Ordinary Time

The boats L. works on go up and down the Fox River and there is a recorded narration of what the passengers are seeing. L. has now heard this commentary a lot. When we were wondering what we should do today, L. said she would like to go wander around the fen she passes in the river. This seemed like as good a plan as any, plus I am always up for visiting a new to us forest preserve. So those who were interested hopped in the car and we headed towards Person Creek Forest Preserve and fen.  A fen is like a bog , but with a lower pH. (I had to look it up.) It turned out to be a little rainy, but more sprinkling and not downpours.  I had never seen a plant like this so I looked it up. It is Clematis Virginia a; a vine in the ranunculus family. L. wasn't in it, but it was fun to get to see one of the boats she does work on pass by. The Fox River  Do you see that house through the trees? According to L., our resident expert on this section of the river, it was a stop on the Und...

"Hate is the satan of love. Exclusion is the satan of inclusion. Oppression is the satan of justice. Tearing down is the satan of building up. Competition is the satan of cooperation. Revenge is the satan of Mercy. Harm is the satan of care. Hostility is the satan of reconciliation."       - from Reviving Old Scratch by Richard Beck as quoted in Liturgies of the Wild by Martin Shaw, p. 205) "Beck uses an example of the banality of evil , a phrase that comes from the writer Hannah Arendt. When Arendt, a Jewish political philosopher, got to meet the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, she was almost disappointed by what she experienced. That he was less Grendel and more party clown. That he had unthinkingly followed orders. And it's that unthinking obedience that she saw as the ordinary face of evil. No one is foaming at the mouth or bellowing in Latin, but just quietly 'getting on with it.' And in that 'getting on with it ' they are a satan in the face o...

This might be a bit braggy in terms of my children this week. Consider yourselves warned. But before the bragging, I want to give you a Vienna update. We have her insulin under control but her feet are still bothering her. The farrier thinks it's because the soles of her hooves are very thin so any amount of inflammation (from weather or whatever) is going to make her uncomfortable. She recommended getting Vienna boots to cushion the bottoms of her feet. You probably haven't priced horse boots, but let's just say they aren't inexpensive. But I want Vienna to be comfortable, so I purchased the most expensive set of footwear I have ever bought. The boots arrived today and I admit to holding my breath a little when I tried them on her to see if they fit. They did!  And here's a closer picture of them.  She wasn't sure at first, but within the first ten minutes of wearing them, she was moving more than I have seen her move in a long time. The boots need to be broken...

I often like to listen to podcasts while I clean the barn in the morning. It's great when I have something I'm interested in, it's frustrating when I need to find something new. The trouble is that I seem to have very narrow parameters as to what I can stand to listen to. I've lost track of the number of podcasts that I have given up on. Usually this is due to one or more factors: they're too formulaic, low production values, hosts who are annoying (ie too impressed with themselves, multiple hosts having conversations as though no one else was listening, etc.), or bad storytelling. I'm pretty picky discerning about what I spend my time listening to.  Thus it is no small thing when I find a podcast where I want to listen to all the back episodes. My new favorite? And the Rest is History. I know I'm very late to the party for this as it's been around a very long time and has a huge following, but maybe you're like me and have been unaware of it. I...

I thought that this year for National Dog Day I would share my and J.'s three dogs we've had over the years. (This won't include Aster or Olive as they are/were TM's and A.'s dogs.)  Our first dog joined us before we had children (if you can imagine we existed in such a state). Her name was Simone and she was a Bouvier Des Flanders. She was a great dog, but did become a wee bit overshadowed as children joined our family. Sadly she passed away when we were in Vietnam adopting TM and my dear sainted mother had to manage it all. (Sorry, Mom.) Here she is as a puppy. As a slightly older puppy, And as a full grown dog. You'll immediately notice the hair. As much as I adore Bouviers, I learned the hard way that a dog that needs regular hair maintenance is probably not a good match for me.  There were several years where we had many young children and didn't have a dog. Then, around the same time that G. and L. moved out of their cribs, a neighbor was fostering som...

This makes me happy, and I figured you could probably stand to see some happy news as well.  Duck has been the lone duck for quite a few years now. She always seemed happy enough, but I always felt a little badly about it. That was a big reason for the ducklings we added earlier in the summer. The big question for all of us was would Duck accept these newcomers as fellow ducks. She had been the sole duck for so long, we weren't sure.  Well, I'm happy to report: While Duck will still take herself off and do her own thing every so often, usually she is hanging with the other ducks and doing ducky things... swimming, walking in a line, taking naps, having excursions, etc. Seeing Duck happy makes us all happy.