Words
Why do people feel that every silent space needs to be filled with words? This question comes from a person who simply loves to chat. The exchange of ideas is an expression of fondness, respect, and fills many a lonely hour.
In times of grief, sorrow, or doubt, however, words fail. A simple hug, touch, and silence is often the best present that one can bring. Listening is also a gift at times such as these. I have been told by my hospice chaplain that every time we allow someone to tell his story, the pain is diluted a slight bit.
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Digging In The Dirt
I'm not really much of a gardener, but I love flowers and plants. I've tried to improve in this area over the years. I even took a horticulture class during my college years. I now know how my plantings are supposed to look. I have had varied successes in the 30 years since.
I spend hours poring landscape catalogs and gardening sites on the internet like a kid looking over the Sears Christmas Wish Book of years ago. Marking the pages of each plant that strikes my fancy. CONTINUED & COMMENT
California Reamin'
The Republican Party has decided that in order to save California they must destroy it. Hyperbole much, you ask? No, just an an observation on the current financial train wreck the Republicans in the California State Congress are perpetrating upon the citizens of the state. Start with this:
Wanting It Both Ways
In a recent article in the New York Times, "Amid Scandals, Questions of Where the Pope’s Focus Lies", RACHEL DONADIO and NICHOLAS KULISH highlight the "political" problems currently being experienced at the Vatican.
Pope Benedict XVI has apparently been oblivious to the anti-Holocaust statements of one bishop, and the view of another that Hurricane Katrina was God's vengeance on homosexuality, until his appointment of them to higher offices made it into print. "How could he do such a thing?" was the universal reaction of Catholics and non-Catholics alike. CONTINUED & COMMENT
Take Advantage of the Libraries in Your Community
Mrs. Sybil taught fourth grade in Barstow California for more than thirty-five years. She loved to take her students to the ocean. A treat for her was taking thirty five students out in a boat into the ocean so the children could pick up sea creatures. On one bus trip back from the Pacific, one of the children turned over a bucket of live crabs. Mrs. Sybil told all on the bus to remain still. Unlike many children today, every single child remained motionless. They didn’t want to risk having future field trips cancelled.
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Looking Good
When I lived in Rome, much was made of what the Romans call, la bella figura, which translates most accurately into English as "looking good". In both Italian and Vatican politics, image was (and still is, to the best of my knowledge) considered more important than substance. In other words, it mattered more to look good than to be good.
Now the Obama Administration is being attacked by former Bush operatives as sullying the image of the White House by not looking good. He doesn't wear a jacket in the Oval Office, for God's sake! Such behavior tramples all that the Presidency and the White House and the Oval Office stand for! How could he! CONTINUED & COMMENT