I woke up yesterday morning to the news that my dear friend Sharon passed peacefully at 3:30am. She was surrounded by those who loved her most. They took turns holding her hand, stroking her hair and face, talking to her. They stood around her bed and sang along with her favorite songs. They laughed and shared stories. And they ushered her along to God’s arms, just the way she wanted it. I am saddened by our earthly loss. I am heartbroken for her family that they had to lose her at the young age of 71. At the same time, I rejoice that she has shed this earthly body and she feels no more pain. I know I will see her again…someday.

It was one thing after another yesterday and it ended with Mr. FixIt walking in from hauling branches to the brush pile. He was covered in blood from the middle of his forearm down over his hand. I jumped up and got him in the bathroom before he bled on the carpet. When I finally got him cleaned up, it wasn’t all that bad. One of his medications slows his clotting factor and any little cut or scratch looks like an ax murder. It’s always something when we’re of a certain age, isn’t it?

On June 4th, my daily blog post talked about the goodness of God. I have long thought there is a bias in the algorithms on social media when it comes to the subject of faith. When I post my Sunday Evening Prayer Circles, they only get sent out to a handful of people. Then, on the evening of the 4th, I got a message from FB saying that my post that day went against the rules and it was removed. They said it was misleading and looked like a trick to get people to follow the link to my website. They gave me the opportunity to protest it and they would review their ruling. I sent in the request and waited. I didn’t say anything on the page till I heard back from them. They said their first ruling stands and it was misleading.

I’ve read that post ten times and I cannot see anything that is misleading or is different from any of my other posts. I can’t repost it, because if you get too many dings, they can bump you way down in the algorithms. I can, however, put this paragraph in here and tell you that you can go to my website and reread that post anytime you want. Because only the first paragraph of my posts reside on the “book of faces.” At the same time, I reported a different page that purported to be about the beauty of WV. The photos they post are AI generated and don’t look anything like my beautiful home state. And their link takes you to a cheap t-shirt shop. The powers that be, ie a bot, reviewed my report and they didn’t find anything wrong with that page…they weren’t “breaking the rules.” Nothing to see here. Go figure.

This is why I started my own website in the first place. We don’t know how long this social media mega-corporation will be around and I’ll be darned if I’m going to lose the sheer volume of writing that I’ve shared here. Sometime in the fall, I’m going to take a sabbatical for a few months and really work on my book. It needs to get done…time’s a waistin’. It never gets more apparent than when one of my dear friends dies. I’ll let you know when the time comes, but I wanted to give y’all a little heads up. I know you’ll wait for me here! And you can always go back and reread some of my earlier works.

I spent the day keeping my mind busy trying to update a very old GPS unit. “Mavis” has been with me and told me where to go since shortly after Mr. Virgo died. He was my navigator because I cannot find my way out of a paper bag with both hands and a flashlight. I’ve come to rely on “Mavis” telling me what lane to be in at least a quarter mile beforehand. I know I can use my phone’s navigation programs. But there’s something about that big screen that keeps me oriented. I’m a visual learner, so just listening to the directions without seeing where I’m going drives me nuts. I do run Waze on my phone at the same time because that has a setting to alert you when you’re over the speed limit or if there’s a hazard up ahead. She also tells you if there’s a policeman hiding up there somewhere. Add Mr. FixIt and his innate sense of direction and I literally can’t get lost! If it weren’t for “Mavis,” my solo traveling would have been a nightmare.

I think we’ve got all the mechanical bugs worked out on the vehicles now. Mr. FixIt had the tailpipe of his exhaust system welded back together yesterday. And Freida the Ford is running like a top!

Counting down the days…six more sleeps!

☀️

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13 ESV