Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Almost every morning, between 5:30 and 6:30, I go for a two-mile walk. Some mornings, I had much rather stay in bed, but it gets too hot to walk later in the day. Walking does have its advantages. One of the reasons I do this is to decrease my ever expanding waistline, but up 'til now, that part has been a dismal failure, possibly because I like to celebrate all holidays, especially those that involve food. Think Cinco de Mayo, National Ice Cream Day, and days that end in 'day'. You get it. Another advantage is that walking seems to wake up various body parts, including those in the lower back that are weary after years of climbing stairs and mountains. My back kindly reminds me when I miss a few days of walking. At that early hour, the wildflowers are drinking in dew and smiling. Insects are humming and the living stirs. Last week, on a humid day when I had left my camera home because it gets too hot and heavy, I saw a family of skunks, two adults and two little ones. The

We complain about the heat, wipe the sweat out of our eyes, and scratch the bumps where the bugs have feasted. We cut the grass, pull weeds out of the flowers, and stake the tomatoes. We rise early in the cool of the morning to hear the life around us. We raise our hands in praise to the Creator who put us here, in this tiny spot, in this Southern state, in this free country, on this blue planet in a small corner of the universe, to experience this marvelous day He has made. We love summer.

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. Isaiah 25:4 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land . Isaiah 32:2 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. Matthew 16:3 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be st

Need a feast for your senses? Visit the Mountain Farm Museum. It is in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park near Cherokee, North Carolina. Say hello to my friend, Ila Hatter, while you are there. If you stay all morning, you are bound to be ready for some lunch. Paula Deen's Kitchen at the Harrah's Casino in Cherokee is just a few minutes away. Enjoy!