New Week

And a chance to try again - like I do every single day - to be a better person.

Walked to church yesterday, crossing the street I heard The Husband call out a "hello".  Look up to find a deer standing right there on the lawn.  Tried to get a decent picture, this will have to do.  Walked in and was chatting with our friend who lives across the street from the church.  Did you see the deer?  She said - yes, did you hear me yelling at it to get out of our yard?  It was nibbling at her plants.  I totally get that urban deer aren't everyone's favorite.  I just always feel a bit of hope that there is still wildlife around even though all the population that has occurred has encroached on their natural habitat.  I need hope, however I can find it. 

This morning we walked past an area where there is a long fence supporting the grapevines.  The Husband asked me to let him know if I saw any grapes, he wanted to eat some.  Of course there were quite a few bunches.  He pulled off a very small cluster and asked if I thought it was ok to eat them.  I wouldn't.  But he pulled one off, wiped it as clean as his fingers could do and popped it in his mouth.  He loved it, said it was super sweet.  But didn't eat any of the others.  I'm so skittish and leery of food that I'm not sure has been carefully cared for.  (Though there's an awful lot that I don't know about our food supply.) 

There's yet another fire.  Scary.  Every summer I get so afraid about all the fires.  This year has been particularly dry and windy so when the fires start they are difficult to fight.  The Monroe Canyon fire was up to 9% contained the other day but was down yesterday to 4% but just on the news is saying 13% - at 62,000+ acres burned.  Winter brings concern about the snow and accidents as our loved ones are on the road.  Summer brings fear of fire.  The Husband keeps the weeds behind fence cut as much as he can.  But the wind is always a concern. 
Don't know if it's because Dad was a fireman or what, but fire has always been a fear of mine.

Grateful today that it's August.  The heat should diminish soon.  Opened the water bill the other day and about stopped my heart.  $412.  For one month.  And our grass still doesn't look very good.  We live in a natural desert, with more and more people moving in. Water is a finite resource and we depend on the winter storms in the mountains to provide for us.  Every time I turn on the faucet to wash produce or clean something I worry about how much I waste.  

Saturday marked the beginning of our last 4 weeks at the storehouse.  We have told a few people and several have been very kind.  I got the sense from a guy the other day that he thinks we're not choosing properly.  But another wise friend said to me:  You'll know when it's time.  It shouldn't be a burden.  I'm comfortable that it's time.  It would have been three years in Sept/Oct, so we have put in some good time.

So today, I'm grateful for our safety.  I never take any of our comforts for granted.  Am always grateful for our home and the ability to stay here (financially and physically).  I'm grateful for kind people who reach out and sincerely ask how we are doing and are interested in our answer.  I'm grateful for being able to get out and walk in the early morning before it gets too hot,  not super thrilled about how busy the trails get.  And with school starting in a couple weeks the trail seems over-run with the high school running club.  But usually we're lucky enough to get out before too, too many people do. 

And I'm grateful for our church.  Grateful for a testimony that is independent of the people/cliques, and that I can draw on the strength of that testimony to help me face life.