The Month of Thanksgiving – Sixteenth

Today I am thankful for our fifth born child, third born son James. James was born in November of 1982 in Aurora, MO.

James is married to the lovely Amber. They live in Mount Vernon, MO. and they are happy pet owners to a couple of big dogs.

James and Amber for for a business in Aurora taking care of other people, and their needs. James is a loving, kind, tender, and caring man; as is Amber.

James knows the Lord as does Amber.  I thank the Lord for James everyday; and I am very thankful that the good Lord gave him to us.

Thankful from the banks of Flat Creek,

`tim

A Few Drops of Rain…

This past Thursday, July 19, I took a short walk to the Creek out our back door.  Our dogs went along as usual.  I was sitting there in my chair, and in the shade of the trees over the gravel bar; throwing rocks in the water for the dogs to chase after.  I think that was the day the high temp reached 112 degrees here in our valley.

As I was throwing those stones in the water, and Archer in particular would chase after them; clouds came in, and it began to rain.  Do you know how refreshing a rain is falling from the sky above, giving you a soaking, when it is near 112 degrees?  Of course with the clouds and rain moving in the temp dropped dramatically.

With the rain falling I continued sitting there throwing the rocks, Archer chasing them, and I was getting wet without getting in the Creek.  It is refreshing, especially when we are in a full blown drought, to sit in the rain and get soaked.

When the rain stopped I went back to the house, and the temp was below 100 for a few minutes.  An hour later there was no sign that it had rained.  The ground was dry.  The buckets were dry.  Now it was back over that century mark.

The refreshment of rain for the ground and for a wretched ole soul like mine.  A reminder of God’s grace.  The wonders of God’s grace.

A few drops of rain along the banks of Flat Creek.

-tim

What the Dogs Drag In…

On May 22, 2010 a tornado destroyed a large part of Joplin, Missouri.  There were many people who were killed, and many more who were left without homes, but thanks to the Good Lord, and many good hearted people things are looking better.  There were also many pets left homeless.

I have written of Archer previously, and our other dog which adopted us by swimming out of the Creek, onto the bank, and then following us home.  Archer came from Joplin, after the tornado.  We were dogless, until then.  Our son James and his wife Amber lost their home in that tornado, and they had just taken Archer into their home, off the streets of Joplin; and along with their two dogs Pillar and Skillet survived the storm.  They came and lived with us until they found another home.  We took Archer as ours, and he has been here ever since that time.

It is amazing what dogs can drag into the yard.  We have had bones large, medium, and small bones.  I am constantly throwing them out of the yard – they work havoc on a lawn mower; at least make a lot of noise.  They have dragged in an ‘Possum, a baby armadillo, not too long ago, a large mouse (and I do not mean a rat) that was almost as large as a rat, and the last thing they dragged in was a mystery at first, because it was headless with its entrails hanging out when they dragged it in, and left it in between our two cars; I finally figured out it was a young ground hog.

I do not know what will be next.  I told my wife the other day;  “I think our dogs are trying to show us that they are keeping themselves busy.”

We also have a pup.  She is the offspring of the little Corgi mix mother which crawled up out of the Creek last July.  She had seven pups.  Five pups died, one by being run over while chasing a pickup driving by; the rest just mysteriously found dead.  The other one we named Rascal, a male, and we gave him to our daughter and her family for Christmas.   We call the mother “Little Girl” or Molly; we call her pup Little Bit, because she was the runt of the litter.  Little Bit likes to stay in the yard most of the time and not wander off, like the other two do; and she is so timid.

If anyone would like to have a young dog, part Corgi, we would let you have the mother and the pup.

Life as it is along the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

edit – the date of the Joplin tornado was May 22, 2011.

Planting Rose Bushes

Now, I do not know if “Rose bushes” is the proper description of what we were planting or not, but that is what my wife and I did on the fifteenth of this month.

I do not believe I have ever seen the soil so dry as it was.  I dug down to nearly a foot deep, and usually in May the soil is a bit sticky with moisture, but it was not on Tuesday.  It was dry, and in much need of rain.  Anyway we got the rose bushes planted; and where my wife wanted them.

We are struggling to keep some of our trees going.  With dogs chewing some of them off; then I come along and cut them off to get a clean cut.  One I have done this with was coming back really well, then I look at it one afternoon and the pup or something had dug it up, practically destroying it.  There was still a sprig of hope in the ground, so I filled the hole in, watered it and it still has a green sprig popping its way upward.

The Rose of Sharon shrubs I panted are doing very well.  Looking forward to when they will begin to flower.  I do not expect they will this Summer, maybe next year though.

It is pretty neat watching something you have planted grow upwards toward their Creator.

-Tim

Butch is Gone

It was August 25 when Little Girl came straggling back to our home after being gone for awhile with a cute smaller dog than herself.  He was a pup still growing, and had grown to be a larger dog than his own mother.  You see he was Little Girls pup, from her last litter I suppose.  There were things that went on between Little Girl and this little dog that just made me think she was his mama.

Things like, when he got to annoying her, she would gently, but very firmly grab him by the nose and put him on his side, never harming him.  He treated her with the respect of her dominance.  Even when he got bigger than her she was still dominant.

She had returned to wherever they had been previously, and brought him to our house and has never left here again.  I guess she adopted us quite well, and the pup did too.  We too, Madge and I, have become quite attached to the two of them, along with Archer, our tornado dog for Joplin, MO.

We decided to name the pup “Butch”, and that is what stuck.  He began responding to that name.  He mad me laugh.  All three of them have made me laugh more than I have laughed in a long time.  I laughed as Butch would come up to Archer and begin biting Archer on the legs, around his mouth, and Archer just tolerated it, with little friendly whines, growls, whimpers; what ever they were; then, Archer would just play holding Butch down; while Butch would wrestle himself free, and go back for more.

When I would call Butch to come he would come with a wagging tail, and you could tell he was happy, and wanted that attention.  He was always energetic, ready to go, until this past Sunday afternoon, when he was accidently run over and left crippled in his hind legs.  I gave him a couple of days to see if it could just be a bad bruise or something.  He would not eat or drink, and I could not stand to see him suffer any longer I put him down.

When I buried him I thanked the Lord for the privilege of His using Butch to make me laugh.  The last thing Butch did, even after his last breath, was wag his tail.

And I buried him near Flat Creek.

-Tim

Little Girl [Mama]

I have written of the Little Girl and  how she came to our home.  Well, now she has six babies and she is a good mama.

She gave birth to these six puppies, originally seven, but one died, in the pen we have for the dogs.  She had moved them due to lack of shelter from the rain, and they were under our shed where we keep the riding lawn mower, some tools and dog food.

We received a lot of rain in the past two days and I guess it was starting to get a bit wet under the shed, so she had started moving them.  I was in my office, and heard this frantic barking, whining, howling from a dog.  I went outside, and headed in the direction and Little Girl came running toward me, then immediately turned back toward the shed.  When she got on the North end of it she got down looking underneath, and she tried to get underneath, but could not.  That was not where the puppies had been previously.

I went and got an old dog food bag, to kneel on and look under the shed; yes it was raining too; when I looked under the shed the dog whining; the puppy whining for mama;  I saw it had crawled to a spot mama could not get to.  I went and looked where the puppies had been, and there were none.  So I assumed she had moved them to another location.

To make a short story shorter I moved the ramp I had in front, on the South side of the shed, and Little Girl crawled underneath, retrieved her puppy, and then took it to a drier location.  I went down to the old barn to see where she had taken them, and I saw one lone puppy; so I knew I was close to the other four.

I had gone inside to get a flashlight to look underneath the shed to make sure she had them all; and while I was gone she took that last one to the barn.  She came back toward me a much happier mama.  Though it seemed she was looking for another one, and I thought of that one in the barn by its lonesome, and I went back to the barn, and found the other five now, and moved the lone one with the five, and all was well.

I never knew  how much adventure a dog could bring into one’s life.  We now have nine sources of adventure.  I hope only for a while longer, then, back to three.

Flat Creek rose yesterday, but it was still in the banks.  I cannot see it yet this morning, due to darkness, but I can step outside and hear it roaring and rolling along.

-Tim

Rain in November

When I awoke yesterday morning it was raining, and I got up, dressed and went and let the dogs out before it began to pour down.  This morning I awoke to thunder, about 2:45, got up, dressed and by the time I went to let the dogs out of the pen it was pouring.  I was practically soaked just stepping out the door.

I did have sense enough this morning to put my coat on which turns water a bit.  The front of my jeans was soaked by the time I returned to the house.  I am thankful it has been so warm of the mornings.  Yesterday morning I think it was 52 degrees, and this morning it was 58 degrees.  That is getting pretty near late Spring or early Summer, late Summer temps.

The dogs go and find shelter soon as I let them out I suppose.  I did not watch where they went, or where they go.

I think the weather is supposed to get cooler by tomorrow.  Hey!  That is the time of year we are in.  Let us not be surprised when it snows.  NO! NO! NO!  I don’t want snow.  It will come though.  At least somewhere it will come.

It is amazing as I look out my office window; the grass is still green, and looks really green with the rain fall.  Blessed be the name of the LORD who blesses us with all these benefits.

Flat Creek is rising from this rainfall.  I can see it better looking out the back window now.

-Tim

Archer, Butch, and Little Girl

The title is the names of the three dogs we have around here.  Some call Little Girl “Molly” – my wife and grand kids.  The reason I write of them today is because the Little Girl was barking almost non stop all night long, and especially after I got up at 3:45 a.m. so I put her in the pen.  That has pretty much quietened her down.

For some reason it seems that all the dogs of neighbors around are barking too.  It seems that they are a bit nervous about something.  Even Archer when I went to let Butch out of the pen came rushing in, and would not come out; so I left him in; and I have not heard a thing out of him since then.  Usually when he is in the pen he is barking wanting out, but not this morning.

Yeah!  We decided to call the littler dog “Butch”.  That was Madge’s idea, and it looks like that is going to stick with him.  He is getting where he answers to it; at least as good as anything else.

I am going to have to leave here soon and go pick up the kids of my bus route.  So I am closing from the banks of Flat Creek to go and drive a big yellow monster to pick up 60 or so little angels.

-Tim

Another One

The Little Girl was still gone when I left to drive the bus for the evening route.  However, when I returned home she was back, and had a friend with her; a small male, even smaller than her.  Now I like dogs, but I can only take so many.  After all I don’t run, nor do I want to run a kennel.  I do have methods for dealing with strays.  In other words, we now have three dogs hanging around here.  These two Corgi looking ones are probably someone’s or at least have been someone’s house pets.

No pet is allowed in the house here.  We have made few exceptions if they are kept in a cage; not running free in the house.  We don’t even have gold fish in our house; or an aquarium of exotic fish.  We have had, but not now.

Archer now has two friends.  He seems to get along with them well.

I am hoping that yesterday was the last of the 100 degree temps for the Summer.  It did make it to 100 at our house.

It’s great living along the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

She’s Back

She left us for a time; as I wrote of yesterday.  She was gone most of the day Sunday, and all day Monday, at least until late afternoon.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to know where she had been, or to see the world through a dogs eyes; or to hear through a dogs ears.  You know; the fly on the wall thing.

We can be in a conversation with someone; a personal conversation; and if a child or even at times an adult comes up we change topics quickly, or go quiet really quick, but if a dog is near… it doesn’t matter.

Well, anyway the Little Girl came back.  I guess she decided this was home now.  It also proves that my thinking about her finding her owners was wrong.

Madge and I were getting ready to eat supper last evening, I looked out the patio door where Archer had been laying just minutes before, and there lay Little Girl.  Just like that she was here again.  I went to the door and opened it then reached down to pet her; which she enjoyed.  I then went out to give her and Archer some food.  She ate, then came and got a drink of water.  Believe it or not I was glad to see her back.

Little Girl was wet like she had just came up from the Creek; that’s Flat Creek.  For those few who read this; you have probably noticed that I end the post with something about Flat Creek in every article; like the one I just wrote or like this…

From along the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

Dog Gone

You’ve heard the above title as a phrase.  When something goes wrong some one says, “Dog gone”.  I heard the story of an American Indian [Native American] running with his dog along a cliff, the dog fell over the cliff, and the Indian said, “Dog gone” :).

Yesterday morning when my Madge and I left for church Archer and the Little Girl was here watching us leave, wanting some attention, and seemed just normal.  However, when we got back home Little Girl was no where to be seen or found.  I wrote about Little Girl a few weeks ago; how we ended up with her and all.

It seems we had gotten used to her being here.  Now I don’t know what has happened to her.  I kind of have a suspicion that her people were floating once again, she caught a scent of them, and found them.  That’s what I hope happened to her.

She has been around here all this time; when we have left she has remained through all other times, but this time Dog gone.

We hear people floating in canoes, boats, kayaks, and inner tubes almost every day.  We weren’t home to hear at that time.  Where ever Little Girl is now I hope she is okay.

On the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

Armadillos and Barking Dogs

I had not any more than got set down at the table, this morning, when Archer our big dog began barking in his gruff tone.  Of course, being the curious fellow that I was I went to see, grabbing a flashlight before I went out the door.  To my surprise there was an ‘Possum on the half shell”, making this groaning, grunting sound as it was digging around the fence I have around our air conditioner compressor.

When I saw what it was I went back indoors and retrieved my 22 rifle.  I tried to get it away from the house, and fence, but nothing worked so I took what aim I could with the trusty gun and fired.  You know how slow those things are usually moving – armadillos’ that is.  It takes them forever to move across a road, highway, and you usually see more laying splattered on the highways, than you do alive.  This one was quite alive.

When I shot that armadillo took off down toward Flat Creek like a bullet.  He ran through the weed patch, with the dogs chasing it, and barking.  Even the dog I call “Little Girl” chased him.  She’s getting quite adept at chasing things.

I am not sure I even hit the thing when I shot; though I don’t think it would have moved if I didn’t hit it.  Those critters need to leave, and go back where they came from.  They are really a nuisance.   I guess the good Lord or all things and creation has a purpose for them.  He does everything else.

From the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

As the Sun Rises Over the Hill

As the sun rises over the hill to my East I hear dogs barking, and I wonder what is the dogs barking at.  I rise up from my chair to look and see, but they are only barking because they want out of their pen.  That will come a little later.

As the sun rises over the hill there are many thoughts that run through my mind.  Thoughts of dread, fear, anguish; yet also thoughts of hope, peace, love, joy, and my Lord Jesus Christ.  These latter things cancel out the other to some extent where they are not so binding.  It’s amazing how thought of Christ can set  you free.

As the sun rises over the hill the light gets brighter, everything becomes more clear.  Isn’t that what the Light of Christ is also about.

As the Son rises in our hearts, darkness vanishes.

-Tim