Well, we're back from our stay in the whirlpool suite at a local hotel. Oh, was that ever fun!! But today I feel as tired as if I had been camping in the outdoors for a week. Sitting at the computer, my eyes kept shutting.

I have to make this one short, I have Bible study yet tonight, and then, ah, luxury, sink into my own bed! Staying away from home even for one night is nice, but it's still good to be home.

Off to Bible study...catch ya'll tomorrow!

I've got a question for you. Do you believe that miracles still happen today?

That was the topic of this morning's sermon in church.

We aren't just talking about the major earth-shaking miracles like the parting of the Red Sea. Most of us might never see that kind of miracle.

What about a person who got all of the scans run on their brain to show that they had a tumor the size of a golf ball, then with prayer and no other treatment, goes back a month later to find that the tumor is shrinking and eventually gone?

Have you known anyone who had a miraculous healing? Or have you been the one miraculously healed?

Or what about the person who can't find something very important, only to pray and find that something in a most unexpected place? If that is a miracle, I have experienced it several times. Or maybe God is trying to tell me to clean my house.

Anyway, if you read this and want to tell me I'm nuts to believe in miracles and the God who would perform them, talk to me about it.

Totally away from that subject, my husband and I are going to be staying in a whirlpool suite at a motel tonight, not that we can afford it, but it was a prize from a silent auction held to benefit the community of St. Martin's which was hit by Hurricane Katrina. We sure are looking forward to it; so are our daughters who will be supervised by their 23-year-old sister. They are already talking about ordering pizza and watching three movies.

Cloudy Days

After yesterday's brilliant blue skies with just a few clouds drifting overhead, today has begun with leaden skies and the threat of sprinkles.

Too bad! My husband had plans to fix our lawn mower. Silly thing! (The mower, not the husband!) Last year the blade got bent and it won't start. He says he just needs to repair the blade and change the plugs. Then we'll be back in action.

I like mowing the lawn. For one thing, the smell of newly mowed grass speaks of summer, doesn't it? It's good exercise, too, and even more so if you own an acre or two. We own a city lot and a half (the half a lot is because there used to be another house ages ago that burned down between our house and the next one over.) And you can be assured that unlike doing the laundry and washing dishes, this chore stays done for at least two or three days. I like chores that stay done for longer periods of time!!

I hear family moving around upstairs. My alone time is rapidly coming to an end. So for now, I'm signing off.

Oh, and if you are going to mow your lawn today, don't run over too many rocks!

My dog Holly is sleeping on the couch, and I am arguing with my daughters, neither of whom are obeying right now. The older is supposed to be doing her homeschool math and the youngest is supposed to be taking a bath.

I don't know how the dog can sleep with all of their noise!

So different from yesterday when I was given an opportunity to have the family car and drive along a scenic byway. I parked at several points and just breathed in the spring air and quiet! I need more times like that!

Our hedge is rapidly leafing out with the warmer weather and rainfall we have had. I really should fill the bird feeder; some sparrows and finches have come looking for food and seem to be unhappy when they can't find any.

Now Holly is having puppy dreams...she sounds like a baby whimpering.

Not much to report today from behind the hedge. How's life in your part of the world?

I am a writer at heart. It's taken me almost 48 years, if you want to include my early childhood years, to realize that fact. People have told me that I have a way with words.

'View From Behind the Hedge' , or VFBH, is my view of the world outside my picture window and beyond our privacy hedge. So what will I write about?

Maybe birds. Since my husband and I put up our bird feeder and squirrel feeder in close proximity to each other, I've watched the smaller birds sneak into the feeder to steal the squirrel food, and vice versa.

Maybe the city deer. They come into our backyard to eat the windfallen apples. I see them trotting up the street as if they owned the pavement.

Maybe the latest book I'm reading. I read out loud to my husband while he's driving, and our latest is Thomas Hardy's 'Far From the Madding Crowd'. He hates Bathsheba Everdene! I read myself to sleep at night with Ron and Janet Benrey's mystery 'Dead As a Scone'. I'm not a big tea fan, but this little book about a murder in a British tea museum is interesting.

I could write about any one of a number of topics because I have so many interests. Anyone play klezmer clarinet, or like klezmer music? Are you a Civil War buff? Do you have some good homecooked recipes?

Let's talk.