Wordless Wednesday - I'm So BLUE

Makeit Simple - Orange Blossom Balls

1 12 oz. box vanilla wafers, crushed

1 6 oz. can orange juice concentrate, thawed, undiluted

1 c. confectioners' sugar

1 c. finely chopped nuts, your choice ( I use pecans)

1 pkg coconut, flaked sweetened

1.   Crush vanilla wafers very fine. Mix with sugar
2.   Add undiluted juice and nuts. Mix well.
3.   Shape into small balls. Roll in coconut.
4.   Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Poetry Pause - Ghost of the Forest

Nestled deep within the woods
runs a line of abandoned railroad tracks--
rails now rusted,
wooden ties weathered
or missing altogether.
Tall weeds and grasses grow
giving testimony to the passage of years
since this forgotten line
was active through this woodland.
Are there quiet memories held tightly
in twisted boughs laced overhead?
Or, when stars swirl through the sky,
do they still hear the whistle
blowing through the night?

by Pandora

Manna
Spring 1993 - Volume 14 Issue 1

We Had an Awesome Visit!

 

We had a great visit!  Joe and I had a good long talk during the first two hours or so (Big Bro/Lil Sis Bonding Time!), then Nancy, Chris and Mother came over and we all had lunch.  Unfortunately, I was getting tired and completely forgot to get pix of Nancy!  But, still, we laughed, and the guys "punned" until we girls groaned (my brother is the ultimate Pun Meister!), ate chicken and cake (huh?  what?  oh, I'm SURE the cake was diabetic!)...in short, we had a wonderful time together!

That being said, I'm going to take a nap now!  But I cherish these special family times.

LOVE my big brother!

WOO HOO!  My big brother is coming this morning!

My brother, Joe, and his wife, Nancy, live on the east coast.  But they manage to come visit us in Arizona every year or so and, when they come, Joe and I take a morning where he and I visit, have a huge big bro/lil sis talk, and drink copious quantities of coffee!

Now, this is an old pic of us.  I think it was taken somewhere around 2004.  Wow.  Joe and Nancy have visited us more recently than from eight years ago when this was taken, but I’ve always liked this picture.  Even though Joe was still sporting his “80’s-style” glasses!

Joe is Chris’ dad.  Both love big band music, and both have spent/are spending time as a part time radio DJ!  There are lots of other similarities.  You can’t mistake Chris for being anyone else’s son—mannerisms, speech, strawberry blonde hair, and their warped senses of humor!

Sometimes it’s like a two-fer-one sale!  Ya know what?  I’ll take them both!

Gifts Outside My Window

After a summer storm, I open my window and sometimes see rainbows.  Prism fragments, half arcs, full arcs and, once, a double arc have combed through the sky at different times.  Not only do these beautiful ribbons of color astound me all in themselves, but often they appear and share a stage of paradox – brilliant sun with storm clouds.

Life’s journey seems to be one of traveling “along the Road of Paradox,” experiencing combinations of highs and lows, goodness with tribulation, joinings and separations, life and death.  Through it all, however, God is dependable, and one of His signature promises is the rainbow.

Looking to the sky, I find a sense of hope that the sun above can simultaneously share a heavenly expanse with dark, angry clouds.  In the same way, there is hope that the Light shines in the midst of my personal storm.  I find comfort when I see a rainbow suspended overhead – a silent promise that God has not forgotten me nor my journey.

Whenever a rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on this earth.  Genesis 9:16

Thoughts....

God must have quite a creative eye.

He spoke creation into being...
and it was good.

From "in the beginning"
through to this day,
He continues to create...

maybe not worlds and universes, but
anything new
anyone born
every Springtime....

All wear the signature
of the Master Artist.

I thank you God for this most amazing day,
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees,
and for the blue dream of sky
and for everything which is natural,
which is infinite,
which is yes.

~e.e. cummings