Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Post 500 -- Of Fall & C.S. Lewis

Fall: colorful leaves that crisp under one's feet; wind shaking the trees until they are left barren, sans their clothes; hot apple cider stirred with cinnamon sticks; cloudless skies brimming with startling blue; the moon so bright against the black night sky, one wishes to touch it; fresh squash, corn and potatoes gracing our dinner table; pulling the blankets up to my chin and curling up next to my lover at night, listening to him breathe deeply in sleep; calling students and their mothers in preparation for music lessons; wearing a coat out in the early morning and not zipping it up; worrying about the cat wanting to be out all night (but knowing he would be a pain if you left him in when he wanted out); thanking God for my path and my life.

I may not agree with C.S. Lewis completely but that's a healthy thing, is it not? I do, in fact, find him to be source of wisdom and great thought. I sincerely consider him to be one of the greatest writers in the last century. I hope you will read these quotes, go away and think for awhile. 

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”  

“You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” 

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” 

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” 

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” 

“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.” 

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” 

“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” 


“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” 

“I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia.” 

“Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning...” 

“What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.” 

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.”

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.” 

“I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?” 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The Princess

Her golden hair was braided into three parts; I saw them as she twirled in circles for us. I think she was around five, but you never know. Her little face was so eager as she balanced precariously on her toes.

She was about 2 and 3/4 feet tall: her princess dress (complete with Disney characters inscribed on the bodice) was so light that it shivered and danced with her.

"Excuse me," she said in her little girl voice. She already had our attention; Crystal and I had been admiring her dutifully. Her face dimpled shyly. "Have you seen any boys in the store?"

 We looked at each other, then back at her. "Boys?" I repeated, dumbly. I was so taken by her beauty, my mind was already her servant. (How can I be of assistance to you, m'lady?)

She was quite generous towards my ignorance. "Yes!" she lowered her voice, "Have you seen any boys in the store?"

By this point, I was feeling rather puzzled. Humans of that gender and age do indeed frequent the property but I had not seen any for the past 10 minutes or so. "What do you mean? Because --"

Flushing earnestly she interrupted me, "Yes -- I don't want to be stolen."

Grandma (The Queen) seemed to have arrived at that opportune moment, relieving us of our solemn duties to The Princess. As The Queen whisked The Princess away, Crystal and I heard an authoritative voice declaring, "You're not going to get stolen!"

To this The Princess replied, "But you never know..."

I swear that she almost sounded hopeful. Oh to be a Princess.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Some pictures From Our Trip; MT










Life!

I've been busy. Really, really busy. I have pictures to prove this busy-ness. Unfortunately, the internet speed does not allow me to post said pictures. So you'll just have to believe without the proof. Hehe.

1: For two weeks, we practiced every other day with Downwind for the Oxbow Jamboree. I feel incredibly fortunate that Dianne asked for backup vocals and percussion. Not only did I get to experience singing with her, Paul, Jesse and Leroy, I got to meet the other band members. FYI, they all turn into superstars when behind their instrument and a microphone.

2: August 5th, 2012. Oxbow Jamboree. It was 32* C. If you don't know what that is in F. go to Google. Judging from the number of people who approached different members of Downwind with positive comments, I'd say we did well. My favorite part of the entire process was how the children came right up to the bottom of the stage and stared at us (in awe!) the entire time. I hope we inspired the next generation of musicians/artists.

3: August 7th and 10th were spent in Alameda at Wildflower Organics processing chickens. We did 100 a day. I got paid in chickens and this truly helps with the food bill. Surprisingly, I discovered that I really enjoyed my days, even if I was up to my elbows in chicken blood, feces, internal goo and feathers. The sunshine, the clouds, the wind... it was so nice to be outside for hours at a time. Plus, it feels so good being responsible and helping feed us.

4: Work, work, work. Yes. Plus I've been trying to clean house when I get home... and be a most attentive wife to my man. I love him so!

5: We celebrated 11 months of marriage yesterday and 2 years of first meeting on August 6th. We are so very happy. I wish I could spread the pure joy we feel around the world. People need it right now... especially in Syria.

6: You know our rhubarb plants that I was so excited about? The one that was red all the way through and incredibly sweet? Well, the neighbor may have accidentally killed it. I get tragically sad whenever I think about it. He offered to give us a new plant if ours didn't survive this. I'm really hoping and praying that it did...

7: I made tie-dye cupcakes last night and frosted them this morning. I love colors. Co-op was selling Neon food coloring so I used that. Such bright, magnificent shades!!

8: Eventually I'll try to post pictures of all of these events. But until then, I have to prepare myself for work (yes, I have to work this Saturday) (but next Saturday, I do not!)... Have a wonderful day. I am pretty sure I will. :-)

9: P.S. Jesse came down with a bad sinus cold yesterday. I hate leaving him when he's sick. (Welll... I hate leaving him at any time..)