Benny naps under the Japanese maple

 on top of the mulch. Sweet little fellow.

God gives us the joy of his help

Loving Father, you are our help.
Your kindness is a greater good than life.
May we bless you in our daily lives, 
 always calling upon your name.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

-  from Magnificat, August 2026

reading the journals of Emma Lion

 I've been reading "The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion". I kept running into glowing praises of the "journals" here and there online over the past few months, until finally I began to wonder why we don't have them at our library, and why none of our patrons have asked me about them. But then I suddenly became interested. 

I asked Suzy Q, the director, to buy them - there are eight, and we didn't know if we should, so she ordered the first four. If you don't know, they are quite slim, so four isn't much to invest in - not like it would be for a usual book series. 

So they came, and I got them ready and into the computer; then I thought I may as well give the first one a try. Amazon says this: "Readers have compared Beth Brower's writing to Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse and L.M. Montgomery."  I would say "no" to all of the above. But that doesn't mean I am not liking it.

So, volume one. I was skeptical, but it was cute. And short, so, painless to read, which I felt I should, since I'd asked Sue to get them; I thought I should know firsthand what they were like. And it grew on me as I read. It's witty, and I think diverting would be the best word. I had all four volumes home with me, so I immediately picked up volume two.

In the second one I was getting more used to Emma, and the author is smart, in that she didn't lay out all of Emma's past, her family, her situation, etc., all at once - you are learning it a little here, a little there. So, like Hansel and Gretel, there are the crumbs that you pick up and follow. (Well, I guess Hansel and Gretel had the intention, but it didn't work out that way.) I would say the second "journal" is more interesting, but that may be because I was resisting all the laudatory stuff until I could make up my own mind. 

Volume three is where I am now. It's light reading, but hard to put down, mostly short "entries", clever remarks, very entertaining, with several appealing characters; original and surprising situations arise and you get drawn into Emma Lion's world. I was reminded of Martha Grimes' Richard Jury mysteries for some reason, with all the witty dialogue and so many characters, but Beth Brower keeps them under better control than Martha, I think. (I gave up on those years ago - it dawned on me that Jury and Melrose Plant didn't seem to be aging - nobody was growing. They were all stuck, and I guess that's her intent, but why?) 

Anyway, what I'm getting at is - I'm going to tell Suzy Q to buy the rest, and I'm going to tell several of my co-workers they will probably enjoy these cute books. They're not new - the first was published in 2019, so word of mouth seems to be doing its work. There's something nice about that. 

In short, if you're looking to be amused, diverted, and even laughing at times at something light and pleasant, pick these up. That must be why they're getting popular, in this difficult world.

"filled with good things"

 I was continuing on with Watership Down, when it got so tense I couldn't leave it; so I made more progress than I expected to. I've read it before when I first started at the library, but only remembered what tribulations they had, what dangers they faced. Now I'm marveling at the wonderful story-telling ability of Richard Adams. 

I put the book down to go turn on the light out back; there was a rabbit out there. I so wanted to say to him, I've been reading Watership Down! But how do I do that? So I watched while he enjoyed the clover with which our yard is plentiful - thankfully - and then hopped away toward the brook. The humid air has blown away in the past few hours. We will make the most of it.

These all look to thee,
to give them their food in due season.
When thou givest to them, they gather it up;
when thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things.

- Psalm 104: 27, 28

 

"By sunset the whole party - twenty rabbits all told - had made their way up the length of the beech hanger and reached the warren. They fed among the dew and the long shadows, with twilight already fallen in the fields below. Then they crowded down into the Honeycomb to hear Hazel and Bigwig tell the story of their adventures to those who had waited so eagerly and so long to hear it."

- Watership Down

a little hitchhiker

 We got in the car this morning, heading down the road to go to Mass, and a little sparrow landed on the outside of the passenger side, where the window comes out. I rolled it up so he couldn't come in - he stayed there while we went down the street. We pulled into a gas station and my brother got out, went round to my side, and the bird was still there. I was just going to say he'd need to take the little one off the car, when he flew into some bushes. He was young and perhaps didn't know what was going on. 

Reading Watership Down makes me think (even more than usual!) about how our lives impact the natural world around us, since so much of how we live has little to do with nature. 

"Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
Don't trouble it, don't harass them, don't deprive them of their happiness,
don't work against God's intent."

- The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky*

*Can you believe this quote from The Brothers was the epigraph to chapter 22 in Watership Down? A connection between two books, both of which I am currently reading. 

cat talk

 I've been wondering at what level cats can communicate information to one another. 

After Benny was coming around for a few weeks, Leon started to show up. I would put out a bowl of food for Benny, Leon would come up the steps, Benny would continue eating while Leon might attempt to nose in on a bite here and there, Benny would just keep eating, and then Leon would give up the attempts. Benny would not hiss or swat, there was no annoyance or aggravation between them. They are used to each other. But I dud once see Benny stop eating and go nose to nose with Leon. It seemed there was some exchange there, something imparted. They know each other well. Leon backed off. Now we just give them both food.

They both seem very mild-mannered, very gentle. My brother picked up Benny today, after he had reached up, seeming to want it. Meanwhile, I was visiting with Leon on the back step while pulling  little things from his long fur; I heard him purring. 

to the kingdom

 May God the Father bless us,
May God the Son heal us,
May the Holy Spirit enlighten us
and give us eyes to see with,
ears to hear with,
and hands to do the work of God with,
feet to walk with,
and a mouth to preach the word of salvation with,
and the angel of peace to watch over us
and lead us at last,
by our Lord's gift, to the kingdom. Amen.

-  A Dominican Blessing,  from Magnificat, August 2026

plodding through another heatwave

 "Martha and I might have settled over a book, or taken up our embroidery, or written letters ourselves to a numerous correspondence - but an unaccustomed restlessness had me in its grip."

                                           -  from Jane and the Ghosts of Netley, by Stephanie Barron

The air is hot; this morning early my brother went out. He never complains about the heat, but he said it was awful out. He went to the supermarket and when he came out, "my glasses fogged up." That was worth complaining about! 

I'm getting through the Brothers Karamazov and am also reading Watership Down - two rather rough stories - and was craving something less heavy, a story that draws you in. I like to reread old favorites, so I picked up one of the Jane Austen mysteries. To the hum of the air conditioners, and in between homework chores, I picked it up at every opportunity.

I'm ready to hem my burgundy dress. These sleeveless dresses are so cool, so welcome this summer! I'm not good at taking selfies and it's hard to photograph a whole length of dress. But last summer I bought fabric for three dresses on the Hancocks of Paducah website, buying only sale fabric. One of them is too short and I just got some eyelet for a ruffle to lengthen it. I wear the others regularly. So this year I bought three more and I'm on the third. But I love the batik version so much that I bought two more fabrics - these will be in heavy rotation, but it's satisfying to know that I paid between fifteen and twenty one dollars for each, since I bought only sale fabric. 

The tomatoes are turning red, and the beans are starting to flow in. I've got basil drying - I like it better than fresh, usually. I still have some basil leaves in the freezer, but I reach for the dried herb more often.

We've been feeding some neighborhood cats. They're not strays, but they come around and up to the door, so we give them food. This one is Benny. 

Note the tongue sticking out. I think he's cute. Then there's Leon, who has been coming through here for years, and now is finally comfortable with us. He has a certain look about him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but my brother said he looks mournful.

Leon of the Mournful Aspect

It's that longish, Norwegian Forest cat kind of face, and the way he has his head lowered but the eyes look up at you. 

*If you should feel curious about reading this, don't! It would be best to begin at the beginning with this series. You will thank me later.

fasting and mercy

 "Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God's ear to yourself."*

                                       -    St. Peter Chrysologus

*but don't be fasting on Sunday.  :)

in quiet

 "..I also know even better now that it's always amidst the siege that God's kindness arrives. We live in a world at war and will until the kingdom comes and the story of the cosmos begins again. Our pursuit of quiet will always be attended by our anguish, our wrestling, our loss. Quiet does not remove those things from us; it offers the space in which we may give voice to them so that they do not destroy us, so that the alternate voice of God's kindness may turn the besieged cities of our lives into 'rock of refuge' David found in his own wild distress... In quiet, we learn to watch and wait for God's help as it sets up camp in the very heart of our darkness."

                                              -  Sarah Clarkson,  Reclaiming Quiet