Friday Five: Grateful Edition

Today's Friday Five is brought  by KathrynZJ for RevGalBlogPals and she asks us to relate five things for which we are grateful:

1 Blogging: .Back in 2009, I did a 26-day series of ABC's of Gratitude which I just perused and remembered with thanks.

It reminds me of my formerly enthusiastic days of blogging, when I would spend hours looking at and commenting on other blogs.  It was fun to have so much interaction with blogging friends, mostly RevGals. That's why I like the weekly Friday Fives, because connection is renewed each week, more like "the old days."

2. Family: I am grateful for my family, especially remembering our first child DC, who was born 33 years ago today.

3. Books: I love books and have too many of them! It has been fun to have a subcategory on Pinterest "About Books."  To go along with JFK's quote about gratitude, here's one from Jacqueline Kennedy that I had stored on Pinterest:

I go off on different trails reading books. I am currently re-reading Patricia Cornwell mysteries beginning with the first one published in 1990, while starting ones that take place in England at the time of Henry VIII by C. J. Sansom. At the same time I am still reading books about Jung and Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker J. Palmer. I also recently started Wolf Hall on my Kindle, but am now going to save it to read on vacation. Wolf Hall is the reason I started reading C. J. Sansom's mysteries.

4. Vacations: Not quite a vacation, but still a trip, I am going to Salt Lake City next weekend to help MJ find a place to live while she goes to graduate school at the University of Utah. She will start in mid-August.

Our family vacation this year will be to Washington State (as usual) to visit family and friends. All our children and their partners will be with us for part of the week we spend on San Juan Island.

5. Friends: Friends are very important to me. I am lucky to have spiritual friends; book-reading friends; blogging friends; friends from my youth; eating friends; walking friends; WWF friends and the list goes on and on.

IF you have time

"If you have time to chatter,
Read books.

If you have time to read,
Walk into mountain, desert and ocean.

If you have time to walk,
Sing songs and dance.

If you have time to dance,
Sit quietly, you happy, lucky idiot." 

by Nanao Sakaki

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Cartoon for Today

Friday Five: What I Like about Summer in Texas

Floating on Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, TX

Mary Beth brings today Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

What are five things that you REALLY REALLY REALLY like about the current season where you live?  

 Summer where I live is my least favorite time in Texas, but it's the longest "season" here, encompassing more than half the year.

The picture to the right of floating on the Guadalupe River is a dreamed-about activity of most south Texans. Unfortunately, our family did not ever do this with our children, because it was foreign to us coming from Washington State. We also were in the mind frame of only vacationing in Washington, where it is much cooler. I'm sorry that we didn't take our children for this activity, except several times to the Schlitterbahn waterpark in New Braunfels.

Okay, I'll try to think of five things I like about summer here:

1. Hanging clothes on the clothesline that dry very quickly.

2. School vacations, though that will not pertain to me as much with our youngest child MJ graduating from college last month. We won't be waiting around for the kid(s) to be free from school.

3. Less formal commitments for teaching and attending church classes.

4. All the fruit and berries available, especially the cherries!

5. My oldest son DC's birthday and husband CB's birthday in July, at the beginning and end of the month.

**The most anticipated part of our summer is to take a trip to Washington State to visit CB's family and our daughters AE and KA. We are going in August!!**

and, for a bonus:

Something you are looking forward to about another season?

I really look forward to the time when cold fronts will push this far south (to the Gulf of Mexico), because they bring cooler temperatures and less humidity. That usually starts happening in October, which is why September is my most hated month in Texas (I grew up where it was coolish when school started in September and that seems "right.") Then we often have "Washington summer" weather occurring in the winter months here, which is why there are so many "Winter Texans."  

Hot, Hotter, Hottest!

It's still only June, but Corpus Christi, TX has broken its record high temperatures for the past three days. Both on Monday and Tuesday, high temperatures were 105 degrees F.! On Monday, that temperature was 6 degrees hotter than the former record high temperature set. Today was another record, though slightly cooler--101 degrees F.. . . . . Even our dogs do not want to be outside in this heat.

(The heat must be throughout the mid-center of the USA, because my husband just told me that it is forecast to be 101 degrees in Chicago tomorrow!)

About a month ago our mesquite trees were radically trimmed. They shaded our driveway, and so the heat seems more intense without their bountiful greenery. You may recall that a bird made its nest in one of them in the spring; look here and you can see how abundantly green mesquite trees usually are. When I was shocked to see the stunted trees, husband CB blithely told me that they would grow back.

And now we are starting to see some leaves sprouting on those bare branches. Shade will eventually return, though probably not for this summer season.

This reminds me of the scripture I used when I was Lay Director for an Emmaus Walk in July 2001:

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green;
In the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

I chose those verses because of the extreme Texas heat in the summer, when the Walk was scheduled. Those words remind me that we trust in God, despite what we see or experience. Like those bare mesquite branches pictured above, the future holds growth and renewal--all of which was occurring while I could not see it.

As I have written before, the absence of God is actually the presence of God. Reframing my interpretation of reality changes my outlook. Faith in growth/love/God brings me through the arid landscape to glimpses of greenery, which will continue to increase.

Literally, our mesquite trees are helped by our watering them and their familiar habitat of south Texas--and of course, the bright Texas sunshine! I am grateful for this and even more, for our air conditioning in our home!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And at RevGalPrayer Pals: A Place for Prayer today:

"Above all, trust in the slow work of God.  We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.  We would like to skip the intermediate stages.  We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.  And yet, it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability - and that it may take a very long time.  Above all, trust in the slow work of God, our loving vine-dresser."

- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Prayer

O Lord my God,
Teach my heart this day where and how to see you,
Where and how to find you.

You have made me and remade me,
And you have bestowed on me
All the good things I possess,
And still I do not know you.

I have not yet done that
For which I was made.

Teach me to seek you,
For I cannot seek you
Unless you teach me,
Or find you
Unless you show yourself to me.

Let me seek you in my desire,
Let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you,
Let me love you when I find you. 

St. Anselm

With thanks to Blue Eyed Ennis.

Spiritual Progress?

Trying God's Patience on Facebook posts wonderfully inspiring and often funny items. Today she shared a quote by Saint Teresa of Avila that tells about our spiritual journeys:

Look!

Remember that MJ got a new camera for her graduation gift from college? She takes superb pictures with it. We all take many pictures of 19 month old Avery, but we think this is one of the cutest ones that MJ took:

Back Home!

I went to Austin to visit granddaughter Avery and her parents DC and AA this past Wednesday. I had a lot of fun with dad DC and Avery while AA worked at her job in downtown Austin. Then on Friday husband CB came and on Saturday youngest daughter MJ arrived. It was a lovely visit.

MJ took many nice pictures, and the one she took of CB and me is the best one we'd had taken together in years!

Avery loves to read!

Avery at the Store

Poem: Green Figs

Green Figs 
 
I want to live like that little fig tree
that sprouted up at the beach last spring
and spread its leaves over the sandy rock.

All summer its stubborn green fruit
(tiny flowers covered with a soft skin)
ripened and grew in the bright salt spray.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil was a fig tree, or so it is said,
but this wild figure was a wanton stray.

I need to live like that crooked tree—
solitary, bittersweet, and utterly free—
that knelt down in the hardest winds

but could not be blasted away.
It kept its eye on the far horizon
and brought honey out of the rock.

~~Edward Hirsch (The Living Fire)

Wishy-Washy Decision Making

For the past week I have been indecisive about going to Austin to visit grandbaby Avery and her parents. Husband CB and I had planned to see them this coming weekend, but I kept wondering if I should go up a few days earlier.

Then when I decided to do that, I dithered about taking a Greyhound bus up there. It would take 5 hours, while it usually takes 3 1/2 hours by car.

I was ready to go on an adventure of taking the bus, because it has been 30 years since I've ridden a bus in America. When I was in college and we lived in Oregon, I would often take buses, just as my mother would to visit us in Corvallis, OR when CB was going to graduate school at Oregon State University.

Realizing that I'd have to transfer buses in San Antonio, CB convinced me to drive our car so I would not attempt to carry my suitcase to the other bus. Now we'll both be driving vehicles to Austin and back, which seems a little ridiculous.

I will arrive in Austin at about the same time the bus will, but I'll have the added bonus of having lunch with daughter MJ in San Antonio. I haven't seen her since she returned from Peru last Friday!

So this will be fun.

Seen the moon lately?

Has the moon been up there
All these nights
And I never noticed?

A whole week with my nose
To the ground, to the grind.

And the beloved faithfully
Returning each evening
As the moon.

Where have I been?
Who has abandoned whom?

~ Gregory Orr ~

(How Beautiful the Beloved)

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Friday Five: Dreams

I have just started studying Jung and dreams with a group of friends. I am hearing about lucid dreaming and imagining, which have opened me up to wondering about dreams in general. So how about wondering with me?

If you want some more info about dreams, go and see Bonnie's Friday Five!

1. Everyone dreams: Do you remember your dreams? How often?
I hardly ever remember my dreams, not even thinking when I wake up that I had any! I've heard that intentionality about remembering will help you to recall those dreams. I haven't done that yet.

2. Did you or do you have a recurring dream? Share it, if you'd like.
As a child, I had recurring a dream about huge cylinders rolling in a factory-like-place and then they all letting lose and rolled and rolled towards me. In later life, I attributed that to the fear of war, as my dad was an active Marine, but I don't know if that fits.

As an adult, I periodically have dreamed about being late.

"Let yourself become living poetry."

3.Have you ever had recurring themes or images in dreams? Examples?
I guess I did that above. I am reading about dreams in connection iwth Jung and am wishing I had those symbols in dreams!


I feel like my dreams usually have family members and friends in them, or that's what I vaguely recall.


4. Do you day dream? About what?
Mostly about my family. Sometimes I visualize past events, feeling like I am actually there.

5. What are your dreams/hopes/goals for the future? 
I wish I could live out Rumi's thought:

"Let yourself become living poetry."

Remembering

Until he died in 2002, my dad called me every year on Flag Day to remind me that it was his mother's birthday. I always knew that. When he used to call, I would find it irritating.

Now, in retrospect, I miss him calling to remind me. His irritating habits seem much sweeter to me now as I remember him.

In ten days, it will be my father's birthday. He would have been 89 years old on June 24. Sadly, I don't know how old my grandmother would be today, except that it would be a greater age than one would expect for living.

It is odd how birth dates stay in our memory banks. I always remember my parents' and this one grandparent's birthdays.

After me, who will remember them?

Perhaps they will be thought of at times, but not on these dates. Photos will help jog memories and stories will, too. Maybe I can grow into a better story-teller for my children and future grandchildren.

MJ at Machu Piccu!

MJ at Machu Piccu--June 12, 2012

Dawn at Maccu Pichu, Peru

Dawn at Maccu Pichu, Peru

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daughter MJ has spent the past three days hiking to Maccu Pichu. The fourth morning is Tuesday morning when they will awaken at 4 am to hike into Maccu Pichu and possibly see the sunrise. Weather conditions are not always ideal in the winter there, so it is unclear whether MJ will see such a view as the one pictured above. However, the scene appears, I am sure it will be beautiful and mystical.

MJ returns to TX on Friday, less than a month since she graduated from college. I can hardly wait to hear about her Peruvian adventures and see her pictures, taken with her new camera that was a family graduation gift to her.

Baby book and "reader"

My granddaughter loves babies, so we sent her a book about kissing the baby. Here she is looking at it. We hope to visit her and her parents soon.

Death, Despair, and Love

My cousin Karen died last month, evidently from ALS. She had been in a nursing home in WA State for the past year, with this diagnosis only coming lately. Closer to me is a dear friend, who has steadily grown weaker due to ALS in the past decade. She shares God, laughter, and friendship with me. 

ALS kills, sometimes quickly and other times, more slowly. Someone spoke these words before dying from ALS:

The coin that pays for ecstasy is always stamped despair. One cannot love empathically until one wanders there.

Jane Krainin
Dictated right before she died of ALS

To receive such quotations every day, subscribe to Word for the Day at Gratefulness.org. 

Read!

Friday Five: More Randomness!

 Revkjarla brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:


Our FF today is in honor of spontaneous thinking!
So... See what blows in!

1.  What religion/faith besides yours captures your curiousity and why?
It is hard to isolate, because mysticism in all religions interests me. A fun book that nudged me back into active reading and seeking is the mystery entitled The Breath of God: A Novel of Suspense
by Jeffrey Small. It's a good one to read this summer!

2.  What is the first or most memorable pop song you ever learned as a kid? 
The first song I vividly remember is "The Purple People Eater," because the young Marine who drove the bus liked to sing it while he was driving us elementary kids to a base school at Quantico, VA Marine Base in 1958! I was in second grade and loved that. Here, you can read all the lyrics and read about the song's popularity back then: In 1958 "Purple People Eater" was the #1 song in the USA for six weeks!

3.  If God were a color.....(finish this sentence creatively)
If God were a color, he/she would be all colors but seen as a brilliant and shimmering white encompassing all.

4.  If you were going to make a sandwich right now for lunch, and you magically had all the items you need for it, what would that sandwich be?
Homemade bread with fresh tomatoes and lettuce, avocado spread, and sharp cheddar cheese.

5.  How are you doing?  Really, how are you?
I am on a seesaw, trying to remember "all is well," while buffeted by competing voices about the church library--evidently, being in the conundrum that all libraries (and even book stores) are in right now, complicated by the esthetics of the room and what it should/could be. God keeps reminding me to stay in present moment, always as a beginner.

Bonus:  What are you enjoying/loving right now? 
I am enjoying feeling better, even with a dear friend telling me that I am moving like I used to in conversations--so my shoulder is comfortable again. Having rotator cuff surgery at the beginning of January took more of a toll than I realized until now. Also, meds are keeping RA symptoms at bay.

Blessing like Rain

 

by Kristin Noelle

Church Library Drama

That's a good example of what I've been experiencing at church over discussions of use of the church library and painting it WHAT color!

Our church is on a sprucing up campaign for the arrival of our new priest on July 1st. The library seemed so dark that we thought getting it painted would help, which was spurred on by my dear husband CB saying he would do the painting!! I have belatedly learned of various people feeling ownership of the library, which was illustrated by a friend telling me how a pastor she previously worked for explained that changing  (just) a closet around  in a church was difficult because so many people felt it was their business. So the library is bigger and is used for multi-purposes, thus creating more interested parties than with a closet.

For a few weeks we've been offering colors to choose from, going from yellows to greens and now seemingly ending up with a warmish cream vanilla. It won't be as dramatic as some people wished, but will be more amenable to the present furniture available.

When CB painted the ceiling white last Saturday, he also replaced lightbulbs and cleaned light coverings so that on Sunday we were all surprised at how bright the library suddenly seemed! Once we move these two tall bookcases from in front of some windows, more sunlight will come into the room, too.

Just getting rid of the accumulated video tapes and audio cassette tapes gave us more room. Many parishioners took those off of our hands. It is nice to know that they will be appreciated and not thrown away.

With so much reference work done on the internet these days, we are trying to decide which reference books to retain. Most have not been looked at in years. Time for discernment. . . .

Love

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."

 
--Thomas Merton

Who Am I Kidding?

I've been reading two different books by Regina Sara Ryan: Igniting the Inner Life and Praying Dangerously, both of which are also available in Kindle editions.

I've been struck by the questions asked and points to ponder that cause me to pay more attention right now, and here is something I am thinking about today: WHO AM I KIDDING?

Ryan writes:
"'Who am I kidding?' is the form of self-inquiry that my guru teaches. He instructs me to use it regularly, whether I am stuck in feelings of being unappreciated, or when I'm feeling ecstatic, like I just got nominated for a Pulitzer. Wherever the inquiry leads, I am cautioned to keep asking the question about whatever occurs next, as I watch what happens--within the mind, the body, the emotions. Then, I ask the question again." (169)

"Who am I kidding? is meant to cut through the bullshit of self-justification, blame, self-pity, and demand a look at what's really going on. Such is the process of deepening self-knowledge. This practice builds a genuine inner life. Without a foundation of this degree of self-honesty, there is no chance of having genuine compassion for others."  (171)

Ryan, Regina Sara. Igniting the Inner Life. Prescott, AZ: Hohm Press, 2010.


I need to ask myself "Who am I kidding" more often than just today!

Which 4 Words Are Yours?

This graphic has been making the rounds on Facebook. I was really surprised at the accuracy of its four descriptive words about me; perhaps one chooses the words that one likes internally. But the ones I found are:

• naive
• shy
• peaceful
• patient

This was fun, so why don't you quickly look and see which four words you find. List them in the comments!

Cartoon with U. S. Nuns

My friend Judy shared this with me yesterday. This cartoon speaks on different levels. Think about it!

Friday Five: Summer Edition

Kathrynzg brings today's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals:

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. . . .but here I am at last!
Here are my five hopes/plans for the summer:

1. Family Vacation: Our family is going to WA State in August. We are so pleased that our children and one grandchild will be with us, especially to see their grandparents (CB's parents) in Bellingham. We will spend one week in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, although not everyone is able to stay the entire week.

2. House Hunting Trip: In mid-July, youngest daughter MJ and I will fly to Salt Lake City to find her a place to rent while going to grad school at the University of Utah. She has to be ready to start in mid-August.

3. Church Library: There is a church-wide cleaning effort in preparation for our new priest's arrival on July 1st. Other volunteers and I have cleaned out the videotapes and audio cassettes, as well as some other items. More is to be done. AND my dear husband CB is going to paint the library for us!

4. Home: Starting to clean out the church library makes me realize that I need to do the same at my house. The starting point will be getting rid of all my audio cassette tapes. I have a big drawer full of cassettes I ordered after retreats and seminars, among many others. Does anyone want some audio cassette tapes?? I'll even mail them to you!

I even saved Raffi tapes from my (now-grown) children's use--for my grandchildren. BUT no one uses old tape players, especially with ipods, etc. around.


5. Texas Heat: I'll stay inside much of the time, even going to an indoor swimming pool at the YWCA to continue my deep water aerobics classes during the weekdays.

Bonus: Right now youngest daughter MJ is in Peru. She will be going to Machu Piccu next week. I wish I could go there, but I'm not physically able to hike in as she and her friends are doing.

Benefits of Meditation

How can meditation help me?

• Reduces muscle tension and fatigue.
• Strengthens the immune system.
• Reduces pain.
• Reduces insomnia.
• Alleviates headaches.
• Helps with stress management and irritability.
• Gives inspiration.
• Improves mental focus.
• Improves creativity.
• Helps with weight loss.
• Lowers blood pressure.

Those are just a few of the benefits of meditation.
If you feel meditation would be difficult for you, just start with 5 minutes twice a day.  Set a timer so you won’t be watching the clock.  Just sit in a quiet place and clear your mind.  Add 5 minutes to your time weekly.

Sit for even one minute; this is God's prayer and the time will grow. It is natural to have thoughts, but let them go and return to your word or to your heart space.

 

Found here, thanks to my friend Trudy sending me the link.

Desert Father's Advice

As he was dying, Abba Benjamin taught his sons this:

Do this, and you'll be saved:

Rejoice always,

pray constantly,

and in all circumstances give thanks.

No Words

Quotes on Equality

Diane Vogel Ferri compiled these quotes on her blog Co Exist.

Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths. They are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes. And whether we know it, or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, out friends, and our neighbors. Being gay is not a western invention. It is a human reality.

Hilary Clinton

The truth is that male religious figures have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have for their own selfish ends overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuous choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world.

Jimmy Carter

Memorial Day

" Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. "

John 15:13

They are in formation. They are not marching, they are not in battle; no, they are at rest and in peace. We remember on this sacred day those who answered the call to duty.

Honor and sacrifice is their gift to us all.

From Brother John, John Gaudraeu at Perfect Peace and Joy.

I am honoring the memory of all and especially my parents who served in the Marine Corps for WWII and my dad in the Korea Conflict and in Vietnam before he retired from the Marine Corps.

Another Poem: The Healing Time

The Healing Time
                                                Finally on my way to yes
                                                I bump into
                                                all the places
                                                where I said no
                                                to my life
                                                all the untended wounds
                                                the red and purple scars
                                                those hieroglyphs of pain
                                                carved into my skin, my bones,
                                                those coded messages
                                                that send me down
                                                the wrong street
                                                again and again
                                                where I find them
                                                the old wounds
                                                the old misdirections
                                                and I lift them
                                                one by one
                                                close to my heart
                                                and I say . . . holy
                                                          holy.
       
                                                       © Pesha Joyce Gertler

Pesha Joyce Gertler was the Poet Populist for Seattle, WA 2005-2006.  She is an English professor at North Seattle Community College. Her biography is here.

Pentecost

With thanks to Purpletologically Speaking.

What if?

What if you slept
and what if, in your sleep you dreamed
and what if, in your dream you went to heaven
and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower?
And what if, when you awoke you had the flower
in your hand?
. . . .Ah, what then?

~~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Friday Five: Inspirations

Sally brings today's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals:

1. What has encouraged you?
I have been greatly encouraged by the people at church who showed up for a meeting about the church library and then came to help clean and sort things! I am so encouraged by the enthusiasm and help they are putting forth. Soon the library will be painted, too!

2. What has inspired you?
A friend who compiled info about the TX primary candidates and shared that.

Getting and starting to read Praying Dangerously: Radical Reliance on God by Regina Sara Ryan. I read it years ago and loaned it to someone and never got it back. Fortuitously, I saw that it had been revised as its 10th anniversary issue, and order it. It is what I need to be reading right now.

3. What has challenged you?
The church library! I am challenged to stay in the moment and do the next right thing, instead of jumping off into the future and figuring out everything that must be done. I go into automatic and rev down the lane of controlling the outcome, which is impossible anyway.

4. What has made you smile?
The picture above about "inspiration" makes me smile.I always connect "inspiration" with "creativity," and the latter is what I don't see in myself. So it's somewhat freeing to know I'm headed that way!

5. What has brought a lump to your throat or a tear to your eye in a good way?
Last night we went to a graduation party (make your own pizza!) for the son of friends. There, we encountered many people who go to our former church, First United Methodist Church. When I was catching up with one of the moms, she reminded me that my older daughter AE, who is now 30 years old, babysat her daughter when they first moved to Corpus Christi. It was before AE drove; odd, because I don't even remember AE babysitting too often. But it was sweet to think of AE back then, while looking at the girl she had taken care of, who is now a sophomore in college. The juxtaposition of time, ages, and appearances jumbled in my mind getting me to think of all four children back in the 1990's.

Naked Pastor's 3 Ways to Leave the Church

Visit Naked Pastor's blog.

Who were you in high school?

Today in the wisdom class, one member who happens to be a retired Episcopal priest, asked me if my husband was a football player and I was a cheerleader in high school. I laughed and laughed!

My answer, "We were nerds."

CB and I went to the same high school in Bellingham, WA--Sehome High School as it was built on Sehome Hill. It was the second high school in Bellingham. We were both "good" kids, not getting into trouble and getting good grades in honors classes. We knew were going to go to college, even though we had to live at home and attend the excellent state school in our hometown. (And that's what we did!)

Oddly, CB and I never dated in high school. We only started dating in college.

Mystical Hope

According to Cynthia Bourgeault in her book Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God, mystical hope is:

1. Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to external circumstances and conditions.

2. It has something to do with presence--not a future outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand.

3. It bears fruit within us at the psychological level in the sensations of strength, joy and satisfaction: an "unbearable lightness of being." But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from outward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within.

Bourgeault, Cynthia, Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God. Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cowley Publications, 2001. 9-10.

This is a reminder for me to sit in quiet meditation daily. Through such prayer, I am more able to live in the present moment and not worry about whether or HOW I am contributing to the future.

I am grateful to my friend Louise who pointed this out to me last week.

Writing Letters of Sympathy

Due to my mother's death in 1992 and my father's death in 2002, I have long felt that I should write a letter, not merely a card, to someone who has lost a loved one through death. Taking the time to do this is something I put off though, as it takes so much time and thought. But I found encouragement from the following blogs, which I am directing you to:

Today at the Letter Writers Alliance I found a lovely link to Cole Imperi's blog Simplicity Embelished:

Donovan (LWA) wrote:
"Most recently, I found a great wealth of points on what not to say in sympathy writing over at the European Paper Company blog. This article, written by Cole Imperi, really analysed some of the typical items mentioned in sympathy notes and had insights that I hadn't considered."

As you probably feel, I would rather get a personal note saying the sender is thinking of me than nothing at all. Cole even writes a post about "Why I write letters".

Send someone a postcard, note, card or letter!

Glass Recycling Here!

Today is Glass Recycling Day in Corpus Christi, TX--through efforts of private citizens. Our city recycling service does a pick-up every two weeks, but does not take glass. A local company plans to incorporate the glass into road composites for paving in Corpus Christi. I'm so glad, because my husband always tells me that glass recycling is not cost effective. Even so, it is environmentally effective!

These community-minded volunteers collect the glass quarterly and today is the day! I did not bring my glass to be collected three months ago, because I was still inhibited by my shoulder recovery. I have quite a bit to take today. Yay!

Friday Five: Fleas and Other Pests

Cartoon from here along with flea info.

1. What kinds of  pests are in your area? 

Unfortunately, there are over 300+ varieties of mosquitoes found in Corpus Christi, TX or the gulf coast area of TX. Plus, there are many cockroaches, as there is rarely ever a freeze. And there are fleas. . . . which have overrun our house!

2. Is there a time of year or day that increases their activity?  Weather affects them or not?

Hotter weather makes all the insects more visible. Since it is HOT here at least six months of the year, that is much of the time. Mosquitoes are more apparent after heavy rains, which we had last week and so they are out and about, especially in the morning and early evening when walking is more appealing. (the only advantage of having a drought for the past few years is that the mosquitoes and fleas were not as abundant.)

3. Is there any pest that was new to you when you moved here?

Until I moved to Corpus Christi for the first time in 1978, I had never seen big cockroaches and rarely had seen small ones. I had never even heard of "water bugs" until then, though that is just another name for the "American Roach."

It wasn't until two years later, when DC was 1 year old, that I found out about tree asps or "puss moth caterpillar" . How I learned about it was through a mishap with toddler DC:

He had a wooden swing in a big tree in the backyard. After pushing him in that swing one day, I discovered a BURN on his skin! I could not imagine how he got that and immediately took him in to see his pediatrician. The doctor looked at the sore and casually said, "It looks like an asp bite." Ignorantly, I asked him in a horrified voice, "A snake bite??" (I only knew about asps from seeing the Elizabeth Taylor movie "Cleopatra".) Then I was told that this was a kind of caterpillar.

Here is what I read about tree asps today:

"The puss caterpillar has several different names, including asp caterpillar, tree asp and southern flannel caterpillar. It's most commonly found in Texas apparently (which isn't surprising since Texas seems to be a hot spot for poisonous, venomous and dangerous organisms.) The caterpillar resembles a fuzzy cotton ball but stings like five wasps. Brushing against its fur even slightly will result in an immediate, painful stinging sensation that can spread throughout the body in a matter of minutes."  (My poor DC!)

4. How do you treat insect bites? Are you allergic to any?

Husband CB is allergic to bee stings, which could be very dangerous. Just like our old Lab Licorice, I think I am allergic to flea bites, as I have such an extreme reaction of itching and swelling.

On Wednesday night I was so bothered by flea bites on my feet and ankles that I looked online for ideas to relieve the itching. I tried alcohol swabs and that seemed to help temporarily. I also took some benedryl, but didn't notice any change. 

Yesterday I did not wear sandals; instead, I wore socks and tie-shoes sprayed with Deep Woods Off--see how desperate I felt?

5. Anything else:

The worst attacks of mosquitoes I ever experienced was on my first and only back-packing trip in Oregon, way back when CB was going to graduate school at Oregon State University and I was teaching in Eddyville. Swarms overwhelmed us, especially when we had to relieve ourselves! That time stands out so much in my memory that we never went camping with our children, which I must admit is partly due to the heat and bugs in TX (and poisonous snakes). I'm a wimp.