When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed-- what do you mean October!

"There were many lilacs in full bloom. I find myself always reminded of the great tragedy of that day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never fails." (Walt Whitman)

After Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, Whitman wrote his famous lament "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed."

Fortunately the memories the sight and wonderful odor of those blossoms bring back to me are happy memories. Our lilac bush was outside my bedroom. On those lovely spring days and nights, the smell would drift into my room throught the open window. That is a favorite fragrance of mine.

In honor of those memories, I planted a lilac bush in my yard here in Columbia. Last spring it was loaded with blossoms--the most I have ever seen on it. I often wish I had planted it nearer a window to my house.

Ok--so when lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed should be in April. Most lilac bushes know that is the time to bloom. Well, my bush got a little confused this year. Imagine my surprise when I went out the middle of OCTOBER to find it in full bloom. (Guess that tells you I had not been in the back yard for a while.) It has as many or more blossoms than in April. I wonder now what it will do when April comes. I hope it isn't all bloomed out!

A reason to rejoice!

Just recently "discovered" a few verses in Hebrews 12:22. Check it out.

"But you have come to Mount Zion to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better world than the blood of Abel."

The thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly with the church of the "firstborn" and with God and Jesus is just the place I want to "come to."

On the road again!

Kara's preparations for the trip with the babies brought back memories of trips I made with children.

I was very much influenced by my Aunt Naomi. She used to come home to Grandma's house for long visits when Uncle Ed was out on a ship. She drove all the way from California once with little ones. She said two truck drivers approached her at a gas station early in the trip. They noticed she had been following the same route they were taking and was alone with the children. They asked her where she was going. When she told them, they said drive between us and we will take you there! They drove with her all the way to Missouri! I just thought if Aunt Naomi could do it, I could too!

From Shreveport there were the trips to Missouri. I went once with only Nancy Christ (she was about 8) and Matt (3). That was when Grandma had breast cancer surgery. On the trip home I stopped at a McDonalds in Jacksonville, AR. I ate a burger with onions and was oh so sick by the time I got back home. It was a very long trip. That was just the beginning. I was sick for about 8 more months--every day. No wonder Kara is not a fan of 7 UP or graham crackers!

I made trips home to Missouri from Tulsa, Dallas, and San Angelo also. I developed some rules for travel with small children. We drank water not cokes! Stops for gas were made when the children were awake! I did not drive until I was low on gas and then look for a station. I got gas around nap times! Snacks and lunches were scheduled. We sang songs. We could get a lot of mileage out of Kara Lee has a mother ( father, brother, friend, cousin etc.) and Delores is her name-o set to the famous "Bingo is His Nameo" song. We memorized scripture, names of presidents, and did all sorts of things to entertain. Wow! No DVD players in the car so we had to make our own entertainment.

It was a long, long way from San Angelo! I learned to drive 3 hours 4 times or more! I would think of it as from San Angelo to Dallas--Dallas to Texarkana--Texarakana to Little Rock--Little Rock to home!

I really have more good memories of trips than unpleasant ones. Guess that speaks well for my children. Besides all those trips with just mom, there were family vacation trips and trips to visit relatives. All that together time in the car made for some memories!

Saved by disaster!

This afternoon I made a peach cobbler to take to a get-together for the above 55 crowd at church. It looked great! It was 1 cup of self-rising flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk, mixed together and poured over one can of peaches (in heavy syrup). Then you cut 1 stick of butter into thin pats and spread over the mixture. Oven 350 for about 40 minutes.

On the way home I decided I wanted one for myself. So I stopped at Harris Foodland and bought a can of peaches. At home I eagerly prepared another and waited for my lovely dessert. Ugh! Old habits die hard. When I reached for the flour--I just grabbed my usual canister rather than the small sack of self-rising flour. Instead of rising--this all-purpose flour just sank to the bottom. I had wonderfully sweet peaches floating in a sea of butter on top of some flour goo at the bottom of the pan. I must admit the peaches tasted great--but I just couldn't go the flour goop!

Kerbe and I certainly did not need a peach cobbler to eat all by ourselves! So bad worked out for the best!