Thoughts on Diverse Subjects

I finished the annual Christmas letter yesterday, and I let the people in my world know that I have a blog. That means that I have to discipline myself to write something every now and again rather than once or twice a year! That is a good thing, because if I want to do this, I need to do it right. I have to remember that discipline is more about order than punishment!
The weather folks say we are in for a wet time of it....rain in the forecast from now until after Christmas. It seems like this year has been a lot wetter than normal, but since I cannot remember last week, that is not a fair evaluation! In most parts of the country, winter means the slowing down of the natural world. Creatures hibernate and plants go dormant and things settle down. But that is not true in a place like this. The rainy season brings life, and while the leaves do fall off of some of the trees, the grass explodes into greenness. The summer dust washes off the needles of the evergreens, and the air sparkles. It is a good time.
I have a cousin who is a career soldier. She is a lot younger than I am and it has been a good 40 years since I last saw her. My memories are of a little girl, even though I have seen current photos of a woman who is rapidly becoming my hero. She has been lots of places in her career, and yesterday was the anniversary of an event in which she and her troops came under attack. I struggle with the images of a little girl putting her life on the line in a foreign country, and I am a veteran!! I pray for soldiers everywhere!
So the season rolls on, and I am more or less ready. The last year has taught me that there are a whole bunch of things more important that a bunch of presents under the Christmas tree--life, family, and a relationship with God, for starters!