Want to know what I did yesterday?

First I got up and roasted 1/4 bushel of chile.  Then I peeled and canned 7 pints of tomatoes.  Then I went to church.  Then I came home and peeled the chile and canned them.  Then it was off to the Nature Center for the Peace Flotilla.  Then it was home and into bed.
This morning I tried to sleep in cause I thought it was Sunday!  There is just no winning with me!

Steve Parke, a man for the ages.

Every so often, a man comes along who is comfortable in his own skin.  I rarely actually meet such a man, but here you see one!  Let me introduce you to Steve Parke.  And see that guitar hanging off his shoulder?  He can play that!  And he can sing!  And sometimes he lets me sing with him.  Usually that happens when he is at the Peace Flotilla at the nature center in the fall.  Everyone goes down to the river to launch the floats and we wail away.  Here he is at the courthouse steps where the faith leaders were  holding a rally to ask for civility in our discussions on gun control.  Steve is a retired minister and is often found at any gathering for anything that even faintly resembles civil rights and that means any civil right for any human, animal, or anything that comes up.

And he plays that guitar and sings for Mothers Day Out at our church.  He is now working on publishing his second album.  Don't know what it is called, but do know that I will be in line for one of the first ones sold!  Then I can sing along with him all day!

He can travel to Ireland in search of his roots, come home with a slide show of epic proportions and make us all feel like we had gone there with him!  Ireland is beautiful and he is proud of his roots!  Steve is one of the best story tellers I have encountered and I have known a few!  He is at home in the coffee shops, nursing homes, church meetings, ski slopes, gym, river walk, and anywhere he points his little nose.  And girls, he is single!

 

 

But at our fundraiser at the church last Saturday, Theresa caught a side of Steve that we had never seen.  Now I am not sure that he was setting at this vanity because he was thinking about purchasing it, or just wanted to get off his feet for a break, or what was in his mind, but we got quite a kick out of this and I did promise him that I would present him in a good light.  I at first thought he had a necklace there, but if you look closely it is his phone.  His shirt has a Coors Light advertisement on the back.  He did not wear the one I like that says "Well, just because beer makes everything easier." 

So I present to you Mr. Steve Parke, retired from the work he did at the State Hospital, retired from active ministry, but always on hand to help his fellow man, brighten our day, or pet a stray kitty on the street.  A Godly man and one loved by everyone whose life he touches and touching more lives then even he knows!

I will let you know when his new album is out and will make it available in my store if he lets me, or if he doesn't, I know how to photo shop and that cell phone may turn into a tube of lipstick!

Love you, Steve!

 

 

 

 

Getting rid of the frail old body and moving on up!

Not to be alarmed, kiddies, it is not me!  But yesterday I got a phone call.  A friend is dying and would I come?  Of course!  I left the sewing job I was working on down stairs, put on my bra, and drove across town.  I joined her husband, the minister and a girl from Sangre de Cristo Hospice at her bedside.  She had grown even frailer than the last time I had seen her a week before.  She is at home in a hospital bed in the front room surrounded by the remnants of her life.  Throughout the afternoon a few friends stopped by, more of hospice stopped in, and flowers were delivered.  She did not know it, but we all did.

I looked around the room at pieces of art that represented her life.  There were framed tatted doilies that she had made.  Art work by her daughter.  Pictures of her and Doug when they were young.  Pictures of the kids, the grandkids, the dog, and where had the cat gotten off to anyway?

And everywhere reminders of the activism in thier lives.  I do not know when I met these people nor where.  It seems I had always known them.  The Peace Flotilla, Meals on Wheels, Ghandi Peace Garden, Rally against Amendment #2, on and on.  Always Doug passing out flyers or leading the march and always Dorothy on his arm.  We belong to the same church, and apparently belong to the same causes!

I believe that on this level words are not needed.  I believe the person preparing for the journey knows exactly what is going on and can intercept our thoughts.  So I gave her good ones!  Green valleys, cool sunshine, soft clouds, and the gentlest rain.  I gave her soft music, beautiful flowers, and sweet smells.  I gave her soft kittens and butterflies; and I hope a glimpse of the Holy City where she will live after she flits around the world and fills her head with the knowledge of the ages.  And finished with the face of Jesus, so kind, caring and welcoming with his out stretched arms.  "Come home, Dorothy.  I am waiting."

I had to come home for a while in the evening to do chores.  When I went back Dorothy had quieted.  Her daughters arrived about 10:00.  I think she was waiting for them.  I took my leave so they could say thier goodbyes without a stranger there.  I have not heard this morning and it is kind of early to call, but if I were a betting person, I would bet she is free from her body that held her prisoner and is soaring above us, smiling down and touching us with a peace that is not attainable on this level.

God speed, Dorothy!  See you soon!

 

Peace Pilgrim link.

http://www.peacepilgrim.com/steps1.htm#4prep

Daughter called a bit ago to tell me I had forgotten to put the Peace Pilgrim up as promised.  So rather then write my opionions of this I will let you read and come to your own conclusions.

Let me know what you think!

Sixteen Annual Peace Flotilla, and a good time was had by all!

Last night at the Nature Center marked the 16th time that the little floats with candles in them were launched down the Mighty Arkansas River here in Pueblo, Colorado!  I had not been for a couple years and was just amazed at how much the event has improved.  This is all thanks to a little guy in our town named Doug Gale. You will meet Doug and his lovely wife Dorothy probably next week. I want to take pictures of them and do them full justice, because if God ever touched a man and said "Bring peace to the world and feed my people, it is this man."  I am inadequate to do justice to a man of this stature but I will give it my best shot!

But last night was the Peace Flotilla.  There were girl scouts, boy scouts, McClelland School children, Martin Luther King Center, and more floats then you could shake a stick at.  Someone said there were 83, but that was before I threw mine in the mix.  School kids are more organized.  They had blocks of wood about 10" square and their candle set in the middle.  Then they wrapped it up the sides with butcher paper which had been decorated with peace signs!  Very neat.  I wove some New Mexico Sunflowers into a circle and jammed some purple candles in the thing and called it good. Gave it to some sad looking kid who didn't have one to launch and made him all happy.  Made me happy too cause then I did not have to walk half a mile in the dark through the willows to the launch place!

Usually I run into lots of my friends at something like this, but they were sadly lacking last night. My pastor, Jeanine Lamb and another preacher friend, Steve Parke was there so I kinda hung with Jeanine.  Steve had his guitar and a friend or two and they were the music for the evening.  Gotta' love that Steve!  He does the folk songs and what ever it is us old hippies used to sing.  So they played and we sang at the top of our lungs, "If I had a Hammer!", "Where have all the Flowers Gone?", "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land." 

Now I need to interject here that I had a lovely visit with Pastor Lamb, which I shall call her out of deference to her vocation.  Yesterday she had given a sermon that really made me think that I may be a good person.  Not perfect by a long shot, but my Lord takes me like I am.  It is me he wants, just like I am so it is me he's going to get!  Aside from the preaching thing she is also a very interesting person. Oh, yeah, and a very good listener.  Knows when to nod and everything!

Then they released the Great Horned Owl into the night sky and launched the floats. These were then caught by the Sheriffs Dive Team right before they went over the rapids and returned to their owners.  I am a thinking that my little float with the 3 purple candles might have gotten by unnoticed in the dark and made it's way to the sea.  At least that is the dream I shall hold on to as I once more, in my idyllic world think that peace may actually be a reality some day.

This is Pastor Lamb!