It’s that time again. I’m getting work done toward my next year of preaching. Will be home tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the prayers.
Two Minutes of Ocracoke Rain
Waking up this morning with a need to write, the blankets had a soothing weight, so I stayed where I was. The reading light clipped to the top of my notebook was a small halogen sun rising over the pillow. Today, I’m in my own bed, but exactly one year ago I was five days deep into my vacation on Ocracoke, and that has been on my mind. Searching for stashed inspiriation, I reached for my voice recorder and began listening to my own voice, my own collected thoughts. Clicking through the digital files, a different voice met my sleepy ears, and I recognized it as one of last October’s rain storms, recorded while I was writing on the porch of the Ocracoke rental house. That was the sound I needed to hear, and the flow began for the piece I was writing.
Here’s a wave to the friendly folks on the island. As my involvements keep me working this fine week, please enjoy some oysters at sunset for me.
Imbalance
Doesn’t take much, does it? Or maybe I’m viewing too minutely the detail of each day’s irregularity. How far back are you standing?
Help with Insect ID
I had been at the church this afternoon, watching the children’s ministry activities. As I walked back to the house, I stood by the field, enjoying the air of autumn. A movement caught my eye over in one of the piles of hickory firewood that the men use for their barbeque cooking, and I went to investigate. What I found was confusing, and that excited me.
Is this a cricket or a wasp? …Odd creature, having characteristics of both. They scuttled around quickly and with agility over the wood pile. The face and antennae were particularly wasplike. Their abdomens had the shape and coloration that I associate with wasps, and they flew like wasps, their wings producing an audible hum. But those hind legs look like they would belong to a cricket. And so does the shield-like carapace over the thorax. Their encounters with each other were aggressive. And there was a whole lot of mating going on.
I’ve checked some internet insect sites, but no matches have come up, yet. What do you think?
More photos are at my Flickr site. Click any picture above to go there. Image quality is poor, but should be sufficient to give an accurate impression.
Ten on the River.2
The paddlers:
Morgan
Henderson
McCormick
Cubie
White [New to the group!]
White, again, with her face visible
Elder [New to the group!]
Jones
Bostrom
Patterson
Cranston, the river guide
The weather was about as good as it can get. Conversation floated like the boats that carried us. Being there, with good friends, on an October river, is something I hope to repeat as soon and often as possible.
