Be Still My Soul...

Hello! I was just sitting here in my "Room with a View", looking out the window as I was trying to decide what to write about, and there were these three Sand Hill Cranes walking about on the other side of Still Waters Pond. So I hopped up and went out on the porch and took a few pictures...

I hadn't seen them lately...they are the little family that would sometimes fly in and fly out, I thought earlier in the year looking for a good place for a nest, but the Canada Geese had already beat them to it so they went elsewhere.

But then a few months later came back and brought their "baby" with them. So they show up now and again and have a snack on the pond and then fly up and over the house and away to who knows where for the night.

So, just after they flew away, and I do mean literally up and over the house right up in front of me...I thought they were aiming right for my window but shot straight up and over the house at the last minute...not long after as I was trying to once again organize by thoughts about what I should write...the sky looked like this, and I had to run back out on the porch to take some more pictures...

I mean, who can resist a lovely sunset right before your very eyes? 

I know I can't. I wait until the very last, or until the bugs start biting ferociously, whichever comes first...

Snapping pictures every minute as the skies change right before our eyes...

And finally the bugs got the better of me and I headed inside, but it was worth the pain of a few bug bites...

Previously I had been sitting out on our swing, enjoying the sounds of the frogs on the pond and the stillness of the evening setting in, wishing I had some friends and family to come join me in the afterglow of day...but I had to realize that summertime in Florida really isn't the time to sit outside in the evening for very long.  If it's not too hot and muggy, it's definitely too buggy.  When I relayed my feelings about wishing we could have a gathering outside in the evening, my hubby reminded me of those details, but promised when the weather cools down in the fall and the mosquitoes go away, we can begin to really enjoy our back yard and set up our firepit and do all the things I love to do.  

I sure hope he remembers his promise to do this in the fall, because things might be a little different for me this fall.  In case you've wondered, I did finally get the results of the MRI I had a few weeks ago on my neck...(remember THIS post a while ago?)  Just as I kind of figured, my neck is a mess with bulging disks and impinged nerves, etc., etc., and I have been referred to a neurosurgeon for further examination.  I finally got a call from his office today, telling me the earliest appointment he can see me is September 1st! Wow!  Meanwhile, I am on some strong medication to relieve the pain and spasms in my neck, but I don't know how long I can stay on that without further treatment. So, unless the doctor gets a cancellation and can see me sooner, (or if we decide to look for a different doctor who isn't so booked...but this one came highly recommended)...I'm kind of being put "on hold" for a while as far as making any plans or going anywhere or doing anything beyond the essential regular routine. Thankfully the medication is helping to relieve the nerve pain, but I kind of feel like I am in "la la land" and don't think I should drive or do anything too "exciting". 

So I hope you enjoy the pictures of the lovely blossoms on the Rose of Sharon bush in the Secret Memorial Garden,

and the myriads of new hollyberries ripening on the big holly tree...

I was thrilled to see so many berries again after last year's record "crop" and the flocks of Robins and Cedar Waxwings who showed up to eat them on their way south for the winter...

All this wonderful rain we've been having seems to have helped them develop and multiply!

For now I've ceased helping out at our kids' "Dixie Cottage" store once a week because not being able to rest during the day was putting extra strain on my neck (I missed my nap! LOL) , and we've also had to put off our plans to go to Maine in October to visit our grandson. I am just having to pace myself and not overdo it or things flare up again.

So that's that. Hopefully there will be some non-surgical alternatives that will help relieve this condition. I really hadn't counted on having to wait so long to even talk to a neurosurgeon, but I guess that is just the way it is these days.  I know I am not alone in having to wait for specialized treatment, and many people are in much worse condition that I am in, so I am trying to remain positive and not complain...just a bit frustrated right now. I don't like taking medicine if there is a better way.

So I tell you all of this not for sympathy or even for advice, but would just appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we seek these answers. 

This popped up in my little "Choose Grace" devotional book. Thought it was appropriate for today and for what I'm currently experiencing:

Yes, Lord, thank You for the gift of "stillness" (beside Still Waters Pond?), and again, help me to learn to wait patiently for You.  Amen.

I just realized as I was typing this that one of my friends at church and fellow choir member has asked me to sing a duet with her in the near future, "Be Still My Soul"... Hmmm...God must be trying to tell me something again...

1 Be still, my soul! for God is on your side;

bear patiently the cross of grief or pain:

leave to your God to order and provide,

who through all changes faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul! your best, your heav’nly Friend

through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2 Be still, my soul! for God will undertake

to guide the future surely as the past.

Your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;

all now mysterious shall be clear at last.

Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know

the voice that calmed their fury long ago.

3 Be still, my soul! the hour is hastening on

when we shall be forever in God's peace;

when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

love’s joys restored, our strivings all shall cease.

Be still my soul! when change and tears are past,

all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Good Night.