Late Summer Musings

Religious Cat?

I know I have shown Pumpkin (my cat) under the rose bushes with Jesus before, but she really does "hang out" there often. She goes out when I take Katie out in the morning and we usually find her sitting by Jesus when we come back up the hill. Maybe she feels secure with this "person" who never moves. I guess there is some good theology in that. It is often said that when we feel far away from God, it is not because God has moved away - we are the ones who move. God is steady in his presence just as my statue of Jesus is firmly fixed in the rose garden. A couple of weeks ago you would not have been able to see Pumpkin or Jesus in this garden. The wild mint and Irises, and other flowering plants had grown up around the roses and Jesus. I cleaned it out and trimmed the Iris down for winter - I found Jesus! I first looked at this house 5 years ago, thinking I would like to buy it. At that time Jesus was sitting on the stump of a tree in the back yard. The person who bought the house then put in the Iris bed and flowers around Jesus. When I bought the house 3 years ago Jesus was still on the stump. But over the first two years I lived here the stump disintegrated and I filled the garden in with more mulch and fixed Jesus in the middle. So through the disintegrating vagaries of life Jesus has really never moved. I love that reminder each day when I stroll through the back yard with my "girls."

Katie Scarlett O'Hara Honaker 2009

Speaking of my "girls" here is an updated picture of Katie. I took her out to the Nursing Home here in New Harmony yesterday. We went into the Alzheimer's Unit and visited one of her dearest friends who used to be at the Ford Home (a home for women). Virginia was moved to the Nursing Home when she could no longer take care of herself at the Ford Home. Katie used to spend one morning a week with Virginia at the Ford Home. I don't know if she recognized me or Katie yesterday but the smile on her face was worth the visit. Watching her cradle Katie's face in her two hands and lean close to kiss her brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me how much animals minister to our hearts. Each person we visited yesterday was carefully loved by Katie's sweet presence. She seems to know when she is "working", and she can work a room like nobody else. She means to get all the pats and ear rubs she can get. It is such "mutual satisfaction"!

Prairie Sky

Doesn't this just look like a Georgia O'Keefe painting? The sky here is so big. Sometimes I feel like I am living in a big bowl. The fields lately have been so green with corn and soybeans - it looks like an ocean of green stretching out as far as you can see. I don't think I could ever get entirely comfortable with this huge openness. I am too conditioned to the mountains. I like the way I feel held by the mountains - snuggled down into their presence. I get a little antsy sometimes with all this open sky and field. But most of the time I just revel in the beauty of it all. I love the way the fields change with each season. Soon the corn will turn brown and the contrast with the soybean fields will be dramatic. The soybeans turn beautiful shades of orange and gold as they ripen and dry. So much beauty... Check out my wonderful niece's blog www.brettaogburn.blogspot.com for some beautiful photograpy. She is such a gifted artist and her project of journaling through the year with photos is fabulous.