Letters from Ascension Hermitage and Sanctuary

 We just received our "2024 Year in Review" from Chewy, the company where we order most of our cat, dog, chicken, duck, and guinea pig food and supplies. According to their records we received 325 Chewy boxes in 2024, and not surprisingly, most of those boxes contained food! Our most ordered item?                                         All of our horse feed comes from Tractor Supply, and then there is the hay delivered by Chick's Farm and Feed Supply in Harrington, Delaware.  We are, of course, dependent on our donors whose generosity makes all of this possible. We are grateful for you every day and remember you with each and every one of these deliveries. You make life possible for all of the animals here - and for their resident caretaker, as well! You are in our prayers, and we send a resounding thank you for all you have done for us in 2024! Looking forward to 2025. . ...

  From The Book of Common Prayer We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at your right hand; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.  I remember today St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Day School in Houston, Texas, that I attended as a child . . . yes, those elementary school years are the most important! And, of course, pray especially for all deacons.

Two of my favorite passages of Scripture are these for Christmas Eve: Keep awake - for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes . . . [Mark 13:35] And from Wisdom 18:14-15     While all things were in quiet silence, and night was in the midst of her swift course, Thine Almighty word leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne. May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting!

It's still quite cold here in the mid-Atlantic region! No snow - and happily no frozen pipes! - but outside water dishes are frozen. I put a little dish of water and peanut suet just outside the back door - within a few minutes a little squirrel had stopped by for a snack. Stay warm!  

 It's a very cold day, here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This little titmouse was the first of many to find our feeder full of safflower seeds. Yesterday, our yard was full of robins, thrilled to find a tub of water. The tub is home to countless frogs, but it's also a great source of drinking and bathing water for the birds. Now that we are actually in Winter, I'm sure there will be many cold days - but now that we've passed the Winter Solstice, the days begin to get longer! And I'm rejoicing with every single minute of extra daylight . . . I couldn't care less what the clock says, I can see and feel the light!

 By day's end yesterday the maple tree was down - we agreed to have the branches and trunk tossed into the woods on the other side of our fence. By noon today the squirrels had discovered their new "playground." And while the tree men were here, one of them also planted our little magnolia sapling. I had kept it in a large tub since finding it as a seedling several years ago. Now it will have a lot of room to grow!

 Here is the tree that has to go - it's a way-too-close to the house maple tree whose roots are growing into the door to our crawl space under the house. The tree towers over our house and is still growing. I have a lot of respect for tree climbers! This is not only a job I could never do, it's even hard to watch! The dogs do not like having men in the backyard, much less in the backyard and  climbing trees; and of course, most of the cats decided to hide. One by one the branches are coming down . . .  I'll had another photo at the end of the day or tomorrow.