Good Saturday to you on this beautiful, cool summer day. The sun is shining, the dewpoint is down, the sky is blue. Flowers are blooming, corn is growing and birds are singing. We love listening to our resident wren...she sings so often! The other morning as we sat on the porch Joel noticed a cardinal across the street....and then another male cardinal .....and then yet one more! a group of juveniles! It must be that time of year as our oldest son had a nest of cardinals in a bush and they were leaving the nest and flitting around too....
Speaking of nature, we had another BIG branch break off the locust tree and take a smaller branch off the Maple with it. No deck or house damage though. The tree guys promise (?) they will be here Monday first thing. We hope to save the tree but the cutting will tell us whether it is possible or not. Either way, it is costly to care for your trees! Like small-used-car costly! Hehe Add to that having to pay 2/3 of the prosthetic eye cost and we are buckling down, BUT grateful to be able to have the money to take care of it.
Speaking of the eye this past Thursday I had an MRI on my eyes and on my face and then contrast added for another round. I was under that loud, tightly bound machine of torture for nearly 1 1/2 hours. They give you a panic button to squeeze just in case! I am still recovering from the anxiety of it all. The results came in but my doctor has to interpret them.....it was for the trigeminal nerve and also ruling out cancer which was not expected anyway. I continue with the Curable App and most days are a 4-5 for pain levels.....better on and off over time which we pray will continue.
Last Sunday we went to outdoor church...No wind, and partly cloudy. The pastor who preached Joel has briefly known since he was a kid. How exciting for his parents and the congregation who saw him grow up. I expect Joel's home congregation felt the same way about him. Small country church within walking distance from Joel's home farm his brother has now. There are 17 Dahlens buried there in the church cemetery and we will also join the group when our time comes.
Joel has been busy with "projects" and biking and floor cleaning this week. I have been busy with some cleaning, writing, podcasts and walking. Up to 25 minutes most days now. We watched the fireworks from our house Monday night....they are less than a mile away and often debris lands in our yard! We just turn the loveseat around and take in the view through the trees. On the 4th my sister and her hubby came for strawberry shortcake and a nice visit. It was hot and humid that day so we stayed inside.
Speaking of the 4th, we have so much to be thankful for in America, don't we. When we lived in a third world country where our maid whispered the president of Philippines name.....where we watched children under the age of 5 going through our garbage for food scraps.....or watched the garbage men fight over our scraps and eating them right on the truck.... A country where we needed bars on our windows and hired guards to protect our property.....where poverty was the norm....Yeah. Grateful for America, flaws and all. Grateful for freedoms..........lets appreciate them, folks. Grateful for having so much when most of the world has so little. We didn't earn it. We don't deserve it. We are not chosen. We are blessed. We just happen to live in America.....and are so blessed.
SO, this week I am grateful for the country we live in, where we keep trying to get it right, have freedom to vote, read our Bible or speak our minds. Grateful for a full fridge, a cozy home, another safe trip to Rochester, grateful the MRI's are over. Grateful the tree branch did no real damage. Grateful for strawberry shortcake topped with whipped cream and blueberries, fireworks, texts, pictures, emails, birthdays (Happy Birthday grandson), family, friends, and so much more....
Enjoy your weekend!
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