Janet's Blog

Be kind to each other,  tenderhearted,  forgiving one another,  just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 I've noticed a fairly new trend on social media. According to popular wisdom, when someone close to you offends you in any way, the most accepted reaction seems to be to go "no contact." In other words, stop speaking to them immediately, and shut them out of your life completely and permanently.  Now, I agree that there might be a time and place where this would be appropriate. If your life is in danger, or if associating with a particular person or group of people might lead you to participate in risky or even illegal behavior, then it is probably best for you to limit your time with them.  The Bible says that there are some people that we should just not associate with because of their sinfulness:  But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud...

Like so many of you, I am tired of hearing about Covid-19. As I look back to 2020 and the intervening years since then, I can't help but think that our government, along with many others throughout the world, may have overreacted, insisting on too many, perhaps unnecessary, restrictions. However, the fact remains that I am currently quarantined at home because, for the first time, I officially have Covid. I would never have known I have Covid except that it morphed into a sinus infection. So, I dutifully made my way to Urgent Care because I knew I would need an antibiotic to get over it. And, of course, I had to have a test to rule out Covid and Influenza A. Except, even though my vaccinations are up-to-date, the test was positive for Covid. My Covid symptoms have been minimal, probably because I’ve been vaccinated: some fatigue, some sneezing, and a headache that won't quit. Initially, I passed off those symptoms as my normal allergy symptoms, aggravated by the windy condition...

The other day, I was walking with my dog, Jackson, when he stopped to sniff at a rather large pile of dog poop in the grass next to the sidewalk. Without giving it much thought, I said, "Jackson, we don't need to sniff other people's poop!" Jackson, a Shih tzu/Poodle mix, is pretty spry for 15 years old. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized how ridiculous I sounded. To start with, my words made no difference at all to Jackson, who was just doing what comes naturally for all dogs. Secondly, I wasn't joining Jackson in his sniffing, so the word "we" was completely inaccurate. And, of course, the poop he was sniffing was dog poop, not people poop. Yet that whole incident, trivial though it was, got me to thinking... Dogs sniff things, including random piles of poop, in order to learn something useful about another animal or a food source. Their noses are much more sensitive than humans' noses, so their sense of smell is a primary way fo...