Afternoon Musings

Today our Tennessee city is breaking an all-time November temperature record. We will hit 88 or 89 this afternoon. Do you suppose Fall heard my complaints about the pending loss of summer and managed to slip me a little extra? Truth is, I am enjoying a couple of little extras. One is a gorgeous sunflower that has grown up under our bird feeders. So bright and cheery in the sun, both afternoon and early morning.

Another is a poinsettia that hasn't figured out that it isn't in the tropics. Whereas poinsettias are famous for their bright red foliage, I've never had one in the US that turned red again after the initial flowers are gone. This little guy is trying to. He was a gift plant back at Christmas last year. I kept him in through the winter but put him outside in a larger pot come warm weather. Now his leaves are trying to turn red! Today I moved him to a spot where he will get more hours of sun during the day. Too bad I didn't do that a week ago. I wonder how far those leaves will get before the inevitable freezing temperatures descend on us.

This Sunday our church is celebrating its forty-fourth anniversary. We still have a handful of charter members, though we lost at least one other one to Glory recently. We found this church when we first moved here a decade and a half ago, and we haven't gone anywhere else. It's a good church, but we haven't been growing. Hopefully that is going to change as we're on the verge of adding a minister of education and programs to our staff.

I mentioned in my returning post a couple of weeks ago a long-term "project" that might be coming to fruition. I've spent a good bit of time on it since then, as has a family member, and it is now in the hands of someone for final (hopefully) finishing touches. Confusing? Here's a hint: The cover is close to being finished, and the next thing I need to focus on is getting an ISBN number for it. Again, stay tuned.