A Sabbath Day thought...

[I'm making this a 3-part post, please bear that in mind as you read down the line]
I made it to church today. (Yay!)
So glad I did.
The talks were thought-provoking-good, my Sunday school class, with the youth, actually felt 'inspired', and there was a pot luck lunch afterward.
I was gonna skip it and c'mon home... (I forgot and didn't make anything!) but... those pot lucks are always SO, so worth while, for a couple different reasons!
Reason #1: Excellent food. (i.e. This one had: Homegrown, vine ripened cherry tomatoes... and that greenbean casserole everyone loves to see around the holidays - ?know what I mean? - That showed up today with homegrown, tender young green beans as the premier ingredient! Um-um! Loads of quality stuff.)
Reason #2: You don't have to dirty up the kitchen at home!
Reason #3: Sample other peoples recipes. There's good home cooking all over this country and the "Heartland" is no exception to da rule!
So I munched my lunch there. (I'll make 2 contributions next time...)
My real incentive to stay was giving an elderly member a ride to the grocery and then home.
Her son pulled up in the parking-lot as I was trying to sneak off early and begged the favor of a ride for his Mother from me.
Hey, I'm in a church parking lot and we were talking about one of my favorite fellow church goers! What could I say, but "Okay." "You talked me into it." "I'll do that for you."
It was going to be something simple for me, especially now that I have working breaks, people, but something difficult for this older woman to just get out and do any ol' time. 100+ degree heat. We were both thankful for A/C! ... and the son? He had an 'ox-in-the-mire' situation he needed to attend to... hummm.... service is a good thing.

One penetrating thought...

"Delicious" to the soul... is how the Holy Spirit and the words of truth are portrayed within the scriptures. The last speaker at today's service said something that stayed with me. He said, "You can count the seeds in a single apple... but you can not count the apples contained within a single seed."

The "sower"...

... That Icon stands tall above the fruited plains and sown feilds of this Nebraska-land. I often reflect on the biblical parable. It's not only good to sow seeds, it is good to stand tall and take in an accounting of all you've done so far, where you are now and where you hope to finish up when the day is done. 'Religious individual' or not, following correct principles just naturally seems to add up to extra yeilds and enough extra yeilds = a bumber crop.
May you all have abundance in your week ahead!
Cheerios2U!
Dorko

I'm Alright....

...don't nobody worry 'bout me!
I was speeding out of the Cadillac Blues by the time the sunset on Tuesday.
I got the car back.
It's fixed.
It's only money, after all, I'll get more later.
Lord knows, I'm here to work ... and to serve - Him, and He takes a special good care of me!
and....
OH!
Them Boyz!
The Boyz were back in town and I was digging every Auntie moment I could get with them.
So happy they've grown up loving and cuddly as well as handsome and strong.
Always breaking into song ... *sighs!* (I love that!)
Course the Queen of Panic! says they're hitting their teen years so it's not always sing-songy time around their house.
and...
Them Girlz!
The Girlz have been here most of the summer.
They love to break into song too! (Izzat a teen thing? Did I do that? - Big, knowing smile!)
They sure do love them Boyz, lots of giggles, with the occasional hug and kiss.
Today's a little bittersweet - the Girlz go back to Louisiana and the Boyz go back to Minnesota.
Everyone looking forward to the next event together - hoping for a good Thanksgiving!
I'm already in the Thanksgiving groove... found out yesterday that my Sister-in-law is preggers!
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Life is good, people.
Life is very good!

Rant: "Hello, beanie-weenies!"

A couple hundred dollars. More than I have in my budget, for such, right now - so I'll be nipping and tucking everywhere until I can find breathing room in my coin purse again. ("Hello, beanie-weenies!") *SUX*
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*sighs*
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This is looking like a bit of a rant so be fore warned! Here are some things that 'ticked' me just a bit yesterday:

The fixit guys didn't call me with status on my car and what it would take to get breaks until around 4pm. Their shop closes at 5. Why did I have to get it in there at 9 a.m.? Hummmm....

(As part of a consequence to that, I believe, I didn't pick up my car last night - I won't get it until sometime today...)

The trunk of this car (an older model Cadillac) has one of those automatic closers. I've always thought it was a big pain in the pa-toot! Just another unnecessary item to fool with. I mean c'mon folks! just shut the dang lid on the trunk! Why do I need to retrain myself to 'lightly close the lid', or remember to consistently throw my body inbetween that trunk lid and any number of unsuspecting good Samaritans like carry out boys & girls and my nephews & nieces to buy enough time to instruct the 'uneducated' on proper, gentle operation of Cadillac trunk lids - Why? - All so a flippin' gizmo can take over for me, and shut it down the rest of the way??? How LAME is that anyways??? Sometimes fancy-smancy IS lame! And why does Cadillac think that's such a great feature??? <-( I found out the answer to that question yesterday!) The stupid thing went tits up on me a few months ago (sorry, I am ranting - but I'm pissed - and I warned you!) and I've been making due. I've been backing it into the carport as pretection against the rains we've had - but this doesn't do squat for me, or anything I have in that trunk, if I happen to be at a store when a storm rolls in or end up driving through one on a trip somewhere. Rain water, like all water, (and most people I know, too, come to think of it.) follows the path of least resistance and therefore channels right down to that 1/2 to 3/4 inch gap .... the gap 'created' because the ding-a-ling trunk closer is not doing it's job! The default design? Stick up like a sore thumb and channel rainwater & road debris into said trunk until owner operator forks over the buck-a-roos to 'fix it'. Ah! And there we find the answer to the Cadillac question of why 'they' must think this is such a groovy feature! The replacement part is ... dang near $400.00. Ta-Dah!!!! Just to ensure the (blankety-blank) trunk closes proper!!!! Grrrrr....... give me a ballpeen hammer, please. Oh and mind you, that's just the cost of getting the part... Installation -that ever popular labor cost- is gonna be extra... then there's death, of course, but not before taxation has occurred! To be sure.
Well- they called around and found one at a salvage yard for $70.00. Still outrageous in my opinion - but what are you gonna do? I'm thinking trade-off. That's what I'm thinking.

Oh! And another thing that chapped my hiney yesterday. DAD. He never calls ahead when he's gonna visit. I let the dog out yesterday evening and find his old silver metal suitcase. The one he used decades ago when he was in the navy. There was a note, in his wife's hand, which said he was giving the suitcase to me because I had said, once upon a time ago, that I liked it and would like to have it, and said note: that they didn't find me at home. (I was home all dang day! The car was gone in the shop! Had he CALLED, he would have known that!!! Course it might have helped for them to have knocked or tried the doorbell a few times, too. Smirk... heavy on the irk, please!) and the note went on to say they were leaving in the morning for cooler weather. (Translation: back to the pacific northwest) So. With no wheels and no way to really pinpoint him & his rig - a 5th wheel RV, other than calling every known relative in the area with the burning question, "Have you seen my Dad?" and this is approaching the taboo hours of 9 p.m. or later... all too pathetic, sorry. I'll miss seeing them altogether this time. Hrumph.
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Fine.
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Just fine.
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.37 cents and I can drop the old man a note of my own, which'll probably beat him to his finish line...
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I wonder if they've tallied the final bill on my car yet.... cringing!

Woe! Nellie! I need BREAKS!

Happy Monday!
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The car is in the shop.
No word yet on what the deal is with the breaks....
I'm guessing that no matter what it turns out to be I won't be getting any 'break' in the cost of repair.
*sighs*
I feel I have the very best situation with my mechanic, though. He is an old, old friend. We go back 20+ years in that friendship to a time when he used to play his guitar in local pubs with local musicians - one of whom [a bass player by the name of Dindy, of the infamous Byrd Family] was dating my sister, the Queen of Panic!... The man is just as intune with his guitar as he is with cars. I remember they had several incarnations of bands: There was the "Surefire" band, (My sister and I made the backdrop for them. It was really cool looking white on black, simple, stylized art nouveau-ish lettering. I still have the T'shirt). Then there was the "Flatlands" band, and a band they named "DH Flight". Dindy always did say they had a marketing flaw with T-shirts for the "Flatlands" band. (small breasted women just would not buy into them - no matter what!!! LOL! I always thought it would have helped their cause out if they'd printed the name on the back rather than horizontally right across the chest. Hehehee.) Good, good times -for the most part. Now, he, the mechanic/guitar playing friend, tells me about the music he plays in church on Sundays. Cool Beans.
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Time flies... and, come to think of it, I haven't set foot in a 'bar' other than to get a cola, shoot pool or celebrate a family event like a graduation or a off-beat wedding reception in like... gee... gotta think!!! ... 9 or 10 years... humph! Kinda corresponds with my 'conversion' from walking on the what-is-wild-or-stupid-is-cool side to walking on the spiritual side. Can't say as I miss the scene much. I partied-a-plenty and must have got it outta my system, I suppose. Chagrined looking back and musing over my fairshare of misspent youth, though. Never did like all that cigarette smoke stinking up my hair! And who, in their right mind, tell me!?, ever thought up "Party til you puke!" as THE rebel yell of the early 80's *sheesh!* I'm thinking it was an O'Niel or one of the Spilneck boys... smirk... maybe it was Hunter & Coburn - they owned the best party bar in town! [It was highly rumored, by them, to have made a national lampoon's best of list. - now, to be fair, there really WAS enough raw material in antics therein to create a "Porky's meets Animal House" type of feature film] ... I ought to write that stuff down before full blown Alzheimer's hits.
Anyways... I trust the mechanic, which for the single sistah, is a HUGE blessing in itself!
He's always asking me how my sister is and asking me to send along his well wishes for her, too. Guess that's why I'm walking down memory lane a bit as the Queen of Panic! was actually in town and at Mom's place when I called there this morning to wheedle a ride home from the auto shop. Perfect. She could pick me up and maybe say "Hello" to the mechanic in person... unfortunately things don't always work out so-so perfectly on Monday mornings. The mechanic had been called away on a family emergency and has yet to return to his bustling little business. Hoping and praying now all is or soon will be well with him and his family members...
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AND! -> Turns out the Queen of Panic! was only in town for a 'supply' run. ...towels...eggs... who knows what else!? Despite last night's terrific thunderstorm, them boyz of her's, [nephews of mine!] are out at Medicine Creek Res. with our brother, their Uncle Rock, and his 'women', [That beautiful wife of his and their 3 daughters, my lovely nieces]. I understand the little Lord of Leaping, was a bit paranoid with last night's storm - as his last experience with Nebraska weather spawned a tornado which the family - Grandma in tow - narrowly dodged via artful driving outside of Grand Island, NE. Conditions got so dicey that the Queen of Panic! herself, admitted to me, she was litterally chewing on her T-shirt while watching the damn thing skip and dance... too close for anyone's comfort level, all the while she's telling her husband, the King of REM, to just drive, drive, DRIVE! She being the self appointed worrier and storm watcher in the family. (More good times!)
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I heard the rumors last week that the Queen of Panic! was headed this way, (last THURSDAY) and I just got my hug and about 20 minutes of 'run' time with her this morning. Bless her heart. Told her I'd been waiting forever for her to get here - lol! She gifted me with some nice 'Red Wing Stoneware' and sped back off to da lake! Hopefully they'll all stay through to next weekend and enjoy the simple pleasures of the county fair in the bargain. Maybe I'll have breaks by then! Cheerios2U all!
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Mother of the Milky Way

Starlight Angel ........ October 1982

Another drawing that wouldn't all fit in the scanner.
You get the general idea though, right?
This one was felt tip and I dripped and dragged H2O over it while still fresh for a wash effect.
I was "playing".
Happy week's end everybody!

She's back, back, back

... and she's busy, busy, busy!
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There's laundry to do
... and floors to vacuum
....and grass to mow
.... animals and a master cylinder to attend to - yikes!
.... and sweet, sweet daydreams of all those warm days and nights with my 'Huckleberry' to dally 'round about my heart and mind...
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*sighs*
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Did we explore more than 'the outer banks'?
Time will have to tell - because I aint gonna! (Ha-ha!)
I will say that Southern Hospitality, Chivalry at it's utmost - pinnacle of perfection, and all that deeply moves woman to love man - is alive and well and living in eastern North Cackalackie!
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Thank you Opie, for all your thoughtfulness, for taking such good care of me, sharing so much of what makes you - you, with this prairie girl. I had such a wonderful experience there with you! You are my Huckleberry and I love you...
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Dang.
Did the temperature just spike a few degrees in here?
Better go check that A/C thermostat...
[Dorko wonders off with a big, big, all over kind of smile!]

She's gone, gone, gone...

I'm leaving on a ... Beechcraft!
I'm on my way to a little vacation with my Huckleberry, a.k.a.: Opie Outlaw.
Now, if God be willing and if the creek don't rise, I'll be gone through the 20th.
If I don't come back - blame Opie!
You can drop by from time to time if you want... but remember, I left the bathrooms clean and I expect them to be that way when I get back!
You got acres & acres of Prairieland out there to skip and play on... no need, people, to all star wrestle in the house! The river is just a mile up the road. You can put your inner tubes in there and float your day away. (P.S. - I'm taking the bug spray & sun screen with me!)
Pay attention now!
What will the trailer-park people think if you disregard every lick of good sense you may have ever been given...!?
Mom will be here looking after the cat and dog.
Hint: It's been a long time since she's been to a good toga party so you might be able to convince her it's time to do that again. You know, grab a sheet & some safety pins, let the braziers fly proudly and free from our radio antenna, drag mainstreet U.S.A. to the tune of "Louie Louie" or... something even more Roman, if you can think of it... maybe even form a conga line through the local bowling alley... I'm telling you, she could get in to this, well... She'd be good as a designated driver anyways, I'm almost sure of that! (You just gotta help watch out for deer, and other scurry creatures, when you're crossing over those river bridges, now!)
BTW, there's couscous in the cupboard, corn and watermelon out in the field, if anyone gets hungry!

Mom's Mom

My maternal Grandmother, a youthful photo of her that I've always loved.
Mom That's Nuts, mentioned that she had photos of her Grandmother. I challenged her to post 'em with the always daring, "I'll show mine, if you show yours" taunt. Mom That's Nuts did just that and so here you go "MOM". I'm living up to my dare! :P

Mom's Family Photo

My maternal Grandparents, Mom and her brothers and sister.
These 2 grandparents got married "later in life" as well. You can see that Mom's Mom has matured and everyone seems delighted, save for grandpa who has the old, "how long is this gonna take?" look on his face. My Mother would be the one standing just over his left shoulder.

Dad's Family Photo

My paternal Grandparents, Dad and his brother.
This is not a complete family photo. There were other children. This was a 2nd marriage for both of my paternal grandparents. These are the youngest of all of their children; the 2 sons they procreated together, my father is the older one with the great big smile. It is interesting to note that both of my paternal and maternal families had portraits taken at a studio named BROOKS, here in McCook, Nebr. That studio burned to the ground years ago. I really like the images in these photos and the art deco mats BROOKS was apparently into before that fateful night, when the fire raged and they went out of the business of capturing and keeping small town history - for good.

Bolles Canyon

Not in a studio here, this place is called Bolles (pronounced "Bulls") Canyon. Nonetheless, a photograph captured by a studio professional - from mainstreet McCook, NE. This truly was a very, very, very long time ago. She looks like she's just a dew drop shy of innocent... and nothing like she does today! LOL! Cheerios2U all!

Loon E. Tick

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How 'bout a version of the that thespian symbol ~ the masks ~ Comedy and Tragedy.
I stirred the initial idea up with a bunch of "stuff": an image from an Elton John LP cover, a residual (mental) imprint from the song "Moon shadow", from back in the day, when Cat Stevens was Cat Stevens.
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What a week... Monday I'm watching the Fireworks and thinking, "This is the best use of gunpowder I know of!" by yesterday, Thursday, we're all watching London and I'm thinking, "This is the worst use of gunpowder I know of!"
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That ancient fact of life: That there must needs be an opposition in all things, is a bitter pill to swallow sometimes. Looking over scripture I see that the trial of faith is a theme running steadily throughout. Genesis has its images of the tree of life... and the tree of knowledge of good and evil; jump to the beatitudes where Jesus admonishes the faithful to... Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you...
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I wrote awhile back about the personal commandment for me to not only pray but to "study carefully that which you should pray for. " I said at the time that I'd write more on it later... seems like now is later!
It is so very difficult to do, this commandment.
Yet I've had my "fun" with it as well!
A former fiancee asked me, once, after a messy, bitter break-up, if I was praying for him. He got rather testy when the answer was "yes" and demanded that I "stop!"... I simply said that I could not... when he demanded to know why, [!?] ~ I quoted that bit of scripture to him, saying my bible tells me that I am to pray for 'them which despitefully use [me] and persecute [me]!'
THAT shut him up! ~ Hehehee.
(Dang. I may have to repent, someday, for that one!)
Hang it all up!
If only it could be that simple, that easy, to deal with the 'oppressors that dispise this world, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon'... <-[Isaiah]
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I think, an important point to remember, and one point, that fellow, I just mentioned, kept reminding me of ~ (matter of fact the last thing he reminded me of, just before his suicide) ~ is from Ephesians 6:12 ...
...For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places...
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Just Sux, big time, when it's the flesh and the blood paying the price! Most especially sucky, is the thought that INNOCENT, or at the least unsuspecting, flesh and blood are paying the price. Talk about infuriating. I know it gets me going that way.
Now, just seems like a good time to be praying ~ more than ever... for a lot of different people who continually strive to fight that good fight ~ standing in harms way... and for even more healing to come into the world. The medical community, those that care for all the injured flesh and blood, need our prayers, too. ...and ... well I loathe to say it, but the idiots with the explosives ~ could they need our ferverant prayer more than anyone else?... never know! Maybe next time they'll self destruct ... or at least the driving force of evil, darkness and hate will!!! Oh! God willing, if that could just be so! ...and along those lines it's an act of God that will bring me to my knees to do that prayerful work... there are times when I seem to need his guiding hand every minute of every hour, of every day... yesterday was like that and the most prevalent thought cruising through my mind all day, to the point it became almost mantra like??? ~ It was this: "Be not weary of doing good."
[Dorko bangs head against her file cabinet; I'm being prompted to say I'll have more on that later, too! *sheesh!*]
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... He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust....
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Will we always find the cost of freedom buried in the ground?
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Galatians 6:9
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Love, people and love some more! ~ Dorko

You're To Kill a Mockingbird!

by Harper Lee

Perceived as a revolutionary and groundbreaking person, you have
changed the minds of many people. While questioning the authority around you, you've
also taken a significant amount of flack. But you've had the admirable guts to
persevere. There's a weird guy in the neighborhood using dubious means to protect you,
but you're pretty sure it's worth it in the end. In the end, it remains unclear to you
whether finches and mockingbirds get along in real life.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Another Internet Quiz! Try it if you wish, but I got to warn you... the above assessment? SO not me! [well, the question about the finches and mockingbirds, they DO get along ~ don't they?]

Fifty Blogs from Around the U.S.

I've been blog-rolled and ... tagged, it seems, by Always_Adventuring. (7.5.05)
A blogger inspired? Maybe so ~ I dunno.
I do know I like the idea, and I feel, a little responsibility now, to represent NEBRASKA well.
Humm... just how "Corn-y" can one be?
Check out her "project" on the links above, she may need some help for some of the more illusive, sparsly "netted" states.
Happy blogging!

O! DANG! DANGEROUS TYPO ALERT!!! RE: the Lemon Poke cake... Do NOT bake that bad boy for 45 minutes. Nobody I know of likes their lemons char-broiled. (To any of you that may have tried the recipe out and actually ended up with char-broiled cake, um. Sorry!) That typo has been "fixed" now. It should have read 20-25 minutes on the baking time, all along. I made 4 of those cakes in the 24 hours from Sunday to Monday and I am still handing out the recipe via e-mails. Lord, I love drag, copy & paste! ............. {Side tracking thought: Didn't all those things once come with heavy warnings; social stigmata; taboos?} Cheerios2U!

Blood and Laughter

Just home from a near perfect 4th of July evening.
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Accepted the invitation to a relative's home, ~ cousins ~ a couple I'm quite fond of but haven't seen, for like, 30 years or so. [I know! Bad Dorko, bad!] There ended up being 10 of us all together; ages 6 to 70
We had the BEST time!!!
Lots of laughter and that good spirit that flows freely when all are relaxed and just enjoying each other and the evening together... Good family, good food, excellent Fire works.
Just enough of a breeze to keep the biting flies and mosquitoes completely away ~ yet not enough to screw with the heavy artillery. [or keep the fireflies from dancing round about!]
The fun had been "rained" out last year. My 'Blood' ~ bless their hearts ~ just stashed the charges in a garbage can in the garage and dugout all of that and a whole lot more out for tonight's events.
Ended up with the better part of a pick-up bed & tailgate section chalked full of fireworks!
+ Their place is a short way from the County Fairgrounds & the big show put on by the Optimist Club this year, we were perfect viewing distance for all that!
Mother nature lit up the sky (again this year), but it was only a few scant drops that fell on us. ...and...
That only served to further cool the evening and set a dramatic stage for shooting stars, and those celebratory bombs-a-bursting in air.
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I'm feeling SO very happy, warm and fuzzy, and TIRED right now.
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And blessed.
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Lord knows, how very, very blessed I'm feeling by all these marvelous gifts, I was able to note and receive this whole day long!
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I'm glad I remembered the throw-away camera in my car, and insisted they all line up at the end of the drive for the photo op! This prompted one of my younger cousins to get her digital and we were able to capture some fine moments with both. I was especially pleased and impressed that we took the time & the photos when she told of how they'd never had a photo taken of them all together like that.
She went on to say that she'd made plans, some time back, and all of that had fallen by the wayside when her husband was diagnosed with cancer. He had to have a section of his tongue removed, a portion of it that was deep within his throat. (I imagined what a trying time that must have been for them.)
Now here we all were!
Happy! Healthy! Having a good time, together! The 2 photos I snapped on the digital seemed to capture every inch of that ~ each one of them looking so relaxed. I could feel their love for each other, and for me, and it made me love them even more.
.... there's so much more ~ but I gotta go... [Winkin, Blinkin and Nod are calling my name...]
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What blessings couldja, didja count this day?
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Cheerios2U all!
~ Dorko

The Star-Spangled Banner

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Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there.
Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
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On the shore, dimly seen thru the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
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Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
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Amen.

Battle Hymn of the Republic

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Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible, swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
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Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
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He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat:
He is sifting out the hearts of men before the judgment seat.
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer him; be jubilant my feet!
His truth is marching on.
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Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
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In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free,
While God is marching on.
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Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
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My Country, 'Tis of Thee

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My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the
pilgrims' pride, From ev'ry mountain side Let freedom ring!
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My native country, thee, Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love; I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and
templed hill. My heart with rapture thrills Like that above.
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Let music swell the breeze And ring from all the tress
Sweet freedom's song; Let mortal tongues awake; Let all that
breathe partake; Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong.
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Our fathers' God, to thee, Author of liberty,
To thee we sing; Long may our land be bright With freedom's
holy light. Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King!
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Please, people ~ if you're here reading this, take a moment and sing this one out loud. We don't hear this standard as often as we used to. Have any of you noticed that? I sang it through twice [yes. I do believe the dog rolled her eyes and covered her ears!] it was good to 'taste' the words in my mouth. It was good to give them breath and life and to hear them in my ears. Good to touch these, words of love, with my finger tips upon the keyboard and with my eyes, bringing them to the forefront of my mind, once again. I was transported to elementary grade school days when I stood along with my classmates and first learned the tune, and to unnumbered car rides with my parents and my mother doing her best to lead us in sing alongs. This was diabolicly good of her, as I don't remember anyone of us saying, "I don't want to!" and it seems to me that we were all in tune, whenever we sang together. Aint it funny, though, how the last couple of verses don't always make it as clear and loud as the first one or two? [mumble, hum-hum-hum, mumble-mumble~ giggle!] Today, flowing from me, in feeling, deep within this song, it's those last 2 verses, that moved my heart and soul. I am grateful, I am thoughtful, I am enjoying my freedom this weekend. Hope you are enjoying yours. Amen.

Making a joyful noise

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~ Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood From Sea to shining sea.
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~ Oh, beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self control, Thy liberty in law.
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~ Oh, beautiful for heros proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, And ev'ry gain divine.
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~ Oh, beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam, Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea.
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I figured I'd get by with scanning and posting the song. Then I decided it was too small too really read. I cannot tell you, fully, of the thoughts and feelings I just experienced typing out, line upon line, this beautiful song. I was brought to tears. I copied this from my Hymnal. I'm honoring the holiday by posting something from that hymnal each day to the Fourth. There is so much history, and personal meaning, for me in these 'prayers', ...I don't feel I can bare any greater record or testimony into mine own heart [or the heart of another] than by simply reading, or better yet, singing these standards. ~ Amen