these are my favorite things…

Raindrops on roses
and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles
and warm woolen mittens

Oops, that’s Maria von Trapp’s list…

Well. It could be my list, too. Except the copper kettles. I’d probably have to clean them. But I do love rain drops, yes I do, and it’s raining softly now, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the sound of rain on the awnings, and the soft breeze from a fan, and a glass of wine…. It just might lull me to sleep, and I’m okay with that.

It’s been a long week. A good week, with lots of work to be done, a lot to be accomplished, and a to do list that functioned exactly like it’s supposed to — with almost all the items crossed off.

I have a few items that are left and that I will tackle tonight — namely a chapter I need to work on in a new work of fiction. I’ve been riding a friend a little hard on her own projects, and my hubby pointed out I needed to get my own house in order. Nothing like love to pour on some loving 🙂

So, that’s another favorite thing…this sorting out of voices in my head and snippets of scenes that somehow get spliced together into a form that approaches a story.

It’s also the end of Random Acts of Kindness Week, the only thing I ever find palatable about the hype surrounding Valentine’s Day. It’s actually something that I very much believe in…not to be celebrated as a week, although the attention to it is nice, but that we must consciously be kind.

It doesn’t cost us anything, and the benefits are so rich.

Here’s my favorite quote about kindness, by Blessed Mother Teresa:

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”

It’s the hardest thing to do. And the easiest.

oh boy, Lent is soooo much work

It’s just plain easier to be a sinner. It ends rather poorly, so I’m motivated to make some life-changing…um, changes. It’s not easy, but I need to start somewhere, and the Corporal Works of Mercy seem a good fit for me this year.

There’s a lot to be said for getting ideas for Lent from the internet pit stops I make throughout my day. It’s like a giant spiritual smorgasbord, and I get to fill my plate with the tastiest looking, yummiest selections.

I’m happy to read these posts and make plans for implementing new practices on Ash Wednesday. Yet, I have to honestly ask myself why I need to wait until Ash Wednesday, or more precisely, why I think I should set a particular date to begin working on my redemption.

It’s like New Year’s resolutions. If I wait until January to start a diet, am I going to eat cheesecake every day for the next ten months?

Sounds sinfully appealing.

In today’s busy world, where we are pulled by our responsibilities to family, work, friends, and all the extra things we find piled on our plates, it’s probably not a bad idea to prayerfully discern a particular course for Lent. Why not get ideas from people who’ve managed to make it work, or managed to articulate it in a manner we can comprehend and apply.

So I give you my own idea. I hope you go read about it here.

Pat Gohn invited me to guest post at her column, A Word in Season, at the Catholic Portal at Patheos.com. Check out Pat’s work and all the other great writers at the Catholic Portal.

sometimes I don’t even believe it myself

Look, I promise the following conversation happened, I just can’t give any details about where it occurred:

I arrived at my destination hankering to tweet something…and got distracted by the conversation that followed. You see, I was driving through a little town outside metropolitan Atlanta when I encountered a pedestrian walking what seemed to be a little nervous dog. I was still a ways away, so I figured it was a nutty little Boston Terrier (I’ve recently befriended one, and found the breed to be delightfully nutty) or a wild little Jack Russell, like my daughter’s little puppy.

I was wrong.

This proud citizen was walking a chicken. On. A. Leash.

Who can believe this?

So I get where I’m going, and I’m trying to tweet, only I’m laughing myself into a silly state of ineptitude with the phone…and share what I’m laughing about, and that’s when I get the second surprise of the evening.

It turns out that walking a chicken on a leash is not only not weird, it’s commonplace around here!

Here’s a snippet of the conversation:

Woman #1: Y’all need to go down to the flea market on Moreland. They all bring their pet chickens on leashes. And they’re dressed up, too!

Woman #2: The chickens are dressed up? In clothes? What kind of clothes does a chicken wear?

Woman #1: Same as you’d put on a gerbil.

[okay, I need to stop here and ponder this a bit. What would one put on a gerbil? The astounding thing about all of this is how naturally accepting these folks were of all the components of this weirdness]

Woman #2, incredulous, to her credit: Gerbil clothes?! What kind of clothes do you put on a gerbil?

Woman #1: Well, I’ve seen them in dresses.

Woman #2: The gerbils? Or the chickens?

Me, now disappointed: I think my chicken must have been naked.

Man: I dress my chickens. Then I eat ’em. Fried.

 

 

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