The Weathered Old Barn

Author Unknown

A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking. He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway. I told him right off he was crazy. He was a city type. You could tell by his clothes, his car, his hands, and the way he talked.

He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale. I told him he had a funny idea of beauty. Sure, it was a handsome building in its day. But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind. The summer sun's beat down on that ole' barn till all the paint's gone, and the wood has turned silver gray. Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired. Yet, that fellow called it beautiful.

That set me to thinking. I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn. The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den in a new country home he's building down the road. He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful. Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun...only that can produce beautiful barn wood.

It came to me then. We're a lot like that, you and I. Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us. Sure, we turn silver gray, too... and lean a bit more than we did when we were young and full of sap. But the Good Lord knows what He's doing. And as the years pass He's busy using the hard wealth of our lives, the dry spells and the stormy seasons, to do a job of beautifying our souls that nothing else can produce. And to think how often folks holler because they want life easy!

They took the old barn down today and hauled it away to beautify a rich man's house. And I reckon someday you and I'll be hauled off to Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good Lord has for us on the Great Sky Ranch. And I suspect we'll be more beautiful then for the seasons we've been through here... and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father's house.

Pickles and Peppers

2008-03-13

Last night, my mom and step dad took us out to celebrate my 40th birthday at "The Boondocks Restaurant" on West Bay and it was fantastic! At the entrance, there is the "Pickles Shop," a quaint little place with beachy art and cool things. Outside, there are lots of ducks and geese.  You can take an airboat or a seaplane ride from there or rent a wave runner (one day!!)

We sat at an indoor table overlooking the bay. For an appetizer we shared FRIED PICKLES - very good but salty.  They really grew on us - I want some more already!

I asked the waitress if the crab cakes had green peppers in them, because I hate green peppers. She went to ask the chef and came back and said there were no green peppers in them, but by that time I changed my mind and ordered the Half and Half and chose half Fried Catfish and Half Grilled Shrimp.  My side items were Cheese Grits (they were YUMMY!) and Baked Beans. When they brought out the food, I laughed and said "Oh my god - I swear I can smell green peppers - is that my imagination?" LOL... my Mom said "No, turn your plate around..."  My Grilled Shrimp was laying on a bed of green peppers!!!  I detest that smell and don't like it near me or touching my food!  I handed the waitress my plate and said - I want NEW shrimp - these have been contaminated.  They brought my plate back, now the shrimp are laying on a bed of onions, which was OK, but why does every restaurant have to do all this fancy stuff - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Shrimp can stand on their own!

The green pepper thing was a flashback straight from my birthday dinner last year at "The Captain's Table" where they did the same thing!! Who decided to serve green peppers with seafood?  Gross. And what gets to me is they should list that in the description of the item on the menu and they never do.

My step dad also had the fried catfish, and my husband and mom had HUGE awesome steaks - everything was delicious and we really enjoyed it!

After dinner, we stopped on the way home to take pictures of the gorgeous sunset, then made it home just in time to see Kiefer/24 :)