Hidden Things

Today on the early morning bus run I saw a pair of foxes. The one was running across the field and the other was waiting ahead. That paled in comparison to what my neighbor saw on the bridge: a young cougar. Not a puma or a mountain lion, but a cougar. It was a young one, apparently out for a morning walk.

Now, I think this cat has been here all along. I think that, because we didn't see him/her, we might think he wasn't there. We've walked that bridge many times, living life in denial that we were sharing it with such a powerful predator.

And, speaking of predators, I remain grateful that we have no rattlesnakes. Many places in northeast Oregon do. They, too, hide very well.

Perspective

Today is a beautifully crisp, clear, winter day. That is, if one is sitting as I am, on the side of the mountain. The valley floor looks as if as giant cotton ball was dropped on it. If I go down, it'll be a drab, dreary, dark day.

Both areas are the same place by many definitions. But, fog settles. So, we sit and think what a marvelous day this is while our neighbors wonder when they'll see the sun again.

The New Year in Our Community

2009 is here and, with it, the annual Christmas Tree Pickup. Every year the Scouts canvass the city, picking up the trees. The Scouts have a lot of fun - one of the major high points is jumping on them to mash them down into the dumpster so that they can be mulched later. Other Scouts like collecting the many donations. Some like to toss the trees. Service can be fun!

This would not be possible without the support of many volunteers. I have organized this for years and am almost at the point where I could do it in my sleep. The Scout leaders are the backbone of the process but the news paper makes sure everyone knows about it, the garbage service donates the dumpsters, and the entire community is ready and waiting for us to pick up their trees.

So kudos to all the volunteers out there: No one can ever know or gauge all that volunteers do.

The "Kindness" that didn't happen

After 3 weeks' notice, much thought, and some preparation, the day of my 15-minute talk arrived. Alas, they had over-scheduled. As the concluding speaker, I got up to speak with about 4 minutes left in the meeting. I did 30 seconds on kindness, mentioning my father as the kindest person I've ever had the privilege to know, and sat down. There was a sigh of relief from the Bishopric behind me as we were able to remain on schedule. Actually, there's no way I'd go over and cut into my Sunday School lesson time.

Christmas is a fine time to remember that Jesus changed all the Old Testaments's "Thou Shalt Nots" into positives, such as: "Love One Another". It's not enough to avoid doing something bad; we must actively search out, AND DO, the good.

Merry Christmas!

Kindness

Today I must speak in church and the assigned topic is "kindness", an appropriate Christmas ideal. The good thing is, I've been given 3 weeks to ponder this. I know that I have much room for improvement in the Kindness Department. I also know that I was blessed to have been born to one of the kindest men I'll ever know. I remember 100-mile drives on Sunday to pick up children from his home teaching families so that they could go to church. Our station wagon got pretty full at times.

It is interesting to me that the Old Testament is filled with "Thou Shalt Nots" while the New Testament encourages us with a "Shalt", "Love One Another".

I love the words of the children's song, "Jesus said, 'Love everyone'. Treat them kindly too. When your heart is filled with love, others will love you." What a splendid Christmas gift!

Thanksgiving

We have begun the Thanksgiving week. It is an exciting time as our family traditionally gathers. First, we have our children (and their children) for a rousingly good time. We have a dinner at the usual time. On Friday we rest and often do all kinds of physical activity. Second, we have all of my family (and their families) to dinner on Saturday. We expect at least 40.

We recognize our blessings, for family is the biggest blessing there is. To have so many makes us most richly blessed.

Living In The Forest

We currently have 2 bears and 2 cougars living near us. The chicken stay in the coop. It is a little disconcerting to find bear scat in our driveway, but the animals were here first. I believe we can co-exist, as long as they don't mess with me.

Eastern Oregon has the "Three 'S' Rule" for dealing with those critters who might be otherwise protected by law, but who threaten us law-abiding citizens. The rule is: Shoot it, shovel it, and shut up. Most people do OK on the first two and no one here really cares about the last one. Now, if I only had a gun...