What did Swallow Jonah?

What did Swallow Jonah
(to the tune of “Who Will Follow Jesus?”

What did swallow Jonah,
Running from the Right?
Hiding from Jehovah.
It is a sorry plight.
Listening for his orders,
Tried to slip away.
What did swallow Jonah?
Should not disobey.

Chorus (sing it whenever you want to):
What did swallow Jonah?
Something in the sea!
One of God's creations,
Glad it's not for me.
What did swallow Jonah?
Something God had made!
Better to obey God!
What a price he paid.

What did vomit* Jonah?
Sent him on his way.
Trudging on to Nin'vah,
There to preach and pray.
What then was the outcome?
Much to his chagrin!
Thousands left their idols,
Turned their lives from sin.

What did swallow Jonah?
Was the lesson learned?
Didn't like what happened.
Wanted Nin'vah burned!
Made himself a tent to
Sit and pout awhile.
Even when God sp-oke,
Jonah wouldn't smile.

~ Written by Netagene, off and on between November 8, 2017 (when Carl Peterson posted something on a Facebook wall), until midnight March 16/17, 2018. If you don't like the word “vomit” (which is used in the KJV), you can substitute “up-chuck”.

ALL my poems, etc.!

If you are coming to this late, and seeing a lot of things that I call Facebook Poems, there is a reason/excuse. About mid-June, I hadn't posted anything anywhere, nor texted anyone, and I don't like to talk on the phone ... so I decided that, when I can, which is almost every day unless the internet is down or I am out of town and do not have access, that one of the first times I'll do each day is write something - usually a poem - on Facebook. I label it simply "Facebook poems", though they cover a lot of subjects. I am labeling THIS note with all the labels I have used. That way, if you click on some label/subject that you think you might find interesting, everything I've labeled as such will show up on this blog. Thanks for reading what I write. I hope that you get a smile, or a laugh, or some encouragement, or that they make you think, etc. Feel free to comment on things I write, too. Thanks. (I am having to post this twice so as to show all the labels that I've made!)

A Guide Dog and the World Trade Centers

I am a member of the American Council of the Blind, one of 2 major advocacy groups for the blind in the USA. I've attended only one national convention, in Jacksonville, Florida a few years ago. One of the speakers was Michael Hingson. He and Roselle were on the 78th floor of the first tower that was hit on 9/11/01. Roselle, from Guide Dogs of America in San Rafael, California, helped Michael and several others to the street. Amazing! You can read their story on several on-line sites. Several years ago, a friend and I rode Amtrak to Emeryville (near Oakland), California, to visit kin who lived near there. While there, I got to visit the guide dog school in San Rafael. While I hope to never need a guide dog (and even with a good bit of usable sight, I qualify for one), it's good to know that I can get one - and know that their training is such as what Roselle did. God bless the USA.

Bird Bushes

The chore to take these pictures was in getting out into my yard. Not only is the yard sloped a little (the trees are in order, so you can see the slope), but a few years ago I had to have some big maples taken down (like closing the barn door after the horses got out - after spending a lot to get the tree roots out of the water lines - groan!). So there's some old roots still a little above ground, as well as some depressions. I also had to watch for ants. I had to use one of my canes to be sure of my footing. But at least bushes and trees stand still! The only flowers in my yard are the crepe myrtles that were along the back fence row when I moved here, and a hydrangea and 4 o'clocks in one spot. There was a rose of Sharon, now long gone, out in the "middle of nowhere". One azalea that my dad planted, did grow. Otherwise, nothing to attract birds. BUT ... at least there's bushes and trees, from the azalea to taller scraggly ones at the front of the house (facing North), to some junipers, etc., on the East side fence, to the tall pines farther back. Sometimes I see 20+ sparrows fly into one bush at one time! It's the bush at the left in the first picture.

Flying Ants?

This is "Patience, Pictures, and Birds" again - part 2, commentary on critters. and so forth ... I was told that for a hummingbird feeder, to put sugar in water then boil it to dissolve the sugar. Yesterday, I put 1/4 cup of sugar in a 2-cup measuring cup, added 1 cup of water, then poured it all back and forth a few times using another cup, and in only a few times, the sugar was dissolved. The water in the feeder was low this morning, so I did it myself, making a sticky mess on the porch steps - for which I then got a half-gallon pitcher, filled it with water, and sloshed the steps. But there were a few ants on the hummingbird feeder! Do they crawl up the steel shepherd's crook, then down the chain to the feeder? Isn't there enough goo on the ground for the ants to eat? I guess God made ants for other critters to eat, but it reminds me of a 2-line poem by Ogden Nash: "God made the fly, then forgot to tell us why".

Here's a close-up of the 2 feeders and the corn. This birding can get expensive and time consuming! (October 3, looking back at some pictures - I just now noticed there's a hummingbird about to land on the right of the feeder!)

This morning, I patiently waited, stood in different places, got a few more pictures. I wish I could zoom closer, but I stood as close as I could, held my arms out as much as I could, and zoomed as close as I could. God's tiny jewels are out in force this morning! Also, yesterday I realized where a lot of the sparrows are. There's some kind of big shrub near one corner of my house, and if sparrows were bright colors, that bush would look like a Christmas tree, loaded with birds!

CRITTER in the CAN!

Today was garbage day. I don't take my garbage can to the street unless I just have a whole lot of stuff in it, preferring to take just 2 or 3 small grocery bags with what little trash tied in them, to the curb. It bugs me when I get home only to have to walk in the street to get the can which the men on the truck have plopped in the street rather than back in the yard. (Yes, I know that sometimes wind will blow it out of the yard.)

I keep the can under my carport, and at 5:30, even on the longest day, it's a bit dim there, plus of course I have only half sight. I glanced in the can - and thought I saw something about the size of my hand, and furry ... but of course my eyes might not have seen correctly; it could have been a piece of ratty old towel that I'd tossed in, or some dirty paper towels.

Nonetheless, since neighbor Anthony was taking his trash out, I asked him to come over and see if he saw what I thought I saw.

He did. It was. He borrowed my white cane, held it at arm's length, and pulled the garbage can down on its side. In a few seconds, the can started to rock a little. I didn't see the critter run out, but Anthony did.

It was a baby possum.

LITTLE THINGS THAT WORK

James 3 talks about little things. A bit in a big horse's mouth can guide it ... a small part of a person's body, our tongue, can cause either good or bad things ... a little fire can start something big ... a big ship is guided by only a small instrument.

And in my case, a bunch of little teeny tiny ant critters, working together, can stop a whole house air conditioner from working!

But today is beautiful and I'm going to enjoy it!

Philippians 4: 7, 8, 11: "... the peace of God ... shall keep your hearts and minds ... whatever things are true ... honest ... just ... pure ... lovely ... think on these things ... I have learned, in whatever state I am in, to be content".

Learning ...

I learned today ... that ants like to build nests (?) inside air conditioning units, which then corrodes and ruins parts ... and caused my house AC to quit. I came home early today, knowing that the AT&T phone man would be here, then luckily the HVAC man also called, so 2 things are fixed. (All I lack for this evening is to "fix" myself some supper!) Lee brushed off the ants, and I had some Amdro, which he then sprinkled all in and around. He replaced 2 or 3 parts, and I paid him. Groan. Oh the fun of home-ownership.

It stormed today right when I got home, and even with an umbrella, I got wet walking to the front porch! Then the sun came out and yes, it felt like a steam oven! But OH! the cool air inside feels so good! I've got it set on 78 but am going to have to raise it a little. With ceiling fans, I don't need the house to be 78! But just this one day having been missing AC for several days, it sure feels great!

And I don't yet have DSL internet service, but at least the jack by the computer is now working; lights are flashing on the router box for which I paid last week. The repairman said the DSL line should be working by late tonight or before noon tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be spoiled. I'll get rid of Juno dial up (which I've used almost exclusively for years), and after I'm sure everything is working as it should, I'll get rid of my land line and just use a cell phone - maybe get a Magic Jack. I've had Sprint for several years, and really like their plan because nights are 7-to-7.

I've sold 2 crocheted capelets, and will post a picture soon. (One lady hasn't gotten hers yet.) And I'm making a more or less circular afghan that the colors make it look like Christmas candy. I hope I'll find someone to buy it! The yarn costs $35.

And a friend and I are going to Hobby Lobby tomorrow - as if I need more yarn!

SIZE and ATTITUDE

... or David and Goliath. The Bible story is what I thought of about 6 this evening when something happened. As usual, I was on my front porch, crocheting, even though it was about 90 degrees. I heard a bird really start squawking, and noticed a cardinal on the power line that goes to my house. (I can tell a cardinal because of the tuff on its head, and if it's close enough, by its bright yellow beak; with the sparrows and nuthatches, I can tell which is which because sparrows have long tails and short beaks; nuthatches have short tails and long beaks.) A couple of seconds after the racket started, I saw a yellow cat saunter through my yard, almost directly under the power line. I stomped my foot, the cat looked up then started to trot. The next several seconds were wild. I heard a mockingbird start to scream, the cat was running zigzag through my yard and next door and across the street, and the mockingbird was swooping and diving right behind the cat. Finally the cat ran into some bushes next to a fence across the street - and all was calm again ... a bird that weighs only a few ounces ... and a cat that weighed maybe 12 pounds ... Size didn't matter; attitude won the battle ... David and Goliath.

WET BIRDS!

Some were, almost to the point of being unrecognizable! Once, both a cardinal and a mockingbird were on my feeder the same time earlier today, with the cardinal on the covered, cheap plastic octagon feeder, and the mocker hanging almost upside down on the suet cage. I wish I could take a good picture, but even with zoom, it would not have looked like much through the front porch screen. With the rain, they have flown between the down-pours for the free food, even sitting and feeding some when the rain wasn't hard! Once there was a mockingbird on the suet cage, and a cardinal and 2 sparrows on the feeder at the same time! Lovely!

There have been a lot of sparrows on the feeder, and nuthatches on both the feeder and the suet. A few black birds of some kind and mourning doves have been on the ground, though I can't see them from the porch swing. I see them when they walk from the grass under the feeder to the driveway. Mother bought the double-arm shepherd's crook and the feeder and my sister and nephew put it up for me about a month ago. It is about 15' from where I sit on the porch. I can't see details, even at that distance, but can tell what the larger birds are with only my glasses. I keep a pair of binoculars on the swing.

I missed 2 days of work this week because of the "gold" I wrote about earlier. Most of the week has been sunny and warm but I haven't dared to be outside other than walking to and from the bus. Today has been thunderstorms, including hail the size of marbles this morning. Yes, I was on the porch at the time; it's lighter there than in the house.

Even with the storms, Talladega's NASCAR was to go on today, but a favorite of mine, the big art show (with music and storytelling) in the park downtown between City Hall and the Courthouse, was canceled. Also, the handbell choir, "Embellishments" free spring concert is today in the Birmingham Museum of Arts, also next to the park.

In between the storm cells, the cardinals, mockingbirds, and sparrows have really been feasting on the bird seed and the suet. I've been mostly on the porch, sometimes eating, sometimes tootling on my pennywhistle or wooden flute, or re-reading an old favorite by Gilbert Morris. "Root Out of Dry Ground: Biblical Characterizations in Verse" was copyrighted in 1981. I've given several as gifts.