Grace Notes

Apache, our almost two year old bull Late last year I moved an RV onto my parents' property, which is about thirteen miles from downtown Montgomery.  I have loved every bit of it since!  Life on the "farm" has many rewards.  The rewards ... peace, contentment, seeing the stars, spending time with the animals, sniffing that good country air, hearing the birds sing (REALLY early in the morning), listening to all those bugs and frogs, and seeing the lightning bugs light up the woods.  Wow!  Nothing gets better than that.   Since moving to the country, my menagerie has grown.  Previously, I had a dog and one of my sons had a dog.  Now that my son has moved out of state for college, I have a dog and my son's dog.  And six chickens I raised from chicks (they each produce one egg per day, anybody like eggs? ), a beautiful golden palomino horse, and a white rabbit who has brown ears.  How did that happen? Not only do I have my own animals, I get to enjoy

I need to get back into the routine of writing and photography.  Here's a start on the photos, all taken with my cell.  Time to pull out the camera. This evening, on the way home from work: From the other evening, while looking out my front door: While walking the dogs one night: And one morning last month, on the way to work (love the fog hovering on the ground): Notice a theme?  Seems like I love a colorful skyline.  In truth, I just love color.

When Through Deep Waters By:   Rachelle Dekker Tyndale House Publishers, 2018 When Through Deep Waters tells the story of a young woman named Alicen who goes through a terrible tragedy and loses everything she has.   Her life is just a shell, and she comes to realize that life was lacking long before her tragedy.   She can’t get away from the guilt.   She begins what she thinks is stress-induced hallucinating, hearing voices, seeing things that others don’t see.   When others see what is happening, they assume that she has gone crazy just like her grandmother before her.   Alicen is so desperate to escape what she thinks she has done that she attempts to take her life and ends up in a mental hospital.   Upon release she, along with her best friend, settle into a summer home from their childhood, hoping that good memories and friendship will take the place of the bad and help Alicen heal.   Alicen struggles not only with her perception of her guilt, but with her rel

Monday evening I took my dinner and a milkshake to the local Shakespeare Park, but sat in the car because it was raining.  It wasn't too bad.  As I was sitting there, I looked out the driver's window and saw the view over the lawn and pond.  I decided that maybe I would try to capture the scene with my phone.  This is what I came up with, after playing around with them a little bit at home:     Then I noticed the view out the front window, through the rain drops.  After very little manipulation, this is what I came up with:   Isn't this cool?  What do you do when it rains?  

JOEY by Jennifer Marshall Bleakley Tyndale House Publishers Released May 2018 Wow, what an amazing story!  I am always a sucker for horse stories, so when this book became available, I immediately requested a review copy.  Add the fact that it is a true story, it is about a horse with a disability, a horse who was rescued, who helped others, and I was a goner.  I had to read the book.  The author did not fail to deliver.  By the end of the book I had wiped away quite a few tears.    Joey was an ex-show horse, a competitor in show hunting and dressage.  He and his rider were so good that they were close to qualifying for the Olympics.  Then he suffered an injury.  Joey was sold, and after a series of misfortunes he ended up on a rescue farm, malnourished and permanently blind .  Kim Tschirret, owner of Hope Reins, heard about Joey and decided to purchase him sight unseen.  Whether or not Joey could ever help her as a therapy horse, Kim had to give him a forever home.  Throu