One of the things that I loved about the spider webs in
Maine were the tidiness of them. The Orb weavers just have a knack of
making things wonderful to look at when the mists come up and collect on the
delicate webs. they look like Christmas Decorations. At our
apartment there were a group of spiders who were not so delicate about their
abodes, and we came home one day to find our landlord aiming a leaf blower at
them and destroying the craftsmanship of these creatures. I really do not
like spiders in general. They sting and can cause death – as in the fate
of some of my pioneer relatives in Australia who got stung by the Red Back Spiders
(commonly called Black Widow here in the USA).
We came home to Arizona and my friend had swept the spider
webs from inside the house – they get created overnight here and can be quite
bothersome. I wanted to clean off the
webs in the back porch area and came upon the most massive daddy long legs spider
living under the eaves. I did not have
the heart to take his web down but then I turned to the table and chairs on the
porch and then I saw how untidy and ugly the webs were. I have no idea what kind of a spider made these
webs, but they were without order and did not add to the decor of the back
porch. They did not even trap a day’s
food supply so I took them down. That was
last week. This week they are back again
– now that is determined industry if ever I saw it. Perhaps we should take the Arizona spiders to
Maine so that they can take lessons in web building?
We attended our own ward (congregation) today – the first Sunday
home after our mission in Maine and I looked around and knew only a few
people. While we were in Maine they
reorganized the wards and ward boundaries and so we got new people and lost
others. This is quite an adventure
getting to know new people…..much like going to the church in Maine – we were
there a year and I was just beginning to get the names and faces matched up and
families put together and it was time to go home. Now I have to start all over again. Oh well, my mother used to say that a change
is better than a holiday. We will find
out about that.
I am looking forward to tomorrow because I get to go to
Quilt Guild. While I was gone, they
separated themselves from the Arizona Quilt Guild and we are now a separate and
distinct entity. Of course there are
some people unhappy with that situation and some people who are ecstatic. I am one of the latter. I applaud the ladies who cut off the apron
strings so to speak. I am also hoping
that the ladies did a good job at quilt camp and got a lot of things done while
there – as well as enjoying each others company. I am hoping for a lot of projects being shown
at show and tell tomorrow.
It is good to be back home and enjoying the warm weather we
have here. I do miss the brilliant green
grass of Maine and the green trees which are now sporting fall colors and
falling leaves. But to be fair, our maple
tree in the front yard is turning to its brilliant red/gold colors and soon
will drop them all on my front steps. At
least it has, in the past, had the good graces to just drop the leaves in one
spot so that I do not have to work hard to clean them up. One year the leaves dropped and I did not get
to clean them up right away and a wind came up and blew the lot into my neighbor’s
yard – along with the leaves from many other trees in the neighborhood. Boy was she frosted about that.
During the last general conference broadcast from Salt Lake
City last weekend, they made the announcement that young men can go out as
missionaries at age 18 instead of the (now) 19 year mark. The young men in our ward who are now close
to their 18th birthday are very excited about this change in
policy. One thing that missionary work
does for the young men is teach them to be disciplined and to work hard at
their assignments. When the two years
are over, they are better prepared to settle down to studies at college
etc. They truly come back home purpose
driven and achievement oriented. We send them out as youth and they come home
as men ready to take on the responsibilities of life. It is a very maturing process they go through
when our young men are sent out as missionaries. I am very grateful for the missionary program
of the church and had wanted out son to be sent out as a missionary but that
was not in his path in life. His
disabilities prevented him from participating in this program.
Sara and her family are at Mahoney State Park in a cabin
with another family enjoying the outdoors of Nebraska. The children do not have school Monday or
Tuesday so this will be a wonderful end of warm weather activity for them
all. When Sara and David were little, we
did a lot of outdoor stuff at state parks etc. and I am glad to see that this
activity is being continued with our grandchildren.
No comments:
Post a Comment