The church now has a piano!!

 
The pipe organ that Randy plays every Sunday is really nice, but a piano is an added touch. For now I think Randy will be going across town and playing the organ at Christ Congregational which gives them an added touch also. Ah, if Nancy and Howard could see us now! Howard was the organist before Randy and he passed away with Cancer. Nancy was the pianist and she passed suddenly shortly after Howard. Needless to say the church was devastated. I bet they are up there looking down on us and getting a good chuckle out of this.

We are getting a new minister who will take the pulpit May 1. This is how that works; our church meets at 9:30 and she will hold our service and then jump in her car and drive to Belmont to preside over their service which starts at 11:00. Then in July we switch our meeting times, I think. It works for us and is called a shared ministry. If you are near our area I would love to have you pop in for church service. We are located at 228 West Evans. We will have coffee after and be prepared to buy tickets for the quilt raffle. We need to raise over $2,000.00 and we are doing in $1.00 at a time!

The Llama's are eating my Asparagus!!

Do you see those two innocent looking Llama's there?   Well, do not let them fool you!  They are evil.  They lean their very long necks over the fence and eat my Asparagus.  Now I love Asparagus and getting a crop of it is usually iffy to say the very least.  First there is the problem of freezing and then as soon as I think it may actually have a chance to grow it gets too hot and it bolts.   Now this new wrinkle has me pretty much perplexed!

I do not go to their field and eat their stuff, so why do they think they can just hang their shaggy little heads over the fence and eat my food?  I was happy to see that they seem to be kind of housebroken.  I seen a big pile of stuff over there and seen the brown and white one contribute to the height of the pile.  So that is a good thing.  I do wish they would move the pile away from my bedroom window.  For the most part they are pretty neat animals, but woe unto the animal who comes between me and my vittles!

See I don't know if you realize how long it takes to get an Asparagus bed established.  This one has been there for about 5 years and is just now showing signs of being able to produce enough for a "mess".  A few of the remains of the stalks I seen were as big as my thumb!  Yummers!!  At least I hope that is what the furry creatures are saying.

See, I also wanted to plant a few gourds along that fence.  I suppose they eat gourds also.  As I set here contemplating this latest dilemma I just thought of something.  I never get a garden anyway, so why am I so worried?  The hail always comes and wipes me out and I wind up eating out of the farmers market, so why fight it?  If those little Llama's want to eat my stuff, I say let them!  At least this way, something got something out of my garden.

Life is Good!!

The small part of Pueblo After 2 on the Pueblo Levee Project.

This is but a small part of the Pueblo Levee Mural Project. It was started in the 1970's as graffiti. The city fathers very quickly seen a way to make it work for the city as opposed to becoming a blight on the city.  It is and has been controlled by the city since that time. The Project is now over 3 miles long and is billed by the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest continuous painting in the world.

Then on November 3, 1992,  voters of the state of Colorado, passed the dreaded Amendment 2. By its pure design it was worded to repeal anti discrimination laws that had been passed by various entities to protect the rights of our gay/lesbian population.  I had at that point in time been working with the gay community as a member of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.) We had worked very hard trying to explain that this amendment wa sunconstitutional.  

 The night when the vote was announced we all went to a central gathering place and found out just how many gay people there were in our fair city. I knew my stats, but even I was amazed. On the same ballot was a question to protect black bears during mating season or some such thing. Many people wore signs that said "Don't shoot! I am really a black bear." But out of that evening came the realization that without organization and with out working together the gay community would always be an outcast segment of society. The grass roots organization was named Pueblo After 2, a very symbolic name. 

 If you look very carefully right there under the bridge you will see an upside down rainbow triangle. That was the symbol for Pueblo After 2.  As a friend to the community I was allowed to help! It was my job to bring the coffee and donuts.   I took this picture yesterday. The sign has weathered and faded, but it has been 18 years. That hardly seems possible, but I can subtract.    A lot has happened since that time.  Amendment 2 was struck down by the Supreme Court on May 20, 1996.  Pueblo After 2 is now Southern Colorado Equality Alliance.  As SCEA they are a very respected member of society. PFLAG and SCEA fund scholarships at the local community college.

As for me, I got old and do not do the political thing much any more, but you just never know where you might find me or why!!                                                      

Pueblo Levee Mural Project will be my next undertaking!

I was just flipping through the pages of my mind yesterday and I came up with my next undertaking on the old Blog. Many years ago I was involved in helping put an addition on the Pueblo Levee Mural. I shall revisit the site. I shall also give a brief history of the project. I am getting all excited just thinking about it. Now, I know you think it is a done deal, but there are facts that need to be researched, because this old gal has forgotten most of the particulars.

It is not enough to just put it out there and call it good. There are some facts that need to be accurate. Maybe someone out there can help me. What year was Pueblo After 2 established? What year was I President of PFLAG? Was I President of PFLAG or was I Vice President, or was it Secretary? I got a lot of work to do between now and then so I am going to get busy!

If you think of anything that can help me, please send me a note!!

And my life is full and rich...

This is the Daisy dog. She has not had a bath in over a month!

This is the Elvira, Mistress of the night dog. She just had her bath and she is very pretty.  I look around at my life and I see that it is very good. I have the Cherry Tree right outside the office window, the Redbud blooming in both the front yard and the back yard, the Flowering Pink Almond, Lilac's  and tons of the pretty little yellow flowers all through the grass. Now what more could one woman ask from life? The companionship of the doggies is enough to satisfy any longings I have on the cold winter night. Barely enough room in the bed for me to sleep!

I have a car to drive, a roof over my head, clothes for my back, and food for my tummy.  I have friends and my church for a social life, a mind to think , and a marker at the cemetary that is already engraved. Can you think of anything that is missing? When I bought my marker, the guy at Imperial said the date of my death would be engraved later. I tried to talk him into helping me just set a date and we would work from that, but the guy had no sense of humor. In his line of work I think I understand that.

So, just wanted to share that with you while I had it on my mind.  Dogs come and dogs go. Cats come and the owls eat them. The duck flock is slowly thinning itself and I am sure the geese will follow suit.  A couple years ago I had 36 ducks. Now I am down to 21. It is called the cycle of life.  I have friends who are concerned that the world will end in 2012. First it was 1984, then 1999, then 2000, and I am still here. See, I read the Bible and I like the part about. "No Man shall know the hour of my coming. There shall be 2 people working in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left behind..."

So I shall set here with my doggies, very patiently waiting. In the meantime, I think I will do a lot of living and there is a lot needs doing out there. Think I will go find some to do.

Adoption in Fayetville of Russian boy really wasn't what she wanted.

Hey! Wait a minute!  I changed my mind. What was I thinking?  Those thoughts flashed through my mind many times after we adopted Bret when he was eight years old. Lucky for hm, I did not know about that loop hole. I should have just called him a cab and got on with my life. Not really.

Putting that boy on a plane to Russia has probably traumatized that kid beyond repair. Could you picture yourself at 7 years old leaving your homeland and flying to another country only to be slapped back on the plane and sent back to your homeland? I know first hand that the kids who are taken, or thrown away, by the birth parents, can and do suffer rejection. DUH! There minds are not developed enough to set down and methodically decipher all that has happened in there short lives. So they react.

Their reactions are not understood, by the adults as reaching out, but rather as pushing.  In order to gain your love, they need to push and most humans do not react well to being pushed away. They think of it as being pushed away.  I was well acquainted with the people who ran the mental health facility. I was there for the anger management, attachment disorder, and the sports programs to build self esteem. We had the lying, the stealing, and the threats of running away. Been there, done all that. Social Service was not the only group available to help, but they were paramont. It is not in their or the children's best interest for the adoption not to work, so every effort is made to transition.

So rather than haul old Bret off and get on with it, I chose to stand and fight. Now, I may not have the most successful kid it town, but I do have a funtioning member of society. He isn't in a gang, he is a very soft hearted and kind to animals, old people,  and babies, so I don't think he is a serial killer. True, he does not run out and do chores when I first tell him, and sometimes not the second or third time, but he really feels bad when I wind up dumping the 50 pound bags of feed. Or at least he says he feels bad.

I do know, however, that he does love me.  I know he appreciates that I chose to keep him and not let him filter down through the foster care system. Not that the foster care system is bad, but rather that being with grandmother is better. At least there is a connection.

So to the woman who put her son on the plane and walked away, I would say this: "You did what you had to do.  You based your actions on information you had at the time.  There may have been other choices, but you chose the path you walk. Walk forward knowing that we can not say what you should do until we have walked in your shoes. God Bless You!"

This is what I call a sad looking sight!

This is my doggie, Daisy.  Actually she was adopted at the pound for Little Bret when he was about 14 years old.  He was going to walk her, give her a bath, play ball with her...  So here we are later in life and I have inherited the dog, along with the 4 ducks he had to have when he was still cute and got what he wanted.  The 4 little ducks have grown into 21 ducks and those 3 cute little geese have multiplied into 10.  I just have a headache.

Somehow little Daisy looks a lot like Groucho Marx.  That is not a cigar in her mouth, but is a chew toy, one that is supposed to make her have sweet breathe. Sorry to say it is not working!  This is the sweet little dog that jumped almost over the fence coming out of the duck pen and tore her skin loose, thereby requiring a trip to the Vet on a Sunday afternoon to the tune of $240.00.  I especially enjoyed that one!  But where would we be without our little pets?

I had an email from my former Pastor a while ago and she said her cat, who has been her best friend for 12 years died today.  My heart bleeds for her.  People are always sympathetic when we have a loss that entails a human, but neglect the tender thoughts when it is an animal.  Why?  An animal gives us unfaltering love, trust, and devotion.  Why should we grieve any differently over the pet than a human who was perhaps, not so faithful and intuitive?  An animal's love in unconditional, while humans tend to run and hide when we are pissy.  She can get another cat, but she will never get another Thomaus.

So I will enjoy my little furry friends while I have them.  Sometimes I would like to not have them, especially when I am sucking the white hair off the brown couch, but there you go. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

And there you have my musings for the day. No words of wisdom today, just brain dead!