Sometimes I have this love/hate relationship with Facebook.  I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding.  The whole idea behind it (and, no, I haven't seen the movie) is connections.  But sometimes, I just want to connect with my friends.  I'm lazy...I want to know how they're doing and what they're up to but I'd never take the time to contact as many people as my "friend" list contains.  I don't want to play games and I don't care about the games they play.  I don't want to be inundated with advertisements even if they are related to my areas of interest.  I don't want to unlock the answers to questions that others have answered about me.  It's nice to know my friends are thinking of me but I don't want to send all of them flowers or hearts or candy.  And I don't care if Farmer "Joe" has planted his corn or fed his cows.  So I block as much of that stuff as I can.  And even at that, there are enough pages that I've "liked" that fill my screen with "stuff", some of which I don't mind keeping up with but it doesn't have anything to do with my friends.
What's up with the new limits on posts or comments?  If they will only allow me to post a certain amount of characters, why do they allow me to type out an entire paragraph but only post half of it cutting me off in mid sentence?  And since "enter" is a normal part of typing skills, I prefer to hit a send, share or comment button when I'm ready to post something because I may innocently hit "enter" long before I'm ready to "send" what I'm trying to say.  Do you think they're trying to tell me something?

Pondering

You know, it's often hard to accept the things that become a bigger part of our lives than we thought they would.  Like dealing with the huge feeling of confusion or overwhelming, unspoken pressure to take an action or fulfill a task. I've only experienced this big feeling twice...at least twice accompanied with peace.  I believe that was the breath of God.  And in hindsight, those are the most likely to give us blessings.  Whether the blessing comes from the feeling of satisfaction that accompanies a job completed and well done or from the refocus and dedication you need to find in order to forge ahead on the path that's been outlined for you is often hard to pinpoint.  In my experience, those two times were both leading me to take an action that was against my better judgement...something I would never have seen my self doing.  And while one was extremely bittersweet, I believe it was for the best.  The other, extremely enjoyable and fulfilling even though it required tremendous amounts of time.  I can't say that I deserve any credit for beginning either one of these adventures.  But the strength to do both came from the One who planted the roadblocks or opened the doors that led me down the path I am following. 
Sometimes I look for answers and it's often hard to find one that satisfies all my queries.  Sometimes it's better if I just follow along and focus on being strong even when I feel so weak.

Sunday Morning Musings

It's still early...I'm notorious for being an early riser and I like to write while the house is quiet and still.  Sometimes my thoughts just need a place to spill over and fill the space with my random ponderings.  Not because I'm so very intellectual or anything...just because I'm so scatter-brained!

Today feels like a peaceful day with calm weather that still breaths cold winter air onto the frosty rooftops of the Appalachians.  Not sure I'm putting much faith in the wily looks of an innocent rodent surrounded by loud music, shouting crowds who've already been imbibing at 6AM, bright lights and TV cameras.  It's been nearly 4 weeks since his historic prognostication of an early spring.  Aside from a two day heatwave, one could scarcely tell the difference.  I think it may have been a pressured decision due to the fact that it was his 125th anniversary!

But I've no doubt that Lady Spring is, once again, slumbering peacefully at the base of this mighty mountain range somewhere in Virginia.  She'll soon come softly over the ridges toward the little valley where I live in search of a place to wile away the summer.  As the warming rains and gentle breezes slowly melt away the winter chill, I'm sitting here, once again, coffee in hand, perusing the seed catalogs over and over and making plans for things to come. 

We're looking forward to seeing our oldest daughter over spring break.  It will be nice to spend time with her and her friend who will be visiting for a few days.  I'm trying not to plan too many things for her time because so often there are folks to visit and things to do and before you know it, it's time for her to go.  My first impulse is to be selfish...I don't want to share her.  There are so many things to talk about and yet it seems we never find time to get around to taking care of the important things because we're just happy to be together.

As the days begin to warm a few degrees, the sugaring season has begun.  I'm looking forward to steamy days and nights spent 'round the evaporator just enjoying the time together, sampling the maple "tea"  as it slowly condenses into a lovely brown syrup.  It's always amazing to me that you can taste the sugar in the sap as it comes right from the tree.  Its also amazing that some folks prefer the high fructose corn syrup variety from the store to this wonderful, mineral rich, true maple syrup.  A whole food that I can harvest right in my own back yard.

Well, there are stirrings in the house and soon the whir of activity will descend on me so I guess it's time for my musings to end for today.  Or, more accurately, for me to stop recording my musings for now.