"Lend me your ears"

So.............I had to go to the audiologist to get my ears checked. I wore a hearing aid. I say I wore a hearing aid, because I don't wear one now. It broke. I took off my shirt one day, and it caught on my ear, and ripped the aid from my ear. The little devil saw it's chance for freedom, and flew off. It was a short flight; my ear to the floor; but I'm sure it really enjoyed the trip because, when I picked it up, it couldn't stop squealing. So.......I go to the audiologist. Everything went just fine. There was enough wax in my right ear to do my kitchen floor. We did the examination and test, and he tells me there's good news and bad news. The good news is I have the same level of hearing as a Redwood( could've been a hemlock). The bad news is everything is digital now, and a pair of hearing aids is a little more than what the Pentagon spends on screwdrivers. I don't know if I heard him right, but it's ok because I'm reading from a price list he handed me( I was wearing my seeing aids). I tell him I'm a pensioner, and he says he doesn't agree; he thinks the office is very calming.I started thinking he looked a little redwoody, and maybe I made a mistake coming here. I don't have the Pentagon's screwdriver budget handy, so I tell him so, and he says I'll need to take out a loan. I say "it's ok, I came in by myself and I'm sure I can find my way back out". I have a touch of OCD(obsessive compulsive disorder), so on the drive back home I keep lookin at the price list to be sure I'm seeing it right. I did this about twenty or so times(because I'm tryin cuttin back) when I notice the road's getting a little rough. Now I'm startin to get anxious, because I don't have the Pentagon's pencil budget to fix the front end, and I'm prone to panic attacks as well. I decided to put down the silly list and pay attention to the road, when I noticed it was on my left. Now I'm really startin to freak out because the steering's bad too!! "The heck with this!" I muttered to myself, or maybe screamed to myself and anyone within two miles. I don't know for sure.........my hearing aid was back on the dining table, still goin on about it's wonderful flight. It was just as I was about to turn back onto the road(steering permitting) when I noticed the beautiful Lupines growing along the edge of the field upon which my front right tire was resting. " I wonder what Amy's doing today; I could use some Lupines in my landscape back at the wee place". So........later; we're driving off to the nursery after stopping for coffee to calm my nerves, and from the back seat where the two wee ones are safely strapped in like tiny parachutists, Ella asks me a question. "Sure sweetheart, I got plenty of sleep"(boy! she notices everything). Amy's lookin at me kinda funny, and I'm startin to get anxious again because I didn't notice any bags under my eyes after rollin around on my aching rotor cuffs and bulging neck disc for five hours. Sure enough!! A mile farther and we see the sheep she was asking about. "Now I understand!!" I yelled; or maybe muttered, I don't know, because I started countin the sheep to be sure they were all there(OCD) and I got really sleepy. We get to the nursery and I'm taking Seamus out of the back seat when he yells " gaaarrrr!" I love my grandchildren and I wasted no time throwin him up on the roof of the car to save him from whatever was barrelin down on us, when I realized he was talking about the one going down the highway. Amy doesn't make eye contact as she gingerly removes her son from the aforementioned roof top. We looked at some Lupines and other plants, and as I happened to have enough money on me to purchase several gallons of gasoline; I bought some beautiful Coneflowers.I can't remember if I bought any Lupines, but there's a packet of seeds on my kitchen counter. Who would break into a home just to leave seeds? I gotta go check things out; make sure the place is ok and nothin's missing; it may take a while(OCD), but I'm gunna do it if I have to do it at least twenty times. So...........how was your day? Pax Tecum

E Day

Ah sure and it's a beautiful day! Ella is three today, and the whole country took off to celebrate! It does me heart good to know they've still some sense. Happy birthday darlin, and many, many more, as innocent and happy as you are now.

This bud's for you!

I was thinking.............some of us spend a lot of time looking for signs. I don't mean "stop" or "yield", I mean signs that He is real. You know who I'm talking about. The big Guy,the Boss, the Supreme Being........God. The intelligent designer. The one who lit the fuse at the "big bang". Some inert piece of matter didn't just appear from nowhere and start it all. It came from somewhere, and that somewhere had to be something, but some dumb thing doesn't start anything. I had a really dumb Volkswagen once, and it NEVER STARTED itself. I had to insert and turn the key(and some times give it a good kick). Some big made the bang. Some big intelligent someone. You can go on and on with all the theories at your disposal or anyone's little bag of theories, and the truth is the truth, someone lit the fuse. I knew an atheist who told me there was no God. I told him I couldn't talk to him any longer because he didn't exist. "whattayuh mean?!" he said. I told him if I said there were no spiders in a corner of the room, I would have a complete knowledge of that corner, a finite knowledge. But to say there are no spiders period, I would have to have complete knowledge of everywhere; an infinite knowledge. To say there is no God is to have an infinite, "God like"knowledge(omniscience),and since He doesn't exist, I just couldn't continue talking to the man. As my nephew Joey would say"he told me I was number one", and went back to his business(which occupied a very finite corner of the office). Like I said; someone lit the fuse. I used to be a real fat head; looking for big signs; show me some love! Love left; and Love came in. I don't look for billboards anymore(they're outlawed in Maine); just those tiny little signs along the road, the ones you gotta pay attention to see. Waking up alive; black flies( that's right! they could be bigger!); my sons; my daughters-in-law; blueberries, and a million other graces that fall like snowflakes all around me every day, and snowflakes yet to come. I get a big bang out of people who tell me there's no God. I'm not an "accident", and those I love are no "accidents". Think about those tiny little signs; the ones you gotta pay attention to see. The next time you're nose deep in a soft vanilla cone with chocolate jimmies, and your taste buds are doin the wave, and some of 'em are huggin those jimmies; you know who you're thanking for taste buds, and that's no accident! Pax tecum!

what the?!!!

soooo.......we're walking through Sam's Club in Augusta; my daughter-in-law, the two wee ones, and meself. The black flies had at me yesterday, so I rode shotgun today. I'm not afraid of black flies, but........I'll get back to them in a minute. There we are in the club, and I see a box labeled "duck tape". We all know it's "duct tape", but this thing was reading "duck tape". I ain't never seen a taped duck! I've seen a few with patches, but that was because it was their time to quit. Black flies! Boy oh boy!! Have you ever had a sneezing fit. I mean a SNEEZING FIT, when you run off about a half dozen in a row, and your arms are flailing, and your head keeps snappin back and forth. A black fly attack can be like that; arms flailin, and screamin, and weeping, crying for your Ma. I saw one so big, it had a crew. There was a teeny weeny little gnat with a white scarf, and goggles, and it was starin right at me.....I know, because it flew the fly right into my left eye; not the lid; the eye! What's the last thing a fly flying gnat sees before it dies? My cornea! I read once that you can't sneeze with your eyes open.......they'll pop right out of your head. I gotta go back outside tomorrow, so if anyone sees me runnin around, arms flailin, head snappin back and forth, crying for me Ma, and my eyeballs rollin down the hill.............it wasn't a sneezing fit.......it's those blasted black flies. I wonder if Reny's sells head nets? Never mind.....gas is your first born a gallon. Maybe I'll get some "duck tape", and tape my eyes in. Pax Tecum!

Life's a beach

I used to think if you were in the state of grace and had toilet paper, you were pretty much set. I'm older now, and a little bit wiser...........you don't need the toilet paper. I used to read a lot........now I read the dictionary(very short stories). I was reading the chapter on B's when I found something interesting. The Oxford American Dictionary defines beach as " the shore between high and low water mark, covered with sand or waterworn pebbles". That got me to thinking about St. Therese of Lisieux. She died when she was twenty four years young. She was a cloistered nun. She was a novice, a rookie. She never did anything earth shattering. She was insignificant, nobody, little. The "little flower" figured it out. I'm never leaving this convent, and I gotta get to Heaven, so what do I do. Bingo!!!! I'll offer up everything to God. Every joy, sorrow, pain, pleasure, insult , and injury. Every act of kindness and sacrifice I will give to Him. This little, insignificant, waterworn pebble, tossed about between those high and low water marks we have all experienced, offered every little grain of sand of her "little life", and formed a small but exquisite beach. The ocean of grace(our Blessed Lord) would at times wash over her, giving her refreshment, and at other times withdraw, leaving her thirsting. She is a canonized saint,yet in the grand scheme of things, she is still tiny.But the universe is found in a grain of sand, is it not? The next time someone tailgates, insults, belittles, or does any one of the hundreds of daily little things that just get your goat. Offer it up. Take those little grains of Grace and start building your beach. Life's a beach; short or long. Awash or thirsting.......the ocean's always there, right beside you. Let's hope; all of us; that when we come to the end of our own little stretch of sand, we can look back and see it shining bright in the Son. pax tecum!

Give 'em Hail

I was just sittin here lookin at the rain pouring down outside the wee cottage, and I got to thinking. I have never gotten anything that I prayed to God for. Nothing that I wanted just for me. Nothing directly. Nothing selfish. I've got rope burns from thousands of beads passed through my fingers praying the Rosary for my sons. They both have good Catholic wives. Fine young women I am proud to call my daughters-in-law. I still pray for them. My sons are good Catholic men. I have two grandchildren who absolutely light up my world, and others to come soon I know ( I ain't sayin those beads fur nothin!). I have brothers and sisters - two and seven. One sister is not here now; she's with God, and Dad, and Mom. The whole crazy extended family is totally dysfunctional, but there's a lot of Irish blood in there, so we're good at it. Don't get me started on the Irish-Italian section; they're like wet dynamite. I love 'em all. I pray for all of 'em. You want to help your loved ones.........give 'em Hail! The beads a day keep beelzebub away. Like I said...I never got nothin from God that I prayed for. No thing or no one I wanted..... just everything and everyone I needed...and that's all I want. p.s. Get some place quiet and be still and listen. He really does whisper. His voice is there, in every breeze and passing wind. Pax Tecum!

prohibition repealed

" Sometimes we are looked upon as people who speak only of prohibitions " Benedict XVI. OK, let's get it straight. We live in a p.c. world ( personally centered ). Be tolerant, don't tell me what I can't do! For those of us living a P.C. life ( personally christian ), you already know. For those pc's out there; here it is reworded so as not to offend. 1. I am God; there's only one of Me.....love me. ( I died for you) 2. Respect my name; I do yours. 3. Keep holy the sabbath. I give you seven days. I'm only asking for one. 4. Love your parents. You'll understand when you become one. 5. Respect life. give life. Death comes soon enough. 6. Be faithful to your spouse. Be faithful to yourself. 7. Take and keep only what is yours. ( you know how stuff can pile up) 8. Tell the truth; even when it hurts. ( It really does work out in the end ) 9. Be satisfied with who you have. That's for both spouses. 10. Be satisfied with what you have. There, thats not so bad! Oh Yeah! They say if you want to make God smile....tell Him your plans. You really want to make God smile?........love one another.... it tickles Him when His kids get along and play well with each other. pax tecum!

turf wars

Well! Well!.......The Yankees were worryed about a jersey buried in their precious stadium. Afraid of some dread curse! BoooooHoooo! Poor little darlins. They can dig all over for a lousy jersey, but good Lord forbid they should have to replace their hallowed turf. The Holy Father, good Pope Benedict must stay off the grass! Like a common trespasser. They don't call them the d........ Yankees for nothin! You just can't make some folks see the light. To have the shepherd walk through their pasture....ahh what a blessing. But, like I say; some folks can't see, or won't see the light. What the hey! Yankees backwards is seek nay. Tonight when on bended knees, you thank the good Lord for the Red Sox; say an Ave for you know who. Pax Tecum

details

The six fingered man said it best- "As long as you've got your health, you've got everything". Health? Ah, the devil's in the details; or is it God's in the bush. Let's face it; we're all gonna die. Health of body or mind is transitory. Health of soul.....that's the thing. Soooo the next time you're out in the woods, or sittin by a bush, think about that. We're all little pac-men. Racing through life gobbling up graces and staying one step ahead of the devil. Take your eyes off the goal and he's gotcha. Gobble all the graces you can and get to the end. Home at last!!! Oh yeah!....if you hear the bush; it's probably a squirrel. Probably. Have a blessed day and remember to pull over for those tailgaters. That's what the young lady in the cast does.

John Paul the Great

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 ..... Sunshine everywhere. Sunlight splashed across the trees and running down the trunks to pour across the ground and enter us when we step upon it. Sunlight! Sunlight to brighten, cheer, illuminate. Think on this today. Remember that brilliant ray of Sonlight that brightened,cheered, and illuminated us for too brief a time. Remember that mirror of grace that so brilliantly reflected God's mercy, and made the Son shine for all of us. Today, sometime today, go out into the sunshine and look up and say thank you Lord for the brief shining moment that was John Paul 2. - may the grace of God warm you and caress you.

the ones that got away

Divine Mercy Sunday--I ran out of bird seed for my feeders a few days ago, and hadn't bought any as of this morning. Got up for Mass, looked out the window after my morning prayers, and there he was. A red tailed hawk had parked himself on a branch of a pine tree along side my house. He was looking hard for a wee treat. He was looking real hard at my feeders. No seeds, no birds, no treats, wee or otherwise. Had the feeders been full........well we'll never know. Divine Mercy........it's for the birds. Even an old crow like me. p.s. The smallest gem is a year old today. The way his eyes sparkle, and his little face shines.................Mercy!! Pax tecum!

Two of the smaller gems in the ring of my life were just with me. Bunnies of chocolate, marshmallow peeps, Easter egg hunt. They're little, they loved it. We're big, we know better. We know about the original egg. That large rock egg that rolled from the tomb. The gates of Heaven thrown open by the God Man who stepped out. We can go home again. We stripped Him, beat Him to a pulp, jammed thorns into His skull, and nailed Him to a tree. And we couldn't stop Him. He loves us! He loves me!!! I can do marshmallow peeps, but I get a lump in my throat every time I think about it. Easter Sunday wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a nano-second and say thanks. It'll make the grass in your basket a lot greener. God bless, and have a Holy Easter!

Ah spring! The turkeys are out and about, and the nuthatches and chickadees are walkin up an down my deck with wee signs " Will fly for seeds ". There's a red squirrel out here with a cutting torch tryin to get into the " Squirrel proof feeder ". Temperature's gettin into the 30's and mud season's comin........Maine! the way life should be.

Well.... Here Goes

Welcome to my first leap into the world of blogging.... so far so good? Stay tuned for some random musings (or moosings since we're in Maine) on the woods, weather, and keeping the birdfeeders full.

Slainte!
Uncle Billy