Vacant

Part of my brain is on vacation in Alaska in the impossible cold.

It has to be reminded that this is July, even in Alaska.

It does not care. It will do nothing but gather firewood and shiver.

Laurie: Pilot Wife

 I fantasize about traveling. I love the challenge of relying only on the things you carry with you. I like the idea of foreign eats and foreign friends. I like bringing home small tokens of having been somewhere. There is so much of the world I’d like to see.

Laurie feeds my fantasies with her packing recommendations, gear reviews, and tips for TSA. I pretend I’m preparing for an unexpected trip and draw up mental lists of what I want and need for such an excursion. I’ll probably never get to Peru, Brazil, Egypt, Kenya, China or Japan, but I’ll not be caught unprepared—thanks to Laurie.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TravelTipsbyLaurie

Still Good

I get sentimental about bologna, a childhood staple I gave it up when I became an adult. Recently I bought a package, and was surprised by how much I enjoy it. I don’t think I’ll be slapping it between two slices of white bread with ketchup, but I still like it straight-up. I might even fry it the way Mom used to. It’s funny the things you want for little reason.

50th Anniversary

 

I was a busy, busy, busy two-year old. I wore poor Mother out. Dad always did his best to help when he got home, but for some reason supper time is when I got my second wind. Keeping me out of trouble was a full-time job. One night as Mother battled to get the food finished, Dad was trying to sneak in some reading while watching me. It wasn’t going well, but the book he’d picked up for his elementary classroom was fascinating him. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe put Jesus in another world and it was beautiful. Desperate for some way of corralling me, he decided to combine his reading with an attempt to entertain me. He read me the first chapter, and not only did I love it I asked for and sat perfectly still for a second chapter. It was a turning point in managing me. I love stories. I’d trade good behavior for new stories any day, all day.

Fifty-two is a milestone though not one especially celebrated, but as I thought it over I realized I have been listening to or reading Narnia for fifty years. Over the years my father and I read the books over and over and over. Four of my children have Pevensie names. If there is one thing I aspire to be it is a good Narnian. I don’t always agree with C.S.Lewis, particularly about the girl parts of things, but these things are small in comparison with the many beautiful gifts the books offer as far as early theology and character development. Narnia is a wonderful place to get started on growing up.

Lost List

 

Every Oreo was a treasure.

He was just the weather.

Kierkegaard was a naughty pleasure.

Every day met its full measure.

Joshua Weissman: He Loves You!

 David Seymour introduced me to Joshua Weissman, well, not really, but through the virtual world of You Tube. I came for the recipes and stayed for the humor. Joshua embraces the naughty side of cooking, but never makes it out of PG. I like the dynamic way he films his episodes. He makes the tried and true interesting again. Truth be told, I’d watch even if the recipes weren’t good. He’s funny. Everybody needs some funny in their life.

It might be that he reminds me of my son, Peter, who is in culinary school and has long, beautiful hair too. There is something special about a man who can cook.

https://youtube.com/@JoshuaWeissman

Comfort Movie

 

Somewhere as I wandered the internet I was asked what movie I watch over and over for comfort, might have been Katie Carson at Royalty Soaps. It seemed like a simple question, but every time I thought about it I came up blank. My best answer is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I have a very special dad who loves fixing cars. I almost don’t watch it because I get too emotional. Even my best answer doesn’t fit the requirements.

The idea of an in-case-of-emergency-plug-this-in-movie seems wise. I have plans for films and TV shows to watch in case of severe illness or trauma. They are comedies that I know, but haven’t worn out. (SNL I’ve never seen, but it sounds right.) This more general purpose movie or group of movies can be more diverse. I like to have a plan when tackling a project like this, and this time I’m starting with Spielberg. I love his films. I’ve never regretted money spent on a Spielberg film. It’s a large and fairly diverse body of work. I’ll probably approach it chronologically. I like things to have an order. After seeing The Dial of Destiny, I might just declare Indy the winner and call it done. It’s a great series, not a dud in the bunch, but then I won’t have an excuse for watching everything else. I think watching everything else would do me good. It’s a comforting thought.

Jeesh

 I have fantastic cousins on both sides of my family tree. One of the best things my cousin Rob did was to gift a copy of Ender’s Game to my family. I think he was trying to explain himself to us, and because we share DNA he helped me understand myself. I love all things Ender. 

For my Crowhook Curriculum we reach Aquinas in the middle of the Middle Ages. There’s a lot of heavy reading before that, so I do the unintuitive. I simply require the kids to read the one page Aquinas wrote about a just war, and then we take two weeks to analyze Ender’s Game to see if it was a just war. I should probably read the new books on the Formic Wars to see if they might be better suited to the purpose. Darn, what a task, the things we do for children.

I do not usually get out my highlighter when reading fun books, but I kept reaching for that fat boy. There are at least seven things I’ve highlighted this time. My second favorite is “Saving the world isn’t a lifetime career, just a hobby for a while.” The other items were practical, funny or profound. All good things one counts on in a Orson Scott Card book.

The Keas and Ravens could have gone Narnia, but never came close. I’m a certified Narnia fan, but the readership of the two series is quite different. I liked the sentient animals, especially the Keas.

If I could have asked Orson Scott Card to do one thing for me. It would be to make homes for all the lonely, orphan children of Ender’s Game, and he did. I think a lot of us needed pointers on what that looks like, and both the Ender’s series and the Shadow series does a great job of that.

Thank you, Orson, for such beautiful books. I get homed in them.

Falling in Love

 

Reading Rumi is an invitation to bleed my highlighter dry. I fall into him. He is such a kindred spirit. If you love the experience of feeling God in the world, you will be wrapped up in all the beautiful metaphors and overwhelming/claiming images. Rumi runs completely naked to Love. 

I now own four collections of Rumi’s poetry. Two are paraphrases by Coleman Barks and I have a purse-sized book. The collection I chose for Crowhook is translated by Haleh Liza Gafori. It is the right size for an introduction to and focus on Rumi and Love. She is both a good translator (which I take on faith) and great poet (can easily be seen for itself.) 

It does not matter how you get to Rumi. He will get to you, right to the heart of you. You will always want his wisdom close when you discover it.

Danie Berger: Creative Beast

I found DIY Danie through Alexandra Gater. The two occasionally team up for creative mayhem. The difference between them is that Alexandra sticks to interior design while Danie ranges through everything from small craft projects to giant builds (see her greenhouse). She is utterly transparent about her skills and without embarrassment recruits help when needed, but mostly she just plows on inspiring confidence in others as she goes.

Danie does the kind of projects I’d like to try, but my gifts and time lie elsewhere. Watching her is very satisfying even though I won’t be chopping wood or slinging paint anytime soon, maybe ever. Be prepared for variety on this channel though the watchability never wavers the projects can go in and out of your interests. Danie is always interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiBD-BpwTooWML8IJZ609sg

 

3,796

For a year or so I’ve been locked out of my Apple Account. This means I went without access to my poetry, novels and other projects. It was unnerving. I visited the Apple Genius Bar twice without success, but this morning I woke up and everything had come home! I was so happy and yet so skittish that I went to the Genius bar again and got help insuring that I won’t run into that problem in a long time from now.

With my missing work and photos came 3,774 emails. I haven’t weeded them yet, so be patient if I’ve taken a year or so to reply to you. I may have just got your email.

 

Rumi for Sunday

 

I’m reveling in Rumi right now. Here is a treasure I found.

Why paint night over nightless day?

Every religion has Love

but Love has no religion.

Love is an ocean—

no borders, no shores.

Drown there and you won’t lament it.

The drowned have no regrets.