rain, rain everywhere, and not a cab in sight

hans was desperate to catch a cab out of new york last week.  it was
raining cats and dogs with an added tornado or two but no cabs in which
to take refuge.

google image of times square

the streets were lined with drenched people, hands raised in futility for
a dry ride.  a few others were pushing their 'cart' homes, apparently
indifferent to the downpour.

a lone cabbie inched by carefully ignoring the hoards, so hans took a
chance.  "excuse me, sir, could you take me uptown?"

google image of new york cab

"well, i'll tell you.  i'm in a mood as foul as this weather, but because
you were so polite, yes sir, hop in." he reminded me of the aesop quote,
"no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

what the cabbie didn't know is that hans had spent two intensive days
in denver meetings, hopped a plane to return me home, then caught
another plane to take him on to new york, arriving at one in the morning.
at seven the next morning he presented at a conference for eight hours.

exhausted and soaked to the bone, he was trying to meet his brother
who was recovering from surgery and then to catch his third plane  in
two days to bring him home to me on yet another red eye.

i could just kiss that cabbie. . . but don't tell hans.

love,
lea

"with good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men."
ephesians 6:7

terror by day

dear emily,

janette, vee, and my friend from HHL have all inspired me with their
incredibly vulnerable blogs.  why does it make us feel better when
someone else is struggling?

i think it's because our own battles are somehow validated.  one of my
conflicts is the fear of flying, something i have to do a lot.

google image

this past week we took off from the beautiful denver airport on a
glorious indian summer day.  unfortunately, the warm air combined
with the mountain updrafts created a turbulent 'sit op.'  the pilot
followed a bizarre flight pattern for 20 minutes, flying only 1,000 feet
above the ground.    did i say flying?

i meant bouncing and careening.

on top of that (no pun intended), we were piddling around at 300
miles per hour, half the normal speed.  it felt like riding a bucking
bronco in slow motion . . . endlessly.  the terror smothered me as i
imagine the hood used to stifle the victim before his hanging.

the Lord and i have been in this situation thousands of times and
He knows me so well.  His word comforted my heart, even though
my mind was still a little undone.

"fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you.  I will UPHOLD you with
my righteous right hand."  isaiah 41:10

hans encouraged me with good common sense, "it's only bumpy
air.  close your eyes and imagine an old gravel road.  the plane can
easily handle this."  but could i?

now i feel ashamed of my terror, my weakness, myself.  maybe,
though, it will make you feel a little better about yours.

love,
lea

all for nature

dear emily,

tonight hans and i hosted a fundraiser for the nature conservancy, mainly
for our tall grass prairie, the largest in the world.  hans calls it the reasonable
man's approach to conservation.  we don't throw buckets of paint on anyone.

in the pre-party panic i always experience, i hid in our quiet pantry and sent
the kids a furtive message, "your dad is about to get in a fight with the city
newspaper, because they want us to take a photo outside in the 95 degree
weather."

"mom!  are you hiding in the pantry?"

hans won, and we took the picture in our living room.  i'm pretty sure
we will look like the bison of our tall grass prairie, as the photographer
will have his revenge.

one of the most famous nature conservancy photographers gave me
permission to post some of his gorgeous tall grass prairie photos on my
humble blog!  i'll place them by our photo in a few days, and let you
judge who's the scruffiest.

in the same living room, i  happened upon a woman leaning over her
husband who was grey as an old mare and shaking with sweaty palms.
she said, "he's probably fine, but he has really high blood pressure."

after the ambulance left with him, she turned back and said, "thank you
very much for having us.  we had a lovely time."

creepy.  

"did you have to call for the firetrucks, too?"  hans was just curious.

before i could answer, the most adorable 85 year old man (think fred
astaire but imagine the largest land owner in our state) came whistling
out the door.  so cute . . . with a wine bottle hidden behind him.  he had
told me earlier that his wife, who was home with a 'bug', was feeling
much better.

"she felt well enough to go to the beauty parlor."  :)

home, home on the range . . .

love,
lea

awkward family photos

dear emily,

i'm probably going to get in trouble with someone, but desperate times
call for desperate measures.  whenever i really need to be cheered up,
 i suspect others might, too.  here are  some of my favorite photos from
"awkward family photos."

"will you marry me, alice?"

"only if we can have our bridal party photo in our favorite tree."

"or if we can use your mom's awesome draperies."

"and if you go to billy ray's barber."

love,

lea

"God has brought me laughter, and everyone who 

hears about this will laugh with me."

genesis 21:6

fried chicken, baby!

i am in such a pickle, because that darling kim from field of dreams
has shared so many endearing stories about her beloved chickens.
they feel like family to me now.

on top of that, her newest batch of chickens is the sweetest one of all.
my dilemma, you ask?

fried chicken is about my favorite food!   i could eat it morning, noon,
and night.  the guilt is killing me.  please don't tell kim about my
'fowlibalistic' tendencies when you visit her.

she thinks i love her precious hens so much i could just eat them up
but doesn't realize i am actually doing that.  :)

love,
the fantastic mrs. fox

ps.  "for everything God created is good (food), and nothing is to
be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving . . ." 1 timothy 4:4

some day

i'm linking up with the red dress club to write a letter to our younger
selves.

dear younger lea,

i know you think you're fat, because there is a tiny jiggle behind
you, but you're NOT.  some day you WILL be, so try to enjoy
that cute little figure while you have it.

it makes you feel prettier to be as tan as a piece of leather, but
some day that's what your skin will look like . . . only worse.
put on sunscreen.

be kind to everyone.  some day you may work for one of them.

think sweet thoughts, and you will say sweet words.  some day
you may have to eat them.

love,
your much older self

"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable . . . think on
such things."  philippians 4:8

thank you! and 'friday pretties!'

it seems i always have something for which to be grateful here.
your prayers and encouragement have lifted me above the tide
that would have swept over me at my daughter's departure.   if
you knew how precious she is, you would understand our terrible
loss and brazil's great gain.   the Light seems to find her.

many of you left the kindest comments and prayers after my last 

entreaty, but i received the most input about gwendolyn's eloquent 

one.  if you have time to visit her, you will be comforted and inspired.

friday is the day we look forward to joyce's 'pretties.'  it astounds me to
see the beauty of God's creation presented for us to enjoy at all the lovely
blogs who participate.

my 'pretty' is from our beloved colorado.  the same God who formed

this majestic mountain,

set the seed for a delicate white blossom.

"for the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.

in His hand are the depths of the earth, 

and the mountain peaks belong to Him."

psalm 95:3,4

love,

lea