Part 2 and Bit's n Pieces

Wow. I tried to post Part 1 about a dozen times, but nothing would work. Finally found a help page that actually worked for me - had to change 1 setting in blogger.

Got updates from Internet Explorer yesterday and do not like them at all. Everything at the top of the page has been switched around, changed and messed up. WHY do they do this? Why can't they leave things alone? sigh

Grumpy old lady feelings again.

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Yes, it is colder in Ukraine this spring than is usual. It's in the 50's again today, same as yesterday. Breezy, but not too bad. We do have the door open and it's 71.2* in here beside the computer. Not bad. Not bad at all.

However, I'm a little disturbed over the news report I posted in Part 1. Everything seems a bit behind schedule here. Again, some people disagree with me, but I have photos from previous years that prove the trees and flowers are at least 2 weeks behind schedule for blooming. If they are that far behind, is the winter wheat behind, too? I don't know. I only know what I read in that report - Russia and Ukraine are behind in their planting of spring wheat and other crops.

It has been fairly dry, too. There was a big rain storm while we were in Kiev, but not much snow or rain at all before that, and none after (except a few sprinkles here and there - no real Rain). Only time will tell what summer is going to bring. God knows and God has a plan. That I must rest in.

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I have had the strangest dreams the past two nights. Yesterday I woke up saying over and over again in my mind: "In the name of Jesus Christ - go away! Repent and be baptized!" Those words lingered in my mind, over and over, for at least an hour after I was up and busy reading and doing things.

The dream started with me at the home I grew up in, watering the lawn and forgetting that the water was running. Caused a huge muddy mess in the front yard. Then a milk truck showed up - tanker kind, with two guys on top of it playing like they were fighting. Then the one with a cow head looked at me, laughed and spit toward me, later I realized he had actually spit on me so he could follow me. Scene change to someone's house, a knock on the door, Stirling opening it before I could get there, me pushing him back out of the way and completely filling the doorway so he couldn't see or be seen (kind of a Ukrainian sized doorway!;) ), seeing the guys from the milk truck and then others - all with wide open glazed-over eyes trying to push their way into the house. I tried to protect Stirling, shouting at them and pushing back at them, "In the name of Jesus Christ - go away! Repent and be baptized!!" over and over and over again.

I told Mel later that I really think that whole dream was demonic.

Last night/early this morning the dream was much more complicated, but I awoke with a real feeling of unease. It was totally bizarre, like some science fiction book gone crazy. Captivity/being a slave, weird angle buildings, strangely colored sky and light, tunnels, laser beams cutting through dimensions, people living alternative lives in those different dimensions, and so on and so forth. The only part I liked about the whole dream was the collection of cobalt blue items I collected during one small part of it. They were all quite pretty and quite expensive. haha!

Whew. If I could only take these dreams and turn them into books - I'd make a million dollars! :-) :-)

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I have a lot of things I want to write about. I have a lot of things I want to read. I have a scarf on the loom almost finished and I want to finish it.

I think I'll read for a bit - and then go finish the scarf. I'll get back to this blog later this evening, if all works out correctly. :-) :-)

Bits 'n Pieces

It's snowing quite heavily here in Kherson tonight. Wonder what it will be like in the morning. We have guests arriving on the morning train from Kiev. Mel will be in meetings most of the day and I'm supposed to meet with the women on our team and Tracy, the woman on the train, sometime in the afternoon. Could be an interesting day. I do NOT like to walk in the snow here because I have no idea what is under the snow - ground, a crack or a hole. Sigh. We'll see. I would rather stay inside and work on my embroidery and weaving! (Still have to warp the loom again. That sounds so cool to me - "I still have to warp the loom." heh heh)

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In my reading around the net tonight I came across some articles about "loud booms" that people are hearing. Most are reported in the States, but they've been heard all over the world.

A few months ago, while I was sitting at the dining room table in the evening up at my parents place, working on Eithnee's baby blanket, I heard a boom. No one else heard it. The television was off or I would never have heard it myself. I actually thought there had been a gas explosion down in Woodland Park or even in Green Mountain Falls. It sounded far away and "deep". I even wondered if it wasn't deep in the earth beneath the house.

Years ago my dad was digging under the main part of the house, thinking about making an area to store some home canned fruits or something (he likes to dig, says it's his Welsh heritage) and he came across a crack in the earth. He shined a flashlight down it and dropped a couple rocks but never saw nor heard the bottom. He stopped digging. I figured it is just a space between a couple boulders - their house is on the side of a mountain after all! When I heard that boom, I wondered if something had dropped down there somewhere, way down. The house didn't shake, the dogs didn't react, I didn't see the cats so I have no idea if they reacted or not. I asked Mom later if she'd heard it, but no, she hadn't. Considering she is almost deaf, that did not surprise me. I watched for the newspaper when it came out (a weekly) and there was no news about an explosion in it. Nor was there on any of the television stations the next day.

Now I wonder. Is the boom I heard similar to the booms other people are hearing? If so - what are they??????? No one seems to know what is causing them, according to the articles I read tonight.

Strange.

I've not forgotten that boom, nope I have not. In fact, that's part of the reason the first article caught my eye. I thought it was really weird then, I think it's really weird now. {shivers} ha ha!

Most people have music playing all the time, or the television blaring away, or kids yelling and playing around. Very few people listen to silence any more. But I love silence. When you listen to silence you hear things - like unexplained loud booms far away!

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Mel reminded someone today that we are in a spiritual battle. I needed to hear that. Several things have been said or have happened since we got back to Ukraine that I am really struggling with. Because I already struggle with depression in the winter, and because I'm convinced that we are on the verge of some very, very difficult times in our world and possibly even the Great Tribulation (which I think the Church will go through), I am always processing things in my mind through those glasses. I needed to hear again that it is a spiritual battle, not a physical battle, that causes me so much struggle. I need to keep in the Word more, I need to pray more. It's not "I should", it's I NEED to do these things.

I listened to a sermon tonight and I listened to 10 chapters of John from a free audio download I found on Biblegateway.com. While I work on the embroidery or weaving I try to remember to pray. I pray for the person the item is for, and I pray for family and friends here and at home and anything else that comes to mind. I do my level best not to just sit and think. When I just sit and think I often end up going over and over and over and over in my mind things that were said, things that were done, hurts, angers, and so forth. Why is it I can't sit and think of lovely, peaceful, calm, holy things naturally?? Sigh. But that's the way I am. So, I'm going to try and download some more of the free Books of the Bible and find a way to listen to them as I work. I found it very interesting to listen to John as I played a simple game that didn't require paying attention to.

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I should get ready and go to bed. I don't think I'm going to go to sleep very soon (too much coffee too late in the day), but I am tired and I just need to think. Of course, I need to remember what I wrote in the previous section about "just thinking"!

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Last night I dreamed a dream. Someday I'll start a book with that as the first sentence.

Last night I dreamed a dream. It started out with me being John Wayne, driving a herd of cattle and one lone buffalo to market. It morphed into me, the me me, not the John Wayne me, teaching a bunch of kids all about buffalo at a Visitor's Center at some National Park somewhere, but there were no buffalo in the Center, altho I went from exhibit to exhibit explaining in detail what everything was to those very interested kids. Poor kids! Then I suddenly was trying to find a gift of a buffalo to Mel, but ended up giving him one of those bobble-headed dolls - a penguin bobble-head doll. Little gray penguin body, great big very round bobble-y head. Looked a lot like this guy, but without the blue hat:I have strange dreams sometimes.
(I'd never seen this photo before I went searching for a picture of a bobble-head penguin, so I didn't dream about it! ha ha ha)

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I would love to dream about a new house tonight. Wonder if I can convince my mind to do that. I have some of the most wonderful dreams about exploring new houses. Houses that have long corridors with lots of rooms opening up and windows to look out of and staircases to climb, and warmth. I've had several dreams of houses like that over the years. The houses go on and on and on and I'm going to live in it and make it my own and I love them. Strange since when I'm in a big house I rarely use more than two or three rooms on a regular basis. Shoot - even in this tiny flat we live in now I only go in the bedroom whenever I need to get clothes to wash or put away and at night to go to bed. Maybe if there was better light/bigger window and more room I'd go in there more often, but as it is, I spend 90% of my time in this office room or the livingroom. The rest in the kitchen with a bit in the two "little rooms".

Someday I would love a big house like that, tho. One that never needed cleaning, of course!

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I love this music, especially the piece, Ancient Spirits. I could listen to it over and over again.

Dreaming

I was looking through some listings for houses and land for sale in the Woodland Park area - and found a piece of property that I have wanted for a very long time. There is no chance of buying it right now, but oh my! It's for sale!

We go there every time we are home and want to look at the stars. Wish I had the money to buy it. On the other hand, I know God knows what is best for us - and owning property brings problems of it's own. So, I dream about what it would be like to have that 5 acres and build the house I dream of. A house that has a totally glassed in room from which I can watch the weather and the stars. And a room for all my crafts - weaving, embroidery and so forth. And enough bedrooms and bathrooms for my whole family, should they want to live there with us. ha ha!

Sometimes it's just fun to dream and know the dream is impossible.

Now, if the "house at the top of the hill" should ever go for sale, that would be another thing. If I have ever coveted a house/place - that is it. In fact, years before a house was ever built there, I dreamed about what kind of house I would build there. I like the one that's there now - altho I would repaint it to more subdued colors. It has the most wonderful views to the north and to the south, and the most wonderful deck. And ... well, I may never have a house like that here on this earth, but there is always the New Heaven and the New Earth to look forward to!

Dreaming.

Dream

(Note: If you are not into hearing about someone's dream, well - stop here. But it really was the most incredible dream... )

I had the most wonderful dream last night. It's one of those dreams that is going to stay with me for probably the rest of my life. Hear a happy sigh. The dream included an exploding tree, camping with 3 guys I didn't know, a compromising situation, going outside a cabin and watching the northern lights dance around in the sky, actually falling on ground and rolling around in the grass to be able to see the whole very early morning sky and aurora - and while down there, realizing that the stars were falling from the sky to the earth by the dozens, some exploding nearby while others burst into 'falling star flames'. I lay there in the grass, amazed and so excited I thought I was going to burst because I KNEW Jesus was coming back! I decided to go back into the cabin we were all staying in, gather up my laundry and take it downstairs into the basement to wash it. This 'cabin' was actually the above ground floor of an incredibly beautiful complex - someone's dream mountain home they had built specifically so guests could stay above ground while family and friends stayed in the underground mansion - from very basic necessities above to extreme luxury below, reached by a narrow wooden staircase. It was a little difficult to carry my laundry basket down the stairs, but I made it - past the old fashioned wooden telephone hanging on the wall and all. There were a lot of people there, some were sitting around a big table talking together after a meal (my mother was with them), others were working in the kitchen, and one woman was in the laundry room. I was upset that she was starting a load of laundry when I needed the machine, too and I was in such a hurry to get it all finished - until I saw that there were more than two washers and dryers, plus a huge room for sorting and folding clean items.

That's where my dream ended. I woke up, reached over and touched Mel and snuggled down to sleep some more.

Such different emotions in that dream - startled-fear-amazement at the exploding tree, naughty-ness at the compromising situation, happiness and relief when I was the one who put a stop to it, joy - shear joy watching the aurora, wonder and fear and great expectation at seeing the stars begin to fall to earth, contentment and excitement and exploration while searching the underground for the laundry room, disappointment quickly followed by great joy when finding the washer.

So - I could sit and analyze this dream - but I've done a bit of that as I write it out, and I've come to some realizations as I do so. It was a wonderful dream. It was an exciting dream. I'm going to think about this dream most of the day, I am sure.

And Jesus really is returning soon - oh, that will be such a wonderful day!!

Humming Today

This song was running through my mind when I woke up this morning. I had a very sad dream in which this song played no part at all, yet the song fits perfectly as an answer to what I remember of my dream. I am often amazed at how our brain works. I woke up and immediately recited (with the music playing in my mind) all of the words to the chorus (we called it the chorus when I was growing up - when did it become 'the refrain'?).

I am once again reminded of how important hymns are. I learned this song as a child, singing it in church many times over the years. What will the children of today remember? "I praise you" 15 times with an "alleluia" between each one? "I, me, we, us" - with maybe an occasional "Jesus" thrown in?

I'm so thankful I was raised on "solid food" hymns and not just the watered down "milk" of today's modern stuff.


Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Words and Music by Helen H. Lemmel
1922

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Dreams

Sometimes I have the strangest dreams. I dream every night and I remember almost 100% of my dreams, at least when I first wake up. After the first few moments they usually fade away. However, there are some dreams that stick in my mind 'forever'.

One of those dreams happened when I lived in Alaska. It was summer and 24 hour daylight. In winter I loved going out and watching the northern lights dance and play across the sky whenever they happened to be out. Well, seeing as how it was summer and 24 hour daylight - there were no northern lights to be seen. Just blue sky, or cloudy sky as the case may be. That one summer night I dreamed a very, very vivid dream.

I dreamed the aurora was out and I was watching it and loving it and enjoying it and being totally amazed by it. When I woke up I was totally amazed as well. Why? Because this is what I dreamed the aurora was: I laughed so hard. I remember trying to describe it to Mel. My dream could have come straight out of the movie, Fantasia. A chorus line of little pink dancing pigs, lined up across a dark night sky, stars twinkling behind them, their little legs and feet pumping up and down as they danced in unison, arms across each other's backs. It still makes me smile. I've actually had the dream a couple times since then!

Why did I dream such a thing? !!! I do NOT think of the aurora normally as a chorus line of dancing pink pigs. :)

Last night I dreamed I saw the noctilucent clouds for the first time. My dreams are always long and convoluted, that's for sure, but somewhere toward the end of this dream I went outside, looked up and saw the clouds in the sky. They started as a little white 'puff' of cloud in a night sky that grew into a whirling, dancing cloud of light which covered a large portion of the sky.

Now I have a fairly good idea as to why I dreamed this particular part of the dream (the rest of the dream - I have no idea why that all happened) - I really, really want to see the noctilucent clouds AND over the past 36 hours we have been in a solar storm which produced aurora sightings in area where it actually gets dark this time of year. The photo in the following article is very much like what I dreamed, only these aurora have much more color.

AURORA SURPRISE: Sometimes the auroras are so bright, you just can't sleep. "I was up all night on July 21st, but it was totally worth it!" says photographer Zoltan Kenwell of Chip Lake, Alberta. This is what kept him awake:
"It was a very impressive show that lasted 4.5 hours!" says Kenwell.

Forecasters did not predict this display. It began on when a seemingly minor solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field. The minor hit turned into a not-so-minor display because a crack opened in Earth's magnetic field, allowing solar wind to pour in and fuel the storm. Northern Lights descended as far south as the Dakotas, Montana, Iowa and Wisconsin. The solar wind is still blowing, but the crack has closed, bringing an end to the lights. article in spaceweather.com

I love my dreams!!

(Above graph found at: 3-day Estimated Planetary Kp-Index Monitor)