Christmas Break 2018 Day 13: Well, this has never happened before...

Lest I be accused of click baiting you, here is the situation to which I refer in the title:

My two cats are Bert, the darker one who's a tiger, and Murray, the white one. Bert is 12 years old, Murray is 4. When I introduced Murray to the household (at the time I had two cats, Murray was the 3rd), it went well. No one fought. Murray, being the stray from outside, never really merged fully with the other two, who were rescued together as litter mates (not brothers) since 8 weeks old. But they got along.

Luke passed away three years ago. Sadly Murray had coronavirus, which is extremely infectious with other cats, and eventually turns to Feline Infectious Peritonitis, which is fatal. Now, with just Bert and Murray in the house, Murray has still been kind but a bit standoffish.

During the day I have a cat bed on the table near me which Murray likes to leap into and watch me as I type. Bert does not leap. He likes the floor. So his bed is at my feet in the summer, and in front of the fire in the winter.

I got up last night to turn out the lights and lock the door for bed, and I turn and see this sight. Murray and Bert together in Bert's bed. Well, then.

It finally stopped raining and I have the front door open to let in light and a little fresh air. I was watching Instant Hotel on Netflix (a type of Australian AirBnB show that rates rental properties) and at one property they kept saying how much like an old person's house ti smelled. I dont' know what that smells like no having the sense of smell, but I sure don't want my house to smell like that. By the looks on their faces no one liked the odor.

I don't use any products like Ben Gay, just deodorant and toothpaste and occasional shampoo. I cook, but that would be a cooking smell and not an old person smell. I assure you, I do use Fabuloso on my counters (which reportedly smells great) and Lemon Pledge on my wood furniture when I dust. So I dunno. I wish smells weren't a mystery to me, but then again, folks tell e I'm blessed. Maybe I am, at that.

Anyway, the fresh air has gotta help.

This is January in Maine:

This is January in Georgia:

Clover, green grass, no snow boots, no coat. I took a walk down the lane hoping to catch some bird pics. I heard so much birdsong, it made me happy. I'll go to the Cornell ornithology website later to listen to various calls and try and figure out which birds I was hearing. For now, I caught a blue jay, two mourning doves,a woodpecker, and a mockingbird.

So far, a nice day!

An example of a day, just one day among many

So my day...The sun rises a bit later here than in Maine. I am still not used to that, but I am getting used to laying in bed until 6:30 or 7 am and listening to the thousands of birds awaken. The property here has a large buffer of trees which attract many birds. Chickadees, finches, cardinals, geese, hereon, many others I do not know fly around over the pastures and those that sing, sing. Below, birds on my deck singing me awake.

I shuffle to the bathroom, tripping over three cats, all of whom have a vested interest in the this first step of the day. Abby, the oldest, likes to have a morning drink from the lightly dripping faucet at the bathroom sink. I turn it on for her. Bert likes to sit atop the toilet back and watch everything that happens with those big googly eyes of his. I would love to know what he thinks about, for he is surely watching everything intently. Luke hops into the shower, usually dragging a string and plays with it in there, causing a rumpus.

The all-important computer is flicked on, and the all-important coffee pot is started. It's a tie between which I need more, computer connection or coffee. They are one and the same, as important as air!

I have a daily routine which lasts about an hour. It starts with a prayer, and then a daily devotion from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the best preacher ever. He preached throughout most of the 1800s and made a lasting impression. Ocatavius Winslow is another great, and I switch back and forth over the months between Spurgeon and Winslow. The educated men of the 1800s and late 1700s wrote so much better than we do today. Whether founding fathers' letters or great preachers, the orators and writers of the 18th and 19th century have it all over us. Left, Abby drinking.

Then I go down my list of bookmarks, checking the Drudge Report, Portland Press Herald, USGS Earthquakes, Rapture Ready, Current Newspapers, and now that my friend is editing the Gray-New Gloucester Independent, I read that weekly too. Finally! that newspaper is good again!

Around 10 am I start the work for the day, whether it be website development, writing, or church-related stuff. Yesterday I got a call from a client and I could not figure it out over the phone so I hopped in the car and drove over there. But emergencies are rare and usually I get to stay home.

Today the work is to prepare for Sunday's workshop with all the Sunday School leaders. I had been voted Sunday School Director of my church and subsequently I attended a workshop about Evangelism Through the Sunday School. The man presenting (Tim Smith) it made a good point, every team needs a practice. Every choir needs a practice. As far as I knew our Sunday School Program has not had an all-leader meeting for many years. Are we uniting under a stated common goal? I do not know, so I thought it was important that we get everyone together to make sure we were on the same page in terms of direction, and the pastor agreed. Today and tomorrow, I am trying to distill the material I learned in the seminar (over 4 hours' worth) and boil it down to 30 minutes, in conjunction with 30 minutes of the first segment of the video I had purchased of the seminar which I plan to show. Nobody likes long meetings. Especially on Sunday. Left, Bert googly eyes.

Later I will make kale and red lentil soup, and read some in my book, Lee Strobel's "Case for Christ." Amazon summary- "The Case for Christ records Lee Strobel's attempt to "determine if there's credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God." The book consists primarily of interviews between Strobel (a former legal editor at the Chicago Tribune) and biblical scholars. Each interview is based on a simple question, concerning historical evidence (for example, "Can the Biographies of Jesus Be Trusted?"), scientific evidence, ("Does Archaeology Confirm or Contradict Jesus' Biographies?"), and "psychiatric evidence" ("Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God?"). Together, these interviews compose a case brief defending Jesus' divinity, and urging readers to reach a verdict of their own." If you believe that "reason and logic" are anathema to "God" then I urge you to try this book. Left, Luke and his string.

This evening, I will continue making some collages, and as they are all finished (it's a set) I will scan and post them.

So that is a day in the life...Have a good one everybody!