Bluegrass, Hymns, & Bluegill Bait

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“Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun;
Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care.
Then when all of life is over and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”

~ James M. Black, “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder”

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Good things in May:

Quiet Sunday afternoon for cold brew, baking a cake, and a sunroom visit

Sunday evening hymn sing, and Barrett next to me with little hands folded over his hymnal

Zoo field trip with bunches of kiddos who ran to their favorite animals—Lila and the reptiles, Barrett and the polar bear, Huddy and the penguins, Will and the giraffes

Early morning mist on Table Rock Lake, fishing in the quiet

Camp breakfasts of eggs and sausage and honeyed toast

How Silver Dollar City smells like hot asphalt and kettle chips

Meeting Hillary and inviting her to church

Bluegrass & barbecue

Carrying Lila down to the water’s edge, a bonnie wee lass with flaming red hair

Fog that crept in overnight, shrouding the horizon and only leaving the bright buoys visible, the way it was over Saquatucket Harbor on Cape Cod

Paddling

A makeshift fajita bar on the dashboard and a roadtrip back to Arkansas with Jared

Matching aviators

Rain all day Sunday, and thus an afternoon to drink tea and watch The Fellowship of the Ring

Monday morning beehive inspections

How, when Jared pushed his grandma in her wheelchair to his grandpa’s room across the hall, she patted his foot and he waved back

Working, weeding, and trimming till sundown, then sitting in wicker chairs on the back porch to watch the day end

Grabbing dinner at a drive-thru and heading to chase a bee swarm

Jay and Ashley’s blue farmhouse, with a wrap-around porch and a view of Mount Magazine

Vance in his dragon costume

A bee swarm rescue mission on the roof; handing Jared tools and holding frames to salvage wax

A morning run and cooldown at Perks Coffee

Sitting on the front church step, waiting for folks to arrive for Bible study, counting cars

Chores together: taking out dogs, checking the colonies, washing the dishes, making the coffee

Experimental iced London fog lattes

Family night at Vesta Baptist—a gold sun on the fields, Jim and Jared grilling, setting out buns and pies with Ashley, playing kickball croquet with Violet, spikeball with the older boys, and everyone joining in cornhole

How the church members all set up their lawn chairs to be together

Building a fire after dark and visiting long into the evening

Faint, rose glow of the Northern Lights over the land behind the church, making me catch my breath as a lifelong dream come true

Granola sunbutter bowl

All the quilts Jared’s mom has collected throughout the house

The neighbor cows I named Rachel and Leah

Mexican food and pickleball

Taking Barrett and Bennett and Huddy fishing and collecting cicadas for live bait; little boys and a few bluegill

Tuesday kind of rain

Planting the last of my seedlings in the wet earth & the redemptive work of garden compost

Coffee with Anna

Taking a basket to church with honey to sell, plants on my car trunk, and laundry in the back seat

Jim giving me tomato plants

Summer Saturdays—early run, rowing out onto the pond to place the fountain, planting watermelon, mulching, digging, trimming, prepping the tomato box, and mowing the yard

A church luncheon for the senior adults, and trying to keep the ladies out of the kitchen so we could serve them

Lakewater gently lifting the paddleboard and setting it down again, a cold swim, drying on a warm rock, rest

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