I’ve found that one of the things about having hit 50 is that certain types of physical activity comes with a near-guaranteed, acute, side effect: 1-3 days of soreness!

BUT… indirectly, it was for a wonderful reason…

Hedging myself in…

One of the seeming never-ending tasks at the church, is trying to keep the hedge in check. It’s a leyland cypress hedge, so very fast-growing. A few years ago we had a company in to do a major top-cut and they nigh unto killed it (note all the dead sections below). We’d left it like that because there’s a car junk-yard on the other side and we figured – ‘partially dead hedge view’ is better than the ‘junk yard view’.

I’ve been keeping the tops trimmed (to avoid overhead electrical lines) and little by little, I’ve been trimming out some of the dead stuff below as wild ivy is beginning to fill in.

Today was another few hours of that & the boys helps haul away the trimmings. So… I’m very confident that I’ll experience all the joys of stiff muscles for the next couple of days… climbing, reaching, cutting…

Why?

My main reason for being down at church today though, was not the hedge; that’s just what I did to fill time while something else was going on.

We were filling the baptistry.

It’s a bit of a long, manual process, from the filling (string a hose from another part of the building) to the heating (set in a big ol’ aluminum unit that heats up the water overnight), but what a thrill it is.

We haven’t been having formal services (church by internet, in stead, and won’t be tomorrow either. However, the young lady with whom we were put in touch has been mulling over baptism in Jesus’ name for quite some time and, with all that’s going, is anxious to take that step.

Just a Test

It never ceases to amaze… some days seem perfectly placed to test the limits.

After having had some major routine work done on the car this week, I went to fire up the lawn tractor at church and bam! … the tire was flat. (OK… add that to the to-do list).

The gas-powered hedge-trimmer wouldn’t start. (OK, noted… add to the list)

And tonight, I picked up what had been a (near) perfectly functioning iPhone and bam! … nothing: dead battery and it won’t respond to any charger in the house. (Ugh! … add THAT to the to-list as well).

Now… the tractor… not that urgent: Mowing, at this point, is an ‘it’d be nice to’… not ‘need to’. The hedge-trimmer… no worries, I have hand tools. The phone on the other hand….

If things don’t correct themselves over the weekend it means:
– Filling out the gov’t form to leave home
(let’s see… what ’emergency’ do we code this as?)
– 45min drive
– with Covid, can I just go or do I need an appointment?
– Can they fix it or is it D.O.A.?
– And oh, btw… can’t do anything before Tuesday.
(not ideal OUTSIDE of a Covid lockdown… but with lockdown, we’re looking at next-level pain in the neck!)

Honestly… it wouldn’t surprise if it really is just that… a means by which to test my patience in the lead up to tomorrow’s baptism.

Ha-haaaaa…. but it won’t get to me.

---

Anyway… enough o’that.
Thanks for stoppin’ by.
Ask God to bless our morning tomorrow,
& God bless you today!