vanilla, snakes, and other doings

Walking at for 30 minutes at a pace fast enough to raise your heart rate is supposed to be good for you. However, you can raise your heart rate walking a much shorter distance if you almost step on a 6 foot long snake! In this case it was a black snake-commonly called a chicken snake around these parts because they like to hang around the hen house and eat eggs.

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Mrs. Curley made a protein shake for me today and put in a drop of pure vanilla extract. I took one sip and commented on the sweetness. I there sugar in this??? (I am a diabetic.) We looked at the ingredients of the bottle of "Pure Vanilla Extract" : Corn Syrup!!!! How can they mark it PVE and have it full of corn syrup? I could taste it right away.

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No fall garden!!! We planted one, but nothing has come up-nary a radish. This has never happened before. We have been short of rain, but it has rained a bit. Are the seeds bad? I don't know. But I do know we will have no kale, brocolli, beets, radishes, collards, turnips, cauliflower, romaine, etc.

We finally have been getting a few cantaloupes from the summer garden, but not the quality of last year. The okra has come on strong.

 

We do have a few pumpkins coming, but again, not the size or quantity as the past few years.

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Saturday evening during my walk, I was contemplating-actually checking off-my accomplishments for the day. Saturday is ALWAYS measured by the accomplishments around the homestead when everyone is free to pitch in. As I checked things off in my mind, the question from Reid Buckley a few years back haunted me. He had greeted me with "What good have you done today?"

 

So I looked back at the day in terms of what I had done for God and what had I accomplished for my family in a spiritual way. When installing the smoke alarm and I got impatient at some action of my helper (I can't actually remember what event caused the impatientce) - how was I really accomplishing anything?

 

I do think what we say really matters to us and what our actions and words tell others what really matters are sometimes different. What is that quote from St. Paul?

 

Oremus pro invicem!