Little Bunny Foo Foo

I woke up this morning mentally singing the old children’s ditty:

Little Bunny Foo Foo, was hoppin' through the forest, scoopin' up the field mice and boppin' em' on the head.

Down came the good fairy, and she said...  "Little Bunny Foo Foo, I don't want to see you, scoopin’ up the field mice, and boppin' 'em on the head." 
She said, "You have three chances, or I’ll turn you into a goon (or toad depending on the variation you know.)

So the next day...  Little Bunny Foo Foo, went hoppin' through the forest, scoopin' up the field mice and boppin' em' on the head.

Down came the good fairy, and she said...  "Little Bunny Foo Foo, I don't want to see you, scoopin’ up the field mice, and boppin' 'em on the head."   She said, "You have two more chances, or I’ll turn you into a goon

So the next day... Little Bunny Foo Foo, went hoppin' through the forest, scoopin' up the field mice and boppin' em' on the head.

Again, down came the good fairy and she said... "Little Bunny Foo Foo, I don't want to see you, scoopin’ up the field mice, and boppin' 'em on the head."  You have one more chance.

So the next day...  Little Bunny Foo Foo, went hoppin' through the forest, scoopin' up the field mice and boppin' em' on the head.

Down came the good fairy, and she said...  "Little Bunny Foo Foo, I said I didn't want to see you, scoopin’ up field mice, and boppin' 'em on the head."  And then she said...  Little Bunny Foo Foo, YOU BLEW IT!  "You had three chances, so now I’ll turn you into a goon!"

And the moral of the story is... 

Ok, so I haven’t been able to let the ditty go, it’s been niggling in the back of my head and about the only way I can fathom why is because I’ve been pondering some of the the scriptures lately;  particulary mulling over some of the folks God chose as examples of his work.  Adam got caught in disobedience and the first thing he did was point at Eve (who in turn pointed at the snake.)  And if Eve is the mother of all who live then I don’t even want to get into who Cain found to marry after he was sent from paradise or Seth’s offspring.  Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael, and Isaac … what a tangled web that was!  King Saul flew off on a wild tangent about David.  David had issues of his own (besides keeping out of Saul’s clutches) what with Bathsheba and all.  Jacob and Esau ~ wow, talk about sibling rivalry!   My head is spinning.

I can only presume the ditty was there to remind me of some of the imperfect biblical characters God used and how he might be wanting to use me, as imperfect as I am.

Mental wandering

I've often said I have the attention span of a gnat.  Sometimes that is too true by far.  How is it one gets caught up in multiple mental interruptions?

I've been exploring The Society of Friends (Quakers) wondering whether I might find a fit in that community there.  From there I found links to various other faith based web sites and blogs only to find myself easily befuddled wondering how I got to there.  Then I have to go searching through my web surfing history to retrace my steps.  Thank goodness my browser pays attention to what I'm doing!

Walking around the ponds

One of my goals for this year is to trust that my knee had mended well and walk more frequently with my favorite walking companion, Bubba, a rescued shepherd mix that I've had since he was about 4 weeks old.  We're old pals Bub and I, he's 7 years old now... and he's adapted well to walking at my slower pace.  

Bubba ~ Bright-eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to go!

 We went to Wilson Ponds, a 55 acre birding trail located about 5 minutes from home.  We are fortunate to have an area like this so close to home.  

Wilson Ponds, Nampa, Idaho has walking trails surrounding the ponds

 I said we walked but to put it more accurately, we moseyed around.  There were a few other walkers and one jogger.  The jogger passed us about four times whilst we were there.   Every morning I hear geese flying over my house, most likely from Wilson Ponds, heading east, and most likely out to forage on the farmland between here and Boise.

I wasn't surprised to see so many waterfowl still lallygagging around, we have a lot in this area.

Coots, Mallards and Canadian Geese

When a few of the geese took off for a quick surveillance of the area they passed directly and low overhead.  The flapping of their heavy wings sounded like bumble bees buzzing right next to my ears.

 

Thar they go bzzzz

We enjoyed a nice leisurely stroll but just towards the end of the path leading to the parking lot I noticed an American Kestrel on one of the overhead power lines.  Fortunately I was able to snag a shot.

It was a lovely day indeed!

When I go before God quietly

I consider myself more of spiritual person than a religious person.   I strongly believe that all the variety of life we have here on Earth is (or was) intentionally created by a supreme being, be it God or aliens I really don't know.  What I do know is that  the "big bang" theory of life does not impress me greatly because then I would have to believe that all I see in nature is purely accidental and I do not.   That said,  I admit I am  confused by many of the religious themes with which I am familiar - those contained in the books of the Old and New Testament.  The only way I can sort them out is to remember that these books were written by flawed mortals making some attempt to understand the world within their limited comprehension.

The biggest obstacle I have are those regarding war and killing in God's name.   Whilst declaring that God is omnipotent, having universal authority, power and force I can read that God commands his people to go slay e.g. : ~ 1 Samuel 15:3   Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.   I wonder how it is that an omnipotent God would need mere mortals to kill.  Jewish, Muslim and Christians have all (at one time or another) adopted the notion that God needs folks to defend him, to kill for Him.  Utterly confounding.

When I pray I first thank God for this life and the life of all I see around me.  Then I ask that He look to my heart believing he knows my concerns and might be moved to lighten my worries.  Given that God is the Potter and I am the clay I am more comfortable with the notion that when the time comes to meet my maker I can do so with a clear conscious, and not as a hypocrite pretending to believe in a thing when I am so full of doubt.

Indoor kitties out for a whiff of fall

Every once in a while I let the indoor kitties go out in the back yard as I did on this crisp fall morning.  They amused me by their responses to the leaves dropping all around them.    The temperature is just below freezing but there is nary a cloud in the sky.  The trees are getting so serious about shedding their leaves that no sooner do I rake a pile together than the patch I had just raked is blanketed again.  So now, the kitties are squatting down, heads darting to and fro watching as leaves fall all around them.  Farcus, the more daring of the two, makes a mad dash towards the apple trees and just as he gets there two apples fall from the unharvested tops of the trees.  The apples hitting the ground must sound like dud-bombs to him because he cowers down for a second, turns, and makes a mad dash to the safety of the patio.  Kia, the shyer one is hot on his heels having given up on her taunting chatters at the squirrel beside the poplar tree.
  
These are kitties accustomed to the tranquility of the indoors where things don't just fall unless it's been pushed off a table by one of them.  Bottle caps, pens, pencils, coins, watches, anything that should happen to be in a different spot or in some other way look intriguing to a cat is an easy target. They eyeball it for a moment and seemingly think, "Give it a swat, see what happens."   But leaves dropping by the hundreds all around them?  Nope, not for them; not today anyway.  So, given the futility of trying to rake whilst leaves are falling fast and furiously, I scoop up the kitties and return inside.  Thankful for the warmth and the hot pot of coffee waiting.

Random things I believe

Life should be lived as a soaring adventure.

Animals have a great approach to life – they live totally in the moment. 

Dogs are a better judge of character than most people.

Freedom from the fear of moving forward is a gift only I can give myself.

The dark periods in my life offered the greatest opportunity for growth; I just couldn’t see it at the time.

While it’s healthy to reflect on the past, I don’t dwell there.

It is good to make plans and provisions as necessary, but I don’t live for the future.

By far, the worst limits are those I placed on myself. 

Internal peacefulness comes from being able to agree to disagree without rancor – others are allowed ideas or opinions that differ from mine.  Our differences do not reflect poorly on me or on my opinion so I have no need to be defensive.

It’s vitally important for me to stay physically and mentally flexible.

My best prayers are when I go before God quietly. He knows my heart and will speak to it… my task is to shut up and listen.