Resurrection Day 2011

It has been a beautiful Resurrection Day. Woody got up earlier than I did (not unusual for him to do so!) and went to First Baptist's sunrise service which wasn't at sunrise...but at 7am and it was overcast. I got up after he left and got ready and went on to church to meet him for the 8:30am service...but remembered that I have had allergy problems on past Easter Sundays due to the Easter lilies...so let him know that I was there so he wouldn't be concerned and then went into the church library instead. I have come out of Easter services in the past unable to talk. I was told later that most of the time these days lilies are depollinated...but I didn't want to take a chance since I was teaching Sunday School today and needed to be able to talk and also I didn't want to do anything to kick off an allergy attack as so far this Spring my allergy meds seem to be working. Woody also taught his Sunday School class. He got home just moments before I arrived home. We both ate lunch. Nathan came over to work on our TV antenna from the inside...trying to find the location that the rotating machine needed to be put so we and they could get better reception (we share the TV antenna that is on our house). Ever since the high winds of last week we haven't gotten as good reception...so we figure that the winds turned the antenna and that now we need to get it rotated to a better position. As he was rotating it, the grandchildren started trickling in. When Nathan left, three stayed here for a while. I got a call from Kathy that they were having sewing machine problems and could I come try to trouble shoot. Their machine was mine before I got the machine that I have now...so I "should" be the one who could fix it. But try as I might, this time I wasn't able to get it working. So we got out their other machine and I got that threaded and sewing for them. Nathan was making a new crazy tie. I came back over to find Goosey snoozing and the other three watching Peter Pan...at least all was quiet on the western front and the quiet was an ok quiet this time! Goosey had been doing an experiment out of a book with Graham prior to the movie and the snoozing. Once he woke up and Peter Pan was over, the children headed home and he and I went for a short walk. We first checked on all the gardens and then walked over into the next neighborhood. Plenty for me to photograph...lots of pretty flowers blooming. I came home determined to finish the book that I am reading...but ended up napping instead. Woody has been reading and watching a bit of TV (We are getting some reception...but still not as good as it was prior to the winds.). This dogwood flower picture I took some time ago as dogwoods are past their prime at the moment. I thought that I would end tonight's blog with "The Legend of the Dogwood" and a reminder that Christ is risen...He is risen indeed!

An old and beautiful legend has it that, at the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree and other monarchs of the forest. Because of its firmness and strength it was selected as the timber for the cross, but to be put to such a cruel use greatly distressed the tree. Sensing this, the crucified Jesus in his gentle pity for the sorrow and suffering of all said to it: "Because of your sorrow and pity for My sufferings, never again will the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a gibbet. Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross -- two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints -- brown with rust and stained with red -- and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see this will remember."