M. Jean Pike's Blog, page 4

Batman, Vivek, and the Best Damn Band in the Land

There was an unmistakable vibe in the air in our little town last week, a sense of excitement that could only mean one thing – Apple Festival Week had arrived!

The highlight of the year, this weeklong festival is held in the third week of September. The main streets are blocked off, the rides are erected, and the food trucks, games and vendors take over the business district. It is a time for celebrating incredible food, close-knit community, and all things apple.

And all things Ohio.

The excitement reached a fever pitch on Saturday. You could almost hear it in the air… “They’re here!” as ten buses rolled into town, carrying none other than the Ohio State University Marching Band, aka The Best Damn Band in the Land!  

They came to perform at the Apple Festival band show. If you’ve never seen them, you’ve really missed out. They are truly a sight to behold!

Last night, as a grand finale, the festival ended with a parade. In addition to floats, Apple Festival royalty, and all the fire trucks you can handle, the parade featured marching bands from schools all across Southern Ohio and Northern W. Virginia. Along with another performance by OSU.

To add to the excitement, we also had visits from Batman and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Today our town lets out its breath and returns to its normal, sleepy self.

Until next September

** None of these photos were taken by or belong to me

Not so far away at all

I know it’s not even Halloween yet. But if you’re like me, you are already lining up your Christmas reads for the holiday season. If you love service dogs and heartwarming Christmas stories, I’d love it if you would consider adding this one to your TBR list. It releases in early November — which is really not so far away at all

CHESTER’S MIRACLE. Because sometimes angels come with four legs and a tail.

Hints of Autumn in the Park

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
His greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3

I never get over the miracle of autumn. The crisp, sunny days, the trees exploding in color. Apples and pumpkins ripe for the picking It’s my very favorite season. This morning Emma and I went for a lovely, 60 F walk in the park. We glimpsed the first hints of fall.

A few leaves scattered on the ground.

A preview of the coming attraction!

So many wonderful smells in the park!

Thank You, Lord, for the changing seasons.

We Love Fall Most Of All

Michael’s Grand Birthday Adventure

Today is my nephew Michael’s birthday. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know that he is the INSPIRATION for Olly, one of the characters in my new book, Superheroes. Since I had the day off, I thought it would be fun to take him on a little birthday adventure this morning. I wasn’t wrong.

Michael doesn’t like surprises. He likes to know exactly how his day is going to play out. He’s a little like his aunt that way. So on our way into town, we talked about our agenda. First stop, Dollar Tree for some new coloring books and a fun Halloween craft project. (If there are two things Michael loves more than superheroes and coloring books, they are the Dollar Tree and Halloween )

Michael’s favorite place!

Wallet full of birthday money in hand, he searches for a new book for his collection!

Next on the agenda after Dollar Tree was lunch. We would go to Wendy’s for burgers and fries and take them back to “Aunt Missy’s” house. After lunch, we would paint the Halloween decorations he bought. We talked about how I had set up a little table for Michael to paint at, and how Miss Emma would wait in her room until Michael was ready for her to come out. All was well.

Then our plan hit a slight snag. For some reason Wendy’s is closed today. But I had promised burgers and fries. It was on the agenda. Thankfully there is a McDonald’s a couple blocks up the street.

After a lengthy wait in the drive through, and then another lengthy wait in a parking spot, we finally got our food and were on our way again. But by then Michael had had enough of an outing. He was ready to go home. I reminded him about the little table, and the spooky signs we were going to paint. About Miss Emma being in her room. No dice, lol.

Though our adventure was a bit shorter than the one I’d envisioned, it was still a wonderful morning. Michael smiled all the way home. If he’s happy, I’m happy. He knows what he wants. He also knows what he does not want. And he always knows when he’s ready to go home. He’s a little bit like his aunt that way

Happy Birthday, dear Michael. I hope the rest of your day is as fabulous as you!

Pulled Pork, Pasta Salad, and Prayer

September was my month to host our ladies Bible study. It was just what I needed last night. If you saw yesterday’s post, I was feeling a little overwhelmed and a lot sad about the state of our world. I spent the day cleaning the house, making a meal, and going over our lesson. With one thing and another, I never made it up to the church yesterday to borrow chairs, so I had to improvise with what I have. My space is small and we were packed in pretty tight, but I loved having all the happy chatter fill my home as the ladies began to arrive

Miss Emma waiting for the ladies. She knew something was up when she saw the outdoor chairs indoors!

We are doing a study on contentment by Luci Swindoll this year. Last night’s lesson focused on finding contentment and joy in God first, earthly pursuits and pleasures, second. It spoke of the peace and joy that comes with being in tune with our Heavenly Father – even, and especially in the hard times.

It was refreshing to spend time in study and prayer with my sisters in Christ. Then we enjoyed a simple meal and some girl talk.

Fruit salad, pasta salad, and pulled pork sliders. Yummm!

My home is not fancy. My meal was not of the gourmet variety. But the evening was perfect. Pasta salad, pulled pork, and prayer. A recipe for contentment on a not so easy day

A Prayer for Peace

I’m hosting our ladies Bible study this month. We girls have an awful lot to pray about tonight. The world seems so heavy today. Honestly, I could cry.

While I could weigh in on the anniversary of 9/11, the death of Charlie Kirk, the most recent school shooting, and all of the hatred that seems to be running rampant in the world today, I think I’ll just sit with it all for a little while. And pray about it a lot.

As I go about this out of the ordinary day, doing ordinary things, a prayer runs through my mind. Lord, help me to remember that peace on earth begins with me.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

On Getting Rid of Old Skirts, Old Hurts, and Other Things That No Longer Serve a Purpose

Every month we go through the store, department by department, and pull the items that are due to expire soon. Today I was tasked with Antacids and Laxatives. As I went through the various items, checking their ‘Best By’ dates, I got to thinking about life, and getting rid of the things that no longer serve a purpose.

Like certain clothes in my closet. I’ve picked up some cute things on my thrifting and yard sale adventures this summer. Before my closet gets overstuffed, I need to go through and make some decisions. I’m pretty good at that, mostly. I’ll keep the things I need and those I love and get rid of the rest. But my hands hover over certain items every time. Like one particular skirt, a gauzy, turquoise thing with in your face gold and purple flowers and a string tie with little brass bells sewn on the ends.

Do I need it? Nope.

Will I wear it again? Never.

Do I love it? Yeah, I do. But not for the pattern or the fit. It’s two sizes too small and a decade out of style. I love it for the memory of the day I bought it – when my sisters and I had an amazing girl’s day at the Wharf District in Ashtabula one year.

I have photos of that day. Why do I need to hang onto this ugly skirt?

I also need to go through the closet of my heart. Sometimes I’m surprised at the old hurts hanging out in there that I thought I’d gotten rid of. Maybe I just buried them and forgot them for awhile. It won’t be easy, but I will have to address them one by one, prayerfully acknowledge them, and let them go. Yes, X did this. Yes, Y said that. Yes, it hurt. But it taught me a valuable lesson. Thank you, and goodbye. Those memories no longer serve me. They never did.

I’m going to be doing a deep clean over the next few weeks. There are burdens I no longer wish to carry. Stories I no longer want to write. Puzzles I have no interest in putting together.

Like that guy in my checkout line a few months ago that I had that fabulous discussion with about a book we’d both read, and about how it was growing up in the 70’s. The one who said we should have lunch sometime. That offer’s past its Best By date. He’s not going to call. And that’s OK. It doesn’t mean I’m not interesting enough to take to lunch. It doesn’t mean anything at all.

And like the remorse I feel whenever I think about all of the things I should have done differently in life — or shouldn’t have done at all. I am no longer going to beat myself up, or retrieve those things from the foot of the cross where I left them. Any more than I would root around in our dumpster at work to retrieve our outdated antacids and laxatives. God has forgiven me. It’s time I forgave myself.

Because life is heavy enough without carrying around outdated baggage.

Game Day

Game day in Southern Ohio when the Bengals play the Browns. Main Street looks kind of like this…

Not a creature was stirring…

And the parking lot at work looks kind of like this…

Crickets…

But then this cute customer comes in to pick up some Game Day snacks!

Chester, our favorite customer!

After work, Miss Emma settles in for the second half of the Bills Game. We’re Bills girls here

Come on, Bills. You got this!!

A Sunday Thought

When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 8:3,4

One Big Beautiful… Rummage Sale!

I think of garage sale season as being a summer thing. I rarely go to them past August. By September my mind is on other things. Like pumpkins and baking, the first hint of color in the trees, and waiting for raking season to begin. But a few days ago my friend Kathy alerted me to a Big Beautiful Rummage Sale that was taking place this weekend. A local women’s group was raising money for various organizations in our city. It was going to be a good one. A last hurrah of the yard sale season!

So this morning Kathy picked me up bright and early so we could get a good parking spot at the sale. We didn’t even get out of my driveway before we spotted a different sale, directly across the street from my house! The woman’s daughter had recently turned fourteen and frankly, she was tired of the childhood clutter. A lot of what she had was children’s clothes and toys, but she did have an amazing collection of puzzles—all like new, for just fifty cents each. My closet is overrun with more puzzles than I have time for, but I could not resist this adorable glimpse of yesteryear. Doesn’t it look so fun?!

Our church is doing the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes again this year, and I was thrilled to find these brand new, unopened toys to add to my stack of donations.

With that impromptu sale out of the way, we headed across town to the Big Beautiful Rummage Sale. Wow, parking was a nightmare, but there’s no deterring two church ladies on a mission, lol. I am on a pretty tight budget without a lot of room for extras, and this sale was a poor girl’s heaven!

I found a beautiful afghan for my couch for just two dollars. As a crocheter of blankets, I can appreciate the time and love that went into this one. Look at all the gorgeous colors!

I found a pretty, pumpkin colored blouse to liven up my fall wardrobe for just fifty cents!

I found books and candles and a cute pumpkin pillow for my rocking chair.

I found a darling, hand-painted gourd wren house that is sure to make some little wren a happy home next summer. Until then, it will add a bit of color and whimsy to my kitchen

Score of the day — I found another coat This one is a little more dressy than the leather coat I got earlier this summer. It will be perfect for church, or anywhere else I might venture to this winter.

All in all, it was quite a haul for $12. As they say in SE Ohio — I love me some bargains

So garage sale season has now officially come to an end. At least for me. I’m thankful for the blessing of secondhand treasures, and for the little things I found today that make home such a cozy place to be