Stairway

My not so little second grader wanted to know why there were so many religions and was it a good idea to be following just one of them? Were we doing the right thing? Were we missing out? From the mouths of babes, as always..

I asked her to list the number of ways she could get to the roof of a building. Let us try that here..take the stairs, take the elevator, sit in a bucket and ask someone to haul you up, take a chopper and land on the helipad.Her face lit up as realization set in.

All roads lead to God, no matter what path we take and what language the road signs are in.

Hello 2010

Billie May passed on, God bless his soul. And they found a woman to yell out the virtues of Oxiclean. What else is there to be said?

Pandora's box

All this concern over intrusive mind-reading technology. I say, let them. If they can see more inside my mind beside the pettiness that disgusts me, I will be happy. Garbage picking. No bottomless pool, this mind. Shallow, void, empty..I do wish there was more to me than this smallness. Would love to be profound. But am bound by my littleness. Would love to be deep but find safety in shallow waters.So go ahead..look into my mind, but don't say I did not warn you.

Black roses, black diamonds, black skies

And what will you show me next? Another shade of black? Color that rubs off on my fingers, a stain that sets in deep and sure..no amount of scrubbing helps..If I rip off the skin, I will find deposits in the tissue beneath.

Should you blindfold me? Or should you poke my mind's eye with a sharp stick? Stop thinking, stop thinking, for the love of god stop seeing. Close my eyes and drift away. Color, color, vibrant color. Black is the color of my blue sky..oh what have you done?

Argentinian Tango from a movie

In a petty and occasionally ugly world, art offers beauty and comfort.

Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving today. It is a heart-stoppingly gorgeous day here and I have spent the morning slaving in the garden and getting happily muddy. Pudgy squirrels are chasing each other around on the fence and the dog next door is going crazy from my whistling :)

Plucking out weeds makes me curiously introspective. Weeding was just incidental. I spent the morning in prayer..thankful for all that is good in my life..a beautiful family, friends who are family, beauty, art and love. For food on the table and water from the tap whenever I want it. For a kind and loving husband and a sweet child. And I remembered a hymn we were taught in school in 4th grade:

"...Oh yes we thank Thee Lord for every flower that blooms
Birds that sing, fish that swim and the light of the moon
Thank Thee everyday as we kneel and pray
That we were born with eyes to see these things.."

It is great to be alive! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Suspended in time

This morning when we set off for Minnie's bus stop (6 miles from home) the night clouds were fraying at the edges and mist was rising from the depths of the bayou that runs in front of our house. And in that mist were standing deer. Very quiet, motionless. I stopped the car and we sat still for a short while breathing in the incredible beauty of the moment.