Blueberry Celebration

I mentioned in an earlier post that we picked blueberries at our home in Orange. You can also visit a nearby blueberry farm if you want to pick blueberries or you can attend the Annual Nacogdoches Blueberry Festival! This year visitors were able to buy 5 lbs. for $10. It is best to get an early start and get in line for the blueberry pancake breakfast. While we walked down the old-time bricked streets of downtown Nacogdoches enjoying the many booths of goods for sale we stopped and bought a refreshing glass of blueberry iced tea. We also enjoyed an antique car show, petting zoo, and guitar and fiddle player. We enjoyed free samples of food including blueberry popcorn and blueberry salsa for which I think I have the recipe memorized. One of the cutest sites was the pet parade. I turned around after talking to a blueberry farmer at his booth and someone walked by with a sign saying "pet parade" and behind her owners paraded their pets in shorts, shirts, bows, or signs. One sign said "please take me home". What a cute way to find a home for a pet. I also was amazed at the great big blue Great Dane. It belonged to the owner of a pet grooming and kennel place. We watched the kids enjoy the Blueberry Bouncing Park that had blowup slides of all sorts. Firefighters were raising money with a dunking booth which looked really refreshing. Jeff and Caleb enjoyed the beautiful cars at the antique car show. Nacogdoches is about 45 minutes from San Augustine up Hwy 21 and many residents including us go there to enjoy shopping and special events. The weather is getting warmer now that it is June and we departed to the air-conditioned space of Walmart and Bealls before going home.

Unfathomable Love

We still have a house to fix up and sell in Orange. Everytime I think about having to travel back to Orange to take care of business, I get an uneasy feeling. I wish that part of our lives was finished and we could just carry on ahead. Going back reminds me of what use to be and brings me just within reach of that time again... only it can never be the same. I contemplate whether to call or plan something with an old friend, maybe drive by my old job site, or work dispairingly on our house. The contractor should begin rebuilding our home this week which means maybe within 4-6 weeks we can put it up for sale. This weekend we planned to go to Orange, meet with a septic installer, make a garbage dump run, trim and landscape our yard, and pick blueberries from our bushes.

While trimming and cutting vines out of our azaelas and gardenias, I had plenty of time to think. I thought about where we were and how far we have come since Hurricane Ike and even back to Hurricane Rita. The support of our family, church family, friends (old and new), government assistance and public servants, and anonymous help was all a God thing as my Bible study group would say. God's hand was in it all and he never let us dispair. I thought of how so many lifted us up in little ways and big ways that helped us through. I continued thinking while trimming and remembered that Jesus said that he "came to give life and give it more abundantly". "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." I also thought about I Corinthians 13 where Paul said love "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." and that "love never fails". I realized that through all God was having us experience his love, his blessings, his forgiveness, and his faith. I knew of all of this before, but now I have lived it and felt his overflowing, enduring and unfailing care .

I thought this trip to Orange was going to be sad and upsetting, but it was peaceful and bright. I remembered who I belong to..... I also was joyful about working at the house, eating the sweet blueberries, and reminiscing about good times that my family and I shared in this house and in the Orange area. I did spend time with old friends and it was glorious.

Enchanting Bugs

When I was little I remember being able to catch lightning bugs in a jar and watch them glow off and on for hours. For the last 10 years (living in Orangefield), I have not seen any and wondered where they had gone. For weeks now, when I come home here in San Augustine after dark I see the random twinkle of these little guys, also called fireflies. I did a little research if you care to know. The light is the result of a chemical reaction and 100% is light and no heat compared to a light bulb that only emits 10% light and 90% heat. Also, they give off the light in a pattern that attracts a mate, so right now there is a lot of uh um...excitement going on in our yards. Also, they can use their light to be somewhat cannibalistic with other species. All I really think about though is how enchanting their little twinkles are.

It's a Cat's Life

I have to tell you about this amazing cat I have. Her name is Heidi and she is half Persian. We adopted her after Hurricane Rita to replace our other kitty that disappeared. We like at least one cat to keep snakes and mice away, but also to entertain us. We do not really own Heidi, she lets us keep her if you know what I mean. We did not take Heidi with us when we evacuated for Hurricane Ike. I was worried about her because the area was covered in water and our home had almost 3 feet of it. When the water subsided, we returned and low and behold Heidi came out of the woods to greet us. We can only surmise she climbed a tree or got on the roof of the storage building to survive.

Heidi was the last thing I put in the truck when we left our home for good. She got car sick before we drove out of the subdivision and that was after I gave her a little herbal cocktail to calm her nerves. We kept her in our apartment for 2 weeks before she snuck out. She loved San Augustine as much as we did. She visited the Dodge dealership on occasion and taunted the many birds and squirrels in our yard. She has the run of our yard and house. We never know if she is in or out. She either sleeps at the foot of our bed, in a window seal, or on top of the window air condition unit outside. She lunges in play at Maggie or chases her around the yard or in circles in the house. When I am listening to music on the computer, she gets right in my face with her purring... I think she loves music. She wallows on the driveway when we come home and follows me around when I work in the yard. Heidi has brought plenty of joy to our lives.