I don't say I'm 'a creature of habit', but I do have a morning routine that I follow almost each morning.
coffee--email--headlines--CHALLIES.COM.
Tim Challies is a young pastor I've followed daily for two or three years.  This quote struck me today, the second day of an interview with R.C. Sproul:
"...though I plan to live forever, I plan to change my address at some point and not be here."
Yup!  it's my plan also.  Well said, R.C.

see the entire interview at: http://www.challies.com/interviews/an-interview-with-rc-sproul-part-2#more

I'm so thankful for air conditioning in our home.  The temps are 'outta control' the last month.  I easily remember when most cars didn't even have a/c and most people were cooled by fans...home, church, workplace, school, department stores.  Today I luxuriate in cool air everywhere. 
Thank You, Lord!

Here's my 'rabbit trail' for today:
I was reading my daily devotion from Ann Spangler in my email.  She quoted Gen. 21:33, "Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba...".  Then I went to John Gill to read his comments, "thinks it may be the tree in Arabic they call ethel and is like a tamarisk in general, any large tree."
Then, that reminded me of the 'old-timey' names from my childhood.
My grandmother had a sister named ETHEL and her own name was MYRTLE, another type of tree.  I thought, also, of other family/friend names from nature.  Aunt Rose, cousin Pearl, a lady named Goldie...my sister, Sharon~~~we have a yard full of Rose of Sharon....and on it goes.
You don't hear those old names much anymore, unless the owner of the name is old too.  Or recalls the old names...as I am doing.
Do a TREE search sometime and see the thousands of trees God has blessed us with on earth.  I came to the SYCAMORE...it is a type of fig tree,  often has a height of 50 ft., with an enormous trunk.  The timber is of fair quality and was much valued in ancient times (1 Kings 10:27; 2 Chronicles 1:15; 9:27; Isaiah 9:10). Mummy cases and many of the best preserved wooden utensils of ancient Egyptian life are made of it.
Well, I could go on, but I'll let you do your own investigation.  Saving more for another day.

Uh, oh...I'm off on another 'rabbit trail'.  Saw some verses today about taking the tithes into the STOREHOUSE.  In Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Malachi, etc., and I got to thinking about what was tithed...well, it was a tenth of whatever was their main crop.  Whether grain, dried fruit, honey, donkeys, whatever... Malachi 3:10 says, "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse..."
I always thought the word storehouse meant the temple, but today I did some searching and found there were storehouses all over the land.  Much like guarded warehouses.  That makes sense to me; how could the temple keepers accept thousands of goats or donkeys, barrels of honey, kegs of wine.  And who would care for all this?
An old book on Bible Manners and Customs by James Freeman says there were cisterns and buildings for holding all this.  Sometimes two or three hundred of these together, the smallest holding four hundred bushels.  David also had a "storehouse in the field"; some granaries were also barns.
And it required hundreds of guards to keep watch.  One account I read said that where there were huge piles of grain, they were covered with thorny branches to discourage animals and thieves.
That's all I have to share with you today.  Stay cool...it got to 101* here today.  How about where you live??

When I was a kid, and the weather was this hot, people used to say, "So hot, you could fry an egg on the sidewalk!"  We never had an egg to waste but I remember that often when it's this hot.  Besides, who'd want to clean up the mess?
I remembered recently how we had only one window air conditioner when the youngest of our 5 was a baby.  Quite often, on really hot evenings, my husband would round us all up and drive to the theatre nearby.  We lived in a north Minneapolis suburb; nobody in our neighborhood had central air back then.  A couple of hours would cool us off in the theatre and it was bedtime when we got home...cooler after dark.
The theatre was pretty new, had a balcony (most theatres didn't), and also had a 'crying room' up there.  It was a pretty large room with a wall of glass that allowed us to view the movie screen.  It had sound installed and plenty of room for a few families. 
Our car didn't have a/c either; we relied on a dip in a lake or turning the hose on the kiddies out in the yard.  As I recall this antiquated lifestyle, I see only smiling, laughing youngsters!  Happy memories.

Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
  Deut. 32:2

God said, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it;..."  I'm trying to fill the earth with my garden, but not doing the best job of subduing it.  Everyday I learn more about the craft of gardening, mostly from YOUTUBE.  And, I enjoy it all.
Today, I was thinking about Eve in her garden.  I guess God planted the first crops...and I bet His rows were perfectly straight.  In Genesis, chapter 1:11, God just spoke, actually commanded, and the earth in obedience produced a perfect garden.  Then the account says the plants of nature produced their own seeds, just like it is today, I guess.  Those must have been the seeds Adam used when planting for the first time.  Eve must have been thrilled to help in the garden, the orchards, and the vinyards.  Of course, they wouldn't know how to do it the first time, so I suppose God gave them lessons and demos.
I imagine the soil was so fertile that it produced abundantly.  What fun!  No need for MIRACLE GROW or pesticides.  Truly organic.
I'm already buying seeds for next year and hope to increase our garden size.

Can you have GARDEN FEVER?

or GARDEN OBSESSION??
well, I've got it...garden is only a month old and I'm making an order for the next seeds I want to plant.
But, mostly I post today to share my 'wild life catch' with you:

Two views of ONE unfortunate MOLE...but, the irony is, if I live to be 100, I'll never be able to trap all of them in our yard.  It looks like, not just a village of them, but a whole country with lots of cities.  Too many hills and tunnels to count.
Did I save the trap to use again?  Nope!!  threw whole thing out.

A little light on the subject...

I've bought about the cheapest light bulbs for years...I mean, what can be so different, whether expensive or not...a light bulb by any other name....
I like a lot of light, so though my bathroom fixture warns "Do not use stronger than 60 watt...", I've always used a 75 watt.  It seems lately they only last about a month or so, then burn out.  Only a few days after replacing the last one, it suddenly exploded...very loud 'pop', little smoke...but not to worry.  The bulb stayed lit.
I removed the opaque cover, the light was still burning, so left it off.  The bulb is no longer covered, but working fine.  So, I just don't have the fancy cover...OK.  Lowe's no longer sell the incandescent bulbs stronger than 60 watt.  I found them at Target, but much more expensive than they used to be:  4/$7.15.  (used to pay 4/$2 or so).  All this is to segue to this article I found today:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-old-neon-20120526,0,7105298.story

"A long-forgotten neon lamp that was switched on during the Great Depression and left burning for about 77 years has been discovered hidden behind a dusty partition at ...(shop in L.A.)  The find was made amid an extensive renovation of the downtown eatery, according to the building's owner...
The neon fixture is believed to have been installed in 1935 ..."

Now, that's a light bulb!  "Neon lamps can last 20 to 40 years before the glass deteriorates or transformers go out,"  "That this one has survived, lit, for as long as it has is incredible."
They estimate that the neon tube has racked up more than $17,000 in electrical bills.
Light bulb free, electricity...not so much, er...er cheap.