Tuesday's Proverb

It is in vain that a net is spread before the eyes of any bird -- These men lie in wait for their own blood, they set a trap for their own lives.This is the fate of everyone greedy of loot: unlawful gain takes away the life of him who acquires it. (Proverbs 1:17-19)

Bathroom Update

Progress is being made. We have a toilet now - but no door on the bathroom yet. This requires a bit of improvising - so a sheet has been hung in the doorway. The shower fixtures are in - but there is no shower door yet - so the kids had baths in the new tub today. And the sink has been delayed. But we're getting there. Sure enough, we're getting there.

Poetry Friday

Here's a little original poem, a collaboration between myself and Pippi and Harry as we drove to Basketball practice the other night. It all started because Harry wanted to know what direction we were going. Are we going South? Southeast? West? Northwest? NorthSouth? Hmm - Well, with North South you'd pretty much be vibrating in place. That got Pippi's creative juices flowing and the resulting poem is

Directions

I'm going North South
which means I'm not going any direction at all.

So I'm very confused and I don't know what to do.
I think I'll go Mooo.

Mooo-ve over
said the guy behind me.

I think I'll go East.
Or should I go West?

Decisions, decisions.
They're what I do best.

The Poetry Friday Round-up is over at Blue Rose Girls today.

All the Books in the World

Today would have been my grandfather's 98th birthday, and there are probably enough wonderful stories I could share about him that I could fill up an entire blog, but I'm just going to share one quote.

In November 1983 we taped my grandfather reminiscing about his childhood. My mother (his daughter) asked him the following question: Did you like to read a lot when you were young?

He answered:

Well, I, yes. In this one room school they had a library there. The whole library was in one bookcase. And as far as I knew that was all the books there were. And so I resolved that I was going to read all the books that there were. There was just the one bookcase full there. I thought if I did one a year I could get through it. (laughter from assembled family) I was amazed to find that there were a lot more books than that so I had to give up that idea. I was fairly good in arithmetic and I was fascinated by numbers and fascinated by how numbers kept on building. And I didn't yet get the concept that there was an unlimited number of numbers. And so these numbers, I knew that they kept on going, so I didn't quite know how far they went, so I thought 'well now, I'm going to write them all down and find out how many there are,' (laughter) I know. This was when I was in grade school. I never got that question resolved.

Leo Tanghe (1909-1998)

Tuesday's Proverb

My son, should sinners entice you, and say, "Come along with us! Let us lie in wait for the honest man, let us, unprovoked, set a trap for the innocent;Let us swallow them up, as the nether world does, alive, in the prime of life, like those who go down to the pit! All kinds of precious wealth shall we gain, we shall fill our houses with booty; Cast in your lot with us, we shall all have one purse!"-- My son, walk not in the way with them, hold back your foot from their path! (For their feet run to evil, they hasten to shed blood.) (Proverbs 1:10-16)

A Little Plymouth History

I just finished reading The Times of Their Lives, by James Deetz and Patricia Scott Deetz. The subtitle of this book is Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony. The details that the authors provide are both fascinating and insightful.

Taking information from court cases, probate lists and archaeological digs, they piece together what daily life may have been like in Plymouth Colony.

James Deetz was an archaeologist and his love for his subject shows when he writes about what various digs have uncovered in the Plymouth area. I find archaeology fascinating and very mysterious, this book helped me to understand the subject a bit more.

For eleven years James Deetz was the Assistant Director of the museum at Plimouth Plantation, and he includes a chapter on that living history museum.

I've long been interested in seeing Plimouth Plantation (for historical as well as personal reasons - while I didn't have any ancestors on the Mayflower, I did have one on the Fortune - the second ship to come to Plymouth Colony) and now it's getting pushed to the top of the list of vacation possibilities for this year.

Following Him

Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:10-11)

They just left everything and followed.

Pretty big leap of faith.

Could I do it?

I'd like to think I could. But then, I think if Jesus asks were to come and ask this of me - I would know he was someone who could be trusted. I would know he was God.

They didn't know Jesus was the Son of God. They didn't know he would rise from the dead. He was a preacher; a teacher. He worked miracles and told stories. He lived an itinerant life, with no visible means of support - he didn't appear to be pursuing a career as a carpenter at this time.

And yet they left everything and followed him.

They left families.

They left jobs.

They left houses.

And for what? A period of time on the road - living on what people donated; a period of time on the run from the authorities after their leader was executed, and ultimately horrific deaths.

This couldn't have been an easy decision to make. There weren't a lot of items in the plus column. But they did it anyway.

Could we?

In thinking about this once, I thought about Simon Peter's wife. What would she have had to say about all this. And I wrote a story about her called "The Fisherman's Wife."

Note: I had always figured he must have a wife, because he had a mother-in-law - but just the other day I was reading something about Plymouth Colony and learned that "father-in-law" was sometimes said when what we would refer to as "step-father" was meant. Perhaps that was true in Simon Peter's case as well - since no wife is ever mentioned.

We Have Walls

Bathroom Update - End of Week Two
We're at the end of week two and have finally had all of our initial inspections. So, the walls can start to go up. It's starting to look like a room again.

Poetry Friday

In honor of winter, and the winter weather we are sometimes getting this year:

London Snow
by Robert Bridges

When men were all asleep the snow came flying,
In large white flakes falling on the city brown,
Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,
Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;
Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;
Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:
Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;
Hiding difference, making unevenness even,
Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.

Read the rest of the poem here.

Heart of A Mother

There is a delightful new addition to the blogosphere. A Catholic Mom has decided to share reflections on the upcoming Sunday's Gospel from the perspective of a busy Mom. She's calling her blog Heart of A Mother, and I know I'm going to make it one of my regular reads.

The Literary DTs

I've never seen any one go through severe withdrawal from a controlled substance. But after telling Harry he had to stop reading the 3rd Harry Potter book before he finished it last night (because it was 10:30 and he is 6) I think I have a vague inkling of what it might be like.

He had convinced himself that he had to finish reading the book in January. So the simple suggestion of finish it in the morning was not good enough.

At first he just tried to be sneaky. We took the book away. He got it and sat back down to read. He even came in my room where I was trying to read and hid under MY covers with his book (hiding from his father, you understand, who obviously was going to find him there!).

Then we put the book out of reach.

The boy developed super human strength. He was hysterical and I couldn't contain him.

He announced his whole body was insisting that he read the book.

He was going to be sick if he didn't read the rest of the book.

We were firm in our "No" - after all - it was approaching 11 PM - and the boy is SIX!

Then he started bargaining.

He would go to sleep, if we just let him read to the next chapter.

Just four pages.

And then he would go to sleep.

No. (because of course: 11 PM and six years old)

I sat with him, I sang to him, I prayed with him. He calmed down.

I promised him, I'd return the book to him after he was asleep, so he could read it when he woke up in the morning.

He finally fell asleep.

I put the book near his bed.

First thing this morning - he started using the typewriter and working on the story he's writing.

Ummm - what about the hysteria, the book that needed to be finished?

I guess the pangs of detox were over, and he could finish it at his leisure now.

Sigh.

Domesday

Not Doomsday, but Domesday - it had to do with Domicile (I learned that recently.)

In doing a little family history research today, I made a very cool discovery. The Domesday book is available on line.

The Domesday book is something I had heard of at various times, but never figured I'd get a chance to see what it was really like.

In case you've never heard of it, the Domesday book is one of the oldest surviving public records in England. No one knows exactly what the purpose of it was for - most likely taxes - but

"at Christmas 1085 William the Conqueror commissioned a great survey to discover the resources and taxable values of all the boroughs and manors in England. He wanted to discover who owned what, how much it was worth, and how much was owed to him as King." (National Archives)

The British National Archives has not only made this document available online, but it is searchable - and they translated it, so those of us not conversant in Latin can still understand it.

I think I'm going to have fun exploring this.

Bathroom Update - Waiting for Inspectors

Things are moving along nicely in the bathroom. But now, we're waiting for the inspectors. And nothing much more can be done until the plumbing and electrical inspectors are here.

And as I was typing this, the doorbell rang, and it was the electrical inspector. One down.

Tuesday's Proverb

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom and instruction fools despise. Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and reject not your mother's teaching; A graceful diadem will they be for your head; a torque for your neck. (Proverbs 1:7-9)

Don't Put Away Childish Things

Ever since Pippi turned ten, Harry has been concerned.

Those double digits that his big sister now sports are a bit much for him.

"Pippi's getting too grown up," he tells me.

"Why?" I ask.

"She's not childish anymore," he says.

Hmmm - this about a girl who will give a big burp and laugh about it, who would much rather have some one get her a drink than pour it herself, who loves to play with her toys (almost as much as she likes reading); the girl who doesn't care what she wears, has no interest in make-up, nail polish, talking on the phone or pop music. This is the girl who is not childish anymore?

But then Pippi protests and says that Harry has always been too grown up. (She's been saying this since he was a toddler.) "But you're like a teenager," she complains.

He is very independent minded - but since he can't yet consistently tie his shoes or remember to flush the toilet - I hope there will be some improvement on that score before his teen years.

They are both who they are. Neither too old or too young.

They're not growing up too fast and I like that.

I wouldn't change them for the world.

Innovative Snowboarding

So, what do you do when there are three inches of snow, two free hours because of a delayed opening, a snow board and no hill? You improvise and snowboard down the slide - until your mother tells you this is a particularly bad idea.

What is Love?

We get the answer to that from today's second reading (1 Cor 13:4-8)

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

So, do I love the way I should? I can simply insert "I am" for "Love is" and see if the statements are true.

I am not always patient, I am not always kind.
I am often quick-tempered, and sometimes I brood over injury.

I am not a perfect example of love.

But, God doesn't expect me to be.

God gave us Jesus as the perfect example of love. Insert "Jesus is" for "Love is" and you will see that every statement remains true.

What God wants from us is not perfection (who truly expects their child to be perfect?), but to strive for perfection.

So, I will try to be more patient, more kind, less quick-tempered.

I will try to love more.

The End of the First Week

Well, we've survived the first week of bathroom renovations. And things are moving along quite nicely. The electrician came today (he was unable to make it Wednesday) and now I could say "there was light" - but there really isn't - just wires and places to put lights and switches.


One step at a time, right?


But at least we now have insulation. Which is good, because it's mighty cold today.

The Tub is Dead - Long Live the Tub

It's day four of renovations. And things are happening fast and furious. The old tub is gone.
And the new tub has taken its place.

A wee Kick in the Pants

I need to start writing again - fiction that is. And I decided one way to provide a little incentive for myself would be to keep public track of how much I'd written. I'm putting a meter at the bottom of the site. I'll keep it updated. I'm going to cheat a little today because, I already have a bit written on a new story - I'll put those numbers in - and then go from there.

And, if anyone knows of a good on-line writer's group, please let me know.