Barnabas

As you may have guessed from the lack of robin pictures, my chicks have flown the coop. I raised the blind on my balcony Friday morning, and they flew away. I've gotten the nest torn down, and the porch cleaned up, and am able to enjoy my coffee out there in the morning now without irritating the tenants.

We had such a wonderful preach Sunday morning on Barnabas. He is one of my favorite people in the Bible.

Barnabas wasn't his real name, you see. It was a nickname. It means "son of encouragement." The other Christians saw him as being an encouragement and support, so much so that they changed his name.

When the apostle Paul became a Christian, the others were all afraid of him. Before he had been a murderer - hunting down Christians and killing them, and putting them in jail. Then all of a sudden, he comes around pretending to believe ... nobody bought it. Except, of course, Barnabas. The Bible says Barnabas "took him up". He vouched for him, and recommended him to the others.

Then, later, Paul and Barnabas were traveling together with Barnabas' nephew John Mark. They got into a disagreement about whether Mark should continue on the journey, because he had failed them previously. Barnabas vouched for him, "took him up" again, to the point where Barnabas and Mark continued on separately. And Barnabas's support changed Mark, to the degree that later, Paul, in one of his final letters, asked Mark to come and join him, because he was useful in the ministry.

We don't know a lot about Barney. He is shown as a preacher, but quickly his role seems to diminish into a support and help to the others.

That is the role I've always loved ... being an encouragement to the people who are out in front, doing the big stuff. I love Barnabas, because I want to BE a Barnabas.

Have you seen The Lord of the Rings series? Remember Sam Gamgee? He was my favorite ... quietly in the background, supporting Frodo in doing the impossible.

I was reading tonight in Spurgeon sermons to see what he had to say about Barnabas, and I liked this quote very well:

Many who have believed through grace also need help by way of consolation. You would be astonished if you knew the large number of believers in Christ who are tempted to doubt, despondency, and distress of mind. In the present congregation there are a number of persons depressed in spirit, who can hardly look up, who will judge, when I am speaking, that I am referring to them; and I must confess that I am thinking of them, and do very often think about them, and long to see them come forth from their present gloom. It is a great joy to me if I can help them at all by describing my own experience of down-casting and up-lifting. These bruised and broken ones need binding up. Brothers, if you are like Barnabas, “sons of consolation,” be not slack in your blessed service! O ye spiritual men, trained in the school of sorrow, put forth your best endeavors to minister to minds diseased. Pour in the oil and wine of the gospel wherever there is a wound gaping and bleeding. A word fitly spoken, a promise seasonably quoted, may help much those who have believed through grace.

There will probably be more about this to follow!

an email forward that was actually new to me (and funny!)

DR. PHIL:
The problem we have here is that this chicken won’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on “THIS” side of the road before it goes after the problem on the “OTHER SIDE” of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his “CURRENT” problems before adding “NEW” problems.

OPRAH:
Well I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH:
We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DONALD RUMSFELD:
Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

ANDERSON COOPER/CNN:
We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY:
Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am for it now, and will remain against it.

JUDGE JUDY:
That chicken crossed the road because he’s GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN:
To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART:
No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level.

DR SEUSS:
Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY:
To die in the rain. Alone.

GRANDPA:
In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS:
Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life long dream of crossing the road.

JOHN LENNON:
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together - in peace.

ARISTOTLE:
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

BILL GATES:
I have just released eChicken2006, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet explorer is an integral part of eChicken. The platform is much more stable and will never ever, ever reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN:
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

BILL CLINTON:
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE:
I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS:
Did I miss one?

robins, day 11

blogging about blogging ...

I was thinking today about why I enjoy doing this ... typing up little thoughts that may or may not ever get read by anyone at all!

Really, it's kind of vain, isn't it? Thinking folks are interested in the robins hatching on my porch, or the latest goofiness from the condo neat-police.

So, outside of the obvious hubris, what causes me to do this?

Well, there's the fact that it seems to keep me alert to the funny things going on around me. While I'm irritated at the people who came 45 minutes late for the chairs, I can, at the same time, think, "this is great blog material." Speaking of such, have you noticed how long it takes women to pull away from the gas pump? (Women other than me, I mean!) I'm waiting in line, and Barbie gets into her car, puts away her credit card, puts away her receipt, fluffs her hair, puts on her sunglasses, puts on her seatbelt, and THEN pulls away from the pump. We were in the middle of the Costco lot - she had at least 300 empty parking places directly between her and the exit where she could have paused to do this hair-fluffing!)

In contrast to the above example, it makes me look for the positive. If anyone DOES happen to read, I'd hate for my post to drag down their day. I want to put out things that are uplifting, or at least not depressing.

I notice the details more. I love seeing my robins grow, but I probably wouldn't climb up onto the porch furniture and snap a picture of them every day if I weren't posting it here. (incidentally ...note to the lady in the condo downstairs: yelling "be careful" when you see someone precariously perched on a lawn chair on a second floor balcony is NOT helpful.)

It makes up, at least partially, for my miserable correspondence skills (and even MORE miserable telephone skills.) It's keeping me in touch, at least a little bit!

I wish everybody would do it!

what are you looking at

I ran across a lovely post today about how we can choose what we see. Please take a minute and read it - it will change your day!

robins, day 10

even more crowded ... and they're getting VERY vocal when they feel their dinner is delayed.

cranky ...

Yesterday, I gave away a couple chairs. The folks who were picking them up were 45 minutes late, and the phone numbers they gave me didn't work.

So, I had hauled one chair outside my condo door, and the second downstairs onto the front porch, where I was sitting and waiting for them. (I don't let strangers into my house - just doesn't seem safe. I give away a lot of stuff on freecycle, and always just take it down into the lobby for the people who are picking it up.)

No show. No working phone number.

I waited a half hour, and hauled everything back upstairs.

15 minutes later (45 minutes after they had committed to arrive), they rang the doorbell.

I felt, and unfortunately acted, really cranky. Still feeling that weird combination of irritated and guilty-for-being-irritated.

To top it off ... no email this morning thanking me, or apologizing for being late.

robins, day 9

starting to get awfully crowded in that nest.

Progress of work on the old saddle

This is a picture of where we started. I had already vacuumed off the worst of the dirt and cobwebs, but it's still terribly dusty, with bird droppings.



Here it is after two cleanings and some work on getting the rust and corrosion off the metal parts. The irons are on their way to my dad, who said he had a machine at work that would clean the rust off them for me. (Notice my favorite tv show - Monk - playing in the background while I worked). :)




This is where we are today. Last night I gave it one final cleaning and then rubbed in some Equips Saddle Food. A friend (thanks Denise!) recommended both the Equips and using the straps to start training the flaps to lay flat, instead of bending up.



I'll post one final picture when it's done, and the stirrup irons are on again. I've ordered a brass saddle rack to hang it on. (It's sitting on my quilt rack right now!)

Some history of the saddle that I found interesting: my Grandmother's brother Bert was in Germany during WWII, and brought this saddle back with him. As far as I can tell, it hasn't been used much - either before or after its journey across the Atlantic!

As I was cleaning it, I discovered some stamping on the cantle that confirmed (along with some research I did online) that it had been a Nazi cavelry saddle. But I figure 60+ years languishing away in the barn has purged it of its sordid past, and I can enjoy the beauty of it and its family connections. :) (I tweaked the color and contrast on the stamp picture to make it show up better - the color of the leather is a bit "off" in that picture because of that.)

robins, day 7

robins, day 5

Big difference between day 4 and day 5! Eyes and beaks are open, and they look more like birds than deformed earthworms. :)

the sad story of the Dremel

I moved into my condo five years ago. At that time, there were many home improvement projects facing me, and one of the tools I thought might be helpful was a Dremel.

So I bought one. Paid a good bit for it, too.

And it's never been out of its case.

This disuse wasn't due to a lack of NEED for the Dremel - on the contrary, there were many projects for which it would have been ideal.

"So," you may ask, "why haven't you used it?"

"Because I read the instructions when I bought it, silly," would be my answer.

You see, if I were to sum up the first few pages of the instructions, it would look something like this:

If you use this tool, it will blind, maim or kill you.

So, you see, I've never touched it. Instead, when I go into my basement storage room, I throw side-long glances at its case, in fear that it will jump down off the shelf and try to bludgeon me when my back is turned.

But ... remember that old saddle I posted about? Well, it has some metal rings and fittings that are just crying out for a Dremel.

No, no. I haven't USED the Dremel.

But I did successfully bring it up from the basement. That's SOMETHING, isn't it?

robins, day 4

There are a few more feathers starting to appear, but their eyes haven't opened yet.

robins, day 3

Robins, day 2

Had a nice time after work today. I found a township park right by where I work. I took my kayak out on the park's lake, and had such a nice paddle before I came home. Hope to do that more often!

Robins ... still ugly. :)

these things do get me thinking

I can see that these quotes are going to prove to be a real source of blog fodder!

Today's: "I have lost friends, some by death, others through sheer inability to cross the street." - Virginia Woolf

Isn't that the truth. The loss of someone by death is horrible, but it's final and definite. You know what happened.

Then there are friendships that just fade into the sunset. For whatever reason, communication proves too difficult to maintain. I find myself often fighting tooth & nail to prevent the loss of friendships that are drifting away in that manner. But it seems that if it's going to happen, it's going to happen, and maybe it's just better to not fight the process!

some childhood memories

This saddle was in my grandparents' barn, and I remember dusting it off when I was a kid, thinking it was so neat. My grandmother's brother Bert brought it back from World War II.

They've been dealing with the things in the house after my grandpa's death, and I was blessed to receive the saddle yesterday. I'm looking forward to cleaning it up, and getting the leather soft and oiled again. I thought I'd display it in my living room.

Gotta give my neighbors something to wonder about ... I'm sure they're discussing when I'm going to show up with the horse to go with it. :)

newly hatched robins

The chicks hatched some time between last night 5:00 and today at 11:00.

Like the last batch ... they're painfully ugly. :)

Love it!

From the ihasahotdog site:

excellent quote today

I have a google-widget that gives me a new quote every day.

I loved today's:

Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean. - Dag Hammarskjold

things I wish I knew

A blog I read periodically had a post today on things the author wished she knew. It got me thinking along those lines. (surprisingly my list often paralleled hers - we're about the same age, so that may be why.)

It broke down into two categories for me ... things I wished I knew that, in theory, I could learn, and things I wished I knew for which I have no natural aptitude, and very little ability to learn.

The hopeless list first ...

Things I wish I knew for which I have no aptitude:

* Music. I've taken lessons in piano and voice. I've had college classes. I've read. I just don't "get it". There's some fundamental "music section" missing in my brain. I enjoy it, but I know there's a level that other people "get" that I just don't. It's like a color-blind person looking at a garden. They appreciate it, but there's a knowledge of something missing.

* Art. Can't draw. Can't paint. no talent here whatsoever.

Things I don't now, could conceivably learn and would like to know:

* ballroom dancing (how to do it) and ballet (how to appreciate it)

* classic literature - for an English major, there is a great deal I haven't read

* investing - I'm hopeless, but dislike money stuff, so I avoid learning it

* history - I know a great many events, but not the big picture, or dates, and how things interact

* geography - if I don't know someone who's lived there or traveled there, I probably don't know where it is

How about you? Any on your list?

while we wait for the robins

Please visit this amazing site that shows a hummingbird nest as the babies hatch & grow.

fireworks ...

OK kids,

We've established it. You light it. It goes "boom."

I can understand finding it interesting ... once.

But do we need to KEEP lighting them? They are all going to do exactly the same thing.

Really. I promise.

what American car companies just don't get ...

I want to buy American.

I want a hybrid.

I do NOT want an SUV.

Do they make one single car that fits these qualifications?

Nope.

It makes no sense to me to buy an enormous vehicle when I'm usually the only one in it and rarely haul anything heavier than a gallon of milk.

quote of the year

The only difference between Detroit and Third World nations in terms of corruption is that there are no goats in the streets in Detroit.
- Sam Riddle

Yep.

no longer an empty-nester

The robin laid eggs again this weekend. I think only 3 are new. She laid 3 in her first batch, and there were only 2 chicks, so one of the four is one that didn't hatch last time.

I hope, once they hatch, to take a picture every day, so we can watch them grow.