Tulip in the Thicket

Cheshire Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:41:00 +0000

A Cheshire Moon came to rest

Above the Smoky Hills tonight

He smiled a beguiling golden light;

And it was impossible not to smile back.

The Cheshire moon is also known as the wet moon in Hawaiian mythology, so says Wiki.

Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland was my first encounter with the Cheshire cat!

(I did not take the photograph, but I wish I would have!)

Dustbowl Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:52:00 +0000

The music from Sigh No More induces contemplation and conversation lately.

Mumford's guitar skill is often forefront with the addition of bass drum, tambourine and other percussions played with his feet, but here he plays full on drums:

Say "Cheese"!

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:40:00 +0000

Or not.

Tab, Rachel (a friend) and Liv

Tab, Rachel and Liv: High Heels, Tidy White Sneakers and Bare Feet Tickle Toes!

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:35:00 +0000

Mid 80's- Buhler, Kansas

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:18:00 +0000

Classic is classic.

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:14:00 +0000

Flipcard- for organization and a Big Picture view.
Magazine- for a tidy magazine-style view.
Mosaic- for fitting pieces into a mosaic order.

Tractor in Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:09:00 +0000

Cello in Window

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:08:00 +0000

If I want organization,

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:33:00 +0000

I look at the "flipcard" template.
I'm liking this!

This new template could be annoying. I may like it and I may not.

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:04:00 +0000

Sunday Drive 1/22/12

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:10:00 +0000

Lindsborg, KS

it's about time

looking ahead

Sunday Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:42:00 +0000

Abilene, Kansas

I can't wait for King Knut!

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:25:00 +0000

So I've begun the tedious task of gathering festive figures and decor to put away until next Christmas, Lord willing.

In all the Christmas hustle-bustle, a plastic Elmo

is found hiding behind a blue ceramic duck.

No No "NOEL" Elf

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:21:00 +0000

I found this figurine at a thrift shop last year. There was no companion- only EL. I figured the EL's missing companion must have been broken or lost and maybe the missing elf held an "F" as an ending for "ELF". Make sense? Mike came to the rescue in my time of denseness and suggested the elf's companion spelled not ELF, but "NOEL" which makes even more sense. Yet a cute little elf holding "NO" may not be cute.

We sometimes shorten Eleanor's name to "El", so this elf is also holding Eleanor's shorter name!

Yes, Christmas is over and a new year has begun, so why the Christmas elf?

We are still decorated and this year we will use King Knut Day as the date to end holiday and put it all away. I've come to appreciate that Swedish tradition when it's needed.

"I'm not a Christmas Calvinist"

BTW- Happy Birthday to the twin grandcuties! Love, sweet love!

Awake My Soul!

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:29:00 +0000

Sigh No More (Mumford and Sons)

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:52:00 +0000

Serve God love me and mend
This is not the end
Live unbruised we are friends
And I'm sorry
I'm sorry
Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea one on shore
My heart was never pure
You know me
You know me

And man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing

Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing

Love that will not betray you,
dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man
you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love
as it was made to be (x3)

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmania.com/sigh_no_more_lyrics_mumford_and_sons.html
All about Mumford And+Sons: http://www.musictory.com/music/Mumford+And+Sons

Surprising Grace

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:42:00 +0000

"A Mini Symphony" says the Raggedy Man.

It's weird about God's grace. Often His grace descends in a gusty surprise as it did through the music above!
When I try to pin it down or wrap it up and stick a bow on top, I'm reminded again how vast and full and alive is His grace. Never stagnant. Fullness more than I can contain or contend with… but He serves up more and more than I deserve and what is my response? "Oh for grace to love Him more!"

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:24-31

From Inside Out

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:09:00 +0000

"Seen any cardinals lately?"

Cold Play

Hope Looks Up

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:34:00 +0000

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given, …" Isaiah 9:6

"Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;" Hebrews 10:5

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

"...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

A Short Winter Skate Film: Kyle Kraus On Board

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:09:00 +0000

Retrospection Plus a Healthy Dose of Looking Forward!

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:52:00 +0000

Grand Blessings were all together in 2010 thanks to The Surprise Visit!

These may not be "picture perfect", but they make me smile!

And one on the way:

Tabitha with a sweet baby boy due in April 2012!

"Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand."

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:20:00 +0000

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,

And with fear and trembling stand;

Ponder nothing earthly minded,

For with blessing in His hand,

Christ our God to earth descendeth,

Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,

As of old on earth He stood,

Lord of lords, in human vesture,

In the body and the blood;

He will give to all the faithful

His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven

Spreads its vanguard on the way,

As the Light of light descendeth

From the realms of endless day,

That the powers of hell may vanish

As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six wingèd seraph,

Cherubim with sleepless eye,

Veil their faces to the presence,

As with ceaseless voice they cry:

Alleluia, Alleluia

Alleluia, Lord Most High!

Music: Picardy, French carol melody; harmony from The English Hymnal, 1906, number 318

Words: Liturgy of St. James, 4th Century (Σιγησάτο παρα σὰρξ βροτεία); translated from Greek to English by Gerard Moultrie, 1864.

Walking Stupor

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 04:07:00 +0000

For months I walk around in a stupor
Might as well call it a stupor
Numb, dumb, weary and worse

Static between stations

Twenty clocks ticking off

Surround sound syncopation

Agitato Prestissimo

Rythym of the passing of time

Set in motion and

Waiting the Stuporless Day

On another note,
I get stuck on songs or songs get stuck on me.
Enough to keep going.
I can't seem to get enough of these gorgeous lyrics and Anthony Way's way:

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;

Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk, till traveling days are done.

Ring It Man

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:54:00 +0000

Ringing the song looks kind of fun.

"And in that Light of Life I'll walk, till traveling days are done."

noreply@blogger.com (Laurie) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:59:00 +0000

This hymn has become a favorite
for the beauty of the words by Horatio Bonar and the Kingsfold tune.
It is beautifully sung here in a grand and glorious church building, but it does not require all that formality.
You can sing it in a choir robe or a bathrobe!
Be encouraged!~

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;

Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.