Things Aren't Always What They Seem...

A couple days ago I "felt like it was the end of the world".  Things just weren't going well... Family problems, house problems, health problems... you know the drill... "when it rains it pours."  (And, by the way, it DID rain - lots and lots - all weekend and all day Monday.) But the last straw was when Moxie went missing.  I got up Sunday morning,  fed all the animals, then the people, as usual.  After I fed Moxie, she went outside like she always does.

On any given day, Moxie would go in and out of the house all day like an eight year-old boy with spring fever.  Ohhhh, but not Sunday.  Moxie went out to play that morning and didn't come back.  I kept looking for her all day, busy with whatever all I did that day, but often realizing that I did not have that usual dog underfoot.  Most days, except when she's outside, Moxie is in the same room with me.  I've often joked by singing "Me and My Shadow" as I enter a room, dog in tow.

So, by about three o'clock in the afternoon, I was quite distressed about Moxie.  I feared the worst, imagining her injured somehow and lying alone in the woods... Or, hit by a car... Or taken away by some stranger... We got in the Jeep and road all around the neighborhood looking for her to no avail.  Periodically I would go outside and call her;  I would walk the perimeter of the house,  peering into the woods, hoping to see or hear her.  But, nothing.





Monday was the pits.  I cried a lot.  I've lost pets in the past, but I have never had a dog before, so this was a new type of loss.  I remember my mother called that day to chat;  I wanted to tell her about Moxie, but I was afraid I would burst into tears.  I cut the conversation short.  I wasn't ready to talk about the dog. And the dismal rain.  And...etc., etc., etc.  Monday was pretty much a wasted day - dark, dismal and rainy all day.  I did the bare minimum...  and went to bed early, sad and longing for the escape of sleep.

Tuesday is errand day, so off I went to town.  On the way home I prayed, "Lord,  please give me a sign that everything is gonna' be alright.  A sign.  Any sign."  A moment later, still talking with God, I said, "Y'know how I asked for a sign, any sign.  Well, I have a specific request.  I will 'know it in my knower' that You are listening to me and that everything will be okay if You send Moxie home. I'm not trying to be presumptuous, but You are God  and with God nothing is impossible."

Me, watching a movie with Moxie and Pickles

Ten minutes later I pulled into the driveway.  Moshe came up to the Jeep to help me carry groceries in. And, he said, "I have a surprise for you in the house."  The surprise was Moxie!  Moshe explained, "About ten minutes ago, she simply walked down the hill and into our yard.  She was real dirty and real hungry, but she's okay."

And so we have our little household back in its rightful order.  And, once again God has proven that He will never leave me or forsake me.  Is life perfect?  No.  Is my health perfect?  No.  Is the house perfect?  No.  But God is!
SHALOM  Y'ALL - TWYLA

Just a Light Dusting, Please...

As predicted, we got some snow during the night... just an inch or so... a light dusting.  Enough to make everything pretty this morning, yet it has nearly disappeared even as I write this at noon.  I am still recovering from inner ear/vertigo, which got the best of me this past weekend.  Went to one of those walk-in clinics Monday, and they fixed me up pretty darn good!   Other than fatigue from the insomnia (from the Decadron injection), I'm doing well.  Got a lot accomplished yesterday; not as much today, but that's okay.

Moxie, visiting the Peeps cage; Peeps one week old

This morning, when I first saw the snow, Pretty Face and the Peeps were all peeking out of their little coop just opposite the back door. And, I realized that while the Peeps had seen snow, they had never been out walking in it.  So, of course, we had to see what they would do... It's always amusing to see animals walk in the snow, especially the first time.  They don't want their little feet to touch that weird, white, cold stuff, but there is no other way to ambulate than to ambulate!  They stood around a big dog bowl, eating cracked corn, then herded themselves up the back steps and onto the porch. So, there they were... ten chickens standing on the porch, staring in through the sliding glass door, and knocking on the glass with their little beaks.  ("Let me in... Let me in...")  Cute.  Too cute.  These are the Peeps that lived in the big cages in our office until they were about two months old.  They KNOW what wondrous pleasures lurk in every corner of the Ben-David household.  They remember us holding them, hand-feeding them, playing with them.  They remember falling asleep on our laps... with Moxie next to them, washing them like a mother cat and her kittens.  They know.

the back of the doll house

I have this old doll house on the back porch.  I originally had it as a "safe house" for my cats before I moved up to the mountains.  The three cats would get in the three rooms  and be protected from the elements.  Since I don't have three cats anymore, and the one I do have hardly ever goes outside, we had filled the rooms of the doll house with spare wood for the wood stove. But, this morning, I said, "What if..."  You see, the Peeps were all hanging out on the porch, on top of the doll house, atop flower pots next to the doll house... Even perching on pieces of wood that jutted out of the doll house rooms. What if I took the wood out of the rooms?                     Would they get in like the cats used to do?

Where's that "No Vacancy" sign???

So I carried the wood inside and have been using it for the fire all day.  Meanwhile, Pretty Face was the first to find a spot - left lower bunk, thank you very much!  Since then, various birds have been spotted in various parts of the house.  It's been another of those quirky little amusements to see who is where from time to time as the morning progressed.






Last I looked there were no chickens on the back porch.  They have a daily routine, which involves nap time.
I kid you not!  They all go back into the coop, hunker together in a big mound of  feathers, beaks, and feet, and sleep for about an hour.  They will be back out in a little while, ready to investigate the yards once again.

Meanwhile, Moxie and Beau are "guarding" the Peeps' chicken house.  They have stationed themselves on the hillside, just above the coop. Moxie, of course, considers herself their mother... But, Beau - bless his timid heart - is actually afraid of the chickens.  Yesterday I spotted them following him across the back yard, the way they would follow Moxie. Or me. Or Moshe.  Poor ol' Beau would  walk a little faster, and the Peeps would speed up, too.  Finally, he ran around the corner, apparently overwhelmed with the entourage.

Yes, I am easily amused.  I live a simple life.  But, it's a good life.  I laugh more deeply and more often than anyone I know.  The animals are a big part of that laughter. So, thanks be to God for giving us that light dusting of snow and providing me with a light dusting of laughter as well...