A Walk in the Wetlands

As the surreal Covid year of 2020 approaches its end, and as we are about to head into the unknown (i.e. Brexit) at midnight tonight, I feel I ought to say something profound. But what?  The positive is that we are one year nearer to the time when the loving Kingdom of God will be ruling over the whole earth, restoring the peace of Eden worldwide.  So maybe that is all that needs to be said.

On Tuesday afternoon we had an outing to the Wetland Trust. The light was splendid and the Captain got some great photos.  They do limit the number of people there now, crisis-wise, but it being the school holidays there were more people around than I felt comfortable with.  I wonder more and more if this crisis won't leave me as one of those people who is afraid to set foot out of their own front door. I have always verged on it.

I could not sleep last night so got up in the early hours - and found that Alpha Papa, the Alan Partridge movie had been on!  I caught the last 15 minutes and laughed and laughed.  Which helped.

And I made myself a cup of Twinings Sleep tea - my lovely present from a thoughtful friend. The Bible verse that she had added to this teabag is Ephesians 6:10, which says:  "Finally, go on acquiring power in the Lord and in the mightiness of his strength."

Yes, our Creator, Jehovah is the source of power.  The Bible tells us that it is through the abundance of his dynamic energy that this awe-inspiring universe came to be.  So he can give us the power and the energy that we need to continue doing his will.  And in harmony with that, I note how the Field Service meeting this morning has refreshed me after a rather bad night.

Update No.9 from the Governing Body

This link contains valuable advice about continuing to keep safe during the pandemic:

https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/LatestVideos/docid-702020497_1_VIDEO

And these are some of the Bible principles it draws to our attention:

Proverbs 28:14 says:   "Happy is the man who is always on guard, But whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity."

This is not the time to relax our guard and get casual about taking the necessary precautions. The wise course is to stay on guard, as Ecclesiastes 7:12 tells us: "For wisdom is a protection just as money is a protection, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner."

It is worth watching the video. There is also a Whiteboard animation:  https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/peace-happiness/virus-outbreaks-whiteboard-animation/

The 25th was very quiet.  Veggie soup for lunch, followed by a mince pie for him, a yoghurt for me.  A walk in the woods for the Captain, and phone calls from Bea and to Jacks.  We Zoomed the families this week. They are all having a quiet family day too.

It all suits me as I try to stay out of Christmas as much as I can - and it was easy this year.   Its very hard on all the retailers, all the provincial theatres, all those who rely on the cash boost of Christmas to keep their businesses afloat. I do realise that, and sympathise.

Its Boxing Day (the 26th for my interational readers, if I have any) as I am starting to type this blog and we have woken up to news of a big storm sweeping across the UK, with some areas already flooded.

And this morning, the sky is overcast and the Channel is stormy. The valiant windsurfers are already out there - 8.22 in the morning as I type - their sails a splash of photogenic colour in all the grey.

Mr. Blumenthal versus Mr.Kipling

 

I like mince pies. But which are best - Mr.Kipling's or Heston Blumenthal's?   Are the two gentlemen in question prepared to FIGHT!!! it out?  Or shall we decide for ourselves?

The reason I ask this question is that Waitrose sent us a pressie with our delivery this week, which came early in view of the looming Christmas holiday. And it was a box of Heston Blumenthal mince pies. A rather lovely present. Thank you Waitrose.  I only risked half a one, but it had an interesting aniseed flavour to it.

We had another walk this afternoon.  Sunny but with an icy wind, which there should be this time of year.  We had lots of room as the tide was still out.

Captain B is a very good lockdown companion.  He makes me laugh all the time, and makes sure I get out for my walkies.

I got a card off to a friend who has just lost her sister.  I sent one of Bea's lovely Iris painting cards.  And I sent another card to an old school friend, who lives on the I.O.W, just across the water.  We have known each other since we were 5 years old.  Its all getting so like Arnold Bennett's "The Old Wives Tale" - a powerful and sad exposition of how quickly the young become old.    We had a short field service meeting in Zoom this morning and it is our big midweek get together tonight.

Our study of the Book of Ezekiel is just about to get properly under way. We are setting the scene in Genesis at the moment.  It would be so well worth joining your local JW congregation for this study - which takes half an hour a week. 

Three Grey Leaves

I have been a long time subscriber to the excellent Spectator magazine. And I was so pleased to find this poem by Alison Brackenbury (one of my favourite contemporary poets) in the current magazine:

Lost 
by Alison Brackenbury

By Coate Water, my mind believes
rain finds no end. Like three grey leaves
wet herons nestle the far shore
fearful, fond or listening for
rain’s hiss to cease. While my heart grieves
wet herons wait. Like three grey leaves.

I seemed to spend most of Saturday on the phone.  Himself left very very early to trek to the Badlands of Hampshire for metal detecting purposes, and I got the bed linen changed, a veggie chile made and the meeting attended in the morning - and the afternoon was mainly phone calls, Jen, Jean, Pat, Bea, Jackie.

And I began on these lovely apple teabags - which are very nice.  But better still a Scripture has been personally sent with each one.  A thoughtful present from a kind friend.  And I read this:

 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers  nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38,39

I can't tell my blog how appropriate and comforting those words are at this moment.   

Not sure where Sunday went to, beyond the meeting, with an excellent talk, in which the speaker used the powerful image of the sinking ship and the lifeboat - and the purser trying to alert everyone to the fact that the ship is sinking and directing them to the lifeboat.  He wants them to listen to him urgently, and hurry to that lifeboat, get in and stay in, even if it is taking the ship a while to go down.  And we got more excellent teaching about how to teach others - how to get them to the lifeboat.

And I feel like a bit of a sinking ship myself - a sinking pedalo perhaps - a rather old and battered one.  I will be spending all afternoon at the Dentist's for the first, and presumably shortest, of my upcoming appointments.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear...

Oh and I did get a magazine and card parcelled up for one of Jean's calls, and also I replied to card from old Uni friends.  So I got a little bit of witnessing done, and must get back to my assigned roads this week - which is going to mean asking Captain B to order me some more stamps and some envelopes.  Oh dear oh dear oh dear - again.

The Captain's Sunday metal detecting trip was cancelled, due to the sudden new Covid restrictions.  Think: Bear with Sore Head (only crosser).The tabloids are speaking of a mass exodus from London to beat the midnight deadline as London moves into Tier 4. Which should help the spread no end. But it might make London nice and peaceful for Christmas.   

Foam Flowers in December

There were foam flowers heaped on the road as we drove to the Dentist on Wednesday - at just the point where a wave broke over Jackie's car when she was driving along the front many years ago.  It was a wonderful stormy day. The earth is so lovely - and the system of things on the earth at the moment is so difficult, so stressful.

Here is a quote from "A Forsaken Garden" (by Swinburne):

Heart handfast in heart as they stood, 'Look thither,'
Did he whisper ? 'look forth from the flowers to the sea;
For the foam-flowers endure when the rose-blossoms wither,
And men that love lightly may die — but we?'

And yes, I feel as transient as those foam flowers - just nowhere near as lovely.  The Captain and I have been together for more than 50 years, and married for most of them, but how much longer do we have.  We are both in the ThreescoreYearsandTen Zone.

Many years ago, as I was approaching 40 I began to think very seriously about how short a time we have to be with the people we love, how short a time we have to be on this beautiful planet.  And I began to seek for the Maker, the Creator. I wanted to know if there was any purpose behind the creation. But I also wanted to say thankyou for the beauty of it all.

And I found the truth of Jesus' words when he said:  “Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

And when I found my Creator, Jehovah, I found a real hope - a hope of the life in perfection on the paradise earth that our first parents so tragically rejected.  

Cards and news of old friends arrive and I am trying to respond to all of them.   And also I am continuing to witness by letter. 

My Life as a Bond Girl (and a small flare up)

One of the problem crowns suddenly fell out!  No warning. Nothing. I wasn't eating, or doing anything.   It just fell off.  So now I look all set to play the terrifying JAWS in whichever Bond movies he was in. The outer space one was one of them I think.  So, if there is a remake, they would be able to save a lot on buying and fitting metal teeth by casting me.

At the very least, I will get to frighten the horses until Wednesday afternoon, which is when the dentist can see me.  I hope its not going to flare up painwise. There is just a dull ache at the moment, which I can live with.  And most other bits of me are hurting anyway.

This is a very cute look when you are seven, but not when you are in your seventies.

On Sunday morning I wondered if I would even be able to make it as far as my own dining room to go to the meeting.  (the temporary Kingdom Hall is the kitchen when the Captain is at home, but its the dining room when he is off on one of his excursions). The pain in my left shoulder had subsided but my left knee was very bad.  And its an artificial knee too!

Anyway the painkillers - large dose of - kicked in, and I was there, at my monitor. And what a help it was.  The talk was by an Italian brother - excellent English, but very charming accent.  It was about the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ - why, according to the Bible, Jesus came to the earth to die. I was asking Captain B if, during his Protestant childhood, he had ever been taught this. And it seems not, any more than I was in my Catholic Convent days.

I wish everyone in the world could have listened to that talk. Everyone needs to. Urgently. We are all in "the valley of the decision".

I appeared at the field service meeting this morning as a lovely blue butterfly - a Common Blue (or Icarus) - on a yellow flower.  And it depends on what my dentist can do as to whether I will hatch back into a rather elderly lady for the next Zoom meeting.

Sandwich Fairy versus Tooth Fairy

I like the Sandwich Fairy. And I like the Tooth Fairy.  But which is best?  FIGHT!!   Yet it seems that the poor Tooth Fairy has already lost a fight as she is just about to lose her two front teeth. I had an emergency dental appointment this week, and not only do I have a split tooth, that will have to be crowned, but my two front teeth are rotting away under their crowns...   As I was there I mentioned what I thought was a small problem with them - and, oh dear... still its a good thing I did.   I have an appointment in January, and the dentist says he won't know what is to be done about it until he has seen what is left underneath.

And the Captain too has lost a crown and also has a fearsome appointment ahead.

This is another aspect of the ThreeScoreYearsandTen Zone I guess.  And of course I am also wondering how much this has contributed to my very poor health over the last six months?   I am dreading the appointments, but want them done and dusted and over with. What I will be left with in the way of front teeth remains to be seen.   Will I even be able to appear in public again afterwards?!   I look horrid enough on the Zoom camera as it is.

Bea of the North reminded me of that song: "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"...  well, as I don't celebrate Christmas, I guess I will have to wait till after Armageddon when Jehovah will make all things new.  (And if I am not to be there, then I won't be needing any teeth anyway.)

And, given that we were created to last for ever - Genesis tells us that our first parents would only die if they disobeyed their Creator - I do wonder if we weren't meant to go on regrowing our teeth, as we needed them?

Let's hope we are all there to find out. Which does bring me very neatly to the conclusion of the Watchtower article about the Resurrection.

APPRECIATE JEHOVAH’S PATIENCE

17. (a) How does the resurrection show that Jehovah is patient? (b) How can we show our appreciation for Jehovah’s patience?

17 Jehovah has a fixed day and hour when he will bring an end to this old system. (Matt. 24:36) He will not become impatient and act before that time. He has a longing to resurrect the dead, but he is patient. (Job 14:14, 15) He is waiting until the right time arrives to raise them to life. (John 5:28) We have good reasons to appreciate Jehovah’s patience. Just think: Because Jehovah is patient, many people, including us, have had time “to attain to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9) Jehovah wants as many people as possible to have the opportunity to gain everlasting life. So let us show that we appreciate his patience. How? By earnestly looking for those who are “rightly disposed for everlasting life” and helping them to love Jehovah and serve him. (Acts 13:48) Then they will benefit from Jehovah’s patience, just as we have.

18. Why should we be patient with others?

18 Jehovah will patiently wait until the end of the thousand years before he expects us to be perfect. Until that time, Jehovah is willing to overlook our sins. Surely, then, we have reason to look for the good in others and to be patient with them. Consider the example of one sister whose husband began suffering from severe anxiety attacks and stopped attending meetings. “This was very painful for me,” she says. “Our plans for our future as a family were turned upside down.” Yet through it all, this loving wife was patient with her husband. She relied on Jehovah and never gave up. Like Jehovah, she looked past the problem and focused on the good things about her husband. She says, “My husband has wonderful qualities, and he is working to recover, little by little.” How important it is that we are patient with those in our family or congregation who are trying to overcome difficult challenges!

19. What should we be determined to do?

19 Jesus and the angels were joyful when the earth was first created. But imagine how happy they will be to see the earth full of perfect people, who love and serve Jehovah. Imagine the joy that those who were brought from the earth to heaven to rule with Christ will feel as they see mankind benefiting from their work. (Rev. 4:4, 9-11; 5:9, 10) And imagine living when tears of joy replace tears of pain, when sickness, sorrow, and death are gone forever. (Rev. 21:4) Until then, be determined to imitate your loving, wise, and patient Father. If you do, you will maintain your joy, no matter what trials you face. (Jas. 1:2-4) How thankful we can be for Jehovah’s promise that “there is going to be a resurrection”!​—Acts

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2020526#h=64

Talking to Texas

Captain Butterfly had a shorter more local detecting day on Sunday so he was able to return in time to watch the Rugby Match between England and France.  I believe England scored more runs (or some such things) than France did.  What puzzles me is why anyone risks going near that ball at all.  Whoever gets it is set upon by a load of guys built like steamrollers, and if and when he emerges he is usually not only mud-stained but blood-stained.

Terrifying.  If  - shudder - I ever found myself on a rugby pitch I would hurtle away from that ball as fast as my zimmer could carry me.

I began to reply to the cards that start to come at this time of year.  One contained a letter from an old Uni friend, telling what happened when they embarked on a cruise, just before the Covid Crisis struck.  And it contained an interesting sidelight on the times we are living in, as the ship carried precautions against pirates - water cannons on deck for example!

They did make it back safely, thank God. But it was in no way the holiday they had been hoping for.

We had a  lovely surprise on Monday when the Chuckmeister and his daughter Joy appeared on our screens for a video chat.  We were friends with Chuck and Mary on Planet Expat, holidayed with them (they too were divers), had weekends in Bahrain together, met up in Oz (on our respective repats) and missed them very much when they finally retired to Texas.  Many happy memories.

Threescore years and ten goes so quickly. So quickly.  So here is the next extract from the Watchtower article on the Resurrection, still under the heading "Appreciate Jehovah's Wisdom".  Please don't forget that Jehovah is the very Source of wisdom. We cannot go wrong if we listen to him.

16. What questions do you need to ask yourself, and how can the answers help you to know how much you trust in Jehovah?

16 If enemies of Jehovah threaten you with death, will you be willing to entrust him with your life? How can you know? One way is to ask yourself, ‘Do the small decisions I make each day give evidence that I trust in Jehovah?’ (Luke 16:10) Another question could be, ‘Does my lifestyle prove that I trust in Jehovah’s promise to care for my material needs if I seek his Kingdom first?’ (Matt. 6:31-33) If the answer to those questions is yes, then you prove that you trust in Jehovah, and you will be prepared for any trial that comes your way.​—Prov. 3:5, 6.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2020526#h=64

The Return of the Sandwich Fairy

The Sandwich Fairy is busy again now that Metal Detecting is being allowed and packed lunches are back on the menu.   So the cake I made is already coming in useful, and a slice of it was consumed somewhere in a field near Stonehenge on Saturday. I hope Captain B left some crumbs for the birds.

Apparently it snowed further North overnight Thursday/Friday - Bea sent us a photo of her garden looking lovely under a light coating of snow.   Nothing here as yet, though it is a little colder.  But I feel I want to blog the De La Mare poem about the beauty of the snow again.  For me, it is a real Paradise earth poem, praising the jewel-like beauty of the snow, and talking of "unnumbered Springs". That is what I want for the Captain and me and our families and our friends - for all of us - unnumbered Springs on this lovely planet, all restored to the Paradise Jehovah always intended it to be.

THERE BLOOMS NO BUD IN MAY

Walter de la Mare

There blooms no bud in May
Can for its white compare
With snow at break of day,
On fields forlorn and bare.

For shadow it hath rose,
Azure, and amethyst;
And every air that blows
Dies out in beauteous mist.

It hangs the frozen bough
With flowers on which the night
Wheeling her darkness through
Scatters a starry light.

Fearful of its pale glare
In flocks the starlings rise;
Slide through the frosty air,
And perch with plaintive cries.

Only the inky rook,
Hunched cold in ruffled wings,
Its snowy nest forsook,
Caws of unnumbered Springs.

http://www.public-domain-poetry.com/walter-de-la-mare/there-blooms-no-bud-in-may-33460

A Picture of Summer

As December begins, a fb friend, Marcin, sends me a picture of him and his dog on a sunny Oz beach, on the first day of summer in the Land Down Under.  On Wednesday we had a splendid sunrise, more pink than red, with clouds of pink and gray arching over the sea.   

Jehovah gives us a masterpiece every morning.

Captain Butterfly and I hosted a Zoom meeting and we "shared screen" from our respective seats at the dining room table.

I got back to my letter writing on Tuesday.  I found myself devoting Wednesday to the Supermarket Delivery - I am so feeble now that just getting that put away exhausts me - to talking to my siblings on Zoom, to friends on the phone, and also making a large fruit cake.  I usually make two this time of year - one for the Captain's packed lunches and one for the Butterfly Conservation AGM.  Well, only a virtual cake would have been needed for the AGM this year, so I thought I would use up all the dried fruit I had left and re-stock the freezer.

And today, Thursday, the Captain's alarm went off in the early hours as metal detecting has restarted. METAL DETECTING HAS RE-STARTED!!!!   I am feeling a bit gloomy and in a lot of pain - but have the short field service meeting to look forward to - and after I am hosting a Zoom meeting. 

Yesterday evening I hosted a Zoom meeting for a friend and even shared my blog on screen with her.  I am feeling quite the techny nerd (rather than just a nerd) but it is all due to the kind and patient teaching I have had  - and of course lots of help from Captain Butterfly, who is not quite so patient but knows his stuff, and, poor guy. he has to keep solving my computer problems for me (which may explain a certain lack of patience at times).

And I have another letter from the Government, who are keeping an eye on me.  The extra restrictions have been eased again, but I am still to be extra careful, which is what I am being anyway.  We both are. 

But, if the worst comes to the worst... here is the hope in the next instalment of the article about the resurrection. And actually after our lovely meetings this morning, plus my painkillers kicking in, I am feeling a lot better.  Once again I ask myself, how do you cope if you don't have the Kingdom hope?

APPRECIATE JEHOVAH’S WISDOM

15. How does the resurrection give evidence of Jehovah’s wisdom?

15 The threat of death is a powerful weapon. Those under Satan’s control use it to force people to betray their friends or to give up their convictions. But that threat is powerless against us. We know that if our enemies kill us, Jehovah will restore us to life. (Rev. 2:10) We are convinced that nothing they do can sever our attachment to Jehovah. (Rom. 8:35-39) What remarkable wisdom Jehovah has shown by giving us the resurrection hope! By means of it, he disarms Satan of one of his most effective weapons and at the same time arms us with unbreakable courage.

A Real November Morning

 

I woke up on this, the last day of the month, to find the real November outside - proper mist - not a sea-fret.  It is a symphony of greys and subdued greens.  I am feeling both Novembery - towards the end of my year - and very grateful for another day of life on this amazing planet.

The picture is from the short walk we took in Houghton Woods on Friday.  It was rather muddy, but I managed forty minutes - which is an improvement.  However...

  "As the doctor said to me when I had my tubes tilted..."   That great line from a Victoria Wood sketch applies at the moment, as problems of that nature keep me in pain and depressed. So I did very little this weekend, though I was at the Zoom field service meeting on Saturday and at the Zoom group afterwards, and got more territory for my letter witnessing.

Sunday morning was the Zoom meeting plus chat rooms afterwards.  The meeting was just starting when Captain Butterfly appeared in the kitchen - or virtual Kingdom Hall - murmuring that he was taking himself off to Pulbrough Brooks and needed a sandwich lunch which he would make for himself.  I tried to signal frantically that he should not appear on my computer screen looking theatrically hard done by as he had to MAKE HIS OWN SANDWICHES because Mrs.Captain B was too busy with her Christian work!  

During the Saturday meeting he was doing the hoovering.  Bless him.   But I have done nothing beyond the meetings - and getting our meals together - I feel terminally tired (for tube-tilting reasons) and just want to sleep and sleep.  

My continuing collapse seems an excellent reason to continue with the Watchtower study article about the resurrection. It will be very comforting to me.

How do those who do not know, or do not accept, God's word cope with this stage of life - or any of it, come to that?   I am so so grateful that those two lovely ladies, Willhelmina and Ruby called on me all those years ago, with their Bibles and their Watchtowers in their hands.

Therefore I hope to be able to report in my next blog that I am back to my letter writing, the only way we can call at the doors at the moment.    And, in case I don't make it as far as the next blog... gulp... here is what I am hoping for.

APPRECIATE JEHOVAH’S LOVE

13. In line with Psalm 139:1-4, how will the resurrection show just how much Jehovah knows about us?

13 As we discussed earlier, when Jehovah resurrects people, he will restore their memories and the personality traits that made them who they were. Just think of what that implies. Jehovah loves you so much that he is keeping track of all that you think, feel, say, and do. So if he had to resurrect you, he would easily be able to restore your memories, attitude, and personality traits. King David was aware of just how interested Jehovah is in each one of us. (Read Psalm 139:1-4.) In what way can understanding how well Jehovah knows us affect us now?

14. In what way should we be affected when meditating on how well Jehovah knows us?

14 When we meditate on how well Jehovah knows us, we should not feel worried. Why not? Remember that Jehovah deeply cares for us. He cherishes the traits that make each one of us unique. He carefully notes the experiences in our life that make us who we are. What a comforting thought! Never should we feel that we are alone. Each minute of every day, Jehovah is right beside us, looking for opportunities to help us.​—2 Chron. 16:9.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2020526#h=64

More Trouble with Haikus

I notice that even real poets - in this case John Cooper Clarke - have trouble with their Haikus, as in his little poem "Haiku":

To-con-vey one's mood

In sev-en-teen syll-able-s

Is ve-ry dif-fic

Yesterday I joined a small Zoom group successfully after the Field Service and we discussed different ways we could write our letters - especially bearing in mind that nowadays so many people believe we evolved.  It was helpful and encouraging and I hope to get a new letter drafted today.   And we, the Captain and his missus, had a 30 minute hobble along the vast sea-emptied beach to the river. And back.  The receding tide leaves a wonderful pattern of pebbles on the sand.  Lots of inspiration for painters and poets.

We also had an outing on Tuesday to the woods.  It was a dank Novembery day, but not nearly as cold as it should be this time of year. All beautiful though, and the log piles were splendid.  There were some vast old trees - and I was thinking, being into the late November of my life, how transient we must seem to those trees - coming and going in our seasons like their leaves.

Our lives on this lovely earth are so short now.  Which does bring me to the next installment of the Watchtower article on the wonderful and sure promise of the resurrection.   And please notice that the time of the resurrection, during the Thousand Years, will be such a joyful one, a time of increasing happiness;  and also note the question at the end of the para. And would you think about it?

12. In what way will all those on earth be blessed by Jehovah?

12 Under Kingdom rule, all of God’s people will experience the truthfulness of what Proverbs 10:22 says: “It is the blessing of Jehovah that makes one rich, and He adds no pain with it.” With Jehovah’s spirit at work on them, God’s people will become spiritually rich, that is, they will become more and more like Christ and will grow toward perfection. (John 13:15-17; Eph. 4:23, 24) Each day they will become stronger, better people. What a joy life will be then! (Job 33:25) How, though, can meditating on the resurrection help you now?

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2020526#h=64

At Day-close in November

We had an outing to the Wetland Trust in Arundel today!  A rare excursion for me now, though it once seemed like a home from home - and, due to the Covid Crisis, we had to book before we went.  I managed to hobble around for half an hour, enjoying it all.  I shall illustrate my blog with some lovely photos Col took from today - and one, the top one, from yesterday during his brief outing to a local woodland.

This blossom (what kind?) by the new Pelican enclosure (no Pelicans as yet) was beautifully scented.  And below is The Hangar in November.

The weekend just flew by. We had the new arrangement after the Saturday field service group so we could all meet up in our separate groups, which worked well.  I have hosted one Zoom meeting so far and hope to do at least one other this week.  I can't say I am really getting to grips with this Whatsappery. Its a bit of a puzzle.  I spoke to Sue from next door today - by phone - and we both agreed that we preferred the phone as a means of communication.  

Here is a Hardy poem I had not come across before -  just right for the time of year.  

At day-close in November

Thomas Hardy

The ten hours’ light is abating,

And a late bird wings across,

Where the pines, like waltzers waiting,

Give their black heads a toss.

Beech leaves, that yellow the noontime,

Float past like specks in the eye;

I set every tree in my June time,

And now they obscure the sky.

And the children who ramble through here

Conceive that there never has been

A time when no tall trees grew here,

That none will in time be seen.

https://www.oxfordlieder.co.uk/song/1430

And I was rather taken with this little notice:

The Sun in its Splendour

The rising sun was reflecting red in all the tidal pools on Friday morning.   So lovely. I thanked Jehovah for it, but also asked him that, one day, I will be able to watch the sun rising over the sea and thank him from a perfect heart.  And I asked on the Captain's behalf too.

It will take the Thousand Years before we can do that.  However, now that I  have reached my three score years and ten (and a bit!), I can see that even a hundred years is not a long time - so ten of them is not really a long time either.  And it will be a busy time - but busy with satisfying work, work that you look forward to and look back on with satisfaction - full of interest and amazement. And then our real lives will begin!

Which seems a good introduction to the next extract from the Watchtower magazine on the resurrection, because I often think about the joy of welcoming back the resurrected dead.

IN WHAT WAYS WILL THE RESURRECTION BRING US JOY?

10. How will the resurrection affect you?

10 Imagine what it will be like to greet your loved ones again. Will the joy you feel make you laugh or cry? Will you fill the air with songs of praise to Jehovah? One thing is certain, you will feel intense love for your caring Father and his unselfish Son because of the wonderful gift of the resurrection.

11. According to Jesus’ words recorded at John 5:28, 29, what will those who live by God’s righteous standards experience?

11 Imagine the joy that those who are resurrected will feel as they strip off their old personality and live according to God’s righteous standards. Those who make these changes will experience a resurrection of life. On the other hand, those who rebel against God will not be allowed to disrupt the peace of Paradise.​—Isa. 65:20; read John 5:28, 29.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2020526#h=64

Doris, the Squirrels, and the Supermarket Delivery

I am in anxiety mode this week as I will be Whatsapping, Whatseverthatis, and also hosting a Zoom conference.  And I am not sleeping too well due to medical issues.  The poor Captain returned from a metal detect - he is allowed on the beach, but no rallies at the moment - to find me rather glum - though I had managed a hot supper for him.

And I spoke to Bea of the North, and to Jean.  We all have medical issues... 

But my part in our letter witness continues - I am writing and posting, hoping to have a part in giving everyone in our territory a witness about the Kingdom of God. And we start an exciting study of the Book of Ezekiel in the midweek meetings this week.  I strongly recommend you try to join your local congregation in Zoom, or by phone, and listen in.  So there is lots to look forward to.

And this from my sister's facebook has cheered me up.  Doris is her elderly rescue dog - quite a character in her way - and my sister is a great feeder of the birds (and all the local squirrels). She and Ken were always trying out various devices to slow the squirrels down and give the birds a chance, as were my parents before them.  Its the family tradition - a bit hampered by Rescue Doris, who in "Mad Doberman" mode, sounds like a manic siren on maximum volume.   The siren goes off if she sees a squirrel in the garden or if someone knocks at the door.  So it goes off quite a lot. And it ensures the squirrels are in no danger no matter how fearsome she looks as she chases them - the siren sounds its warning of her coming well in advance: SQUIRREL SQUIRREL SQUIRREL OPEN THE DOOR LET ME AT IT!!!!!   

My sister, aka Doris's Person, writes:

"Got up this morning and came through to the front of the house to make breakfast. Looked out of the window - large squirrel sitting in the colanders I hang under the squirrel-proof bird-feeders to catch the seed the birds scatter all over the ground which attracts the rats. it sounds complicated but it works.

Or it does until the squirrels manage to climb the pole. I coat it with vaseline to slow the little beggars down, but in the cold weather, the vaseline can get quite sticky, thus making the pole climbable.

Went inside and collected methylated spirits to wipe the old vaseline off the pole and large tub of new vaseline to re-coat it. I left the front door open and went to work. I'd just wiped the pole clean and was about to apply new vaseline when Doris hove into view, just out of bed, metaphorical slippers on wrong feet, metaphorical fag hanging out of mouth, metaphorical curlers hanging in her eyes. 'Come on out, sweetie,' I carolled, 'I've got a treat for you.'

There was a diffident cough from behind me. I tripped on the base of the bird feeder and grabbed the greasy pole to stay upright. It was the Waitrose delivery man, trying hard not to meet my eye, but there was no getting away from it, I was out there, staggering around, inviting some unknown sweetie to join me, with an almost empty bottle of meths in one hand and large jar of lube in the other. 'No subsitutes this week.,' he said, a bit pointedly, I thought. 'Shall I put it in the porch?'

I toyed with 'I know this looks a bit odd,' and 'There's actually a perfectly reasonable explanation,' but decided the best thing I could do was cut my losses. 'Yes,' I said. 'Thanks.'"

It didn't help that Doris decided to do her Mad Doberman impersonation as he unloaded his stuff. We parted with bright, social smiles.

And I'd forgotten to update the order and have taken delivery of six bottles of cava. Oh well, that's the menus sorted for this week.

A Handful of Acorns

This week I have to both Whatsapp, and host a Zoom meeting, which is an anxious business for me.  Will I ever feel confident or competent with these things?   The Sunday meeting yesterday was such a comfort - the teaching just gets better and better.  It seemed as if it was a busy weekend, yet I spent a fair amount of it lying on the sofa watching the telly.  The pain eases when I lie down, thank God.   During the arthritis flare-ups there is no escape from it, no position that helps.  

I spoke to Bea of the North and to Jean - by phone obviously, we are all in Lockdown, and Jean and I are back in extra severe lockdown.   

Anyway, I think I need to look ahead to the wonderful Day of Judgement - the thousand years during which the whole earth will become the peaceful paradise it was always meant to be, and obedient mankind will be restored to the life and perfection our first parents so tragically threw away.

The dead will not be forgotten at that time. Jehovah will not wake them from the dreamless sleep of death into a chaotic and violent earth, but into a peaceful and loving one, which will be under the heavenly rule of the Kingdom of God.  And they will be woken up to a completely fresh start.  Famously, the Bible tells us that "the wages sin pays is death".   The dead have paid that wage and are acquitted of their sin, their imperfection.  

As Romans 6:7 clearly and simply says:  "For the one who has died has been acquitted from his sin."

How I wish I had known that in my Catholic Convent schooldays, as at that time the Church taught us children that all sorts of horrors and punishments were in store for us after death.   It is a teaching that put me off the whole idea of God and the Bible for many years.

So "many of those asleep in the ground of dust" will wake up in the restored earthly paradise and there they will learn about the Creator, Jehovah. And that brings me to the handful of acorns, because Revelation tells us that Scrolls will be opened at that time.

Revelation 20:12 says: "And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. The dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds."

Clearly they will not be judged on what they did before, but on how they respond to the Inspired teaching they receive during the Thousand Years. 

And during that time you could go out with a handful of acorns and watch them grow into a forest of mighty oaks, hundred of years old - and you could coppice it so that there would be many beautiful walks and clearings - many lovely places in which to wake up from the dreamless sleep of death. And maybe among those Scrolls will be information about when my parents are to be woken from the sleep of death - which I so much hope they will be!

I think both of them - IF they are to be resurrected - would love to wake up in a forest clearing.  Or maybe my father woud like to wake up in the beautiful lupin fields he remembered from his Polish childhood.  Maybe I will be able to go out to a lovely meadow with a handful of lupin seeds... IF I am there that is.   Anyway, Jehovah knows what the exact right spot would be for everyone, as he reads every heart. and I can safely leave it to Him.

Which does bring me to the next bit of the Resurrection Watchtower article:

9. Why will resurrected ones not come back with a perfect mind and body?

9 Jehovah promises that no one living under Christ’s rule will say: “I am sick.” (Isa. 33:24; Rom. 6:7) Thus, those who are raised from the dead will be re-created with healthy bodies. However, they will not immediately be perfect. If they were, they might seem unfamiliar to their loved ones. It seems that all mankind will gradually grow to perfection during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ. It is only at the end of the thousand years that Jesus will hand the Kingdom back to his Father. Then the Kingdom will have accomplished its work completely, including the raising of mankind to a perfect state.​—1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 20:1-3.

Hosting My First Zoom Meeting

My project for Thursday was to host a Zoom meeting - with me and one other.  We will see if it works out.  Into my spaceship and onwards!

 It did but only after a lot of help... a lot of coaching... and there were 4 of us - but whether I can manage to remember how to host a Zoom meeting a second time is something else altogether.  

But I must carry on witnessing. I was reminded of a recent experience about a gentleman who turned up at a Kingdom Hall - closed of course for the duration of this crisis - with a bunch of flowers.  A brother and sister driving past stopped to see if they could help and he told them he had received a lovely letter from one of their congregation - a letter that had come just at the right time as he was in a dangerous depression. He had bought the flowers to say thanks. 

So I have done 5 more letters.  5 envelopes seems to be the limits of my strength at the moment. Which is pretty pathetic.

And the Captain took me out for a short drive yesterday.  The outside world... how busy it all is, and how glad I was to be back home.   The Autumn colours were lovely though.

I am continuing the Watchtower study article about the resurrection below.  We will know the awakened dead, and they will know us - even though we will all be looking a lot better and a lot healthier than we are now.  Revelation tells us that during the Thousand years "scrolls" will be opened - there will be more Inspired teaching, from Jehovah, through Jesus.  So what I wonder is if we have the privilege of being there, will we be able to look and see who is going to be resurrected when.  I have this idea of planting an oak forest, but hope to get back to that in my next blog.

WILL WE BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THOSE WHO ARE RESURRECTED?

8. Why is it reasonable to assume that those greeting resurrected individuals will be able to recognize their loved ones?

8 For a number of reasons, we can assume that those greeting resurrected individuals will be able to recognize their loved ones. For instance, based on resurrections that have already occurred, it seems that Jehovah will re-create people so that they look, speak, and think in the same way as they did shortly before they died. Remember that Jesus likened death to sleep and the resurrection to being awakened from sleep. (Matt. 9:18, 24; John 11:11-13) When people awaken from sleep, they look and sound the same as when they went to sleep, and they retain their memory. Consider the example of Lazarus. He had been dead for four days, so his body had begun to decay. Yet, when Jesus resurrected him, his sisters immediately recognized him, and Lazarus obviously remembered them.​—John 11:38-44; 12:1, 2.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2020526#h=64

A Present from Betelgeuse - the Final final Proof Read

 Yesterday, I did the final final check of my second thriller, the book that will not be called A Present from Betelgeuse.  This was apparently a final proof read, but I still found a couple of other things that needed changing. And I hope they can be at this late stage. I had made two consecutive days Saturday for example.  I wrote this book in an inside out and upside down manner - one that I will never attempt again. But it wasn't deliberate, it wasn't some idiotic attempt at a literary device,  it just seemed to happen that way. Anyway, it must stand or fall as it is now.

I am looking forward to seeing the cover. This will be my fourth publication with Fantastic Books and I can say that they do what they say on the tin as they have given me Fantastic covers!

I sent a copy of my talk to Jean, who missed it, due to phone trouble, sent off my next batch of witnessing letters - posted by the Captain himself - and got some more territory which I must start on today.  I feel a bit guilty about devoting yesterday afternoon to my book. The world does not especially need any more fiction, but it desperately needs the good news of the Kingdom. Desperately.

Oh and in a moment of ironic terror this morning, I briefly choked on one of my vitamin tablets!  What a truly ridiculous way that would be to go.

Life is so uncertain at the moment.   How much we all need the hope of the resurrection.   And I hope so much I will see my parents then. So here is the next extract from that comforting study article.  It reminds that we will all be learning together, helping each other, in loving circumstances so that by the end of the Thousand years we will be as perfect and living as our first parents were before they disobeyed and we will be living in paradise, as they were.

And then... who knows what wonderful things.  But if we all take in the knowledge of Jehovah now and do our imperfect best to act on it, we can be there to find out.

7. Why will God’s people have fellow feeling when teaching resurrected ones?

7 During the Thousand Year Rule of Christ, all of Jehovah’s earthly children will have to make changes to please him. So all of them will have true fellow feeling as they help the resurrected ones to combat sinful tendencies and to live by Jehovah’s standards. (1 Pet. 3:8) No doubt those who come back to life will be drawn to Jehovah’s humble people, who will also be “working out [their] own salvation.”​—Phil. 2:12.

The Marvel

This wonderful  - and well-named - moth, the Merveille du Jour, has been turning up on our balcony.

I am having computer problems at the moment - and I had to turn up to Thursday morning's field service fashionably late on the Captain's computer.  I was also alarmingly and fashionably gender-neutral as I appeared as "Colin Knight".  Thankfully, my Resident Computer Expert fixed it before the meeting in the evening as I had a part in the School.

Lots of calls and deliveries Thursday and because Captain B was not metal-detecting due to the current Lockdown, we both got confused about whch day of the week it was, and which delivery to expect.  I had a long chat with Lilian, ex-Planet Expat. 

I notice just how divisive politics is as the current elections, still not wholly decided by Thursday evening, show an America as divided as the Brexit/Bremain vote showed the UK to be.  And so half of the country is going to be deeply upset by the result, and probably whichever side loses, there will be some justification in complaining about the way the voting is run.

A nightmare. And I am more glad than ever that Jehovah, the true God, keeps these divisions out of his congregation family.

If - IF - Captain Butterfly has the time and patience to show me how, I may finally be joining you all in the 21st Century by becoming a Whatsapper.   He spent yesterday making his famous chutney - we used to be able to pick fresh dates to go in it in our Expat years - and we also have his calendar pics to sort out, if he is doing a 2021 calendar - plus I need some more address labels - I always have one of his current butterfly photos on it - and, well, its amazing how much there is to do, even in retirement, even in lockdown.

It is now Friday and I see that the Democrats have won.  But only just.  So one half of America is now deeply distrustful of the other half.   My part in the Ministry School last night was about the heavenly government, the Kingdom of God, the one which really can solve all our problems - the one which is already doing amazing and wonderful - merveilleuse! things on the earth.  Think of the wisdom, the skill, the artistry and the love that went into making even that one moth in the picture above, and have confidence.  

And in harmony with that, here is the next extract from the Watchtower study article about the Resurrection.  The Day of Judgement, the thousand year reign of Jesus and the holy ones, will be a time of teaching, a time of learning, a time of great and increasing happiness.  Those of us in Jehovah's congregation already knows how gently, lovingly and patiently He teaches us.

6. According to Acts 24:15, who will be among those resurrected by Jehovah?

6 Most important of all, those who survive Armageddon will need to teach resurrected ones about God’s Kingdom and about Jehovah’s requirements. Why? Because the majority of those who return to life will be among “the unrighteous.” (Read Acts 24:15.) They will have to make many changes in order to benefit from Christ’s ransom. Just think of the work involved in teaching the truth about God to millions of people who have no knowledge of Jehovah. Will each person receive individual instruction, similar to the way we conduct Bible studies today? Will these new ones be assigned to congregations and be trained to teach those who are resurrected after them? We will have to wait and see. We do know, however, that by the end of Christ’s Thousand Year Reign, “the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah.” (Isa. 11:9) What a busy but enjoyable thousand years that will be!

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2020526#h=64