really want to push this connection to the limit during my trial period so that there are fewer surprises later on.
Enjoy!
Taylor
Welcome Home!
As soon as we get the place cleaned up a bit (i.e. no more boxes to unpack), then we will get you some pictures from the inside.
-Taylor
Friday, March 14, 2008
A Pounding
(Ooops! I forgot to get a picture of the house from the outside. Check back later.)
Last Lord's Day (March 9th), we received a "pounding" from our friends. Now this may not seem like something desirable so I will explain.
As I understand it, several generations ago, when a teacher, preacher, or new family came to a community the neighboring people would throw a "pounding" for the new person/family. Typically, some random day when the family was fairly recently settled in their home, guests would begin to arrive. Lots of them. All at the same time. This would happen near dinner time.
You may be able to imagine the overwhelming anxiety that the lady/cook could be feeling at this point in wondering how she is going to feed so many guests. Given that she was new to the area, it is also likely that her pantry was filled enough for her family, but certainly not enough to sustain many guests (keep in mind that the food for the family was cut down to the necessities during the move, and there was no Walmart to be able to quickly restock the pantry, the restocking would be done over several seasons).
Joyfully, as the guests arrive, each had a large pot or basket of food; so to the lady's delight there is no lack of food during the dinner party. After the meal and social activities were over, the guests would leave. After the guests were gone, there would be several bags, pots, jars, and other containers left behind. Each would be filled with something like flower, cornmeal, yeast, nuts, berries, dried fruit, etc. (this is of course my guess of what the contents were, but there might have been other useful items such as nails, screws, staples,...!). The contents of each container would weight about one pound.
(Now you know.)
In our particular "pound party", guests came dressed in some western attire and they also brought some much needed rain! (We have not had rain since early November.) Since our house was recently constructed the nearest 20+ feet around our house was dirt, and the guests came just as the rain began. Everyone was very muddy upon entering the house, but they shucked their muddy boots at the entry (I sure am glad that we did not put carpet there!) and seemed to have a great time.
Well that was our "pounding".
Enjoy!
Taylor
Last Lord's Day (March 9th), we received a "pounding" from our friends. Now this may not seem like something desirable so I will explain.
As I understand it, several generations ago, when a teacher, preacher, or new family came to a community the neighboring people would throw a "pounding" for the new person/family. Typically, some random day when the family was fairly recently settled in their home, guests would begin to arrive. Lots of them. All at the same time. This would happen near dinner time.
You may be able to imagine the overwhelming anxiety that the lady/cook could be feeling at this point in wondering how she is going to feed so many guests. Given that she was new to the area, it is also likely that her pantry was filled enough for her family, but certainly not enough to sustain many guests (keep in mind that the food for the family was cut down to the necessities during the move, and there was no Walmart to be able to quickly restock the pantry, the restocking would be done over several seasons).
Joyfully, as the guests arrive, each had a large pot or basket of food; so to the lady's delight there is no lack of food during the dinner party. After the meal and social activities were over, the guests would leave. After the guests were gone, there would be several bags, pots, jars, and other containers left behind. Each would be filled with something like flower, cornmeal, yeast, nuts, berries, dried fruit, etc. (this is of course my guess of what the contents were, but there might have been other useful items such as nails, screws, staples,...!). The contents of each container would weight about one pound.
(Now you know.)
In our particular "pound party", guests came dressed in some western attire and they also brought some much needed rain! (We have not had rain since early November.) Since our house was recently constructed the nearest 20+ feet around our house was dirt, and the guests came just as the rain began. Everyone was very muddy upon entering the house, but they shucked their muddy boots at the entry (I sure am glad that we did not put carpet there!) and seemed to have a great time.
Well that was our "pounding".
Enjoy!
Taylor
Stop and smell the roses???
Get Glory out of the hospital; move in to the new house; comfort Levi (he has been a bit insecure since Glory was in the hospital); train Levi (he is growing so fast!); comfort Glory (being in the hospital for 9 days is also traumatic); plumb in a gas line; build pantry shelves; host a pounding (more about this in the next blog); catch up on class work; push back my thesis defense until the summer; comfort Alesha (she is pregnant you know); learn how to drive the Jeep; any thing else...oh yeah, somewhere in all this fun I have to earn an income! :-)
And now you all want me to update the blog too!
When you do as the song goes, "read your Bible, pray everyday," then all these things seem to fall in to place.
Praise God for His bountiful grace to sinners like me!
Taylor
And now you all want me to update the blog too!
When you do as the song goes, "read your Bible, pray everyday," then all these things seem to fall in to place.
Praise God for His bountiful grace to sinners like me!
Taylor
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