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The Day After the Storm

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 September 27, 2024 I wish I had something to say to convince you that being a storm survivor was a good feeling. Of course, I am thankful that me and mine are fine; but I think of others who are fighting the aftermath of the storm, Helene, fighting the emotional and financial part of a storm that takes more than it gives. I have lived in middle Georgia since 1979 and I have never been under a hurricane warning that I recall.  It was so unusual it took me a minute to believe that it could be real.  It finally dawned on me that I needed to make some kind of sensible preparation.  The first thing I did was to run water in my bathroom sinks and fill water jugs.  That was after I discovered that Instacart and Publix were closing down shop and leaving us to fight this as best we could.  Of course, it was 7 p.m. when I discovered that, and if I had been Publix and Instacart, I would have done the same thing. Having said that, the reality hit me that perhaps, just perhaps I may need to fill a
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The Wise Woman With the Country Scarf

    The Wise Woman with the Country Scarf   Paula Day Johns Feb 18 2003 Read at Thelma Vickers Johns’ Funeral 2003 When you looked into her soft brown eyes, there was a knowing look that brought surprise. She was not a woman that held contemporary matters worth a cent, she was from a different era but knew what life really meant. In her younger days it was work that gave meaning to her life, tilling the soil, milking the cow, away from global problems of trouble and strife. It was a narrow world for her, this woman of the field, nothing was more important than Enoch and cooking him a meal. Bah! she would say to glitter and glitz, and no one could orchestrate a more passionate fit! When her fit was on, we would all back away! She could carry on and leave us nothing to say. But when the fit was over and she had settled down, she’d say “you want some eggs before you go back to town?” Many a morning when the dew was still on the ground, she would harvest her strawberries
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  Romans 8:32 (New King James)     Paula Day Johns He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?   It took God some time before he decided to not spare His own Son.   How long had he thought about it?   For many generations He used blood sacrifices of animals to give people a method of sin relief.   This somehow did not meet God’s approval and He wanted a better way.   I would imagine that He really did not want to look at the solution, because it would cost Him dearly.   It would require Him to offer His only Son for the salvation of mankind.   Did He get to the place that He considered mankind may not be worth it?   When He held Christ in one hand and mankind in the other, did He consider that it may not be worth it? After all, He was God, and it was God who had to be appeased for sin.   He created mankind, it was His option to do whatever He decided to do. When He began to weigh things out
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A Bucket of Tears I Could Cry

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A bucket of tears I could cry,  I could cry a bucket of tears. If I turn the faucet on it will drain my soul. But a bucket of tears I could cry. When my grands I love and hold dear, Say, "Nana, it's time for me to go". I get my cane and go to the lane,  And wave goodbye until they are out of sight. I turn and face my empty place,  I hold my hands full of my face; And cry my bucket of tears, My bucket of tears I do cry.  
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I Will Stay in My Walled House Paula Day Johns

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  I will stay in my walled house. No one can bother me there. In my house, I find security, comfort, and peace. No matter that there are others, Out there somewhere who may need my help. I will stay in my walled house. No one can bother me there. Do I mind if I hear the cries of others who are in sorrow? Shall I trouble myself today or shall I wait until tomorrow? I will stay in my walled house. No one can bother me there. Anxious I am about what I may find. A needy child, an addicted mother, a man who is blind. I will stay in my walled house. No one can bother me there. I will eat chocolates, and take nice hot baths, No matter to me if they have lost their paths. I will stay in my walled house. No one can bother me there. A knock on my door, I cringe at who it may be. How dare they come without a call. I peek through the window and shrink in despair. I see Jesus Christ standing there! I will not open it! I am sure He is not pleased.
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My Friend Jo-Ann

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  November 28, 2023 1:26 pm   I just want to say I miss my friend Jo-Ann Carlton Blair, 1943-2020.  It hit me hard today about how much I do miss her.  I have called very few people friends in my lifetime, she was one of them. Jo-Ann never disappointed and never turned her back on me; she was straight forward, real, and direct with me. She and I did things together that did not include our husbands, like the time she booked us a five star hotel in Buckhead with a five course meal, then a limousine to our front row seats at the Fox Theater in Atlanta to see The Phantom of the Opera! Who does that?  When she walked into a room, everyone had to adjust to her light, for her light always shined brightly.  She most always had a gift in her hand to give to someone.  She was a great balance for me because my lips cracked when I tried to smile,  I didn't usually stretch my lips to do that.  I didn't have to do anything when she was around because she gave out the light and the warmth an
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The Gospel According to Beef

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 September 14 2023 Have I ever been interested in Wagyu beef?  No, I have not, until someone introduced Wagyu quality to me.  I have never actually eaten Wagyu beef.  How can I blog about Wagyu beef if I have never eaten Wagyu beef?   Because I see so many familiar qualities in Wagyu.   Now, there is an even higher quality of beef which is Kobe. In all my years as a person, I have not been aware of these two qualities of beef until recently from a person who seeks excellence in many categories. Here we go, if you get Wagyu beef, wherever you may find it, you will be getting a bona fide, high end, quality beef.  Why?  Because this Japanese Cow ( meaning Wagyu) has been bred to produce high end marbling and fats with a a pinkish color that sets it in a separate quality with a buttery taste, so they say. Leaving Kobe aside, which I know nothing about, I allude to Wagyu because I have heard that it is a gourmet beef  and I certainly will be looking for it in the market, and in restaurants.
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Fresh and New

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  A friend of mine said it this way on a Facebook video,  " We have never passed this way before".  Our wise Solomon said this, "There is nothing new under the sun".  Both of these men are right, we have never been through 2023, and, there is nothing new under the sun.   We do not know what 2023 will bring to our personal lives, our nation, or this globe.  But we do know there will be continued successes, challenges, rapid changes in technology, medicine, and social issues. The mainstay in our moving forward is God our Father, Jesus Christ, His son, and the Holy Spirit.  Not all people rely on the trinity, they put their faith and their trust in other gods, in themselves, in the economy, or fate. This one thing I know, I am grateful for life, for the privilege of experiencing life, all phases of life, all possibilities of life, all challenges of life, all heartaches, and all disappointments.  The other side of that is no opportunity at life at all.  There was a grea
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