Friday Photos - The French Broad River

 This photo is of the French Broad River from Hot Springs, NC, taken on October 24, 2015. A large print of this photograph hangs above my desk. 

  It was our third section hike of the Appalachian Trail, and we had planned to take a shuttle southward from Hot Springs and hike back to town for three days.  We did not realize during our travels to North Carolina that a Pacific hurricane had crossed Mexico and was traveling up the east coast of the US.  High winds and rain were scheduled for North Carolina after the next two days.  We obviously had to make other plans.  After giving it some prayerful consideration, we decided, since we had at least a day and a half, we would hike northward instead, for as far as time would allow, and then turn around and hike back.

While disappointed we would miss some of the vistas the southern hike would give, we knew enough about hurricane winds to not be near them if possible.  This turned out to be one of our favorite hikes of all time.  The weather was cool and dry, and the first part of our hike went along this beautiful river.

We hiked about three miles out and three miles back to the river's bank. At one point, the trail was covered with red leaves from the trees lining it. The backs of the trees were pink, so the whole trail looked like a big Valentine's Day card. The color on this hike was amazing, and as we discussed it, we realized that all the beautiful leaves would be blown away in the next day or two...this was the perfect and last day to see them. 

As we headed back toward town, we pitched our tent on the bank of the French Broad River. Its swiftly flowing water lulled us to sleep. It was simply wonderful.

This year, when Hurricane Helene tore through Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, it saddened us greatly.  The hotel where we spent the night before this hike was greatly damaged, as was much of the city.  I will be glad to visit the sweet little town again and, once again, let my ears and eyes be blessed by the French Broad River.

Tuesday All Things Ellie - Meet Callie and Oakley

Callie

 Max and Jack aren't the only cats that Ellie has befriended (well, as much as a cat and dog can be friends, I guess.)  Ellie also knows Callie and Oakley.

Ellie and Callie's relationship had a rocky beginning. When Callie walked into the front yard, Ellie was just a puppy. Ellie wanted to jump right over to her. I held her leash tight, trying to judge the cat's ability to reach her. 

I judged poorly. 

Callie stretched out the full length of her front leg and scratched Ellie across the ear. Poor Ellie was shocked and hurt, and her ear was even bleeding. I took her inside, cleaned her ear, and gave her lots and lots of love.

At that point, I thought Callie belonged to the people next door. When I commented to our neighbor about "their" cat, he told me the cat did not belong to them but was just hanging around their house, so he started feeding her. He also said he let her sleep in their storage area if it was cold. This made me feel a little better about the cat, but not much.

Then, a neighbor around the corner told me the cat had jumped the fence and picked a fight with his cat, Jack.  Now I really didn't like Callie, because Jack is about the sweetest cat I've ever met.

Several days during the week, Ellie and I see Callie crossing our yard.  It took a long time - a really long time - working with Ellie to get her to where she would not react to Callie's presence.  They never became good friends as they did in our children's book "Greens for Percival," but they do respect each other a good bit more.

Oakley is exactly the opposite of Callie.  

The first time we saw Oakley, we were walking through the neighborhood.  She was sitting on the front steps of her house, and as we approached, she slowly came down the steps and walked down the sidewalk toward us.  She did not seem frightened at all,  in fact, she seemed as if she wanted to greet us.  

Ellie stood very still, maybe remembering the wonderful greeting she had received from Jack. When Oakley was almost upon us, Ellie lowered herself into that "beagle pounce" position, as I call it. I knew enough about Ellie to know there would be a lunge if I didn't intervene. I made Ellie get up, and we began to walk away. Oakley returned to her porch.  

We see Oakley frequently, and now the two animals don't respond much to each other, but they don't react either, which I think is a good relationship for a dog and cat to have.

The Call Light

 In the hospital, every patient has a call light to summon help.  The call light is one of the greatest tools for caregivers. The sound it makes is also one of the greatest irritants for caregivers. Even though I am retired, I can still hear the call lights in my head.

It is funny how call lights work. Patients either use them or they don’t. Some seemed to be trying to set a record for how many times they could press that button, and others would not use them even in the most dire circumstances.  

It was not uncommon for our patients to send a family member to the desk when they needed something. However, the family member often didn’t know what the patient needed. This meant the nurse had to first go to the room, ask the patient what she needed, procure whatever it was, and return to the room with the item. I will confess this frustrates nurses greatly.

I used to show my patients the call light and explain that this was the best way to contact me. I also explained that sending their families to the desk could delay their getting the things they needed since I might not be at the desk at that time. They would nod in agreement and then apparently forget every word I said.

I wish I could have convinced my patients that just by touching that button, I would appear and be happy to help them with whatever they needed. In fact, I reminded them I was getting paid to do just that. I even told them they could push the button just to see if I would come when they called. Several did just that.

It’s a great invention, isn’t it?  A magic button we can push to speak to someone who can take care of our needs.  A way to reach someone who desires for us to have everything we need and be perfectly content.

As Christians, we all have a “call light.”  We can immediately reach Someone who can take care of our every need, Someone who desires the very best for our lives, and Someone who loves us more than our human minds can ever imagine. 

He waits and desires for us to turn our attention to Him.  He cares about our every need, our every desire, our every thought.  But sometimes, we just don’t avail ourselves of Him, like the patient who will not use the call light.  Sometimes, we may ask others to pray for us when we have yet to seek the Lord in prayer ourselves. The one difference though, is we can never use our prayer-call light too much in the Lord’s sight. He never tires of hearing our call light...our voice.

So let us remember that He is waiting, listening, caring, and loving us.

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee 

great and might things, which thou knowest not.”

Jeremiah 33:3