I went to Austin Friday afternoon for a meeting that started this morning. Austin has some wonderful restaurants and bookstores so a little extra time in our capital city is aways enjoyable. Austin is also known for having the largest urban bat colony. At dusk, millions of bats emerge from under the bridge in the middle of the city creating a black cloud on the skyline. I have seen the bats fly several times before so I decided that this…
After the surgery on my arm last week, I was sent home with a list of instructions, some of which pertained to the day of the surgery and others were more long term. Some of their suggestions were: Rest as much as possible in the first 24 hours Don’t make any important decisions in the first 24 hours after having anaesthesia Don’t get the wound wet for 10 days Don’t lift anything over ten pounds for ten days (until the…
This poem is also from Jeff Rockwell’s bookMaking Friends With The Dust. One thing at a timeOur progress will never make it possiblefor us to fly with our arms openflapping in the air.What it can do, however,is inspire us to dooneholymindfulthingat a time.Nothing more needs to be said here.
When adult life seems confusing and overwhelming, sometimes it is helpful to step back in time and remember what our world looked like when we were six or so. Life was simple. We trusted most people. We believed we were loved unconditionally. Everyone around us was concerned with our happiness and well being. And, crayons and creativity were a part of every day. Our simplistic perception of life was reflected in all those crayon renderings of the world around us…
Today the Labyrinth Ministry of our church, of which I am a part, had its regular monthly meeting. Up until recently, we have neglected walking the labyrinth as a part of these meetings in favor of having more time for “business”. The majority of the group agreed that not walking together was a mistake in that our work together was not firmly grounded in the labyrinth itself. For nearly ten years, the labyrinth has been an integral part of my…
Okay, I have not done any better writing this week than I did last week, but this week I can account for where the days have gone. Monday was spent getting my life back in order after having been gone all weekend. I came back from my silent retreat rested and relaxed and those who spent the weekend at my house (some kind of REALLY messy house guests I think or was it my family??) had their own kind of…
I can’t believe that it has been more than a week since I last posted. I wish I could say that I have been feeding the multitudes of hungry people, or battling forest fires, or discovering the cure for AIDS, or travelling the world, but I can’t. Sadly, I can’t tell you anything significant that I have done in the last week except for the last three days. I was on a silent retreat this weekend with my Franciscan fellowship….
I have spent the last two evenings making a recording with our church choir. Early in May, we did a pretty hefty concert, sixteen pieces ranging from Latin motets of the Renaissance to pieces written within the last year. It was a fun concert to perform and was well received by those in the audience. In fact, the response was so overwhelming, that that was the impetus for the recording. That and the fact that we are trying to raise…
When we built our house seven years ago, we contemplated building a pool. The kids were at the age where a pool would be a nice place to hang out with friends; we have plenty of room; and isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you build your dream house – have a pool? We tossed around the pros and cons..Living in the country, cons exist that aren’t as significant as when you live in a nice suburban neighborhood….
Today was our 25th wedding anniversary. It was “celebrated” with no pomp and circumstance, just the way I like it. At church last Sunday, the priests offered a blessing to all those who were celebrating birthdays and anniversaries during the month of June. Someone asked me afterwards how long we had been married. I said that we were celebrating our 25th anniversary, but Mike had actually only been home for ten of those years. I should have known when we…