Searching for a Balance

 I have a book called A Literary Christmas which I've been going through here and there. A Washington Irving excerpt caught my fancy and...

 Christmas has been so nice and quiet, which is what's usually needed after all the hubbub that always comes before. But we did have som...

 And there was snow, this morning, Christmas Eve day. And yesterday I scrubbed the kitchen floor. What more could I want? Earth, strike up y...

 "The liturgy of Advent... is not just about commemorating the historical event which occurred some two thousand years ago in a little ...

 I can't believe I attached a favorite bird ornament on the tree with her watching. When I went in to unplug the tree, there were white ...

 We sing this hym n at least once during Advent in recent years in church, and we did this morning.  There isn't enough time in the week...

 There was a fantastic sunrise this week - I had to dial down the light coming into the camera; this is how the sky really looked, with that...

 Today was so mild, but I also had another headache. It may have been due to the warmer weather, but I can never be sure. So, my dreams of s...

It seems about two weeks before Christmas I get the urge to bring out more glitter and shine; this may have something to do with Gaudete Sun...

 "The children who refuse to dance or mourn* represent souls that are anesthetized by self-absorption and doubt. The Son of Man, becaus...

 The phone rang. I picked it up. me: Hello? OP (the other person): Who's this? me: Hello?! OP: Who is this? me: Did you call me ? OP: T...

 When I got into bed last night, snow was falling. I turned out the light and could still see Dolly's white shape in the bright glow of ...

 I was very excited today to finish off the new living room curtains. The curtains I made years ago  were impossible to salvage another day....

  O God of glory,  you have sent your only Son into our midst to bear us in joy into your presence. Waken those whose faith slumbers; stir u...

 The tree is up, and the lights. I need to find a sensible method of doing the lights but now's not the time to think about it. And Tric...

 I just read this: Nothing is more repugnant to capable, reasonable people than grace. -   John Wesley

I am grateful for being able to cook much of the Thanksgiving food the day before, while I had a nauseous headache.  I'm grateful I was ...

The golden leaves which were on the cherry tree last Thursday, that glorious day, fell almost entirely off the next day, when the (normal) c...

Today is the last Sunday in the church year, next week being the first Sunday of Advent - already! Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha...

 Today was the dreamiest of days! Well up into the sixties and bright sun. Windows were opened, fresh air was welcomed in! A day to be remem...

 "The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to lo...

There is a group of bushes next to the grocery store entrance, and every week lately - for how long, I don't know because I haven't ...

 It's Veteran's Day. I'm still with How to Train a Fox, and I do want to finish it, even though it's dry and I haven't p...

  It's November - right now everything is a cross between old gold and faded orange and it's fantastic.

 O God of love, grant us your peace, Within each restless mind. May all our inner turmoil cease, God show us how to find Your quiet rest, yo...

 We've been having frosts at night. The other day I picked the rest of the little crops - I say "little" because it was all sm...

 It may have almost ten degrees cooler today, but the sun was bright, and before starting dinner I just had to go outside and walk in it. I ...

 Well, we had a record one hundred and eighty four kids come for candy tonight. But we still bought way too much candy, so the leftovers are...

 My brother came in the other day to say he'd seen a garden snake laying in a sunny patch of dirt, put down after the fellow finally cam...

 I'm still reading the book about domesticating foxes - I'd put it aside for a while in order to concentrate on the Coleridge book. ...

I lift my eyes to you, O Lord, Until you speak your promised word; Mine like the eyes of maids who stand Until the mistress waves her hand. ...