waiting for the Holy Spirit

 May the Lord send forth the Spirit
and renew the face of the earth!
Amen.

Ascension Day

I dreamed about Dolly last night. She was outside, exploring; she was well! She was Dolly.

It was so good to see her. Make of that what you will.

We went to mass this morning - it is the Ascension of Jesus. forty days after Easter. I thought I'd make a nice dinner. I baked a small cake, coffee flavor with walnuts, no frosting. I then made a crustless quiche, with mushrooms and spinach - a little cheese. A romaine salad with blood oranges and a bit of yellow bell pepper, oil and vinegar dressing, and some chicken tenders marinated in a yogurt lemon herb mixture and baked.

In the afternoon, I sliced up the cake, which would have looked better cut up, and decided to have a piece. It was made with dates, and a little brown sugar. Well, it was so sweet - frankly, I couldn't stand it. I threw out the rest. I felt bad there was no dessert, not that my brother would notice, or mind. 

Meanwhile, I was catching up on some of Huw Richards' videos. He is focusing lately on perennial vegetables and he mentioned rhubarb; I have thought of rhubarb before, and would like to grow it, so I wrote it down. 

I no sooner wrote the word when my phone rang. It was a neighbor, Sally. I just baked a strawberry rhubarb pie, and wonder if you'd like some. Ah, ah!! I told her the story of my dessert disappointment, AND that I'd just written the word "rhubarb". Of all things! She brought it over and said she had put in less than half of the sugar in the recipe - it was just right. Thank you, dear Sally! 

Loving Father,

because of the Ascension of your Son
our human nature is now at home with you in heaven.
May this truth be our lasting encouragement and hope.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Ascension, by Rembrandt

little neighbors

 I went to Mass this morning in the city. The cathedral choir sang "If Ye Love Me" by Thomas Tallis. Just beautiful. 

This morning I opened the kitchen window - maybe it was seven? From the corner of my eye I saw something run into the drain pipe. I thought it was a bird, and waited for it to come out, but it didn't. I don't know why I thought of a bird - why would a bird go into a pipe? Anyway, I came back soon after, and there was a chipmunk.

Can you tell that he's sitting up inside the cracked opening of the pipe, his little skeletal hands holding the edge? These photos were all taken through the screen, by the way. That "stuff'" near him is debris that always seems near the opening. 

He would sit very still, no movement; if I made a noise or if he saw me, he'd scoot back inside the pipe. But not for long. A few times he came out to forage.

For a short while; he was being very cautious. When I left to go to church, Daisy was laying in the windowsill, watching him, tail flicking. And he seemed to be watching her, also.

It really seemed that he was looking up at her. So, contrary to what we usually do, I left the window open even thought I was going out. This was about ten fifteen. I was home at quarter to one, and he was still there!  But after the shadows lengthened, I noticed he was gone. Not a good place to live full-time, but we'll see if he comes back another morning.

Meanwhile, last weekend I finally saw a catbird. I didn't hear anything the first day, but surely the trip must be exhausting. It wasn't long before I heard their warbling. They always hang out in the forsythia outside my window, but I've never seen a nest in there, so I'm not sure what they're doing, but they always come back. How amazing the bird journeys are! These apparently fly down to Florida or Cuba.

If ye love me,
keep my commandments,
and I will pray the Father,
And he shall give you another comforter,
that he may abide with you for ever:
Even the spirit of truth.

John 14: 15-18

real life

 "The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own', or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life - the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one's 'real life' is a phantom of one's own imagination."

                                                       -  C.S. Lewis

with the light burning at the back of my eyes

 We've had a lot of windy days lately, and today was one of them, but bright blue and clear. The temperatures are up and down, like they always are in spring. Too chilly for window-washing.

I have a piece of fabric for the dress bodice lining, but it's been put aside for a blouse I'm working on. What I would really like is to make something, to finish it! To wear it! 

Daisy turned four the other day, and I totally didn't notice it. No worries, neither did she. 

I'm re-reading Sarah Clarkson's Reclaiming Quiet:

"I hungered for quiet, not just the cessation of noise but that deep inward hush in which the kindness of God is the light burning at the back of our eyes so that we look upon the world in the brightness of his companionship."

blossoms everywhere

Perfect days like this make you forget the ones that went before - it was wonderful. Sunny, temperate, very breezy. I went out and wished I'd brought a camera because the pink cherry blossoms would flutter around in the wind, even into the back yard.

They are everywhere in the front, and all the way down the edges of the driveway - it looks like we've had a wedding here.

Meanwhile, the crabapple is fantastic - filled with white blossoms.

Once again, the birds never ate the fruit over the fall and winter, and I wasn't able to pick it with snow all around the tree, but that didn't get in the way of the blooming at all. I've always been partial to crabapple trees. When the cherry blooms, the leaves are there, too; the flowers are rosette-like - well, I've taken enough pictures of them over the years. But the crab blossoms take over the whole tree; there are leaves, but they're dwarfed by all the flowers. I also love the spreading habit of apple and crabapple trees. But don't tell the cherry - she's a brave one, and well-loved. 

the October storm of 2011 - she's never been the same since

kneaded long, to give you life

 Refrain:

I received the living God,
and my heart is full of joy.
I received the living God,
and my heart is full of joy.

1 Jesus said: "I am the Bread
Kneaded long to give you life;
You who will partake of me
Need not ever fear to die." [Refrain]

2 Jesus said: "I am the Way,
And my Father longs for you;
So I come to bring you home
To be one with him anew." [Refrain]

3 Jesus said: "I am the Truth;
If you follow close to me,
You will know me in your heart,
And my word shall make you free." [Refrain]

4 Jesus said: "I am the Life
Far from whom no thing can grow,
But receive this living bread,
And my Spirit you shall know." [Refrain]

random feelings of the heart

The purple-leafed plum was blooming a week ago, and it was exciting to see: the first blooming tree. Four days later, it was over! We did have cold weather last week, but maybe it's a short-lived thing anyway - we haven't had that tree long enough for me to remember it's blooming habits. But now the cherry trees are all pink with the crabapples right behind. The grass is emerald, and everything is lush and hopeful. 

I ripped the sleeves off the dress bodice, and detached it from the skirt. I took in the sides an inch. I think I want to make a lining, give it some substance. This may take a while.

Random feelings of the heart,
Ravings of a lone exile,
Stranger to the rules of art,
Let me robe in homely style.

-  James Kennedy, 18th century

"just live your ordinary life"

 "Whoever said that to speak about Christ and to spread his doctrine, you need to do anything unusual or remarkable? Just live your ordinary life; work at your job, trying to fulfill the duties of your state in life, doing your job, your professional work properly, improving, getting better each day. Be loyal; be understanding with others and demanding on yourself. Be mortified and cheerful. This will be your apostolate. Then, though you won't see why...you will find that people come to you. Then you can talk to them, quite simply and...about the sort of longings that everyone feels deep down in his soul, even though some people may not want to pay attention to them: they will come to understand them better, when they begin to look for God in earnest."

                                                                     -  St. Jose Maria Escriva

April Saturday

I tend to plan my blogging for the end of the day, but it often happens that I'm tired, or involved in something, or it's too late, or my mind just isn't there - anyway, I need a new routine.

My dress is slowly coming together - the bodice is sewn, the sleeves are on, the skirt is attached. It went over my head easily and I decided I wanted a higher bodice/skirt seam, so I've brought it up an inch. But I won't try it on until tonight - I don't always feel like putting my clothes on and off. I also noticed that the shoulder seams are too low; I mean that ideally, the bodice needs to be trimmed and the sleeves re-attached. I have also considered making two thin tucks along the top of each shoulder area to "bring in" the shoulder seam, without having to do it the long way.  I chose the bodice size which I thought would fit me, but it's big. That's okay, but how much will I have to take things in before I have a hard time pulling it over the head? Which is why I didn't line the bodice. I was going to, but realized there might be issues. So, I creep along.

It really looks like nothing! I'll try to get a close-up of the fabric. 

I saw a rabbit outside during the daytime - you've been waiting for me to say something about rabbits, haven't you?

Enjoying the light, the warmer air? Who knows; they are survivors.

a tranquil spirit

 "We must contain ourselves in patience, remembering each morning that our main job is to love God and to serve him and if we don't get things done due to interruptions, well, it cannot be helped, and God will take care of what we leave undone. But a tranquil spirit is important. Saint Teresa says that God cannot rest in an unquiet heart. I have to remember that many times during the day."

                                                               -  Dorothy Day, from Magnificat, April 2026

suddenly warm

 

a woodland themed towel from Debra!

I figure that normal temperatures for this time of year should be in the mid-fifties. Not this week, though! It is going to be in the eighties for a few days, so here we go, trying to get some more variety in the closet.

I finished my skirt, which is just an a-line with elastic waist - very basic. Now I want to make a dress with some thrifted fabric.

the Mr. Kibble statue holding down the pattern piece

It's a soft brushed cotton, a very small pine green and beige check. I was able to mark it with a piece of soap, since the colors were dark enough to show it up. 

Here's my inspiration, stolen off the internet from here

I cut out a bodice piece from a dress pattern I have, and sleeves from another. I'd like mine a little longer, like below the elbow. I've been trying to figure if I want to interline the bodice to give it more structure, or just line it. I think I'll just line it. I hope it will be something useful! One doesn't always know how a thing will come out, or how well it will fit. It is a bit girlish, but I hope that won't be a problem. 

by whose spirit

 God of everlasting mercy,
...increase, we pray,
the grace you have bestowed,
that all may grasp and rightly understand
at what font they have been washed, 
by whose Spirit they have been reborn,
by whose Blood they have been redeemed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

- Magnificat, April 2026

still Easter

 I hope everyone had a lovely Easter observance. Our orthodox friends will have it tomorrow. The season lasts until Pentecost - we have a nice, long way to go.

"But after pondering Christ's Passion, we will spend the rest of April and beyond rejoicing in the light of his Resurrection, learning to come alive in his life."

                                         -  Fr. Philip Nolan, from Magnificat, April 2026

with the dead hath been

 Love lives again,
That with the dead hath been.
Love is come again
Like wheat that springeth green...

Dierec Bouts

the strange, still day

Holy Saturday almost escapes us in the rush from Good Friday to Easter. What are we to make of this strange and silent day, thousands of years later and already knowing the outcome that tomorrow holds? Should we just focus on the festivities of Easter, only a few hours away? No, for Jesus did not pass instantaneously from death to the Resurrection, skipping over the loneliness and sadness that death introduces into our world. Thus, Holy Saturday consoles us, revealing that even the painful cold and deafening silence of death has been embraced by the Lord.

                                               -   from Magnificat, April 2026

"Holy Saturday is a strange, still day, hanging in an unresolved poise between the darkness of the day before and the light that is not yet with us."

This is ground zero, emptiness and space
With nothing left to say or think or do,
But look unflinching on the sacred face
That cannot move or change or look at you.

-  Malcolm Guite

Diego Velasquez

enough for everyone

Upon this wood his body bore
The nails, the taunts, the spear,
Till water flowed with blood to wash
The whole world free of fear. 

Giotto's Christ Crucified

the inner Jerusalem

 "There is an inner as well as an outer Jerusalem, and that therefore the events of Holy Week are both about Jesus' outward, visible and historical entry into Jerusalem and what he did there and then, and also about his entry into the inner Jerusalem, the 'seething holy city' as I have called it, of our own hearts. ...We have our own gates, walls and watchtowers, that somewhere within us there is both a temple and a seat of judgement, and both might need to be challenged and cleansed.

Can I invite Jesus into all of that? And if I do, what will happen?"

                                     -  from The Word in the Wilderness, by Malcolm Guite

sleeping with bears

 "I was never more at ease than when sleeping with the bears. They were entirely without odor, without bad breath even two hours after eating overripe carrion, and without any kind of vermin other than ticks which I removed every day anyway. Aside from a little rambunctious eagerness to play when we first went to bed, their nighttime manners were impeccable. Once they began to snore softly, they rarely moved until morning, at which time I received a regular nose nudging when it came time to crawl out for a visit to the otter coign. I cannot recall their ever having deliberately awakened me. My first waking sight of each morning was three pairs of shiny, brownish-yellow eyes staring silently and affectionately into my face. Instead of wagging a short tail as a dog would do, each bear engaged in a rapid tapping of the claws of both front feet. Rusty introduced the routine, and the other two took it up at once."

                                                                      -   The Bears and I, Robert Franklin Leslie

This book is wonderful.

believe

 "We say that we believe. And yet do we? At the slightest difficulty, we cry to God, and if he doesn't answer our prayer within the next five minutes or ten, or twenty-four hours, we begin to doubt. We need to get our heart in tune with God's heart. Because, you see, he's a lover, and he wants us to love him back. For this, he incarnated himself, lived as a man for a number of years, and died a martyr on a cross, all for me. And, by so doing, reconciled me with his Father. I believe that this is so.

When I believe, I am like a tree standing by the water, and I shall not be moved. Yet a tree can be hit by lightning. But for a man or a woman of faith, the lightning passes through them and doesn't touch them, because their faith is strong as God is strong. God doesn't abandon people.

You can say to me, Well, how do I get that kind of a faith? On your knees. (Maybe not literally on your knees, although kneeling can be a good position!) You ask for it. The God who has given you faith in baptism, when you died in Christ and resurrected in Christ, is not going to say 'no' to your request. If there is one request that he says 'yes' to all the time, always, it's a request to grow in faith.

Now and then we all feel tremors begin to shake our faith. Then we must ask God, implore him, beg him, to give us faith, to increase our faith."

                                                                   -    Catherine de Hueck Doherty

little systems

 I'm back to making bread; it seems, along with soup, a Lenten thing to have. 

Here's the recipe  The soup I made today was potato leek - so delicious! Here's the recipe, and I realized from reading this old post that I forgot the thyme. It was still good!

My skirt needs adjusting; it's too full, which would be pretty on some, but I like a little less of it.

Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of thee,
And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

-  Tennyson

bears, skirts and dinner

"On this mountain [God] will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, The web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces; The reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; for the Lord has spoken."

                                                              -   Isaiah 25:7-9

Meanwhile, tomorrow is the feast of St. Patrick; I'm working, so we had the dinner today. The crockpot did much of the work.

The cabbage was in another pan.

I've been reading "The Bears and I" by Robert Franklin Leslie. Published in 1968, the author is a young man in the north woods of Canada. Are there any of these type of men left? Can someone live like that in this day and age?  Anyway, he has to "adopt" three motherless cubs, and he tells the story so well; it's a page-turner!  I had brought the book home for my mother years ago and it was such a favorite with her, I'd gotten her a copy to keep. After she died I ended up letting it go, as I figured I'd never read it, but at work last week it came across the desk and I was suddenly interested. It's hard to put down! Bears are more like us than I'd realized. If you like animal stories, I very much recommend it.

"A wild bear grows to maturity and stays healthy for his twenty-five or thirty years on a vigorous program of physical exercise and diet unparalleled for any animal of his weight. I've watched both black and grizzly bears swim across the lake three miles wide, then climb over a mountain on the other side when easy alternative routes were available to them. I have seen black bears gallop down a mountainside and ascend a 200-foot fir without even breaking their speed - climbing by throwing their arms and legs around the trunk like a pole-climber - until they were near the top of the tree."

                                                -  The Bears and I

I saw this image on pinterest and saved it. I've got a sweater this very color, although not a turtleneck and not cropped. But that's all right. I have black suede maryjanes and I could copy the look well enough. So I poked around online and found some quilting cotton that is almost exactly this pattern.

I made a casing for an elastic waist, put in wide pleats, and it is machine basted. If i hadn't been so busy with the corned beef dinner, I could have made more progress. But it's an easy design to make and won't take much longer.

"To a bear, loss of face represents genuine calamity. Within his local society, withdrawal from any struggle most generally incurs loss of pecking rights - the established wilderness protocol of who has the right to clobber whom."

                                                  -  from The Bears and I

love transforms

 O God, your love for the world transforms darkness into light, hatred into love,
 and persecution into peace through the gift of your only Son.
 Make us true disciples in every circumstance of daily life, through Christ our Lord.
 Amen.

-  from Magnificat, March 2026

darkness and light

 Well, the split in my thumb is healed, and I stitched up the opening on the chair cushion. It was awkward using the curved needle, but not painful! It was not digging into my finger!

As I said, I had barely enough to cover it, but it's attached now, and I will figure out a patch to go over that area. This is on the back part of the cushion, so it won't be glaringly obvious.

It was so dark and dreary today, the cats slept most of it - it actually snowed, which would normally mean nothing in mid-March after the winter we've had, except that two days ago it was up near eighty; it was sunny, and everyone's spirits were lifted by it. Yesterday was also nice, but here we are back again. However, there is greening going on outside -

Yes, it's coming. 

in morning sun, from a different day

"Saint John of the Cross says our souls are like windows. Divine light is always there, beating on the panes, but often the panes are dirty so that the light cannot penetrate. Our task is very simple - not always easy, mind you, but basically simple! We do not have to make the sun shine. We do not have to create our own suns. All we have to do is let the sun in, and we do this by cleaning our windows. When they are free from every stain, the pure light pours in. We become like the Mother of God, who 'has this one work to do / Let all God's glory through' (Gerard Manley Hopkins).

Then the window - which is still there - is all one with the light, and in its own way has become light and light-giving. What is needed is great generosity, selflessness, trust, and patience.

True holiness - and remind yourself of this over and over again - has to do with very ordinary things: courage, self-denial, love for others, truthfulness, kindness, contentment with what God sends, dutifulness.... In short, all that matters, anytime, anywhere, is a strong, resolute cleaving to God."

                                                              -  Sister Mary David Totah, O.S.B.

a divine economy

 "Most of us are under pressure, external and internal, to do everything, be good at everything, be accountable to everyone for everything! It is not so. In the divine economy each of us has a particular grace, gift and devotion. Finding out what that is, and learning how to be guilt-free about not doing everything else, may be part of what our Lenten journey is for."

                                       -  Malcolm Guite, The Word in the Wilderness

looking ahead

 We're in for some very springlike temperatures this week. The snow has greatly receded, the grass is showing itself, along with puddly places and mud. I can see my raised beds. But there are still high snow mounds here and there.

I've been working on re-covering a chair pad which sits on the rocking chair. Annie slashed it when she was little, and ever since I've kept things in the chair to discourage them from even thinking about it. But I had some corduroy - barely enough - to try and make it nice again. 

See the pins? That is where it doesn't quite reach enough to enclose the pad. I knew it would happen; I am hand-stitching it to the pad (and the previous cover, which is not removeable), and then I hope to take a long scrap to attach it like an applique over that section to cover it. Unless I decide to make a more obvious patch from another fabric scrap that grabs my fancy - we'll see. But stitching the edge the other day to the pad was very difficult, because the needle is straight and the pad is curved and stiff: it's comfortable to sit on, but not squishy, if you know what I mean. I actually have some curved needles, but they're very thick and more suitable for leather or whatever. I found some quilting ones on Amazon, though. That will make it much easier. (When my sore thumb gets over pushing that needle through two days ago!)

The "quilted" places didn't have buttons, they were just sewn, so I just sewed them, but then I had the thought to use embroidery floss to "tie" them as you sometimes do in quilting. I think that will look cute, and I can just go over those areas.

 And then I'll still have to keep the cats off it. 

a thirsty God

 Jewish and Christian traditions of spirituality speak of the Word of God as the living water whereby the spirit is cleansed and refreshed. A quick sip - an occasional prayer snatched from the jaws of a relentlessly busy world - is better than no water at all, but roots that grow deep draw the water of life by frequent prayer. This living water produces a healthy tree that gives fruit to all who come.

                                                               - Magnificat, March 2026

Vincenzo Catena, Christ and the Samaritan Woman

"We see God begging for a drink of water from a human being, and a sinful one at that.... Indeed, he is a thirsty God, a tired God, a God looking for the companionship and dialogue of one of his creatures. How could it be that God is needy? Christ the one who by nature has need of nothing outside himself has nonetheless voluntarily made himself needy, but only in order to communicate to us the life that is his. This action of making himself needy out of love may well be the greatest and most astounding work of his omnipotence."

                                                        -  Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis

transformation

 "Lent is a time of transformation. As we gaze into the dark faith of prayer upon the glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ, we are transformed into his likeness."

                                              -  Magnificat, March 2026

"Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light."

                                            -  Matthew 17:1-2

becoming renewed

 The paths my brother plowed for the rabbits are getting wider, the grass in them is more visible. Water was running into the drains at the supermarket parking lot. It's been a little warmer. There will be more snow tomorrow, but I actually hung something out on the line today! It was very pleasant.

Breathe deep and be renewed by every breath,
Kinned to the keen east wind and cleansing air,
As though the blue itself were blowing through you.

- Malcolm Guite*

I bought some lamb and made Scotch broth today, and I had a very-belated revelation. I always buy the shoulder chops because that what I'm familiar with, and they're cheaper than other cuts. I bought two packages, and by the time I'd cut out all the bones and fat, what was left was a smaller amount than the pile of fat and bones. Is that economical? I had looked at the loin chop package, and noticed it seemed less fatty.  l will have to try that next time. I'm making lots of soups this Lent, and am using every good recipe I've got. It's just the thing for this time of year.

*from The Word in the Wilderness

it could have been worse

 At ten or eleven last night, visibility was low and snow was falling hard, but no wind. This morning the wind picked up, but the snow wasn't falling as vigorously. So, the heavy snowfall and the windy-ness didn't seem to happen at the same time. Is this a blizzard? I have seen worse, but I'm grateful it's past us and we didn't lose power.

I was reluctant to use the washer, in case we lost electricity while it was going; I was reluctant to cook any lengthy meals, in case things went black in the middle of it. So I rolled out a pie crust and baked it, then made a quiche later when things calmed down. The cats were very interested in the views outside. There is about a foot of it out there, including the four or so inches we began with. It really could have been much worse.

my brother in the street, to get a photo

turning aside

 The snow started around or right after seven thirty; it isn't a blizzard yet, but they're saying it's going to be. Right now it's just falling steadily but gently. We threw out some carrots, in case the rabbits came around before the snow, but they didn't.

However, I later realized the storm door was unlocked, and when I locked it, there was one at the head of the driveway, looking for sunflower seeds beneath the snow. There are plenty there. I watched him several minutes, when he suddenly zigzagged into the neighbor's yard, and there he sat, near a pile of brush near the shed. Meanwhile another appeared on the side of the forsythia and just quietly sat for five minutes until he, too, came to look for seed. Then we noticed a third near the feeder where the carrots are, so maybe they will get some after all. Because we will get at least a foot of heavy snow, at times with very low visibility and I have no idea how they manage or what they do in snowstorms.

But there had been a hawk outside a few days ago, so I'm glad to see all three of them, still our little neighbors. But, what do they do? What do squirrels do in blizzards, when the wind gusts to forty five miles per hour? Can they stay in the trees?

Now, they've all converged under the bird feeder, while the snow is only an inch or so deep. Fill up, little friends, because it may be a long while before your next meal!

While I was watching them, I thought of the poem by R.S. Thomas, which was the Lenten meditation for today in Malcolm Guite's The Word in the Wilderness:

"Life is not hurrying on to a receding future,
nor hankering after an imagined past.
It is the turning aside like Moses to the miracle of the lit bush."

Because I was standing there for a while; they weren't moving, so I didn't move, because I wanted to understand how they live.

But anyway, about the storm - we have plenty to eat, things to do and books to read. The town offices are already closed for tomorrow - my coworkers will have a day off.

I hope it won't be too bad.

The Bright Field

I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the
pearl of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realise* now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

-  R.S. Thomas

*realize the way the English spell it, with an "s"