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These articles under the Caption of "OFF THE CUFF" will
not necessarily be coin articles. I like to write Little essays or short articles - These are from personal experiences and observations during my lifes adventures.

Rapsody of Miracles
By
Dewey Maggard

It's true, blackbirds are rejoicing because spring is here with its mantle of green and brilliant colors. Happiness is blooming all around us with daffodils smiling at the sun. Color jumps from every hillside, meadow and brook.
Spring brings us balmy days with billowy white clouds floating like ships through a blue sky. High overhead a Red-tailed hawk soars on the balmy currents and squeals with delight. Have you ever noticed the red winged blackbird's song is just as pretty whether he is perched in the tulle marshes or in the branches of a wild mustard plant on a hillside? It's nesting time.
What a busy place the world of nature is at springtime. The little creatures scurry; new life is bursting forth everywhere (including pettable baby cottontail rabbits.).
Most every blossom, even in the alpine meadow, will be visited by a honeybee or some other wild bee. Mankind would perish without the honeybee to pollinate our crops. It has been observed that a hundred species of bees pollinate the alfalfa and various other blooming grasses. A beekeeper has said that bees fly 50,000 miles to produce one pound of honey.
I have seen the Ruby=throated hummingbirds feasting on thistle nectar near 10,000 feet. The miracles of the highlands or the lowlands reveal a balance in the scheme of nature.
Have you sat at the top of a waterfall looking through the mist at the ferns and the evergreens with a profusion of dogwood blooms in between framed by a rainbow? "April showers bring May flowers," but they also bring us the rainbow signifying the end of the old and the putting on of the new. Spring showers are like a baptism for the earth, to bring it forth with a newness of life-crowned with the rainbow. They are symbolic of the one "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Col. 1:13. This baptism is an eternal promise given by the One who sits within a rainbow at His throne in heaven.
I see new life bursting forth in my garden. Last fall, I planted Dwarf Sweep Peas. Now everyone I pick is a miracle of creation. From that little spherical kernel, a vine has come forth and divided itself into 7 velvety spheres all attached to the inside of the shell. That is a return of 210 peas for 1 planted. When you pick that luscious ear of corn late this spring, your return will be much greater. For each seed kernel you get a stalk with two ears with 500 hundred succulent kernels. What a bountiful Creator we have.
On a warm day after you have worked up a sweat picking a three gallon bucket full of peas, sit under a shade tree; open a pod of sweet peas and treat yourself to a flavor unsurpassed. Yes, a mouthful of raw sweet peas.the way they were intended to be be eaten. Or in late summer, pick an ear of corn after you have worked all afternoon in the heat. Shuck the husk off and enjoy a satisfying treat-a raw ear of corn. It will satisfy your hunger.
The seasons are a gift of God. By watching the beautiful creatures and plant life God has given us, we're given the signs of the changing seasons. The crescendo and the tempo of the crickets and the frogs are different in spring than in summer, fall or winter.
And so, this brings us to the remarks of the preacher in Ecclestiastes who has said, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die: a time to pluck up that which is planted:" (Eccl. 3:1-2). "He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. Eccl 3:11-12. Therefore I say Rejoice! Rejoice! For with every breath, there is a Rhapsody of Miracles.
All Rights Reserved
May 1985

All Aboard
By
Dewey Maggard

Two thousand people with railroad fever converged on our depot to get a glimpse of her-and excursion out of the past all dressed up in black and orange enamel with silver and nickel trim. Old Engine No. 4449 is on a run from Portland, Oregon to the New Orleans World Fair. Many people waited up to four hours to see her go thundering by- a temporary revival of a past era.
The first steam locomotive I saw came to our town one Independence Day, bringing hundreds of people eager to see the launching of a hot air balloon. The balloonist did not capture my young mind, as did that steam locomotive. That huge iron horse seemed to be a living thing, making its own power with coal and water; throwing up black smoke and blazing smoke and blazing sparks. The thing could breathe, snort, cough and belch!
As I grew into boyhood, "Mighty Katy" (the Missouri, Kansas, Texas Railroad) came thundering by on her way to a wonderland of adventure. The blast of her whistle echoed through the woods in the nigh to tell one and all that the fast freight was making the hump with full head of steam, and would soon be thundering through Mound Valley.
There was magic when steam was still king. To my young mind there was no end to the track. This horse of fire and steel, always smoking, steaming, pounding and clattering, was rolling on and on to the edge of the world and the end of time. This magic of my mind allowed these trains to pass into a land of imagination where rivers flowed through canyons of rock candy and other wonders were everywhere.
But boys grow up, and the world becomes a place for toil and sweat. But even men have dreams. The magic evolves into a need for ingenuity, Every invention, innovation and improvement which aided in the development of America came about as a response to some need-from the cow catcher to the whistle. At one time a grasshopper plague in Pennsylvania resulted in so many squashed insect bodies on the rails that the engines lost traction. So sand boxes were added, with pipes to funnel the sand in front of the drive wheels.
In 1835, Phineas Davis won $4000.00 from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for designing an improved locomotive. John Poor made an epic trip to win a railroad franchise to Montreal, Canada. He set up horse relays to break a 300-mile trail in 18 degree below zero weather between Portland, Maine, and Montreal. His line, the Grand truck Railroad is at the time of this story, still operating after 132 years. Commodore Vanderbuilt continued building railroads until his death at 86.
Through the work of courageous men, a network of rails helped bind a nation together. Dutch, Irish, Chinese, and all manner of men worked toward a common goal. It was not without difficulty, but the work was accomplished. A golden spike was driven to celebrate linking the east and the west by rail.
From the beginning our heavenly Father has been binding together a nation of special people. He is leading us away from Egypt and our own wilderness of difficulties and bringing us into the land of eternity. Having ridden on the wheels of life, and perhaps being shaken by a derailment or two, we yet see some dreams become reality. It is somewhat painful to see the steam engine once so familiar become relics of the past. Nevertheless, we continue our journey to a better land.."Through the night with the light from above, Over the mountains, o'er the prairies, Oer the ocean, white with foam, God Bless America, my home sweet home." The bell is ringing! All Aboard!

© 1984 & Jan 10 2001
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