A Spring Letter to Daniel

          Daniel,

              I often go long stretches of time in acceptance of God's plan that you were called to Him and the rest of us are to remain here on Earth for some undetermined time.   I take great comfort in that you are at home with God and that my father, whom you knew well here, is with you, and that there are other relatives you did not know here on Earth who are there and who care about you.   Most of the time I am well, and I busy myself with the work on your animals, and the work of launching your brothers and sister from our nest.   We still mention you and laugh at things you said and did while you were here.
            Every once in awhile I see a child, or a child sees me, and sometimes they seem to seek me out.  Sometimes it's a child who has that inexplicable something that you so clearly had.  It was an energy, an exuberance, a joy of living that most people, even most children do not have.  You always enjoyed everything, from a Summer Day, to a quick rain, or an ice cream cone, almost as if you had read about it, knew all about it, but had not yet experienced it for yourself.  In those moments where one of those children talks to me, or sometimes even hugs me, I am reminded that the energy that you had returns to God, but that there is still joy and wonderful expectation in the world.  I also take these encounters to mean that God is allowing you to send greetings in the form of a child who is already here on Earth.
             Sometimes, that same hurt that came in the beginning sneaks up on me.  Sometimes, my soul feels raw and so terribly deprived that chronologically speaking, I have not seen you in the flesh for five years and four months.  In so many ways it seems as if we just spoke, and then in others, so much has happened that I want to share with you, even though, I know that you know most of it.
            I just want to tell you that I really appreciate seeing you and Dad in dreams.  I am doing my best here. Sometimes, with all the strife in the world, I am almost relieved that you are safe at home, and then other times, I feel a dull ache that so many things I hoped you would do on Earth will not happen here.  Poor Earth, Daniel went home.   You were so good at prayers, and I know you have continued to be.  Please pray for your siblings in a country and a world which has changed very quickly since your departure.  You and Dad are never far from my thoughts and my love for you both is a constant.  Love to you both !

I remember being encouraged by this song in the months which followed Daniel's passing from Earth.

Prayers to Malaysia

   

(Graphic:www.fox19.com  )

   A few days ago, a Malaysian Air flight bound from Kuala Lampur to Beijing disappeared from radar.  More than two hundred people were aboard including two infants, and souls from all over the world.   The nations in that region of the world looked for the plane, but to no avail.   Possible oil on the ocean as seen from the air turned out not to be.  A possible door in the water turned out not to be. There has been great focus on two of the passengers of this flight who were in possession of stolen passports. One theory is that they intended to defect from their nation, Iran.

           The cellphones of some of the people on that flight were still sending signals as late as yesterday according to one news source. This would not be if the plane had crashed before its expected arrival in Beijing.

            For the moment, no one knows what happened.  The hope is that some type of a hijacking occurred and that the plane and its passengers have landed somewhere that is simply not yet known to the world.  And so, we know next to nothing about what has happened here.  Until we do, our prayers are for the people on the Malaysian Air flight that is missing, and certainly with their families who are certainly having a difficult time.  Prayers and best wishes to you all.




Update:    March 16, 2014

I would generally write an updated summary of all of the news from a variety of sources.  However, this time, the best analysis of the data we have can be found here:

 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight.html?_r=0


Interesting Theoretical but Educated Suppositions:

http://mh370shadow.com/post/79838944823/did-malaysian-airlines-370-disappear-using-sia68-sq68







          

The Severity of the Snowstorm

There is snow everywhere.

                   There have been years here in Virginia where I haven't worn an actual coat through the entire Winter. The Winter of 1989 was one of those years.  It was a bit like a perpetual Spring.   Given this year, however, it's hard to believe we are in about the same zone.

                     This year we have had multiple ice storms, power outages, and deep snow.  The drifted snow was so deep in one storm this season, that the horses couldn't leave the barn, and spent the day in stalls listening to the only station that would still come in, NPR.    Today, it's March and overnight we had freezing rain, and then we were expected to have a foot of snow.   My husband headed off to work and came back when the truck moved sideways on the mountain road rather than moving forward.  He will work from home today.   James had an appointment with his doctor this morning which had been rescheduled the result of an ice storm about two weeks ago.  We had still planned to go today thinking that the interstate would be clear by the time our appointment rolled around.  The doctors office initially had planned to open late, and then as our appointment neared, they placed a recording on their answering machine which said that they had closed today "due to the severity of the snowstorm".

                    This is a bit ironic when you consider that the Wal-Mart and many other stores had already discounted gloves, hats, shovels, pet safe salt crystals for walkways, and all manner of windshield scrapers and brushes.  It's a good thing I have lots of tea.

                As I think of the birds eating from the bird feeder, I am a little sad.   Daniel loved the snow and playing in it. It seems to me that he didn't get nearly enough playtime in the snow in the short twelve and a half  years he was stationed here on Earth.    I love you, Daniel.   Please tell my Dad I love him too. I miss both of you, every day, and most especially during snowstorms !