Samantha Lynn Mayne Casey (with PawPaw and JoJo)
Our youngest grand-daughter was baptized last Sunday at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church…
I’m still hobbling along. The stitches were removed yesterday—good riddance, as they were really pulling. However, the wound now seeps gooey stuff and looks more gory than ever… I’m back to a full-time bandage, pain, and enforced couch-rest with foot-propped.
Oh, well…just look at this little face….that’s a cheerer-upper…
New Harmony, In, (pop. 766) held their Christmas parade on Saturday morning. We picked up Olivia and drove over for the festivities…
Throughout the parade, candy was thrown to the children that lined the streets and Olivia kept busy picking it up and adding it to her bag. After we had welcomed Santa, we ducked into the Main Cafe to warm up with lunch and count our treasure.
All of the shops offered more candy as we strolled through; Hoosier Salon had a great dance floor, and the Women’s Gallery helped us make ornaments to take home. We were pretty-well worn-out by the time we sat on Santa’s lap for a quick pic.
I finished up the around-the-house decorating today, not because I feel like it’s perfect, but because I have to move on to preparing for our Christmas in NYC trip. It’s pretty nice, though. I’ll share some pictures of that tomorrow.
Hope you’re getting into the Spirit, as well! 17 more days till the Big Guy climbs down the chimney…
We celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary on Friday. Well, celebrated is a bit of a stretch: Casey brought me a beautiful bouquet of roses and I brought him a bottle of Jack Daniels.
We sat out on the porch swing, sipping the Jack and walking down Memory Lane. Our wedding, though, was hardly our high point. Our marriage, 34 years of hanging in and hanging on, 34 years of laughing and loving, 34 years of growing and morphing into the couple that we are…that was the topic of conversation. It’s a wonderful thing, this long-term commitment that is occasionally grim determination, and I marvel that we have come this far.
Our personalities have little in common—he thinks math, I think words. In the early years, especially, I longed for him to “understand me” (though I certainly didn’t understand him). I’m a little emotional (ya think?), with some mental health issues that occasionally over-ride my good sense; he’s very logical and always clear-thinking. Over time, those opposites blended, so that we are all that we need; our mutual introversion and love of home has bonded the relationship into the solid rock you see today.
Of course, that’s what you see, and there’s always another side to marriage. We expect so much of each other and sometimes the results just aren’t what we had hoped for. We get angry and hurt and we argue the same arguments over and over. Somehow, we have managed to pull it all back together when that happens and the result is a stronger love, robust friendship, and great hope for another 34 years…or so.
On our 30th anniversary, we went to see Garrison Keillor’s Summer Love Tour. It was the usual hot, August day (unlike this year) and the show was in a lovely amphitheater. We actually danced—though he mostly stands still and twirls and dips me–and one of my favorite memories is swaying and singing along to this song…
(grab your sweetie and sway along)
Hallelujah! Amen!
Despite the glorious morning sun coaxing my mind toward peace, the news and the internets is full of hateful people spouting their vile bile… What ever happened to Peace, Love and Rock -n Roll? I will NOT respond to it, will not allow my Peace to be Shaken.
Sis and I are headed over to Henderson for the Garden Walk. We learned long ago to only talk about those things that are lovely, true, honest, pure, and worthy of praise. In the meantime, take the sage advice that John Prine gave us lo those many years ago:
2014: 365 spins of Earth’s axis as we revolve around the Sun, hurtling through space at break-neck speed to return to where we started. There will be laughter and joy, tears and fears, surprises and monotony.
I’ll tell you a secret…sometimes I am afraid of the future. In my younger days, it seems the past was biting my heels, and I couldn’t wait to move on… but now I’ve dealt with all of that pain, forgiving even the most unforgiving. The peace that dwells in my heart sometimes overflows with joyful tears and I want to stay right where I am now, happy and blessed. But time moves on quickly, and the dreadful angst returns.
More and more often, I have to keep up my courage, keep on believing… So it is with a mixture of confidence and compliance that I make these resolutions for 2014.
1) Hakuna Matata (it’s a problem-free philosophy)
It means no worries for the rest of your days
2) Keep dreaming, looking for something I’ve never dreamed…
“Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin, ” thought Alice; “but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!”
3) Take each moment, and live each moment, in Peace, in Love, right here, right now. Amen.
Happy New Year, friends! May all your dreams come true…
We’re a barrel of laughs here at the Acres…give us a 3-day week-end with beautiful weather and we’ll plant mums and pansies, move around the rudbeckia, clean up the back porch, hit Rural King for breakfast (popcorn) with Olivia and check out the rummage sales, with plenty of time to channel my Dad while listening to Pokey LaFarge and Hugh Laurie—and that was just the first day.
Saturday we drove up to Harmonie State Park for a hike and to check out the local craft show…
It’s been a while since we hiked at Harmonie and we chose a trail that we knew to be easy and we thought was familiar. Turns out fallen trees have changed the course… It was still a beautiful hike, but unexpectedly new…
Pursue some path, however narrow or crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence. Henry David Thoreau
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on…And it makes me wonder… Led Zeppelin
Yes, it makes me wonder, too…
While not an Official Roman Catholic vestment–it is Never worn when celebrating Mass–we’re all familiar with the must-wear topper for all well-dressed priests particularly when traveling about rubbing elbows with the hoi-polloi…
It’s called the capello romano…
and it can be adorned by the high-echelon members of the Clergy, but we mostly see it in its simple black “padre” form…or as I like to call it: The Father Guido…
I do hope they bring Father Guido Sarducci in for color commentary throughout the Papal festivities…
Let me quote him as I go…
(speaking of the Other commandments given to Moses):
Most of them were more like advice…The twelfth commandment, for example, was “Whistle while you work”…
I think we’re going to learn a lot from these ceremonies… (by the way, if you missed my first “hat” post, scroll over to 3/13… )
And take Father’s advice….
9/18/2016…..If you actually came over and read this little gem, you deserve a reward:
Father Guido Sarducci’s 5-minute University
The official list of titles of The Pope do not include “Pope”…they are Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, and the one I consider most significant: Servant of the Servants of God. Pope Francis certainly lived up to that title today as he began his Service by asking for prayers from the crowds for himself…
We will hear a lot in the next days and weeks about St. Francis of Assissi, founder of the Franciscan Order of Monks, who devoted his life to helping the poor and sick, inspired by Matthew 10:9 (look it up). That was back in the 13th century and that Francis was legendary (no offense) for his love of people, animals, and nature. May this Francis also be remembered so well.
We’ll also hear about the Society of Jesus, the religious order founded in the 16th century by St. Ignatius of Loyola, to which Pope Francis belongs. It is known for its emphasis on evangelism with missions in 112 countries on 6 continents, aand also education with established schools, universities, colleges, seminaries throughout the world (including Brebeuf, where the Jose’ boys were taught the faith).
But most importantly, we need to watch the hats… Roman Catholic vestments are sacramental, unchanged from the beginning of the Church. Priests don’t have to wear the hats when they are celebrating every mass , though why on earth they wouldn’t want to sport a little biretta I can’t figure:
Isn’t it darling with its little pom-pom on top? The bishops get to wear purple ones…
And how about this dandy little skullcap….
that they call a zuchetto, which must be Italian for yarmulke…
Everybody’s favorite, the mitre…
which comes in various levels of ornamentation, but is technically supposed to be always white. It has some fringe-like things that hang down, not always noticed, so we’ll have to be looking when the High Services begin.
As we’re observing Catholic fashion in the upcoming ceremonies, please note the colors and their significance, especially the Cardinal red (the birds were named after it), the papal White. And my Lutheran pastors could use a tip from the Priesthood: black is so slimming…
I do pray with all my heart that throughout the Catholic Church there will be renewal and revival… May God bless Pope Francis.
With only 6 days until The Official Start of Spring, 2013, Winter is still hanging tight with frosty tempeatures and snowcloud skies. Spring has already called out to the tulips, crocus, daffodils and budding trees and they are excited to add welcoming color to the gray/brown palette.
I had thought that the early move to Daylight Saving Time would actually make the days longer in a Good Way. So far, I just feel robbed of an hour of precious sleep while faced with a looong day. I’m hoping this headache will be gone by the time Winter truly moves on down the road and Spring breezes in with blooms and green.
The Countdown to Spring Break is much more sure…12 more days until I’m in NYC. That will be Holy Week, so I’m hoping to be of some service to my daughter as she works a Busy Time at St.Joseph. I hope Spring has sprung that week, but the love will be shining…
Cousin Lana and I met up in New Harmony today for some socialization…we luncheoned at the Yellow Tavern, ambled through the gallery to admire a textile display, wandered around an antique store, then settled down at the Old Gymnasium for the Antiquarian Booksale…
I always have fun with Lana…
After the Cousin had headed back to Grayville, I walked the Cathedral Labyrinth, a replica of the Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth…
I thought thinkingly as I walked, deeply…possibly figuring out a few things…maybe just finding that place inside that accepts that I’ll never figure it out…
Though I’m not sure if I found the Answer, I know the Solution: (and it’s always the same)
Peace…
Blather & Balderdash 