It’s too damp and too many rain sprinkles for pondering from the porch swing today. I usually sit in the swing each morning, lot of days eating my breakfast, while Penelope snorts around a minute on the porch, but my cushions were too wet to sit today. I took Penelope out for her walk and she was excited because there were paw prints on the porch. Never seen such a sniffing pooch. Her nose touched every paw print. So I just stood and marveled at beauty of the gathering of cardinals eating off the feeders. There were seven cardinal ladies, no men. Guess the males were having a boys’ day out. Oldest brother is having some goldfinches, of which I’m jealous, visiting his feeders. Hope they show up at my bird buffet soon. Always feel like Rosie sends the goldfinches to cheer me with messages from heaven.

Been so busy the last three days, getting up early, and running errands and such I haven’t had any porch pondering or bird watching time. Haven’t had time to enjoy the sunsets, either, because of the rain. Looked out tonight and saw a brief pale pink glow on the dark tree silhouetted horizon. The glorious sky paintings at dusk inspire me and I’ve missed them. Going to visit my grandchildren soon and do some pondering and sunset watching on their big back porch.

My next door neighbor died recently and I’ve thought a lot of him being greeted at heaven’s gate by Chief and Buddy, my neighbor’s beloved dog. Ever wonder about heaven and what it’s like up there? I think about it a lot cause there are people there I want to see. Chief thought heaven was an extension of earth. He would continue to garden and I’d still be making biscuits and homemade jelly and cooking turnip greens. We’d all be together and continue our living on an extension of earth.

We put a small bag of seed potatoes in his Chief’s coffin. He had purchased them right before he became ill with Covid. Thought he might need them up there when he shares gardening tips with Thomas Jefferson. We always kidded him about him gardening in heaven with Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was quite the master gardener. I bet Chief will find him up there.

One Sunday morning after church, I asked Al Perkins, our Episcopal priest, would I have to cook in heaven. I laughed and said, “I want to snap my fingers and a filet mignon appear on my plate.” He laughed, too, and replied, “If you want to cook, I’m sure you’ll have the finest pans money can buy.” I just smiled and turned around to leave the church and mumbled under my breath, “If I’ve got to cook up there, there better be sex up there.” To this day I don’t know what possessed me to mumble that. I think had a small stroke. I was being facetious. I hope Al didn’t hear me say that! Chief follows me out of the church. I was sure I had embarrassed and mortified him and I’m waiting for him to ask me if I had lost my mind but he says, sounding depressed, “Mama, I thought you liked to cook!” I do, just wasn’t planning on cooking in heaven. Thank God, my children weren’t there! I’d have been put out at Shady Oaks on the way home from church. Well, at least I know I won’t have to cook there!

I think it was Mark Twain who said if everyone in heaven was flapping their wings and plucking their harps it would be such a ruckus you would hear it on earth. I love that! Don’t think I could flap fast enough to keep my chubby self in the air! And I’d rather play my trumpet than pluck a harp’s strings.

After Rosalyn died, every night I’d hear Chief out in the yard talking. I always thought he was talking to the yard dog or his cats. Then one summer night when it was hot, I had the windows open in our bedroom in the library, and I realized he was looking up in the sky and talking to Rosie. “Good night, baby lamb. Daddy loves you.” For years this was a nightly ritual and he always asked her to help people on their journey to heaven.

When my niece and nephew lost their baby, I heard him say, “Sugar, meet that sweet boy baby at the gate and show him the way to our family.” Made me weep but I never told him I heard this. I know Chief and Buddy, the dog, were at the gate when my neighbor arrived and they showed him the way to his family.

“When I get to Heaven’s Gate, I will walk straight through. You will be there with open arms, and I will run to you,” — John F. Connor