SCENE IN PASSING
MARIE WHITEHEAD herald@mediactr.com
Where has the summer gone? Well, it's not actually gone, but it's close to that time. Have you had a vacation yet? Have you started your list of things to do in preparation for Fall? If you have small school people in your family, you've already started. Nothing like a "head start," no pun intended. At least we have less than 30 days total left before school starts. We can accomplish a whole bunch of stuff in that length of time.

First of all, some time will be spent in just getting ready for a new school year. Our work at this level of life flows right along with the school calendar. We begin to get ready to talk football and by the time play begins, we somehow manage to be ready for pigskin action. In fact, I have known a few people who live life for football. And that's not a bad thing. There are worse.

On the "worse" list is the word "rain." Gracious goodness, when have you seen such a wet summer? At my age, I can remember those gully-washers of the 30s and 40s. At this writing, more rain is predicted for another week to 10 days. It is truly a life of mixed blessings. Last year, we prayed long and hard for rain. This year it won't stop. But I look at it this way: rain today is yesterday's prayers answered. That quiets my soul for a little while, anyway.

First Baptist l Church music minister Tim Timmons introduces foreign exchange student Cecilia Armani in the business community. The 18-year-old is from Friuli-Veneziagiulia, Udine in Italy.

In the meantime it is good, I have been advised, to work while we wait. All parties connected to the future of the TSR are busily working as we wait for the flow of water to be stanched. On the other hand, we work while we wait for the money to flow... like the River Jordan.

In the blessed mess around my home desk, I sometimes find pure pearls. Today was another event. A small book, "Prayer, A Holy Occupation," by Oswald Chambers was a gift from a special, dear, late friend, Della Kinney on July 23, 2004. It is a work of priceless thoughts. Della had a great, good heart and I do miss her. Inside the cover she wrote, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." She had borrowed this from one of our favorite writers, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Memory is a good thing.

It helps keep those we love close to us. Keep smiling. We will get the hay cut.