I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Turkeys and Other Stuff
We have decided to stay north again this weekend. The weekend before last–when we drove south in the middle of the night, right after EJ got out of work, so we could be at the old house to let in the guys installing the furnace, and we loaded up the u-haul in the rain–that weekend was so exhausting that we are still trying to recover from it. We aren’t as young as we used to be, and we don’t recover as quickly as we once did.
JJ had a couple of days off this week. On one of the days he and I took a drive after his Dad went to work. JJ needed to talk about his life direction so he drove and talked. With Viki, our GPS, we don’t worry much about getting lost, so we drove along the coast and saw a tall ship. I love the sailing ships. I think that I would put taking a cruise on a tall ship on my bucket list. Riding in a hot-air balloon is also on my bucket list. Both are quite expensive so I might never get to go on them, but it’s fun to dream of it. Anyway, after a bit, JJ and I stopped for something to eat at a drive in restaurant–the kind where they bring the food out on a tray which they attach to the car window. It was the first time JJ had ever gone to such a restaurant and he thought it was weird and fun.
EJ enjoys his new job, but it’s very challenging mentally–and even more so when he’s tired. He’s had a couple difficult days which worries him because it’s really difficult to be “the new guy.” I’ve noticed that my empathy has increased tremendously since JJ had cancer so that when my guys struggle, I suffer very deeply–almost beyond bearing. In order to endure my guys’ struggles, I pray much and remind myself of all the awesome things that have happened in the last few months.
EJ and I always talk as we drive here and there, whether on short trips or long journeys. A few days ago, I told EJ that I had read in 1 Peter 1:
Rejoice in this, even though for a little while you may have to experience grief in various trials. Even gold is tested for genuineness by fire…And you are receiving what your trust is aiming at, namely, your deliverance.
I told EJ that I had never really prayed to be delivered from problems before. Usually I prayed “Help me to follow You no matter where it leads or what it costs me” because I wanted to be strengthened and to have my faith deepened. But last winter, I felt so overwhelmed by problems that I desperately prayed that God would deliver us from them. Immediately, things began to happen and we found ourselves up here in the north. This makes me think of something Hebrew for Christians shared on their Facebook page:
Spirituality often enough involves a sense of irremediable brokenness, a feeling that you are not whole, that you are a mess, and that your need for God’s healing is constant and relentless… Contrary to the ideals of proud humanism, spirituality is a state of “blessed neediness,” of being “poor in spirit,” that aches with inner desperation for God’s power of healing. Those who humbly cry out to the LORD understand their great need for deliverance. Our Lord Yeshua testified: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), and therefore He is found in the midst of the leper colonies of the hurting, the forgotten, and the rejected. As the “Man of Sorrows” (i.e., ish makhovot: אִישׁ מַכְאבוֹת), he understands the language of our pain (Isa. 53:3).
In another car conversation, EJ told me of one very “awesome thing” that happened a few months ago when he and JJ were living in the motel and I was still in the south. We had not yet found our new home–we didn’t even know it existed. EJ’s sister and her husband drove up one day to spend some time with him. He drove them around and as they drove down one pretty road, he said, “This is the neighborhood that I would like to live in.” As he told me this story, he said that it was on the very road where we now live. I asked him if he knew exactly where, and he said he did. At the time he made that statement, he was driving by the very property that we would eventually buy. Isn’t that amazing?
Anyway, feeling we need time to rest from stress and long journeys, we have decided to stay at our new house again this weekend and we are still not taking on any major projects. Mostly this week I have just unpacked a few boxes, did laundry, washed dishes, vacuumed floors, cooked meals, and walked down the driveway to get the mail.
This week I have also worked periodically at mowing more of the lawn. EJ had mowed some of it and I just continued what he started. This first mowing is mostly just to knock down two-years’ of growing grass. So much grass flies into the air as I mow that it sets me sneezing and sneezing. I don’t think we will have to mow often this summer because it has been very dry and the grass isn’t re-growing fast.
We are mowing only near the house because we want to keep most of the grass long to provide habitat for the wildlife, which we love to watch. I mowed the hill in front of the house, and the strip near and under the clothesline, and a bit near the house in the back yard. There was some pretty hawkweed in the backyard that was going to seed, so before I mowed that area, I harvested the seed and dumped them in the long grass near the driveway.
This morning I glanced out the window and saw the turkey family walking across the front lawn. One of the babies, obviously a male, displayed his feathers, which I thought was cute. I ran for my camera and was able to video them. They are not so tiny any more; they look like miniature adults.
Later, as I was opening the door to take a basket of laundry out to the clothesline, I saw a Rose-breasted Grosbeak sitting on a post in our front yard. I whispered to my guys to come look, but they didn’t hear me and the bird flew away. The only time I have ever seen a Rose-breasted Grosbeak was at my feeder at the old house during Spring 2014. I had never ever seen them before that time, and only saw them a few times before they moved on. I think they are beautiful birds and I am excited that I saw one up here in the north.
I think it would be fun to eventually get a go-pro or trail cam so I can observe the wildlife. We seem to have a deer crossing toward the bottom of our driveway. Every day when I walk down to get the mail, I see many deer tracks in the sand. I cannot see the crossing from the house. I would set up a cam there.
Usually Danny comes outside with me when I go get the mail, but he waits for me at the top of the driveway. He does not like the steepness of the driveway. Today I was surprised that he came further down the hill to meet me and walk back up with me. When we got near the house, he found some turkey feathers and sort of sneezed when he sniffed at them.
Our cat Kee-Kee has begun enjoying sleeping on my pillow above my head at night. The other night he surprised me when he lay right on my face with his paws dangling off my chin. A couple of times since then he has laid on my face. I push him off because it’s not comfortable to have a cat on my face. He’s a funny cat.
I Love To Go A Gardening 
You really live in a beautiful environment and I can see how blessed you must feel. Hope that you soon will recover from being so very tired and have everything ready so there will be no more going south needed…. Shabbat Shalom ❤
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