Good morning from the beautiful Ozarks……Fall is taking hold here after a long Indian Summer. I have heard from a lot of you who have enjoyed the same weather and this is our first day of a sizable drop in temperature. I remember moving here from Nebraska and on November 7th we picked a bushel of green beans the first year. My mom and dad thought they had come to Canaan Land. However it was an unusual weather event we were to find out later.

In the space of time since I last wrote I have been doing the seasonal yard clean-up. That remains to be finished. As the weather was holding I decided to go to work on the garage………it was piled high with plastic tubs, furniture and “stuff.” It seems to be the “extra” space I don’t have in the house. It is almost organized now and I’m thinking maybe I should use the garage for the reason it was built…..the car! I still have a few days to finish there.

John’s wife, Barbara, is in India with a church group of nurses and doctors. John has posted the news he has from there along with their week without her. She returns tomorrow afternoon. I know John, Bear and LJ will be glad to have her back. Read about it on his blog site.

I for one am glad the political commercials have come to an end. It seems we have been hearing campaign battles forever. For most of us, life doesn’t change much no matter who is in office, especially those of us who live in small towns and rural areas. Thank goodness for the NFL channel. Football is run by rules and regulations and something I can depend on. The expected format is always the same….one team wins, the other loses. I shall never figure out how grown men with bulging muscles can use their bodies for battering rams, jump up and run back to the huddle. Football is a crazy game, and not just on the field, the folks in the stands are rigged up in some of the most outlandish “get ups” that defies the imagination.

My energy and inspiration most often comes from poetry. Going through the tubs in the garage yesterday I came across a little booklet with some wise words.

MY CREED Written by Howard Arnold Walter

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.

I would be a friend of all…..the foe, the friendless;
I would be giving and forget the gift;
I would be humble, for I know my weakness;
I would look up…and laugh…and love…and lift.

Essentially Esther