Little Foxes

A fox crossed the road in front of me yesterday on my way home, carrying a hot dog in its mouth.  People up here love to feed the foxes and bears, then they're surprised when their little dogs and cats go missing... doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.  Besides, these are wild animals that carry diseases (rabies, among others) that can easily be passed on to pet dogs.

Thinking of foxes, I read a devotional by Spurgeon yesterday that gave me food for thought:

Song 2:15   “Catch the foxes for us,
    The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,
    While our vineyards are in blossom.”

"A little thorn can cause much suffering.  A little cloud may hide the sun.  Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart.  These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ, that he will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us.  A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable.  Jesus will not walk with his people unless they drive out every known sin.  He says, 'If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.'  Some Christians very seldom enjoy their Savior's presence. How is this possible? Surely it must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father.  Are you a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing your Father's face?... Ask, then, the question, what has driven Christ from you?  He hides his face behind the wall of your sins.  That wall may be built up of little pebbles, as easily as of great stones.  The sea is made of drops; the rocks are made of grains; and the sea which divides you from Christ may be filled with the drops of your little sins... take heed of the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes."

20 days of silence

I can't believe it's been 20 days since my last blog entry.  Blogging, to me, is similar to painting in that I have to be in the right mood and feel positive about the subject of my painting or else I simply don't paint.  It's not that I can't or won't, but I just don't.  I guess I haven't been in the right mood or frame of mind these past few weeks to blog, which indicates to me that blogging is more emotionally based that I realized.  Anyway, a lot has transpired since my last entry.

I'm in Birmingham, AL as I write this.  I came down for Memorial Day weekend to help out after Mom had partial hip replacement surgery last Wednesday.  Bill spent the weekend down at the lake with Nate and his friends, so I'm glad I could come to be with Mom in the hospital and help when she was discharged yesterday.  She's already walking well with the help of her rolling walker.  Dad and I just watched the video that explains how to give Ouma her daily shot to prevent blood clots, and he agreed to give her the daily injection in .  Sandy declined the opportunity to do the sticking; I think she wants to stay on Ouma's good side! 
Before we knew about the fractured hip we'd heard from the Oncologist here in B'ham that Mom's cancer is back, and the initial prognosis was not very positive.  More tests need to be done, but since she's decided not to go through chemotherapy again it doesn't really matter.  God is in control, whether Ouma has a year to live or many more years.  A prognosis is an educated guess at best, and it doesn't take God's power and sovereignty into account.  She is at peace regardless of the outcome because, as Mom says, "The joy of the Lord is my strength".



On the way back from the hospital we stopped to fill Mom's prescriptions at Walgreens.  While we waited in the car as Dad picked up the drugs, this kid walked by - his pants barely holding on around his thighs.  I don't get it; why not just walk around in your red boxer shorts?  We've gone from cool baggy, to butt cracks, to the ridiculous now.  He ran a few yards right after I took this picture... well, more of a waddle than a run, which is the only way he could keep his pants on.  I'm sure the babes find the boxers SUCH a turn-on!

I came upon an accident a few days ago at the bottom of Warkhawk Dr.  Apparently the driver had a carload of stuff he was moving, and when he came around the last corner (I assume too fast) everything piled in the passenger seat fell over onto him - distracting him enough that he drifted off the left side of the road, over the side and into a large pine tree.  It's a miracle that he didn't roll the car all the way to the bottom. The incline is much steeper than it looks from the pictures, and there's nothing that would have stopped him until he reached the road down below.  The car was being held onto the slope by the tree that stopped his forward momentum, and I don't know why the car didn't roll onto him when he got out of the driver's seat on the down-slope side.  Amazing.  His only injuries were a bloody nose and mouth - the inevitable consequence of having your life saved by a bag of air exploding through the steering wheel and into your face.





I'm working on a new painting, this one from a photograph I took two years ago.  It's larger than I normally paint - I think this one's 24 x 30.  I took several of my pieces to a new gallery in Evergreen a couple of weeks ago, and once more they declined to display my work - something about it not being a good "fit" for their gallery.  I think this is the 4th gallery I've tried unsuccessfully to get into.  Ironically, that same week I sold an original painting to someone in the church who wanted it as a surprise father's day gift for her husband.  I told her afterwards how her purchase had encouraged me after being rejected by the gallery.  I would love to display my work publicly, but either way I need to keep painting because it's therapeutic for me. 

Nyquil Zombie

What a strange night.  I took my RLS medication a little too late in the day yesterday, so I knew I was in for a disturbed night.  Thinking Nyquil might help me sleep, I took a healthy dose and went to bed.  RLS and Nyquil are the perfect recipe to create the "Nyquil Zombie."

I am transformed into Nyquil Zombie whenever I attempt to counteract the insomnia caused by restless legs with a dose of Nyquil (or some other sleep medication).  What happens is that my brain goes into some state of near-sleep, while at the same time the restlessness in my lower back and legs makes sleep impossible.  So I end up stumbling around the house in the dark, literally waking myself up every time I bump into a wall or the dining room table or the couch.  My subconscious is longing for sleep, so it looks for ways to alleviate the RLS symptoms; at one point I vaguely remember rocking in the recliner while kneeling facing the back of the chair.  I remember trying to peel the foil wrapping off of a cookie and then taking a big bite.  After chewing for a second or two I realized that I'd bitten into... a tea candle - and I had another one in my hand, ready to go.  I'm not sure what else I did in the night, which isn't a very comforting thought.  It would be very easy for me to fall down the basement stairs as I stumble around the house, and it's not inconceivable that I might go into the garage and get behind the wheel of my truck.  That would be an interesting traffic stop for one of our local deputies!  "This is unit 51; I need to report a zombie in pajamas driving down hwy 285.  Repeat, this is a zombie alert!"  It's funny now, but I was not particularly amused at 3 a.m.