The Prize or the Price

OK, picture this!

Twenty squirmy-wormy, squiggly-wiggly kinder-bodies, slithering across the gym floor, all hunters on a 15-minute safari .... that was supposed to have been PE class..............

Lesson plans weren't working. Half of the class was either pouting, crying, pushing or bouncing, and the other half would very soon be lost .

I went for follow-the-leader. These little guys are so green! I never know if they understand English, and I forget their names from one week to the next. But with follow-the-leader, it's mostly the same kids that continually need to be re-aligned ... and easier to remember 5 names than all 20.

We started out as whinnying horses ... then headed back to the "group space" watering hole.

Next we became trumping elephants ... and regrouped at the watering hole.

Then we were leaf-eating giraffes, and roaring lions!

And finally the hunters ... stalking the prey ... with just a few minutes till we needed to line up..........

Mission met! Task accomplished! Safari a win!

Yes, I was leading the tromps through the "jungles" along the basketball lines! I was trumping, and roaring, and they were following! And when we became the hunters, one little guy fell to his belly, with a "this is how they do it!", and everyone else dropped .... except the Teacher-Grandma, who crouched on two legs, "glistening" with exertion.

That was the prize! Price? I was wiped out ..... till I got my diet coke!

The Busyness of Slowing Down

Still crisp mornings but no frost yet for a while. I harvested my herbs Saturday, and now have intense concentrated smells in different places in the house. Chives on the dining room table, oregano hanging from a pole downstairs -- and parsley still waiting to be cut. Basil holds its aroma till it is crushed. Ummmmm.

More TTD today than I can touch, let alone finish, so I want to be smart about what should be first, and so on. The best thing for me first, is to think about the list, think about others, and talk to the Big Guy about all I care about that I can and can't affect today.

You may be on my latter list. Those I can't touch but I care about. I think about people on that list as I make my applesauce, put away my fabrics, fold laundry, or even spread my mulch.

You are important because I've been where you are and know the stress of caring but being too stretched.

You are important and I care for you.

But the One I talk to cares much more, and knows how to help.

Hope you have a great day, a wondrous fall, knowing that those who aren't close by wish they could be, and wish they could help, and are always pulling for you.

May the God of Peace give you strength and joy as you carry your load, and the assurance of his constant presence and care.

Slowing Down

I love this time of year, when it's crisp in the mornings, warming in the afternoons. School starts from my childhood always involved wearing a jacket in the morning, and carrying it home.

I like the change of pace that fall brings. It seems summers are becoming more of a flurry rather than the kick-back time they used to be. We hurry-up-and-have-fun and then have to rest from our recreation. :o) Where's the fun in all that?

But I'm also tired of the hand watering of my flowers. These past three weeks I've been painting and sanding, packing and unpacking, installing and shortening -- to bring the basement face-lift to an end.

I've neglected my flowers, checking for limp or dead parts as I run out for a sprig of basil at suppertime. 'Ooo, a little soft, but I don't have time now....' and I toss my concerns to the wind.

But the last few nights I've noticed a bud emerging in the rose pot on the table. Little by little, it's surviving my neglect and becoming beauty on its own -- or at least without me.

Hmmmmm ..... without me ........... Hmmmmm ...... Life !