Closed Doors, Open Windows

Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Wednesday Treasures

How can it be Wednesday again already? These days and weeks are just flying by! What's interesting is that last week it felt like spring and almost summer, and now this week we are right back to what feels like winter for us! Today has been rainy and cloudy and chilly, and we have a freeze warning in effect by Friday. So I am back to wearing my flannels and sweaters and using the extra blanket again...and here's my scene now:

Here's a look at Still Waters Pond at 1:52 p.m. It just started raining again, so it's the kind of day to stay curled up inside our cozy house and be thankful we don't have anywhere we absolutely have to go!

Earlier this morning, after we made a trip to Walmart to get haircuts and do some shopping (in the rain!, but it wasn't raining when we made the hair appointments yesterday afternoon for this morning...), when we got home it was time for me to go across the street to feed the neighborhood cats:

"Sunshine" and "Blackie", enjoying their Meow Mix

And on my way back home I met up with these folks...Mr. and Mrs. Canada Goose, out for a stroll...

I believe they were on their way back to Still Waters Pond...not sure why they didn't just fly there. I guess they needed some exercise. LOL.

It appears that they have taken up residence at the new house that is next door to us

It is still waiting for some special people to come purchase it! "Won't you be my neighbor??", which BTW, when my sister was here last week I took her over to peek in all the windows and walk all around the property with me, and I tried my best to "sell" it to her, but they are too settled in their home of almost 50 years in a much more suburban kind of neighborhood near Orlando. Her hubby said he couldn't survive here because we don't even have a Starbucks! LOL I tried to convince him that we are really coming up in the world, because they are building a new Dunkin' Donuts here in our little town:

But somehow that didn't convince him or her. Oh well, I tried.

Also last week when they were here I had tentatively planned for us girls to have a little tea-party out in the Secret Memorial Garden. Benton had moved this table off the porch for me so we'd have a place to set it up, but it was actually a bit too windy and chilly on that day for a tea-party in the garden.

My thoughts were to model it after this photo that my sister had actually posted on her Facebook page earlier in the week. Of course, I don't have all those flowers around, or a little stone cottage in the background, but we could always pretend like we used to do as little girls. Can't you just imagine it? It was a wonderful idea, but just not practical for this particular time.

Maybe we'll try again in April, perhaps for Doris' birthday! I may have to borrow some flowers from her garden! LOL.

Now here is some exciting news! Remember on Tuesday (yesterday!) when I showed you pictures of the Sand Hill Crane building her nest? Well, later yesterday afternoon I went back over to check and see what was going on over there, and this is what I found:

YES!! Mrs. Sand Hill Crane is sitting on her nest!!! Hooray!! That means there must be at least one egg! I will have to keep checking on them to see if I can catch her standing up and tending to the egg(s) to determine if there is more than one.

And what is neat is this is exactly the same time as last year, right around President's Day, when they laid their two eggs...one on Abraham Lincoln's birthday (Feb. 12) and one on George Washington's birthday (Feb. 22), so this year they decided to make the appearance on President's Day, so I guess I will have to name this colt (or colts) after another President. We'll wait and see how many and then the decision will be made as to what to name it/them, and I think I will make it a surprise and not announce any name until the colt makes it's debut.

I wish I could see this nest from our house, but I have to walk around the pond to see it over behind the island, so there probably won't be as many updates as in times past.

Also, we will need to keep an eye on that Mr. and Mrs. Canada Goose, because they usually build their nest not long after the cranes. It's kind of like "keeping up with the Joneses between the two rivaling creatures! LOL. Never a dull moment here on Still Waters Pond, that's for sure!

Oh, thank you all for your prayers for us yesterday as we made that trip to the eye doctor again for hubby's eye. There was no fog, thank the Lord, only bright sunshine all the way. And the doctor said his eye is healing nicely, and the irritation could be either from the drops, or just the fact that the tissue around the new lens is still healing, but everything appeared to be normal. He made some adjustments in the kind of drops he is using, and today the eye actually feels much better! So that is a relief and worth the trip up there and back! Praise the Lord!

1 John 5:14-15 NKJV

"14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him,

that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask,

we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

Okay, one more thing before I go. I wanted to mention a nifty gift that hubby received for his birthday from Benton and Rose:

Have you ever seen one of these before? I hadn't, and it was quite an interesting surprise:

It is a fan and an LED light, that screws into any ceiling light socket like a light bulb!

I think Benton intended for hubby to put it in his workshop out in the shed, but he decided he'd rather have it here inside, and guess what! He wanted me to have it here in my little "room with a view"!

This room didn't have a ceiling fan already, just a small ceiling light fixture that really didn't give off much light. So we replaced it with this new-fangled fan/light, and it is really nice!

Now I can see when I am sitting here working, and also cool off with the fan when things get too hot!

And the best part is it has a remote control, so I don't even have to get up and down to turn it on or off! The light and the fan can be adjusted individually from the remote! What a nice gift!

I feel badly that hubby doesn't really get to use it here in my little room, but he said he was happy for me to use it here because he doesn't spend that much time out in his shop anyway.

So this is a new "treasure" for this Wednesday! It's so nice, we may get one to put in each of the other two bedrooms because they don't have ceiling fans either.

Let's end this post with some words of wisdom found in this little daily devotional calendar:

Here are a few Scripture references that would go nicely with that exhortation above:

Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatever you do, do it well"

Colossians 3:23-24: "Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men"

Philippians 3:13-14

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

And those are my Wednesday Treasures for this week! I hope you are having a blessed and wonderful week. Thank you for so many kind comments on my previous posts. I am trying to get around to visiting with you all to see what is going on in your part of the world. You are each a treasure to me.

Monday, February 17, 2025

Tuesday 4~ Teen Time Memories

Teen Time Memories

Hey! Welecome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
Would you like to talk about some blasts from the past?
You know.. like malt shops, teen hops, proms and rock and roll? OK, let's do it!

1. Was there a teen hangout in your town or near it where teens seemed to gravitate? What was a favorite place to go?

The "Dixie Drive In" was a popular place for teens to go and hangout. They had curbside service with the trays on the windows and "Car-Hop" girls would bring out your order of hamburgers, cokes, milkshakes, or whatever you wanted. They also had indoor booth seating. I remember my older brothers and sister used to go there, but I was too young and was not allowed. By the time I was a teen ager it wasn't as popular as it was in the later 50's/early 60's. I did go there a few times, but it really wasn't a place that I enjoyed going to all that much. It was set between several different little towns that all kind of formed a "triangle", and so kids from other towns/high schools (Rivals!!) also hung out there. I really preferred staying with my friends from my own school.

The place I remember most was our downtown drug store, which had a soda fountain and tables. A lot of kids would go there after school and get a 5 cent cherry or vanilla coke, or french fries, or a milkshake and a hamburger. When I was a teen, I would go there after cheerleading practice after school, and wait there until my mother came and picked me up after she got off work at 5:00. It wasn't open at nights, so it really wasn't a hangout for the weekends or nights, but primarily an after school place.

2 Did you attend your high school varsity games? What high school activities did you enjoy the most? Yes, I attended all of our high school varsity games, football and basketball in particular, and sometimes baseball too. I was a cheerleader all through Jr. High and High School, so I had to go to the games! What activities did I enjoy the most? Hmm, well, I did enjoy being a cheerleader, and also I enjoyed our after game dances...

Our school and town was very small...there were only 50 in my graduating class, (1968), and I went to the same school from 1st - 12th grade, so everyone knew everyone. I still stay in touch with several of my school friends mostly via Facebook. Sadly, like most people our age, our class is starting to dwindle down with so many who have already passed away. Our last class reunion was our 50th. We need to have another while there's still some of us left.

3. Did you have any teen idols whose music or acting you just really enjoyed? What music did you enjoy most? What movies?

Teen Idols...well I loved the Beatles, The Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkle, The Righteous Brothers, Sonny and Cher, gosh, there were so many back in the 60's...and I loved most all of them.

Acting or actors? Movies? I loved The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews. It's funny, but I really don't remember a lot of really great movies, but I did always like the ones that Charlton Heston was in, like Ben Hur, and The Ten Commandments, etc., I'm drawing a blank here...but I know there were a lot more movies that I saw...just can't think of them at the moment.

4. Did your school have dances or sock hops and did you attend?

Yes, we used to have dances after the football games at the Civic Center. There was always a live band, which was usually a teen age group of guys who learned how to play guitars and drums and sing the popular songs of the day. The dances were well chaperoned (mostly), and it was always fun to go even if you didn't have a date. And yes, I went to the proms too. The link below tells a lot more about some of those memories:

HERE is a link to a previous post about my school years activities.

I guess that's all for this Tuesday 4. Sweet memories...(mostly!...lol...)

So now, since I haven't written in a few days, here's a few pictures to share from Still Waters Pond and around...

I decided to walk around the edge of the pond again this morning and check out the area where I think the Sand Hill Cranes may be building a nest, and at first this is who I saw...Yes, The Canada Geese Couple again...

But they are not on the same spot where they were the other day. They are not far from it, but just a short hop away. I don't think they are building a nest there, however, but maybe just sunning themselves because it was a pretty chilly day! (chilly for us anyway!)

But THEN, I looked back over to the spot where I originally thought the cranes would build their nest, and guess what??? Yep, There she is! Mrs. Crane is busily building her nest!! Often times they work alone to get the nest ready, and then Mr. and Mrs. Crane take turns attending to the nest once the eggs have been laid. I'm not sure if there is an egg yet or not. It looked more like she was still arranging things on the nest...but the sun was so bright it was hard for me to really see the details:

Look these pictures over and see what you think! If you see an egg, let me know!

I didn't stay long enough to see if she ever laid down on the nest. That would be a true tell if there is an egg there or not. I guess I'll be making more trips back and forth in the days ahead to see what is "developing".

I was just happy to see that I was at least right about this location!!

And much earlier this morning (writing this on Monday night), there was a small flock of Great White Egrets who flew in to the pond. They hung around for a while and even the Canada geese swam over to welcome them.

The light was not real good yet, since it was actually just at sunrise, but you get the idea! Always something wonderful happening on Still Waters Pond, no matter what time of day it is.

Like last night's sunset...

And here comes the Canada Geese flying in at sunset:

They flew around to the other side of the island, where they are apparently spending the nights and now most of the day as well...I hope they will build a nest, but time will tell.

I have probably 20 more pictures of this, but I won't bore you with all of them...just suffice it to say it was a magical time watching the beauty of the changing of the scenery as the sun continued to set in the west...no two sunsets are ever the same...each day is a new creation by God

Just as we are also a new creation when we accept Christ as our Savior...

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;

behold, all things are become new.

So thankful for that truth, aren't you? And the older we get, the more like Christ we become as we continue to grow in grace and hopefully in wisdom. That is certainly my prayer. I'm thankful that I am not still that same girl that I was back in high school!

1 What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought