O Happy Souls!

Got an email late last night that one of my friends and favorite people, Dennis McGinley, had died.

“Mac” was one of my co-workers when we both worked in a team of computer systems consultants for a Fortune 250 company. Smart. Hardworking. And the nicest guy you’d ever meet. Ever. In 25 years of knowing him I never heard one mean or gossipy thing from him about anyone or anything. Mac was a faith-filled man who lived his Christian faith through action and deeds, without ever buttonholing anyone else and telling them how they were supposed to act, believe or think.

He and his wife, Bonnie, were always the first persons on the scene when someone was sick, or had a tragedy, not in the spotlight but behind the scenes, filling your freezer with frozen homemade dinners or doing the shopping to help out. Over the last several years, Mac was part of a team that built many Habitat for Humanity houses. He visited friends who were housebound, not just when they first got sick, but on an ongoing basis over the years. Had a smile for everyone, a smile that would light up a room, and it was always sincere.

If Mac had gotten up on Christmas morning and found mounds of manure under the tree instead of wrapped presents, he’d have grinned ear to ear, grabbed a shovel and started digging — because he’d be sure that, with that much poop, somewhere there had to be a pony.

Mac was that kind of guy.

He was only 58, and went without any warning, we were told: a stroke… followed by an aneurysm.

Mac, we’re going to miss you down here.

“Oh happy souls,
how fast you go,
and leave us here behind;
Don’t stop for me, for now I see,
The Lord is just and kind.

When you get to the world above,
And all their glory see,
When you are home your work is done,
Then look you out for me.

For I will come as fast I can;
Along that way I steer,
Lord give me strength, I shall at length,
Be one among you there!

– ‘O Happy Souls’ – early American folk hymn

Our Ears Were Burning!

Kris over at Reflections By Kris is clearly suffering from a serious case of Yard Bunny Deprivation. She’s so filled with longing, so absolutely desperate for a yard bunny of her own that she’s now chasing after the neighbor’s rabbit, Mr. Bun Bun, and snapping shots of him with her cellphone camera.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Sad, no?

Petunia says to tell Mr. Bun Bun howdy.

(Take that, indeed! Humpfh!)

Pretty In Pink

I love roses! This bloom is from one of the three new rosebushes we added to our yard this summer. The roses pictured today (above, and in the two images below) are Buck roses. Over eighty different varieties of Buck roses are available, and they’re all beautiful.

What makes Buck roses special? Ah, Oh Best Beloved, now that’s a tale!

Buck roses were developed by Griffith Buck, Ph.D., a professor of horticulture at Iowa State University. Dr. Buck developed over 80 cultivars of roses which are capable of withstanding temperatures to -20°F and need no pesticides or fungicides to thrive. I bought varieties that are pink, but Buck roses range in colors from white to pink to deep red, and there are bicolor, yellow and apricot shades too.

They’re all they were claimed to be, and more. I had scads of blooms (and they’ve bloomed and rebloomed and are still blooming). The fragrance is heavenly – something which has been lost in many modern rose cultivars. They haven’t required anything but water and my homemade compost for fertilizer. And the leaves are glossy and healthy — the bushes don’t have a speck of any rose diseases or fungi, and the bugs have left them alone.

I’m convinced – if you want gorgeous, carefree roses, you can’t find anything better than a Buck!

Vita mutatur, non tollitur

Life is changed, not taken away.

Happy Birthday, Dorf.

Dorothy Michalek, September 7, 1946 – February 27, 2007

No Cheese – Just Quackers

Who can resist saying “awwwwww” after discovering a whole armful of ducklings piled up in a heap and gently cheeping whilst protected by their vigilant mom?

It only took Momma Duck a second to eye us over, quack out her orders for a duckling version of a conga line…

And then off they went, paddling away!