the path of God

I sing as I arise today!

I call on my Creator's might:

The will of God to be my guide,

The eye of God to be my sight.

The word of God to be my speech,

The hand of God to be my stay,

The shield of God to be my strength,

The path of God to be my way.

-  from Magnificat, May 2019

a Mr. Kibble update

I finally got over to Diane's last Monday to see Mr. Kibble. We were petting him, Diane was kissing him, and he was cool with it all, the dear fellow! She said he'd had a growth on his lip which got  taken care of, and then he had a scratch under his eye. She had some ointment for it. She told me he seemed content to stay indoors, only going to the door to look out.

Yesterday evening I had Dolly on a leash outside and Diane called to me. She had some sorry news - Friday night she realized that Mr. K. has gone blind. We knew that his immune system isn't good - you can always hear his breathing at a distance, and it never gets better. Also, the periodic growths: last summer a couple of times he showed up with little things growing out of his forehead, which would get bigger and then disappear, I suppose getting knocked off when he groomed himself. He's older, his teeth aren't good and he has been on his own too long. But the poor little guy, to get this now, when he's finally in a place he can call home! We feel so badly about it.

enjoying a fine June day last year

Please remember him in your prayers.

May, where are you?

I had polished these shoes last week, or maybe before that. They were nice and shiny and I put them away. Because it's May, after all, and who's going to wear black leather booties in spring?

Well, nobody, unless it's fifty degrees, or maybe even in the forties. And it was on Sunday, and I needed those shoes again. The weather man said it should be around seventy - it has been twenty degrees cooler than it's supposed to be. We are hoping today was the last of it; it's going up tomorrow, and at least till Sunday.

benefits from reading

"The only end of writing is to enable the readers better to enjoy life, or better to endure it."

                                               -   Samuel Johnson

it's the balance

"It's the balance that counts all through life. It's the balance that matters in human relationships. It's the balance that matters in family life. There is a delicate balance, like the equal weight of two people seesawing, or like someone walking a tightrope. Too much on one side, too much on the other, and there comes the thud of one person on the seesaw or the fall of the person on the rope - the continuity of what was going on comes to a sudden stop. Balance is the very important ingredient in every area of life."

                                                  -  Edith Schaeffer, What is a Family?

feathers and flowers

Orioles come every summer, and I consider myself lucky to catch a quick glimpse of one whizzing by or high over head, but it's been several years since I've seen one, and I don't know their call to at least know they're around. But on Wednesday my co-worker said she'd had an oriole at her feeder, eating the black sunflower seeds -  that was unusual! So she put half an orange in the suet feeder for them because they really like sweet things.

Well - the next day while making my bed I looked over to my neighbor's apple tree, and there was an oriole, happily jumping from branch to branch, picking at the apple blossoms! He was there quite a while. I called Betty immediately. She emailed me later to say that right after my call she had seven of them in her tree! She got a photo of two, and sent it along. This is exciting; maybe it's a good year for them. (But I wonder if my neighbor's tree will still produce apples, hmmm.)

The cherry tree has been blooming for a week, through the mostly rainy and gloomy days and now the winds are blowing off the petals. The display was as beautiful as ever, but the tree itself now has a fungus growing up it. I suppose this happens on weak specimens and can't help but wonder if this will do it in.

I couldn't get a good picture of it, but the trunk below this part looks bad: a thick section of outer bark is coming away from the inner part - I could just pull it off easily, by the look of it. But it still wants to bloom.

I've noticed this with a little dogwood we got two years ago: even with an insect boring problem, it still bloomed, although it looked terrible and didn't produce many leaves at the beginning. It seems they still bloom, no matter what.

cobbling a dinner together

Monday I made macaroni and cheese. That was the plan, anyway. I made the roux, then the sauce. I had only one bar of cheddar but almost eight ounces of leftover smoked gouda - good enough! I grated the gouda and reached for the cheddar - only to find that it was a bar of baby swiss! I had no idea how Swiss cheese would be in that dish and didn't think I should take such a chance: I told myself to be calm, and said a prayer for help. In the fridge I found half a container of cottage cheese, and maybe three tablespoons of grated Parmesan. That would have to do! I mixed it all up and added some rosemary. I then thought I could maybe use a little grated Swiss on top, so I grated some of that. Swiss cheese isn't salty at all, so I added salt and some onion powder, and then bread crumbs.

It was pretty good, actually. And I used up the cottage cheese, the gouda and the parm. We finished it up today.

becoming alive

"It's now two weeks after Easter Sunday, and I suspect we've all returned to the routine of our lives. But according to this morning's Gospel, that's just where we can expect Jesus to reveal himself to us. 'Resurrection' does not happen apart from the routines of life but in them. Resurrection is not about escaping life but about becoming alive."


                                 - from here, and I hope they don't mind

the quilt comes together

I originally began making this quilt because my knee was causing me a lot of doctor visits, x-rays, etc; I suddenly felt I needed a project. I began it, and then dropped it after having my wisdom teeth out - I was doing lot of reading then and didn't feel like sewing.

Now I've returned to it, and I have to say that as imperfect as it is, it's better than I thought it would be.

It's draped over my chair here. It was hard to get the colors right - the gold is warmer. Still, it's happening!

the English man

There's man who comes in the library, and when I see him I always think he's English - I expect to hear the English accent when he speaks.  Everything about him - to me - says "English". But when he comes up to the desk, he has no English accent. He's American.

One day while waiting on him, we chatted a little. He told me he was English. They'd moved to Canada when he was young, and I forget how he ended up here. Funny! I did not tell him I thought he was English. But he came in today, and I was reminded of this episode.

a little bit of spring

Debra gave me a very small braid "rug", for lack of a better word. It's just like a braided rug, but only a few inches in diameter, the size of a doily. But if I used it for a doily, the prettiest part would be covered. I've been wanting to hang it up without knowing quite how, but today I just propped it in front of a white dish in the secretary - it's firm enough that it shouldn't flop or slide down.

Just right for spring.

Seven Stanzas at Easter

Make no mistake: if He rose at all

it was as His body;

if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules

reknit, the amino acids rekindle,

the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,

each soft Spring recurrent;

it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled

eyes of the eleven apostles;

it was as His flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,

the same valved heart

that-pierced-died, withered, paused, and then

regathered out of enduring Might

new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,

analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;

making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time that will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.


-    John Updike

Dolly turns eighty

I put the harness on Dolly today and out we went.

It was beautiful outside. She trotted and I followed; we crossed over the bridge and went to the end of the property. There are more violas across the brook, a deep purple color.

Then I picked her up and we came in. She was content after that.

She had a birthday the other day - her sixteenth. That's like 80 years old, in our years.

She is doing well.

especially at Easter

This page from a Sandra Boynton calendar has seen better days

but it's taped onto my desk area at work, and that's where it's staying.

before the lawn gets mowed

Little violas in the grass.

Praise to the giver of good!

O lover and author of concord,

Pour out your balm on our days;

Order our ways in your peace.

- from Magnificat, April 2019

yesterday's sorrows are this day's delight

Happy Easter!

Psalm 88

Lord my God, I call for help by day;

I cry at night before you.

Let my prayer come into your presence.

O turn your ear to my cry.

For my soul is filled with evils;

my life is on the brink of the grave.

I am reckoned as one in the tomb:

I have reached the end of my strength,

like one alone among the dead;

like the slain lying in their graves;

like those you remember no more,

cut off, as they are, from your hand.

You have laid me in the depths of the tomb,

in places that are dark, in the depths.

Your anger weighs down upon me:

I am drowned beneath your waves.

You have taken away my friends

and made me hateful in their sight. 

Imprisoned, I cannot escape;

my eyes are sunken with grief.

I call to you, Lord, all the day long;

to you I stretch out my hands.

Will you work your wonders for the dead?

Will the shades stand and praise you?

Will your love be told in the grave

or your faithfulness among the dead?

Will your wonders be known in the dark

or your justice in the land of oblivion?

As for me, Lord, I call to you for help:

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Lord, why do you reject me?

Why do you hide your face?

Wretched, close to death from my youth,

I have borne your trials, I am numb.

Your fury has swept down upon me;

your terrors have utterly destroyed me.

They surround me all the day like a flood,

they assail me all together.

Friend and neighbor you have taken away:

my one companion is darkness.

Christ Crucified by Diego Velazquez

"we have what we seek"

"The reason why we don't take time is a feeling that we have to keep moving. This is a real sickness. We live in the fullness of time. Every moment is God's own good time, His kairos. The whole thing boils down to giving ourselves in prayer a chance to realize that we have what we seek. We don't have to rush after it. It was there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us."

                                                  -   Thomas Merton, from Seeking God by Esther de Waal

orange tulips in the kitchen

My brother came home with a tulip from a client - what a nice thing!

I like seeing kitchens with a plant on the counter or windowsill; we have very little room for that, but I am making it work.

They are right at the sink - I just shifted everything over.

And they don't seem to bother my breathing!

blooming and glowing

The forsythia is in Full Bloom; it's really glowing!

All my fears are gone - I guess forsythia is a hardy plant.

the discomfort of another Holy Week

"I would like to welcome you all to the discomfort of another Holy Week."

This is the beginning of yesterday's blog entry from the Trappist monks, and it sure got my attention: it's here, if you want.

And "a Blessed Earth-shaking Holy Week to you all"!

excellent news

We had cat food hanging around that nobody was going to eat, so my brother brought it over to Diane's this evening. I was in the middle of something, but I told him to find out as much as he could about Mr. Kibble.

Well! They're doing work over there and the furniture's all over the place, and Mr. K. was under a table but he did come out to be rubbed and petted. And Diane said she even picks him up and hugs him! Oh, hallelujah!

Our little friend finally has a family - I am overjoyed.

spring growth on the trees at sunset

book vs. e-book

"Holding a book, discerning the fonts, touching the dry ink, feeling the thickness of the paper as one turns the pages, writing in the margins: All bring us into communion with author and message. We hold books, their heft a hint of their heft....Try doing that with your e-book."

                                  -    from a piece by Peter J. Travers in the current issue of National Review

happy dwelling

Though unseen, O Lord, I love you,

Wondrous is your saving might,

Thus to wean my soul so sweetly

From its sinful chief delight:

More you did in one short instant

Than a world could e'er have done,

Winning you a happy dwelling

In this sterile heart of stone.

-  from Magnificat, April 2019

thinking about soft food

When the oral surgeon had finished with me - I believe it took him less than ten minutes to remove three teeth - they handed me a small tote with instructions typed on a paper bag containing gauze, and an ice pack. But when I got home, I also saw a lip balm and the above box of macaroni and cheese in the bag, which was rather nice. I do look on this brand as junk food, but, Reader, I ate it.

I have less pain than I did yesterday. Thursday night my brother said I looked like I'd been chewing tobacco. :D  Yesterday, he compared my appearance to Clutch Cargo. But it's just on the right side. It's hard to open wide to eat, and I'm not sure if it's the tooth removal or the poking from the novocained needles that's causing the soreness - I don't suppose it matters. I started making up a list in my mind of soft foods that would be appealing, and healthy, rather than yogurt and gooey pasta for days on end.

• baked cod, or salmon
• well-steamed broccoli
• summer squash
• well-roasted winter squash
• hearty soups with soft veg and crackers broken into it for something more filling
• yogurt
• pudding
• soft toast with plenty of butter and jam
• hot (but cooled off) cereal - I like kasha
• sardines
• hummus
• eggs: poached, scrambled or an egg salad
• home-made macaroni and cheese
• baked potato
• twice-baked sweet potato
• cottage cheese
• a very ripe pear or mango
• avocado

For some reason I feel better just seeing such a list. I think I'll write it down for my recipe box.

"borrowed" from the internet

cuteness

I had three wisdom teeth out today, and was taking it easy for the most part. But I did go for the camera when I saw this little fellow out the front door.

Looking into the urn where I've got the bird seed. I took the picture, then let him be.

prayer in the middle of Lent

"Renew your people within and without, O Lord, and, since it is your will that they be unhindered by bodily delights, give them, we pray, perseverance in their spiritual intent."

                                                 - from Magnificat, April 2019

extremes of behavior

There's a fellow up the road who sells tires. His shop is behind another place and there's a bit of woods behind there. Periodically, my brother gives him bags of dry cat food - why? He has stray cats living inside the shop, and three of four shelters outside with a feeding station. We stopped by there after church to see; there was one sleeping in the window, a tough-looking ginger cat. They are safe in there, and cared for as much as he can. A good-hearted man!

I think the forsythia will bloom, after all! 


I think I was naughty today: at church, the pew I sat in had a stain on it from something dripping above. This is a recurring issue until the ceiling will be looked at, but my intent was to wet something to clean it off. I took my cotton handkerchief, but rather than go all the way downstairs to a sink, I dipped it in the holy water and used that. My knee has been suffering badly from arthritis lately, and I didn't want to go all the way downstairs to the bathrooms, although I am much improved. I don't feel as guilty about this as I probably should. I keep thinking of King David eating the showbread; of course, one can always find (good) excuses for one's errors. As for the hanky, I dried it out and will wash it by hand tomorrow and use the water in a plant.

cutting

Tomorrow is the end of the month. Today was beautiful, in the seventies, I'm sure; March will go out like a lamb.

I could have washed another window, but I pruned the roses instead. Dolly came out with me and enjoyed it until the wild wind was too much for her. I was done anyway, and it was pointless to clean away the dead leaves in such wind. That can wait for another day.

I like pruning the roses. I like being deliberate when I cut each cane, each twig, with a particular result in view.

I have to admit that I don't take the same attitude toward cutting vegetables.

keep getting up

"A monk was once asked, What do you do there in the monastery? He replied: We fall and get up, fall and get up, fall and get up again."

                                              - from Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict, by Esther de Waal