~*~ Discipline ~*~

In my mid-thirties, I was able to attend college for two years. Wow! I loved it, but it was a lot of work. The word that comes to mind is 'discipline' - the training that produces moral or mental improvement. For the first time in my life, I wrote a sonnet. It wasn't easy, something that came naturally, but I did it!
  

A Sonnet Song

At times it seems the songs have all been sung.

The things I wish to say, the ear has heard –

Not once, but twice, or even more. The tongue,

You’d think, would tire of playing rhyme-a-word.

Just what compelling force invigorates

My soul? For in the face of discontent

A tune wells up, an echo titillates.

From where this rash of joy that’s never spent?

When thoughts, emotions, rage beyond control,

Is that the cue for heaven’s melody?

I can’t but help to wonder why my soul

Delights in song. And yet, amazingly,

I choose to sing, rejoice, and pass my days

Creating hymns delirious with praise!

Anyway, I've been thinking about discipline for the past few days. This verse came to mind: "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11)

Working on the dairy farm is discipline big time! It does not seem pleasant, but painful. I'd often like to quit or run away, but if I will allow myself to be trained by it, perhaps I will find my life exuding more righteousness and peace.

One can only hope ....

~*~ Winter's Cupid ~*~

Quietly ...

with no fanfare

Don't Hum with Your Mouth Full

There I sat at the supper table - one foot dangling, the other sharing the seat of the chair with my butt; right elbow resting on the knee that was now at table-level, left hand wielding a fork and digging into supper. "Don't hum while you're eating," reprimanded my Grandma Hilja. Although shocked, I took her advice seriously and, to this day, I rarely hum while eating.

However, I am persuaded that life should more closely resemble a musical than a tragedy. I've never found it odd to see characters break into song or dance at diverse or even unlikely moments in a movie or dramatic performance. Whether we can carry a tune or not, music carries us; it is woven into the very fabric of who we are.

This may partially explain why I love flash mobs (of the musical variety). Here we are, in the middle of an ordinary day, doing our ordinary stuff, and ... SURPRISE! People, real people all around us, erupting in song and dance. Pure joy!

~*~By Way of Introduction~*~

You might think that cows and cats are all I know, but 53 years of life-before-the-farm have certainly left their mark. So, you guessed it ... time for another blog. Here, I plan to give you little glimpses into where I've been, who I've become, and what craziness goes on in my head. Yikes! Sounds kinda scary!

"There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write." (William Makepeace Thackeray) With that being said, I have taken up my virtual pen and only time will tell if I have anything worth saying. We are each unique and, at the same time, each alike; I'm hoping you might see yourself here every now and then. Whoa! That sounds even scarier!!

P.S. This is NOT a blog about recipes or cooking, although I may post a recipe now and then. Rather, it is simply a collection of bits and pieces from my life. Is that clear?