View from the Front Porch - Page 105 of 161 - Award-winning Author Judythe Morgan

7 12, 2016

Remembering Pearl Harbor

By judythemorgan|2016-12-08T06:48:10-06:00December 7th, 2016|Wednesday Words of Wisdom|0 Comments

Today is the 75^th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack, the day known as a Day of Infamy.

Long before I was born (and probably before most of you were born) on this day in 1941, Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii.

The day after the surprise attack Congress approved President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s request to declare war on Japan with only one dissenting vote.

Then three days later, Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States. Congress reciprocated. America had finally entered the fray known as World War II.

Our national history (and many of our personal histories) changed forever. Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.“

Fathers, husbands, boyfriends, sons, and daughters went off to fight the war. Brave soldiers who answered the call.

My father did. My uncle did. So did my father’s sister.

So many lost their lives. Those still living today are in their twilight years.

Of the 334 men who survived the Arizona attack at Pearl Harbor, only five are still alive today.

Let’s take a minute this Pearl Harbor Day to remember those men who Tom Brokaw duped the Greatest Generation . Men who willingly gave their all to provide protection and security to our nation and the world.

5 12, 2016

Let the Christmas Traditions and Customs Begin

By judythemorgan|2022-11-27T10:19:35-06:00December 5th, 2016|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Santa Claus waves to spectators along Central Park West during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Santa is officially tucked in place at Macy’s New York. You did watch the Macy parade on Thanksgiving, didn’t you?

Macy’s parade always signals Christmas preparations and traditions can officially begin for me.

I absolutely love Christmas customs and traditions. This month I’ll be sharing about my favorites starting with the Advent wreath.

If you attend a traditional liturgical church, you probably lit the second candle of an Advent Wreath yesterday because Advent this year began on Sunday, November 27.

Not familiar with the tradition of Advent? Here’s my cliff note version:

Advent comes from adventus meaning “coming” or “visit” and includes the four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. Advent also serves as the beginning of the liturgical year for churches.

Observance of advent began sometime after the 4th century. In the Middle Ages, the church extended the celebration to include the coming of Christ through his birth in Bethlehem, his future coming at the end of time, and his presence among us through the promised Holy Spirit.

Modern-day Advent services center on a garland wreath of evergreen branches representing eternity and symbolizing the coming of the light of Christ into the world.

The wreath contains three purple (or blue) candles, one pink candle, and one white candle. Each successive Sunday of Advent one of the candles is lit. The order and exact wording used as the candles come to light varies among churches.

Traditionally, the Prophecy Candle is first. The second Sunday candle is the Bethlehem candle. Third Sunday candle is the pink Shepherd candle. Fourth Sunday is the last purple candle called the Angel Candle. The White Candle (or Christ Candle) is lit on Christmas Eve.

Other variations light the candles to represent Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy.

Read more about the symbolism of the advent wreath, candles, and colors here.

If your church does not formally recognize a season of Advent, constructing an Advent wreath for your home can be part of family holiday traditions.

Here’s a link to an Advent wreath-coloring page for children. You’ll also find fun holiday activities to occupy little hands there.

Observing Advent is a great way to keep Christ the focus, teach the true meaning of Christmas, and diminish the commercialism of Christmas.

Is an advent wreath part of your Christmas season?

2 12, 2016

Miller Farm Turkey Report

By judythemorgan|2016-11-24T11:50:42-06:00December 2nd, 2016|Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Our turkeys are growing quite nicely. We have a tom and a hen. The tom is a wanderer who can escape the turkey pen.

One night I went out to close up the chickens and the tom was not in the pen.

A quick search revealed he had gone into the cage that we use for roosters. We call it “death row.” Apparently, this turkey is ready for Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately, he is not quite big enough.

The next night he was missing again. He was not nested in death row.

I looked up in all the trees thinking of the song “Five fat turkeys are we. We slept all night in a tree.” No turkey.

As I closed up the chicken coop, I discovered wandering tom in with a hen.

The turkey thought he was a chicken.

The next night he was not in the nest boxes, or in death row. Instead, he was on the perch in the coop.

I’ve decided to let him sleep with the chickens.

Now my morning list of chores includes: Move turkey back to the turkey pen.

30 11, 2016

Doing What’s Needful

By judythemorgan|2016-11-21T08:25:41-06:00November 30th, 2016|Wednesday Words of Wisdom|2 Comments

We’ve finished a month of focus on thankfulness. When I saw this graphic on the Grammarly blog, I thought doing the needful would be an excellent way to end the month.

This wording might not be the phrasing we would use in the U.S. More likely, we’d say something like Please do what I asked.

Grammarly.com offers a full discussion of the phrase’s origin on their blog.

Isn’t doing what needs to be done a wonderful guideline for our actions year round?

28 11, 2016

Cyber Security for the Holidays

By judythemorgan|2016-11-22T16:51:03-06:00November 28th, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

We’re full on turkey and pumpkin pie leftovers. The serious holiday gift buying has begun. It’s time to think about cyber security.

We all know how hackers use stolen data to create plausible emails to trick people into clicking harmful links and/or opening infected attachments, spreading malware, viruses, and other threats.

Yahoo’s data breach last September was a good reminder we need to be pro-active in protecting our data. I hope if you ever had a Yahoo account, you immediately changed your password or deleted the account if it’s inactive. If not, stop reading this blog and do it now.

We need to use caution when making on-line purchases or sharing posts on social media. We don’t want to put ourselves or anyone else at risk if we are hacked or have our data stolen in a cyber attack.

Here are seven tips for keeping your data safe all the time, not only during the holiday season.

Use different passwords on all your accounts.
Change your password and security question answers for all accounts regularly.
Avoid your name, initials, or birth date in a password.
Avoid actual words as part of a password.
Keep your anti-virus/anti-malware and all your computer programs up-to-date.
Frequently review all on-line accounts for suspicious activity.

Lastly, some reminders about your email.

~Never click on an email link if it’s unsolicited or from someone you don’t know.

~ Double-check before you click even if something seems to be from a friend, call, text, or email that friend and verify before you open.

~Regardless of how official an email appears never open unsolicited email. The IRS, your bank, your credit card companies, and other companies will NOT email you to ask for personal information. They already have it.

Use these tips and reminders about cyber security be security wise this holiday season and always.

25 11, 2016

Turkey Game

By judythemorgan|2016-11-21T07:45:23-06:00November 25th, 2016|Holidays, Miller Farm Friday, Thanksgiving|0 Comments

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

One of my greatest treasures is the collection of music books from my Aunt Keta. She was a music teacher and she worked for a music publishing company so she had many, many books. She actually gave a kindergarten music book to me on my first birthday.

I use it regularly in my classroom. One of the songs is called The Turkeys Run Away. We sing it every November and play the game.

This year when I explained how to play the game, I found myself saying “I will be the farmer and I will chase the turkeys.”

For a brief moment, I thought about the last time I chased a turkey. It had not ended so well – I fractured my ankle. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and began to sing.

I am happy to report no teachers were harmed in the playing of this game.

24 11, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving

By judythemorgan|2016-11-05T22:10:17-05:00November 24th, 2016|Holidays|1 Comment

Today we think about all the things we are thankful for. Chicken Wrangler Sara and I are so grateful for our readers.

As you gather with your family and friends today, we offer this Irish blessing for you and yours.

21 11, 2016

It’s Thanksgiving Week

By judythemorgan|2016-11-11T10:45:22-06:00November 21st, 2016|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Thanksgiving arrives on Thursday making this week filled with family reunions, food, fun, travel, football games, Black Friday, and being thankful.

Not necessarily in that order.

The way we celebrate things today is quite different from how Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving feasts.

Historically, Pilgrims in The Commonwealth of Virginia held Thanksgiving services beginning in 1607. Days of prayer, not days of feasting, but services deeply grounded in religious beliefs and gratitude to their Heavenly Father.

Our national holiday stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians to celebrate the colony’s first successful harvest. The colonist didn’t call it Thanksgiving, though.

Thanksgiving to them was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event. The activities that autumn of 1621 – dancing, singing secular songs, playing games – wouldn’t have been allowed. Not religious. The feast was a secular celebration, so it never would have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims’ minds.

Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation for a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” established what we do today.

Interesting that the basis for our celebration remained the same as the early colonist feasts – thankfulness.

As you go about the preparations this week, spend some time thinking about the origins of the holiday and all the reasons you have to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

18 11, 2016

Bella and the Gate

By judythemorgan|2016-11-09T14:03:41-06:00November 18th, 2016|Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

We contain our pack of dachshunds in the kitchen with a baby gate.

Every evening we take the gate down and allow the dogs to go into their kennels in the living room to sleep. Occasionally the dogs will knock the gate down when we are not home and roam the house.

All except for Bella – she is terrified of the gate. She sits in the middle of the kitchen frozen in fear.

After years of stepping over the gate, we decided to invest in a walk-through gate. This would cut down on the number of falls for those of us who are less coordinated or who have weak ankles. (That would be Chicken Wrangler Sara.)

Beekeeper Brian ordered an easy step, metal walk-through safety gate.

Once it was installed, life became easier for everyone – except Bella.

The first night we opened the gate to let the dogs go into their kennels, Bella refused.

Rachel was prepared for her reaction. She coaxed Bella over the gate with treats.

Bella has grown accustomed to the gate. Only once in a while does she balk at going over it.

Bella is a special dog. She fits right in on Miller Farm.

16 11, 2016

A Heart filled with Gratitude

By judythemorgan|2016-11-07T15:23:58-06:00November 16th, 2016|Wednesday Words of Wisdom|1 Comment

Winnie the Pooh was a favorite of my youngest daughter. Every nap time we read a chapter from A.A. Milne’s books and then at bedtime we re-read the same chapter.

The beautifully crafted stories of Christopher Robin’s adventures captured my daughter’s imagination. Ernest H. Shephard’s illustrations brought the tales to life.

The wisdom of Pooh and his companions was sometimes beyond her young experience, but Milne’s never failed to impress me with the compassion and insight his characters imparted with humor.

Piglet shares wise words in the graphic above. Though our hearts be small, like his, we can fill them with gratitude.

So what’s in your heart today?