WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?

Pastor Jeremiah Steepek (pictured below) transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning. He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service, only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him. He asked people for change to buy food - NO ONE in the church gave him change. He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit n the back. He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.
As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such. When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation. "We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek." The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation. The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle. The clapping stopped with ALL eyes on him. He walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment then he recited,
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
'The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning. Many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame. He then said, "Today I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?"
He then dismissed service until next week.
Being a Christian is more than something you claim. It's something you live by and share with others.

CLOTHES LINES (remember them?)

OR DO YOU HAVE ONE? I do… and I still use it! My Uncle sent me this in an email the other day. I was amused and thought I might share it with you. Yes, I do have several clothes lines and I use them much of the year… but it can be so humid here that even tho things get hung out early in the morning, they end up in the dryer that evening. And I have been chased back in the house by hungry mosquitoes and resorted to using the dryer. But most of the year, I love the smell of clothes dried on the line. It is usually windy enough around here that the breezes soften clothes as much as the dryer does. One thing, tho’ – I do NOT put my unmentionables on the line. Nope, not even tho I have no neighbors who can see into my backyard as I am protected by woods on 3 sides. I do leave my clothes pins on the line, tacky as it might be, but I have a family of wrens who claim ownership of the clothespin bag and raccoons who routinely dump the basket I tried keeping pins in. I gave up and now leave them on the line.

Punkin in the shadow of the clothes line…

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

(If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)

1. You had to hang the socks by the toes... NOT the top.

2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands.

3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes - walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.

4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.

5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail!
What would the neighbors think?

6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend,
or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!

7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)

8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry."

9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky"!

10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.

11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.

12. IRONED??!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject!

And now a POEM...

A clothesline was a news forecast, To neighbors passing by,
There were no secrets you could keep, When clothes were hung to dry. It also was a friendly link, For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by, To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the "fancy sheets", And towels upon the line;
You'd see the "company table cloths", With intricate designs.
The line announced a baby's birth, From folks who lived inside,
As brand new infant clothes were hung, So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could, So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed, You'd know how much they'd grown! It also told when illness struck, As extra sheets were hung; Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe too, Haphazardly were strung.
It also said, "On vacation now", When lines hung limp and bare.

It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged, With not an inch to spare! New folks in town were scorned upon, If wash was dingy and gray, As neighbors carefully raised their brows, And looked the other way.
But clotheslines now are of the past, For dryers make work much less. Now what goes on inside a home, Is anybody's guess!
I really miss that way of life, It was a friendly sign When neighbors knew each other best... By what hung on the line.

Summer 2013 Newsletter

  

______________________________________________________________   SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION

OF

THE ONLEY TRAIN STATION

VOL. 1, NO. 5                       ONLEY VIRGINIA                       August, 1, 2013    

SPOTS LATEST NEWS: Construction Status

Thanks to the very generous grants from the Town of Onley, the Eastern Shore Community Foundation, Wal-Mart, the Tom E. Dailey Foundation, the United Way Campaign, and the strong contributions from our members, we continue to turn this sweet station into a jewel in Onley’s crown.  Much remains to be done, but we have come a long way since our last newsletter.

With the enthusiastic help of our board and other members, we have completed the inside of the station. It is now insulated, covered in drywall with the original beams left exposed, painted a sky blue (for painted clouds later), and lighted with track lighting. The original office floor has been sanded and refinished. The train room floor has been covered and painted and we have heating and air conditioning. The handicap ramp has been built. We will begin building the train layouts before July is out.

However we still have to build a back deck which will include a bathroom.  Bathrooms involve drilling a well, a pump and haul tank and fixtures so we are not there yet.

This final internal stage of construction has been reached only through the strong support of our members and their generous contributions, both large and small. Thank you so much.

We are so very proud of this project and what it will mean to the many children here on the Shore.

A Brief History of our progress in pictures:

    

    

    

   

Upcoming Events:  THE SANTA TRAIN and OUR GRAND OPENING!

The Santa Train is our favorite event of the year and the children so enjoy it. In the past we’ve had close to 100 children and adults for this event. This year we hope to combine it with our Grand Opening. We will offer refreshments as usual, but will also have large layouts running, tours of the station, lots of toy trains for the children to play with, and we will have cookies and milk for Santa, of course. The date of the Santa Train is not set but is usually the first Saturday in December. Please come see us! It will be a wonderful day for the children…of all ages.

  

  

WHEN GARDENING IS YOUR PASSION

BUT YOUR BODY IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE… well, then you have a few choices – give up the idea of gardening (NO!) or find ways to still get out there and do what you can. Since I can’t raise every part of my garden up to where I can more comfortably work in it, i had to figure out a way to let me work down lower (with minimal pain) and to be able to get back up with out having to call 911 (that is SOOOOO embarrassing! but beat waiting 5 hours for someone to come home.) Years ago I bought an Ames Planter’s Wagon. It was one of the best investments I  ever made… it was big enough to haul almost anything I needed in the yard, had compartments for seeds, a bottle of water, garden tools, gloves, phone – you name it. And it was the perfect height to sit on for working in the yard and garden. The back has a little door to allow the wagon to be dumped or drained. The front wheels turned and were hard plastic so no flat tires ever! I HATE pneumatic tires. They are so much trouble to keep from going flat. IF you can ever find one – BUY IT! I think they don’t make them anymore, but they might be available in a yard sale, estate auction, flea market…….

Unfortunately, a young man working in my yard used it to haul 6 concrete blocks at one time, caught the wheel in a small rut, jerked it free, and the front wheel snapped off. I did mention it is plastic. There is no way to repair it. Trust me, I have tried and tried. The newer versions of the Ames garden wagons are half the size, the wheels don’t swivel, and each new version has fewer helpful features. This version has handles on the side for carrying tools or a cane. I use it sometimes to tote water bottles to places where I have planted new camellias but don’t want to run a 300 foot hose. I hate it when hoses get in the way of the mower and I have to walk around moving them so I don’t run over them – more about that later. The newest version is good for sitting on to pull weeds. When my Lyme's is acting up I often use a kneeling pad to sit on to keep the muscles from going rigid as fast. This one does not have any “tool hooks” on the side or small tool tray inside. Bare bones, but it still cost more than my big wagon did when I got it years ago. Go figure. As I frequently say, “Progress often ain’t.” Prices range from $35-over $50.

 

I also have an old garden kneeler. Most of them come with a padded seat or knee side, some fold, and they are great for pulling yourself back up if you are able to actually get down to weed. I have seen them range in price from $25 to over $50 for the same thing.  

If this is all more than you want to pay, a cheaper solution, and a very versatile one is the bucket seat. These round seats just fit on top of a 5 gallon bucket, some fit 3 gallons also, and are light weight and reasonably comfortable. There are “tool belts” that fit the bucket, and padded seats also. The advantage (besides low cost) is that with a tool belt, all your small garden tools have pockets and are readily available, vs having to get up to get a tool out of the little garden buddy wagon… AND a friend of mine carries a small soft side cooler in his bucket seat to keep cold water available while working in hot weather. The disadvantage is you cannot roll a few feet to get to the next spot, you must get up to move.

In the past I have used my walker out in the garden. It has a seat and I have a carrying pouch on the back of it, but I really don’t feel as secure using the walker on uneven ground, and I hate getting it dirty or getting the wheels muddy. It is hard for me to clean cut grass bits, weeds and mud from the wheels. I hope some of these suggestions help you if you love working outdoors as much as I do.

PHLOX and BUTTERFLIES

Last Sunday afternoon we noticed a lot of fluttering around the phlox next to St Francis. There were a couple beautiful Swallowtails flitting around the phlox. I grabbed my camera hoping to get a decent shot. The funny thing was, I never managed to get them both in range at the same time, or if I did, their wings were just a blur of motion. Oh well, we take what we can get and are grateful.

ENJOY!

A SUMMER SUNDAY MORNING

I find mornings exciting – well, I do now that I don’t have to get in the van and drive 20 miles to spend the day working at a job that mostly goes unappreciated these days. Heck, I can stay home and not get appreciated and have a much better time doing it! But mornings excite me with the cliché of seeing what the new day will bring and the gratitude of being able to see and hear it. I do lots of posts about Gratitude… note the capital letter, for Gratitude is what gets me thru life. I seldom actually post them… writing them, thinking about all i have to be grateful for is all I really need to do at the time. I spent many, many years being bitter, sitting on the pity pot with Poor me, Poor me, and the occasional Pour me… but the bitterness brought me only more bitterness. It did not make the pain go away. It did not help me to walk (or walk without pain). It sure did not bring me any peace. Once I accepted life on life’s terms and figured I’d better “get over it” in some sense of the word, well… it got better. OK, there are those who would argue that it really DIDN’T get better – maybe just some part of me got better. I had to stop looking at the weeds in my garden and notice the flowers.

I have always loved the play of light on and thru objects… especially as the light shines thru leaves and flowers or lights up some distant corner of the garden while the background is still in a bit of darkness. Years ago I had a little girl living with me who thought we should whisper outside in the morning because parts of the garden and woods were still asleep. So, whisper we did. It was fun, actually, as she would tap my side to point out little things she saw from her childhood perspective. She was not afraid of bugs or other critters and they seemed to know this often allowing her to hold them and whisper to them.

She loved my St Fwankie, as she called him, “cuz he wuved all critters and knew they wuz his cousins.” She said the Buddhas were there to tell her to get quiet, calm down, pick a flower, study it. Brilliant child.

 

The sun in the morning hits this Buddha first thing. His whiteness just glows with the shadows behind him. I see him out the kitchen window as I take my first sip of coffee or tea every morning. He reminds me to go sit and get my morning meditation in… but the day often does not cooperate. The phone starts to ring, people arrive, the cat yowls for something different for breakfast or to let me know his dish is empty – how could I not notice such an important thing? I look back out the window, take another sip, swallow my blood pressure medicine (sigh) check the clock, feed the cat, give him his pill, go outside to feed Spook… try not to look around for Punkin – tho I still do.

I notice the phlox around the ground level birdbath are especially beautiful this morning. The hanging planter has come back into bloom. The colors seem to blend in with the mood of the phlox. St Fwankie seems quiet this morning, still in shadow. Perhaps he is still napping! I’d better not wake him. The bench sits alone and empty,  bags of mulch still on the ground. It has just been too hot to work out there, or the mosquitoes too hungry. And any cool moment is spent on the mower or swinging the weed whacker around keeping a clear path to the bean patch.

The yellow wax beans have been picked almost to extinction… when they are finished, I will pull these plants and replant for a fall crop. The Italian flats have been ready and enjoyed by many of us this week. I discover with  great excitement that I have 2 pickles and one almost cucumber but lots of flowers on the only 2 cuke plants to survive the coonie bear rampage of a couple weeks ago. The onions have been harvested, and the potatoes are looking sad and tired. I discovered that means they will soon be ready to harvest. Dumb me, the first year I thought I had lost all my potatoes. LOL! Stupid me, I almost dumped out 5 lbs of redskins from the potato bag that first year.

As I wander around the yard, I notice my favorite day lilies are in bloom. I now have quite a few, but these never bore me. My aunt called them funny faces.

This is one of my first day lilies… the morning sun makes the center glow as it shines thru it.

Thanks for taking a little walk around the garden with me… look at the pictures, be calm, wuv all critters, be kind, and let the beauty that is out there shine thru and into your heart.