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| Some WELSians get their Geneva gowns in a knot because I look good as a Franciscan, so I run this graphic several times a year. |
Family News
Today Chris invited Sassy and me for a walk around the cul-de-sac. She has more energy now than the year before her cancer surgery.
We had a great time Saturday with LI's family, when our oldest grandchild graduated from the community college, with plans to finish at - Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie! Razorbacks! - the U. of Arkansas. That cheer is often used at Walmart meetings and is carefully reproduced all over town.
Next week is the younger daughter's graduation from high school. There will be a family dinner at a restaurant, so we suggested Sonic's where both granddaughters work. They get along great, which is why the older girl, an assistant manager, hired her sister.
Mother's Day Roses
I got up early to cut roses for each home on our block. The mother of four daughters got four Easy Does It roses. The two brothers got pink roses for their mother's grave. And so on. Tonight, one of the four daughters brought over a long-stemmed red rose for Chris and mowed our lawn.
Simply giving roses away has brought the block closer. Our little street is Hispanic, Laotian, and Caucasian, all on one block. But everyone loves roses.
We had a few extras, which I planned for our police officer, wife, and baby a block away. Another set went to Sassy's good friends, John and his wife Pat.
Yes, we had a bunch of Easy Does It orange roses for the altar, and one perfect Queen Elizabeth for the bud vase.
Birds Collect When I Am Still Outside, Because I Keep the Air Wing Happy
My backyard duties include:
- Changing the water in the birdbaths
- Filling the feeders
- Using rainwater for special plants in the back and front
- Checking for new developments: weeds, new plants, roses.
Today was especially fun because the feeders were empty, except for finch food in the squirrel-proof feeder - squirrels hate finch food unless starving. Finches love Nyjer (TM), sometimes mistakenly called thistle, but the rest of the birds shun it. However, finches really love sunflower seeds. The Nyjer (TM) lasts forever, because the finches switch over to sunflower seeds when I fill the feeders.
I washed out and filled five birdbaths of various sizes, the shallowest being a flat, plastic garbage can lid. I keep the water clean and shallow so all the creatures get access. The birds are intimidated by depth, and toads like shallow water for hydrating.
Plants designated for extra rainwater include:
- Butterfly Bushes
- Pokeweed
- The new Crepe Myrtle growing near the kitchen window
- The newly planted Horse Mints, which will thrive next year
- The Elderberry hedge, growing and blooming
- Honeysuckle
If serious rain is forecast, I aim at emptying all rain sources before they are filled again. We have another major storm predicted for next week. This storage and use of rainwater gives some plants double doses, to revive the weak and to boost the strong, favored plants. I have also found fresh, ground coffee benefiting plants.
"Ichabod, this coffee tastes like mud."
"Well, Mrs. I, it was fresh ground this morning." Bada-bing.
In truth, the coffee is de-caff and compares unfavorably to mud, so I use it on flowers, without brewing it.
I fed the birds last, and heard them carrying on in the trees like we had some bird sanctuary. Of course, it is, with all kinds of trashy weirdness to benefit birds and soil creatures. That also means various forms of shelter in our yard and nearby. Natural foods include all kind of bugs and berries.
Before I could put the lid on the seed can, birds were landing on the feeders. Downy Woodpeckers were first, followed by a Cardinal on the ground, and common Sparrows looking for treats. Since male Cardinals are the shyest of birds, the early approach pleased me. Now most birds will eat with us only inches away, inside, watching them feed.
Rationalism Not Proof of Creation
I was disappointed in watching a heavily scripted video. A science professor told of being stymied by a student who asked questions about the theory of evolution. He became a Creationist and then a Christian, he said.
My objections to this approach are simple. Creation rests upon the Word of God, not the logic of man. Answering doubt with rationalism is like curing thirst with salt-water. Inevitably, someone will have a rationalistic answer to the rationalistic questioning of evolution.
As one scientist said, "Why begin with the weakest arguments, from science, instead of the strongest ones, from the Scriptures?"
That could be said for Intelligent Design. I do not question the basics of Intelligent Design, but why water it down so it does not sound like Creation by the Word?
There is also the alloy of Creation and evolution, Creation over billions of years, wild rose at the base (evolution) with a nice display on top (Creation) to hide the evolutionary assumptions. In the long run, the wild root base will win, the hybrid rose will fade, and evolution will openly dominate.
The strength of Creation is - Creation by the Word, the Logos, the Son of God. Genesis 1 said God commanded by the Word, and that Word (Logos) is identified as Jesus in John 1.
John 1
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.
If we do not concede the absolute power of the Word of God to accomplish His will, then everything pretending to belong to the Crhistian Faith turns to ashes and dust when we build a foundation on man's knowledge and experience.
Creation is a mystery revealed by the Spirit in the Word, not a theory or philosophy.
Gardening in faith clarifies the clarity of the Word. Jesus is both the Lord of Creation and the Teacher of Creation in His parables and lessons.
Plant It and They Will Come
One of my current fascinations is the attraction of beneficial bugs to certain plants, many of them ignored by gardeners because of their tiny, inconspicuous flowers.
Most people do not want Poison Hemlock in their garden. When I finally identified it, Almost Eden said, "Look at the ladybugs on it." They were crawling all over the toxic flowers that killed Socrates.
One neighbor got a copy of Creation Gardening and said, as a Christian, "Of course, that should work, following God's ways."
