Author Archives: joyocala

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday.   We’ll celebrate with pancakes on this final day before Lent.  But what’s the meaning of “shrove?” The word shrove is a form of the English word shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by … Continue reading →

Have you ever inflated a raft, floaty, or inner tube for yourself or your children? They do require some huffing and puffing.  The reward is then being able to float down a river, in a pool, or on a lake (I … Continue reading →

Originally posted in February 2017. (and yes, I still have the rooster) On the top shelf in my kitchen sits a rooster.   It’s a colorful ceramic cookie jar rooster.  Now unlike the barnyard variety, it doesn’t crow at the crack … Continue reading →

I often write about gratitude because I find it an awe-inspiring phenomenon.  An expression of gratitude can turn a dreary, weary day into a sun-filled event.  I have so much to be grateful for that I feel the need to … Continue reading →

I grew up in a tree house. No, not a house built in a tree, but a house built on trees. Many homes in the Midwest are frame structures without foundations. Holes were dug along the lines of the load-bearing … Continue reading →

I’m writing this on Valentine’s Day, and thirty years ago today Voyager I was completing its mission in the solar system.  It would continue on into deep space periodically reporting back to earth as long as it was functional.  It … Continue reading →

How does this blog writer take a historical event anniversary and turn it into a spiritual blog? Here goes nothing… The Missouri Compromise. Senator Henry Clay introduced a bill that would admit Missouri into the union as a slave state … Continue reading →

Your name is special to you.  Your parents most likely thought carefully about the name they chose for you.  Now you may or may not like it, but to them it was important.  Some of us are named after relatives; … Continue reading →

Recently I have read lots of articles regarding angels and whether they exist or not.  If they do exist, what is their role and how does that affect us? I know of people, my mother being one of them, who believed … Continue reading →

Originally posted on February 15, 2016 by our friend Helen. These words have become familiar phrases in our speech, but what do they mean?  Pay back may be as simple as returning a favor or paying a debt, or as … Continue reading →