The rain finally came

 Last night it rained like crazy and today until noon or so there were severe thunder storms.

One especially loud and close thunder kept our dog Brigit downstairs by herself most of the morning.

She never does that so it must have scared her plenty!

I was reading a book on the front porch when it happened--we have bees on the back porch--and it was like a bomb going off in the neighborhood!

It's 4 p.m. now and the sun is poking through the clouds and birds are congregating outside my window.

But the weather folks say more rain is possible tonight.

We'll see.

 

no rain yet

The weather people have heavy rain for two days and flood warnings for New England.

There have been mists but no rain in Cheshire.

As I was leaving church in Milton there were some drops for about 5 minutes, then they stopped.

We'll see overnight--it's after 9 p.m. now--and tomorrow.

No rain yet.

And no flood.

 

Our backyard

 Two days ago, Bern and I were sitting out on our back deck and she said, "our backyard has become a bird sanctuary."

And she's right.

Robins, sparrows, catbirds, cardinals and all sorts of other birds come to our bird bath to bathe and drink and hop around the yard in search of food.

I love to sit out there and watch them.

Birds are magical to me.

We even had a couple of crows and a white owl.

Love the birds. Watch them. Rejoice in them.

Guns

 They've got to go away.

Over 300 mass shootings this year already.

I've never owned a gun and never will.

Unless you are a hunter, why do you need one?

And yet we have yet to crack down on guns in this country.

Most other countries have credible gun laws, but not us.

What's wrong with us?

And what's the thing with guns?

I just don't get it.

July 4

Happy 4th of July!

Although I do have some issues with the holiday.

First of all, I don't like fireworks. It may storm tonight that would lessen the fireworks--but probably only until tomorrow night.

Secondly, it's hard to celebrate "all men are created equal" when the Declaration of Independence and then the Constitution, allowed slavery and women were second-class citizens.

Juneteenth is a better  day to celebrate although the end of slavery didn't end discrimination and racial inequality--something the Governor of Florida seems to want to bring back--along with withholding rights from GLBTQ folks.

Many in the Republican Party seem to be on board with all that. Major candidates for the Republican nomination didn't even mention Juneteenth on that day.

And Juneteenth didn't become a major holiday until 1986!

How long it takes for our country to admit it's mistakes.

But have a burger and some watermelon on me anyway....

 

4th of July 2 days early

We always spend the 4th of July with the same people.

We did it today and A's and J's house with S, J, J, L, L's son, A&J's daughter and her friend.

The people were great--or we wouldn't do this every year--and the food was wondrous, lots of it and more desserts than you can shake a stick at.

They have two dogs, so Brigit sniffed us up and down when we came home.

Bern made a pasta salad like nothing I've ever tasted.

The wine flowed along with beer, liquor and other stuff.

A great time with great people.

Just a tad early.

No fireworks, thank God, I hate fireworks.

But on Tuesday we'll be bombarded by them.

Cheshire loves fireworks.

It may be the only think I don't like about the town where we live and thrive.

Happy, Happy Quiet 4th to you! 

no church this Sunday

 My contract with Trinity, Milton is that I work three Sundays a month.

I should be glad to get a Sunday off--but I will miss them!

I've really become attached to this little parish as I have to all the parishes I've ever served.

Being a priest means being with great people and serving them as best I can.

What could be better than that?