Another year older, but are we any wiser?
Let’s take a look at what happened this past year.
New Additions
January started off with the expected new calves, and an unexpected new puppy. While she is undeniably cute, her story is even better.
January started off with the expected new calves, which started arriving in late November and December, and continued into the New Year.
Then, on the below-freezing night of January 15th, as we were getting ready for bed, I went to let Molasses out for her evening constitutional. Instead, I was met by a little black puppy sitting directly in front of our door.
While this was unexpected, she was quivering so hard her whole body shook–though that might have just been her wagging tail! After coaxing her inside, we found a very sweet-tempered puppy with no collar. Rather than have her brave the cold and coyotes of a Tennessee night, we gave her some food, water, and the shelter of Molasses’ old crate.
By the time I let her out in the morning, she’d already decided this was her new home. And so hadn’t we? After having discussed only two weeks earlier that Pamela and I would not get another dog when our aging Molasses died, God vetoed our decision and took matters out of our hands and into His! It was easy to see a connection to the Word here, in that the poor puppy, who had undeniably been dumped, had been led by God straight to us like the never been yoked cows in Genesis who had been led by the Lord straight to where he wanted them to go! The trail down our driveway from the road to the house is a long one, and yet she made it straight to our door!
After having been checked by a vet and confirming she didn’t have a chip, our new addition was named Lucky because she reminded Pamela of her favorite dog from her childhood, another black and white puppy who’d been abandoned on their farm. Not being believers of “luck” anymore, her name was changed to “Happy-Go-Lucky”, though it remains “Lucky” for short. We estimated she was about six months old when we got her spayed, but she truly fulfills her name: This is truly the happiest puppy we’ve ever met and she has proved a hundred times over already why she was brought to us.
Of course, the cats weren’t too sure about our new house member, but they settled in.
Joelle’s Big News
In addition to growing beyond her teens, Joelle had a couple of big events this year.
Graduation
Joelle graduated from Meredith Manor in March. I got to meet her pastor, several of her instructors, and her roommate, Danielle.
After graduation they had a show. The lighting wasn’t great, so I only got a few pictures.
Career
After graduation, Joelle got a job at Dunkin’ Donuts, which didn’t last long. It made her happy to leave, because she didn’t much enjoy it ;-, though she often brought home some of their excellent Apple Fritters! For some strange reason, she didn’t want any pictures of her actually working there!
While she was working at Dunkin’ she applied and was hired for a job at a local horse barn (Riders Up Farm) about a half hour away, so she worked both jobs for two weeks as she worked out her notice. She started out by just mucking stalls, but now oversees the barn part-time as well. She is mostly working with girls her own age, which has given her a chance for better friendships. She’s also hoping to work with one or more of the boarders’ horses next year, which means she might get time in the saddle or training for which she doesn’t have to pay extra.
Preaching
I’m preaching every other week at our church now. It not only allows me to express the gift God has given me, but helps me explore Him deeper than I ever have before.
You can follow my preaching at https://beaberean.net/category/podcast/
The Constitution Study
I’ve spent this year working diligently on The Constitution Study. I’ve had a lot of great experiences, a fair amount of frustration, and not a little bit of fear about what God has planned for me and my family. Since this has been so much of my life this year, I wanted to spend a little bit of space on it.
Conventions
I’ve been to numerous conventions in my lifetime. I’ve been an attendee, a vendor, and even a presenter, but I have always gone at someone else’s behest. This year I attended several conferences on my own dime. They were both fun and tiring. I look forward to attending more in 2020.
Nashville, TN
My first conference was the “Teach Them Diligently” in Nashville.
Joelle joined me, which was a great help not only because of all I had to get done, but the fact that this was my first time on my own.
My first session, Three Myths about the Constitution garnered quite a crowd.
The Book
I had a couple of publishers look at the book, but both decided to pass. This put me a bit behind on getting it published, but that is my goal for early 2020.
Family & Friends Visit
We had friends and family visit this year. Pamela’s best friend from high school, Patti, and her husband, Tim, were in Nashville in August for a motorcycle convention and stopped by the farm for a visit. It was quite a change from their home on Long Island, NY; they loved the surrounding countryside, the cows, and our house.
My father and stepmother also stopped in when their return flight from Albany, New York to Orlando, FL got delayed due to a hurricane. Rather than spend several days in a hotel, they changed their tickets and spent a week with us in Tennessee instead.
This Year’s Loss
In October we lost Marsh, our 13 1/2 year old kitty. It was difficult for Pamela and Joelle, the true cat lovers in the family, but was something our happy new puppy helped assuage. It was difficult to watch his decline (he’d lost weight and begun to eat all our plants as he visibly went downhill). Despite thyroid medicine from the vet, after several months there was, in the end, nothing to be done.
Marsh’s littermate, Mac (we’d gotten the two together), took his death the hardest, and still wanders around at night crying for his brother. He is Pamela’s baby though, and sleeps with (i.e., on) her every night, so he’s managing. We’d learned later both cats had an infectious disease (FIP) from the pound where we got them, which means we cannot replace them until Mac is gone, too, or he’ll spread it to the next kitten. We were told they’d be ‘lucky’ to survive two years since they both almost died right after we got them, so having Marsh over 13 years was a pretty good run, and Mac is still going strong!
This Year’s Concert
Living near Nashville still has its perks, and this year in November it was the opportunity to see Karla Bonoff in concert. Having been a fan of hers since high school in the 1970’s, Pamela jumped at the chance to see her live in Franklin, again at the Franklin Theater, our favorite venue down here. It was a difficult choice between her and Gary Puckett (yes, that Gary Puckett, of “Young Girl” fame, also from the seventies) who is still singing well, well into his seventies! The tiebreaker was that she’d already seen him in person at the Chatham Fair way back then, so she chose Karla Bonoff instead.
Pamela loved the concert, though it had a more personal impact on her than on Paul and Joelle. Karla can still sing, but one of her old songs that impacted my wife and daughter most was a song called “Goodbye old Friend”. The tune was about the loss of a beloved cat, something neither knew before that night, but was timely indeed, and the high point of their evening.
Tennessee Weather
For our friends and family back in New York, this is where we show you (again!) what our life in the south is really like.
This is what passes for snow in Tennessee. (Schools actually took this off as a snow day!)
Of course, a couple of hours later it looked like this again. Isn’t this one of the greatest things about Tennessee?
Absolutely best of all though, is sitting on the porch on a warm winter morning, just reading my Bible, enjoying the sunshine, and watching the dogs.
Well, that’s all from Tennessee right now. We hope you have a blessed 2020, and we hope to see you this year as well.