Parsley, sage, rosemary, and, uh cilantro

Last year, on a fine day in November, we went over to Hampton, VA. Hampton has a long history and a very old military base, Fort Monroe, which was closed two years ago.  We lived at Fort Monroe during the Vietnam era.   The base is so old that it has a working moat. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, was imprisoned there.  But I digress.

We were walking in a historical neighborhood when I found the box above.  I don't know what it was used for, except that it was battered, gray, and left out for the trash.  It has cool metal handles on the two shorter sides.

It sat on the front porch from the day I put it in the car, a week before Thanksgiving, until last week.  I painted it red and my neighbor stenciled it for me.  Lauren is that kind of girl. I was bemoaning my poor stenciling skills the night before. When I came home from work, Lauren was stenciling it over on her porch.

The only thing is that I didn't put any rosemary in it. I use cilantro a lot more.  How "un-Scarborough Fair" of me. Are You Going to Scarborough Fair? When I was a teenager, there was a popular newscaster on Channel 4, WNBC, named Chuck Scarborough.  We used to sing a riff on that song, "Are you combing Chuck Scarborough's hair?"

He's still there doing the news.  I interviewed him in high school.  I can't imagine doing one job for so long.  I think it must be 40 years.

Chuck Scarborough

Some Psalm 55 Action

This sweet little mama mourning dove decided to put her nest in the geranium plant hanging on my porch.  She's a little hard to see, but her tail is under the geranium blossom on the far right.

Here are her two babies:

Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest.  Psalm 55:6

I Have Come That You May Have Life in Abundance

So there are lots of mallard ducks here in my neighborhood.  This time of year, they are starting their little duck families, choosing their 'hood. This is where one mallard couple could live in high style.  Scotts Creek is a tidal estuary of the Elizabeth River.  The Elizabeth River ends up in the even more expansive Chesapeake Bay.  The possibilities for a beautiful life are limitless.

Is this where they live?  No, they live here right now, in a deep puddle near my front yard.

I shook my head when I saw this, but then they got me to thinking. What an amazing metaphor of the cautious, drab Christian life! "I'm afraid to to this, this makes me nervous.  I can't go there because it is too hard.  I don't feel comfortable talking about my faith.  I can't.  I won't.  I'm afraid.  I'm nervous.  Blah, blah, blah."

John 10:10 says that Jesus came to bring the abundant life.  God showers his unmerited favor, his grace upon our shoulders.  He has big plans for us.  Jabez prayed that God would enlarge his borders.  We should pray for the same thing.  Otherwise, we are like these ducks, sitting near a big puddle,

Which picture looks better?