Have you ever bound an often-read book?
As a youth, I remember we covered our text books with paper grocery bags and then scribbled all over them. You could then tear off the paper when it was time for return.
This is my Bible. Bound in my favorite green color, a velvety fabric. It’s gone through several covers and decades of page turning. It’s nice to hold it with this fabric and makes it feel personal to me. Consider it an idea for your most beloved tomes!
Bending my head in prayer. Thankful. For my safe home. Thankful. For food and comfort.
Thankful. For health and preservation. Thankful. Praying for those I love. Thankful.
Praying for God’s hand over all. Thankful. Amen.
Merry Christmas to you!! Happy and healthy wishes ~ with all my heart!
May God keep and bless us all!
Point to each flower one by one, and with it name a blessing in your life…
It’s a sweet way to bring to mind all the positive things!
Stay Inspired!
Let There Be Light…
{Genesis 1: 1-5 KJV}
{Voice: Michelle Novak}
I’ve been conscious of saying a prayer over my plate lately. Well, just my lunch plate. Not my breakfast muffin or my dinner spread. Why lunch? I don’t know. Why more conscious? I don’t know. I just started making it a habit, for no particular reason. Today it made me think of prayer. Of the act of it.
I’m someone who prays all day long. Tiny little prayers. It’s rare that I actually sit down for a long talk with God. I’m more of a, let Him know what I’m thinking about all day long, sort of gal.
Good thing He’s patient and has big ears!
For instance, when I hear an ambulance going by, I always pray for the person heading to the hospital. I’ve been rushed to the hospital in an ambulance before. Maybe you have too. You are at your most vulnerable. Anyone whizzing past my house in one, gets my prayer. I live just down the way from the hospital. So…
Sometimes I pray for the workers in the ambulance, or the doctors waiting at the hospital. This all happens in a split second, this prayer. But I believe God hears it.
Or when I hear people driving down the street like maniacs, I pray for them. That they don’t get themselves, or someone else, hurt. Even the foolish, get my prayers. All the fools. Because, at some point, we are all foolish.
I also pray for people that aren’t acting very nice. Maybe they need God’s love. And I pray for people who are nice – just sending the love back, I guess. I of course, pray for people in hardship. But hardship to me, comes in many different forms. When I see something that touches me, I pray. And I, well, pray for everyone in every type of situation.
Chances are, if you’re anyone in my sphere of awareness, I’ve probably prayed for you.
I also prayer for myself – all – the – time.
Wouldn’t it be moving to listen in on peoples’ silent prayers? But of course, that is secret. And should be.
In any case…prayer can be funny. Sometimes you don’t even know what you are about to pray for. Random people or situations pop out of my prayers, when I didn’t even realize that they were with me!
Prayer also, is a way of getting things out. It may seem like our thoughts are all there is. Everything is in there. In our heads. We think all day long, right? But, just like when you speak to someone you trust, and who loves you – prayer feels like you can say it all. And there is a sort of relief and acceptance in that.
Sure, prayer is supposed to bring you closer to God. But do you know what else I have found? Prayer has brought me closer to others. To be able to feel more love and empathy, than I usually would.
And prayer humbles me. So that in the end, I remember what is most important in this life.
Stay Inspired.
Good Day, Good Friends!
What are you up to these days?
I’ve been quite focused on my work weeks, and in keeping my quiet little home life. Days of focus, simplicity, peace, and good health – this is my daily goal at present.
And also, to be consistently thankful for my blessings!
Some of my favorite things lately?
I’ve been fitness walking and then stretching in my living room some days – always followed up by a cold sparkling lime La Croix! I love my outdoor walks, as you know, and still traipse about in the snow and ice. But my indoor exertions have been a convenient, healthy, and inspiring lift to life! You know, there are so many videos online. I personally look for low impact, and positivity. These days, I’m not interested in giving myself miserable follow up soreness (no extreme exercising), nor in doing a session that makes me, however unintentionally, feel ‘bad’ about myself (my abilities, or level of fitness, or imperfections).
Let’s just say, I like to smile and feel silly and have fun when I’m swaying my hips!
I’ve also been enjoying reading, which I have been strongly craving lately. I anticipate reading more books this year than usual. I also crave the Bible’s words (Proverbs is my favorite – I nod at the wisdom in every verse). I’ve too, been delighting in several interesting programs and movies. I especially like those that expose me to new places, or experiences. Culture, or past events – things which I may never see, or directly understand myself, but get to learn something about. And, I am writing. Not a lot, but even slow progress gets you to your goal eventually! It is my hope that Still and Dragons At Dusk will belong to the world, and no longer to me, before long.
By the way, have you ever put sugar snap peas on your salad? Lovely. They are so fresh, crunchy, and earthy. I like to munch on a handful with my lunch – and then spend the afternoon with green in my teeth. That’s my pretty look.
Yesterday morning, I heard a bird singing outside my window. It was the song of spring, which if you have known decades of winter like I have, you can decipher. It didn’t matter the feet of snow on the ground, or that it is yet icy. The birds know what’s coming, and that song was filled with hope.
It lightened my heart.
Well, I’ve a bit of reading – writing – hip swaying – dishwashing to do before my Sunday is up. So I leave you with the wish, that you are keeping well and staying inspired.
All of my best.
Good Day Good Friends! Whatcha thinking about today?
I’m thinking, there’s never enough time to read all the books you want to!
I’m thinking that apples have been tasting like candy lately – I don’t remember them tasting like that when I was a kid.
I’m thinking how one should never leave a chocolate croissant unattended in the toaster oven, even for a second. And about how sitting in a cafe in Paris with one would really sound lovely, no?
I’m thinking how nice the house smells after I peel an orange. And about how I like to sniff tomato vines – so fresh and spicy! And about how fragrant the basil leaves I just bought are…
I’m thinking how much I love to spy prints in dried cement. Wouldn’t it be fun to print a book of them? Of precious paws, and fallen leaves, and other natural impressions.
I’m thinking how I crave a green juice everyday – it’s like, a feeling. But what is a craving, really? What’s the difference between a wanting, and a craving? This is a curious thought.
I’m thinking that though the snow and ice crystals have been magical, they are getting in the way of my treasure hunts! For lost coins, feathers, and pretty insects for my collection.
I’m thinking about how I’m becoming an instant coffee connoisseur! And about how enchanting it would be to be drinking an espresso in Venice right now. Oh, Venezia – you are the beating of my heart.
I’m thinking about how wonderful twinkle lights are, when strung inside the house. Cozy-calming-indoor-fireflies.
I’m thinking about how there are several owls in my neighborhood. Sometimes they hoot and call not far outside my window. Aren’t I lucky?!
I’ve heard a coyote howling, too. I’ve listened to his call on a starry moonlight night.
I’m thinking about how God must have made cotton candy sunsets just for our delight.
And about how I can’t wait for the newest flower on my Christmas cactus to bloom. The last one looked like a twirling pink-red fairy.
I’m thinking how good it feels to have healthy food in my home, and a roof over my head, and to have what I need. I don’t need much – so I guess I could say I have it all.
But mostly, I’m thinking about how important it is to keep counting my blessings…
Let us cherish the good things in life.
Stay Inspired.
So, I’ve experienced what I consider a bona fide miracle. Like, a Jesus miracle. No joke, I’ll be setting aside some on-my-knees-time to thank my Creator.
But, for the purpose of this inspired post, let’s just call what happened a breakthrough. I was struggling forever with something. I applied herculean efforts to hurtle over this roadblock, with little result. So, I’d throw in the towel. Become apathetic. Then I’d get upset with myself, try again, apply more herculean efforts. Still didn’t work. Many times over. Endless disappointment.
It got to the point where last week, I was feeling pretty fierce about it – bursting into exhausted tears one day, feeling really down about myself another, addressing God rather vehemently the next. I believe that was a first. The whole giving God some sass. But hey – I know He understood my frustration. I’ve only been praying about this forever.
Well – I’m certain you know Algernon Sidney’s words as well as I do.
Did you finish the sentence?
And how did I do it? Overcome my impossible? I acknowledged that my approach wasn’t working. And then I asked myself, what could I do just a little bit differently?
…and then I did that.
And now I am Hercules, in the flesh. Except without the muscles.
Unless the muscles in my brain count?!
HA-HA!!
But enough about my flexing my brain muscles. The point of this post is…
I bet there’s something in your life that you wish you could accomplish – improve upon – or overcome. And I’m here to holler all the way to wherever you are – you can. But if whatever you’ve been doing to get there isn’t working so far, take a real moment with yourself and ask…
What can I do just a little bit differently?
Stay Inspired.
Good Tidings, Dear Friends!
Today, I am wishing you all of the peace and good will in the world. I hope for you a healthy and blessed holiday season, and a Merry Christmas too!
Today, after clearing my poor-little-cracking-allergy-ridden-throat to the best of my ability, holding back tickles that threatened coughs, I got my reading voice going. Because…I wanted to give you dear readers a gift.
At least, the only gift I have to give you today, wherever in the world you may be.
It’s the Christmas story, selections from the King James Bible. The readings are taken from chapters Matthew and Luke.
I know it’s been a terribly difficult year for so many. So, I thought, perhaps a listen to this Christmas miracle might offer peace and gladness. I hope you will enjoy hearing about the birth of Jesus as it is written, of the wise men, and that star in the sky. Of the shepherds, and the manger. Of praising angels, and God’s love.
It’s a beautiful story.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:14 KJV
~ A Message of Charity ~
I will ever be fascinated with the Bible. And not simply in the sense of religion. Let’s just say, it’s the book of everything. It makes you think.
And whether or not you are of the Christian faith, upon reading it, you may be surprised to see just how much it is a book of today, as it was, a book of times past. For those who may say the book is ‘outdated’…well, I wonder if they’ve really read it. Or more particularly, considered the ways it applies to life.
It’s a book about humanity. And as for me, that book is eternal.
But to be specific, I sometimes come across a verse that quite literally changes the way I see life. That’s pretty powerful. Because, you know, I’m not a youngin’ anymore. I’m pretty much set in my pattern of thinking at this point. Deduced from decades of experience.
But here, I am to be humbled.
I recently heard a preacher speak the words: Charity never faileth (1 Corinthians 13:8 KJV). I didn’t even catch the context. But apparently, just hearing the words was enough to impact me indefinitely.
For certain, I’ve heard that verse a zillion times before. But this time, I was struck. Struck hard. Charity never faileth. Hmmm….
Never faileth.
But let me put this into substance. I am not particularly charitable, at present. I can however, look back at periods when I was, and my heart is moved to recall. Visiting the nursing home on Sundays to sing and deliver homemade cards to very lonely elderly (how about I start weeping right now). Volunteering time with youth with disabilities. Volunteering time with disadvantaged children. And all those other times, I simply gave.
I think back, and let me say. It wasn’t just what I was giving. It was what I was getting back in return. My life was permanently changed by those experiences. And remembering, I am deeply humbled. I am also ashamed to wonder, where has my giving gone?
To point out, charity isn’t just money. It doesn’t have to be money at all. It can just be time. Even some small effort. A little cheer. A bit of lifting up. Just giving to someone else. Caring about someone else. Or even, something else, that makes the world better. Animals, the environment, community buildings in need of repair; of course, the list is endless.
Further to mention, I’ve now lived in an urban environment for two decades. Therefore, I regularly encounter people in need as I go about. And though many instances of privation have spoken to my heart, others have hardened it.
And as this message is an honest one, I will say, I’ve often been wary to give to others, wondering if in some cases, I’m not being tricked, or manipulated. Or if my giving will be misapplied.
But then, that verse.
Charity never faileth. And I realized, in an instant, softening any hard part I’d ever allowed to grow in my heart…
No matter what, if you give, it is never, ever, in vain.
Perhaps some efforts appear they will be a loss. Or, a giving put to poor use. Or, why bother. But that is not so. Charity never faileth.
Each of us knows, in what ways, and when, we can give. Just always remember, it will never be in vain.
Please pass along the message ~ I think it is one worth sharing.
Stay Inspired.
Greetings Kindred Spirits!
This morning, while running out for some necessary items, I decided I also needed some chocolate doughnuts. Needed them. I also grabbed some chocolate chip cookies, and some chocolate candies. Because, you know, I needed those too.
Humans. Aren’t we something? Ha!
{Starting Catherine Steadman’s Mr. Nobody. Her Something in the Water was a real page-turner. Loved it!}
Have you ever spent an entire day reading a book? I have. As if under a spell. Yes, I’d have been reading a good book, or splitting the time between several. But it wasn’t so much the book. Rather, the place I needed to be in at the time.
Just to sit very still. Very quiet. And give myself away to something other than every other thing we focus on.
I do this with writing too.
Is there something in this world that you do this with? Tinkering, gardening, cooking, binge watching (hey, it has its value)? Something that takes you to another zone?
As I took my evening walk yesterday, I thought…
I love being outside more than anything, at all, ever.
I just feel, better. And not that I’m feeling bad. It’s just, when I’m outside, it’s very right.
I say, thank God for shelter and modern conveniences. I embrace cozy. I love a full cupboard. A cushiony place to rest my head is a blessing. But you know, we weren’t made into that. In the beginning. We were formed in the wilderness. We are nature. And whenever I go outside, I feel it.
Once many years ago, I told my mother that if we ever knew the pending hour that I would pass, that I would want to be outside. You know, if I got sick or something. A lawn chair, the sky, and some trees. Just, outside. She said she’d do her best. I love my mom.
I know that may sound gloomy. But it isn’t. It’s spiritual. I simply share the sentiment, to illustrate what I feel, when I am outside.
What in this world inspires you that way? The sound of your family’s laughter? Moving song? A soul-warming meal? Painting? Running?
Isn’t it beautiful? All the different ways we can sense the gift that it is, to be?
Stay Inspired.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalm 100 ~ KJV
Evanston has entered a new Stay-At-Home phase, alongside Chicago, to last at least 30 days. No Thanksgiving gatherings advised, of course. I wouldn’t have been gathering anyway, too risky. But that we’re slipping backwards instead of moving forward…well, I felt that.
All the thoughts, right? About it all.
I have been reflecting on all the ads that pop up for fashion items on the internet. It never ends. Buy makeup! Buy perfume! Buy nice clothes! Buy some stuff! And, I sit there and wonder…what are they trying to sell here? An illusion of normalcy? People aren’t really going anywhere. Where would they be showing off their style? Online? At the grocery store – all masked up?
And this isn’t me being negative. Not really. Because the truth is, I love pretty things too. And it’s natural for people to want to look and feel good, no matter what is happening in the world. I support that. But when I see those ads, I think, that stuff doesn’t feel so, important. At all. It wouldn’t even be fun to buy any of it, even if I were inclined. Not right now.
I’ve been pondering the last pair of sparkly heels in my closet…and friends, I once donned so many fashionable pretties. And I’ve wondered, will any such thing ever be important to me again?
For now, I think I’ll be looking for the beauty in life elsewhere. It is certain I won’t find it in one of those ads.
All the thoughts.
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6:28-29 KJV
Stay Inspired.
With the last crust of a loaf in my cupboard, I made the tiniest sandwich for lunch today, and thought it was delightful, and was content…
Coffee, apple, nuts, and my little sandwich. I said a prayer of thankfulness, and felt glad.
Of course, the chocolate peppermint cookie at the end was an extra blessing! Ha!
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.
1 Timothy 6: 6-8 KJV
Stay Inspired!
Happy autumn and a festive Halloween to every one of you!
[Image by Melk Hagelslag from Pixabay]
Here’s wishing you a cozy, healthy, cheerful season, and that God provides you with just what you need…
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Matthew 21:22 KJV
Stay Inspired
Good Day, Dear Friends!
I hope this message finds you healthy, and hanging in there!
[All photos today, of stonework I recently admired above the doors of Evanston’s Northwestern University]
As a first mention, I think it right to encourage today, a prayer for your leadership.
Our leadership, President Trump, has fallen ill with Covid-19. This is utterly terrible. I believe, (and no matter how you sway politically), it is important to pray for your leadership. Pray for their health. Pray for their strength. Pray that they will make the best choices for your nation and communities.
God’s hand over you, President Trump. May you be well and strong, very soon.
I myself, am presently scrambling through the thorns of transition, soon to emerge on the other side. It is very exciting, really. A promotion in position that will shortly have me working from home, barring a few brief jaunts to the office each week.
I’m currently delivering some training to the individual stepping into my previous role, while also learning new processes myself. In fact, I’m entering a new ‘field’ entirely. One I would never have imagined, given what I had always believed were my strengths and weaknesses.
Life is surprising, isn’t it? Or rather, sometimes we surprise ourselves.
I am very happy.
Even if, I’m going about everything rather clumsily, shedding a few public tears, and feeling rather exhausted.
What have these pandemic months done to us?
But hey, I’m doing it. And so are you.
Speaking of tears, I grew weepy over the news this morning. Items of one man helping another man. Even typing those words right now, and I need to grab for the tissue. We really need to love each other more than ever right now.
It makes me ask, how can I show someone I love them today? How can I help, someone other than myself today? How can I even, spread a smile?
In other thoughts, I was dismayed this morning, to see that my monthly Netflix fee went up. You see, Chicago and Evanston have adopted a streaming tax, a part of their entertainment tax, as I understand.
The reason I am dismayed, is that taxes and fees and fines and additions, and whatever…have begun to make me feel squeezed lately. And that feeling must be crushing, to those in any sort of honest financial strain.
I of course, believe in taxes to support the upkeep and betterment of our public spaces and communities (and accept that I also live in an urban area where taxes are often notably higher).
However, lately I’m feeling rather nickle-and-dimed. I’m afraid to write out an actual list of these items (sales tax on food, spiking real estate tax, mandatory city permits, streaming tax, etc.) to see what I’m really paying. But it’s truly starting to feel that the price of what it takes just to have a basic life anymore, is quite smashing against what one can reliably draw in. Especially if you want health coverage (but let’s not open that roiling and spoiled can of American worms). Certainly the idea of ‘saving for the future’ is no easy task these days.
To boot, I’m speaking from the point of view of someone who is still blessed with a good job, and is not by any scope of the imagination, much of a consumer. But seriously, looking at the numbers…
Nickle-and-dimed.
I really may have to consider moving my nest at some point down the line, for more financial security. I gather many people are thinking like this nowadays.
I will also be considering extra steps to frugality this winter. But, I’m going to try and make it fun, rather than allowing it to feel like a drag.
In other news, and I’ve shared this here before, I have the propensity of being over-sensitive to extraneous noise. Something I’ve better come to understand as I’ve gotten older. While lately considering not only this personal factor, but also the notion of general stress (to which we’ve all been exponentially dosed lately), I started to think on how I can ‘drown it all out’ while remaining focused.
I looked up ‘white noise’ music. Life saver. I downloaded some many hours worth of rustling leaves, streaming water, chirping birds, blowing wind, and whirring fans…
I am already a huge lover of classical music. I personally can’t listen to music with words while I work (I lose concentration). But, as music can soothe stress and level the mind, I have found that classical is the winning card (with the exception of any especially erratic or high-strung pieces)…
Additionally needing however, something even more basic to drown out the urban sprawl about me, as well as my own mind-chatter, I wanted to see what else was out there. White noise. Check it out. I understand some folks use it therapeutically. Now I will be. This is good stuff, folks. I never took to meditating or yoga. White noise has won my medal.
With that, I wish you much peace and contentment this week folks.
Be sure to drop a line! Tell me what you like to do to alleviate stress. Have any fun frugality tips to share? Any nice stories this week?
Best to you. You Stay Inspired, now.
Good Morning Friends!
I recorded a few Psalms. I often turn to the Bible when I need a little peace, guidance, or courage. Thought I would share a few chapters with you!
[Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay]
{Psalm 34 – KJV – Voice: Michelle Novak}
[Image by HeungSoon from Pixabay]
{Psalm 30 – KJV – Voice: Michelle Novak}
[Image by Mabel Amber from Pixabay]
{Psalm 27 – KJV – Voice: Michelle Novak}
[Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay]
{Psalm 23 – KJV – Voice: Michelle Novak}
God Bless You!
Greetings Good Friends! How I am wishing you every good thing today!
Keep your chin up, I say! Keep your chin up!
I, am beat. Yikes! I’ve a literal mountain of laundry to do, but I don’t know if I have enough strength to stir today. My goodness. I think I’ve only enough energy to stir over to the fridge for something good to nibble on…HA!
Last weekend, I received a sweet package from my dear friend Cira. She took an old flowered blouse of mine, the fabric of which I’d loved, and made pouches and masks out of it. Aren’t they so beautiful? Additionally, the light green zipper-pouch, as soft as velvet, was sewed and sent by my mama for my birthday!
Tell me that homemade gifts aren’t the best? Tell me I’m not spoiled?
I am envious of these ladies’ talents. Only, I’ve never had a stitch of patience for sewing. Pun intended. So, I’ll just continue to admire their talents while sporting my pretty new accessories!
Someone special also gave me a book of birds for my birthday, the pages of which are magic to me…
I love nature so much. I stopped the other morning to crane my neck straight back and have a conversation with a striped-headed nuthatch peeping and hopping upside down on the underside of a tree branch. My guess was that he was looking for insect snacks.
He didn’t really have time for me and said so.
I’m certain other pedestrians witnessed this and thought I was a nuthatch myself. Yes. Yes indeed, I am a bit of a nuthatch.
Though I have my hands full with current writing projects, I am considering to write a book of true short stories. A collection of those magical, bizarre, and even humbling moments I’ve witnessed in my life, and what they’ve taught me or made me feel. Its purpose would be to entertain and inspire readers. An eclectic little treat. I may start jotting notes soon to form a path for the work…
Now, I know not all of you have the same passion for insects that I do (though I’m sure many of you must since bugs are so awesome)…but I’ve a special creepy-crawly tale for you…
A few months ago, while at the kitchen sink, I witnessed an itty-bitty miracle.
A house centipede, of which I see commonly enough around my dwelling (and who sometimes make even me goose-bump), was lurking at the sink and got himself waterlogged to the point of mush. All his many long legs were a single drenched mass, and I felt poignantly sad for it.
Now, I have saved approximately one zillion little buggies from approaching death. True story. And, I have learned by trial that a corner of paper towel softly dotted to a waterlogged insect can transport it to a better location without squishing it. If it survives after that point is between God and the bug, but at least I did my best.
I thought I’d give this a go, but the creature looked quite pathetic. I may have even said a prayer for it; God loves all creatures, great and small, right?
It took a little while, maybe even a quarter of an hour, but eventually the creature dried out and unfurled. A little twitch here, a little twitch there. Ultimately stirring back to life to run away. I was sort of baffled, but also genuinely exultant by the happening! That bug had been in really bad, quite hopeless shape, just minutes before…
But I tell you this, not just for the sake of the nearly implausible resurrection that I witnessed, and me so obviously fond of bugs. It was really just, such an inspiring show of resilience!
I know many of you are having a hard time. And even if you’re doing okay, there’s still no way to escape the global stress and worry. Many moments in these last months have made it feel like the whole world is drowning in the second coming of God’s great flood! And no matter where you live, there is no mountain peak high enough to escape to. It’s sort of a, come-what-may, wait-and-see time for the whole world.
Just wanted to say…like that little waterlogged dude…we have it in us. Hold your breath (not literally please), wait it out, keep your faith, keep your cheer, say your prayers, love one another, hug each other (or like…a mime hug from 6-ft. away), thank each other, uplift each other, help each other, laugh, look to your blessings and the bright side…
I am happy to report that I have since had two additional centipede saves, including that striped creature above, the other a baby centipede, neither of which I thought would make it. They really need to stop this daredevil behavior around the tub and sinks. It’s giving me the nerves.
In other news…my mama bought me two beautiful new lipsticks for my birthday. The very colors I would have bought myself. I love lipstick. I really do. I had already been devising to pick out some for myself, a treat, but then these arrived in the mail.
Just one problem.
I can’t go anywhere without a mask.
I don’t even wear blush anymore (which I also love), because it only rubs off and sullies the face covering. So…do I just prance around my house wearing my new lipstick, even though no one will actually see it?
Sounds like a plan! Maybe I’ll just write a whole bunch of letters, plant a few good lip-sticky smooches on paper. If you happen to receive one of these letters, you’ll understand why (apart from the fact that I’ve always been a little eccentric). I was just finding creative reasons to wear my new birthday colors…
In other, other news…eat your veggies. Just saying.
In other, other, other news, I was gifted a bushel (what is a bushel?) of farmer’s market autumn apples last week. How lovely! Two weeks’ worth of sweet delights in my lunch bag. The giver is certainly, the apple of my eye! I’ll be sending them a lip-sticky thank you note…
Stay Inspired.
I have found I have a unique problem. It’s a problem that needs a solution.
This is important.
What do you do, when you find a bug…
But…you’ve no place to put it?
Happens to me all the time. Can’t just throw it in your purse!
I mean, I have. Of course.
But, that’s not ideal for delicate beasties…
Can’t just carry it around in the palm of your hand while you go about your errands. Grocery shopping and such.
But, you know, I would for a really good find. Like this emerald gem.
Look at this noble creature. He was in my path today. Like a fallen leaf at my feet. I didn’t have a place to put him, so I secreted him under a tree while I did my shopping, and then came back for him. He is heavier in the palm than expected, not like a leaf. I was sorry that his time had ended, and summer still here.
I think he is so beautiful.
What a special creature God made.
I’ve still been snatching up lost coins from the sidewalk…
I’m going to fill a whole jar. And then buy cookies with it. But first, I think I’ll spend an hour cleaning the most faded. To see how old the oldest dates…
Just wanted to share my special treasures with you.
Stay Inspired, Friends.
Simple Sunday…
Simply perfect…
Stay Inspired.
Good Day, Dear Friends!
I hope this message finds you healthy, content, and staying inspired today.
I’d enjoy your messages in the comments this go…I always care to hear from you!
Our usual eclectic post here on Inspired By Venice today? My brain is uncollected and molasses after a long week, so I think random will work best. Often, that’s more fun anyhow!
First, for all you readers of my tales…I have signed my contract for the 2021 Bristol Renaissance Faire. God willing, I will see many of you again at The Quill and Brush, a year from now.
I miss sharing my works. I miss the fellowship and conversations. I miss the magic. I miss you.
I of course, don’t know what will happen. No one does. Progress to slow the virus is backsliding, and I can’t say when large gatherings will even be sound or permissible again. I personally hope, for a safe and effective vaccine soon.
Only time will tell. But for today, let us do our best to stay inspired…
I have decided to start a new collection. I am collecting feathers. No, I’m not worried about bird germs. I’m tired about being worried about germs. I’m going to pick up all the pretty feathers. And keep them. And collect them. And look at them.
So if any of my friends or family find something special for me, please collect it. I will be delighted. And perhaps you, my friends here on Inspired By Venice, can help me identify some of them? The blue jay feather is my particular favorite so far…
The feathers will be joining my other passions for jumping spiders, lake glass, and found coins…
I’m also at present, taking an interest in sidewalk animal prints.
I’ve discovered I know nothing about identification, as aware of nature as I thought I was. They all look like raccoon or black bird prints to me. Perhaps you can help me identify those too?
My interests go to show that you don’t have to spend a penny to entertain yourself. I believe this to be a gift of being an only child. Inventing one’s own amusements.
I also believe in small delights, and taking simple, yet good care of myself. Here are some of my other current favorites…
My closest know, or have at least observed over the years, that I can exhibit some sensitivities. It’s really just in recent years however, that I’ve even begun to acknowledge and explore this. I think sometimes, it isn’t until we are older, that we are more fully able to understand who we are, and how best to live our happiest and healthiest selves…
I was recommended the book, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine Aron. I have not completed reading it yet, but I’ve found myself in the pages. On the checklist for a ‘Highly Sensitive Person’, I meet many.
For instance, noise. It has always jarred me. Consistent and loud noises are the worst, and can quite untangle me.
Further, I used to believe that I favored one-on-one conversations, because I could make a deeper connection communicating that way. I’ve never preferred getting together with a group of friends. I now understand, it’s because when a whole bunch of people are talking, I get terribly overwhelmed. My feathers ruffle. I begin to exhibit impatience and irritation. Oh no!
Of all things, I thought this for certain, was an outcome of being an only child. That I wasn’t accustomed to cacophony. I’ve even been sometimes shamed, called selfish, for being less than easy going. Understandable response, sometimes warranted, at others unkindly.
But the truth is, God made me this way. I naturally do better in quiet, and that’s okay.
All of this to say…one of the beautiful gifts in life are the moments we can better understand and love ourselves. This also helps us to better understand and have patience, for others.
Yet, what’s the favorite right now? Of course, the notion of growing in wisdom and grace. But also, these Sleep Pretty earplugs by Hearos! 32 NRR (noise reduction rating).
Let me tell you friends, a mouse could sneeze in the other room, and I will wake up. And this woman needs her sleep. A baby bird could peep outside the window, and stir me from fruitful writing. Construction noise? Well, that would simply be end game. Let’s just say, I’ve tried many earplugs. I sleep every night in earplugs. I’ve ordered special earplugs. And I wonder how they still haven’t invented the ultimate, and most comfortable earplugs yet. Most, aren’t all that effective.
C’mon, you inventors, you!
But the Sleep Pretty plugs…excellent. Best I’ve found.
Are you like me? Buy them. Hearos, I’ll be your spokeswoman…
I’ve also recently discovered a favorite candy bar. Chocolove‘s peppermint in dark chocolate.
I’ve said it before…my mama must have been eating mint chocolate chip ice cream when I was in her belly, because I’m bonkers for mint and chocolate. This bar is good. Perfect, actually. This brand, very good. The salted almond butter in dark chocolate…heaven.
What’s even sweeter? Their packaging has words of love inside.
Oh Romeo! I swoon…
But a gal can’t live on chocolate alone. She must have her fruits and veggies…and her electrolytes!
Evolution Fresh organic cold-pressed juices have for years now, been one of the loves of my life. A green juice sets me right. When I need greens right now, a bottle of Green Devotion is a gift from Eden. Good stuff. The best stuff.
I’ll be their spokeswoman, too!
Love my veggies.
And of course, nature will always be my favorite. Look how pretty…
And precious…baby bunny…
Other current favorites?
Have you seen The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on Netflix?
Amazing!
Love, love, love it! If you need some magic in your life, it is so special. And, so exciting! It actually took my breath away, I was so concerned for the gelflings!
Side note; my mom called me a gelfling when I was little. She said I looked like one.
And that’s why I write fairy tales. Because I’m secretly part gelfling.
My mom said so. And moms always tell the truth. Like, about Santa, and the Tooth Fairy and stuff…
I also recently watched the Lenox Hill series about Lenox Hill hospital in New York City. This show humbled my heart so deeply, there are no words. Thank you, to our medical workers. Thank you.
I was also, so very touched by the documentary series, Love on the Spectrum, about individuals on the autism spectrum out in their search for love. This program was beautiful!
And of course, there is always the beauty of music. I ever enjoy classical, or electronic music that is emotive and atmospheric. Makes me imagine. Makes me feel. Like I’m running through a vast field of grass, or sailing a troubled sea, or floating into deep space, or peering out from a castle way up high, into a dark forest…
There are a handful of artists that I watch for, for moving new gems. Active Child, is one of them. Song Johnny Belinda makes me envision riding into medieval battle! Love it.
But today, I wanted to share Active Child’s Color Me.
Why? The lyrics.
Essentially, ‘color me’ any way you will, but I’ll always bleed red. For me, the song just captures the notion of being human. Beyond everything, we all just need love and compassion, and to be known for who we are.
Love that.
Stay Inspired.
Greetings Good Friends!
Walking along the lakefront yesterday, there was plenty of nature to delight!
With the exception of a tick…
It was a very unfortunate event. Fortunately, not for me. While observing a bunny, munching in the grass, a swelled tick was very visibly attached to its muzzle. However, I think I was more concerned than the bunny. Ticks are just an everyday companion for them…
The horror.
I did not capture a photo of said pest clinging to said bunny. Neither you, nor I, should relive the sight. By now, that vile pest has fallen away, though it is likely the bunny has acquired five more…
I am thankful today that I am not a rabbit.
Otherwise eventful, was the witnessing of pine cone mania going on beneath a cluster of pine trees. Clearly, the seeds within the cones were a great matter for attention. Lots of birds, hopping and poking about, and gossiping a great deal as they did.
I was not quite sure what this bird above was. At first glance I guessed a Grackle, but after paying better attention to its tan and yellow coloring, my notion was silly. I now believe it’s a female Red-Winged Blackbird. There were Red-Wing Blackbirds alongside them, and my bird book seems to confirm this…
The pop of color on a Red-Winged Blackbird naturally makes them fascinating amidst our generally muted wildlife.
I wonder if I’ll ever see another Yellow-Headed Blackbird? A gal can dream…
It’s truly soothing to spend some time observing nature.
Except where ticks are involved.
Those pine seeds must have been very tasty…
Are pine seeds the same as pine nuts? I need to look that up. Perhaps I should have been out there foraging with the birds for a little salad topping crunch?
Am I confident enough to look a little pine-nutty, gleaning with the birds?
Yes, yes I am.
There was also a mystery on this outing. Built beneath an overhang of a building, just beside the waters, are mud-packed nests. After some reading, I believe these are Cliff Swallow nests (round). Though we have Barn Swallows local, their builds, also muddy, are more the shape of any regular nest.
The mystery however, is what appears to be a Sparrow nestling poking its head out and chatting a good deal. I have a suspicion that a Sparrow stole a Swallow’s nest…
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Luke 12 : 6-7 : KJV
Stay Inspired!
Good Day, Good Friends…my every well wish to you today!
Just now, I am enjoying a gentle breeze. After many days of very warm weather, it is welcome. My unit has been called ‘the tree house’, owing to the level I’m affixed amidst the trees. At certain hours, the sunlight beautifully goldens the walls. And on a temperate day, the wind carries through every room, the birds sweetly larking just outside. This is just one of those particular moments, that I especially appreciate my nest. We must all have a place to call our own…
I took photos before walking down to an appointment with a new stylist yesterday. I’ll post the cut soon. My hair is short again, but not very. Technically to my collar bones. However, my locks have a mind for waves and curls when the weight is cut out, so it appears even shorter.
Let us just say, I am…as happy as a ridiculously happy clam. Though long hair can be pretty, and an accomplishment considering the time it takes to grow to that length…I was at my wit’s end with the tangles and heaviness. Most appreciating the stylist’s scissors! Somehow, I’d managed the patience not to cut half of it off myself in advance…
This was becoming a genuine consideration.
As I posted last time, I had been ill. Unfortunately after writing, things worsened, ending in a visit to immediate care and antibiotics. I feel I’m still recovering. It is, and I’ve been here before, a reminder of how fragile we are. Obviously, the pandemic has us all remembering this. Yet often, it isn’t until our own health is tested, that our natural vulnerabilities manifest.
How thankful I am for modern medicine, and for my doctors, and for the insurance I am even lucky enough to have. Insurance, and enough money to pay for a doctor and medicine, is certainly never assured. Especially these days.
I revisited the reality that, even a relatively common infection, seemingly innocuous, something your immune system will overcome, can turn down a dark road. My mind wandered more than once to…had I lived in another earlier century without antibiotics.
I don’t like to think about that.
In everything these days, I am reflective. And in everything now, I see God. He who made me. Me, so temporal and fragile. Me, so human.
I wish more now, for others to be happy and laughing. And I feel more now, compassion when others are hurting. I was not always this way. Or as much, this way.
Sometimes you have to first be humbled…by life. By your mistakes, your weaknesses, your hardships, and even your deepest joys…
I feel God every time I am in nature…
In every little buzzing life and precious petal.
And all I have been thinking, and feeling, and believing, is that God is all there is. Is all there ever was. All there will ever be. And I am content.
I believe that I, we, are in His hands. And that when we suffer, or are very happy, it is all so that we can feel the life we were given, and live more in awe and reverence of it, and with more grace toward ourselves and others.
I feel this, even in a gentle breeze…
Stay Inspired.
I’m getting older…
Women shy about their age. But I don’t care a stitch. I’m turning 40 in September…
Maybe because, I look to both my grandmothers. And they’ve always been so beautiful.
I know, from a lifetime of knowing them, just how beautiful they are. My Grandma Ina’s red hair, infectious laughter, bright intelligence, and endless curiosity. My Grandma Novak’s silver head, confident grace, cleverness, and dedicated nature.
Let’s just say, if I’m following in the light of their way, it’s a lovely path…
I like my age. I think being young was hard. A thousand lessons learned that I’m very glad to have behind me. And, though I can’t claim to be wise, I am wiser. And that’s a good place to be.
I thought about this earlier today. I left half day early from work to go to the dentist. I go to Smileworks in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, worth the drive into the maze of congested city neighborhoods (seems traffic is right back up to where it used to be) because they are amazing.
{Michelle’s Self-Wisdom Insert #1: When you find a doctor, dentist, stylist, hypoallergenic-not-going-to-make-me-get-hives-and-an-asthma-attack-body-product, etc….stick with it.}
But as I was driving home, taking it easy on this hot and beehive streets sort of day, a vehicle started honking aggressively behind me. I hadn’t stalled to take my left turn, but a woman appeared instantly enraged at my not hitting the petal and burning some rubber…
After my left turn was complete, with two lanes now available in my direction, I actually did slow down to let this other vehicle pass. I don’t need that stress. Let’s let the woman-on-fire pass me by.
But what did she do? Pulled into the lane next to me, slowed down to drive beside me, unrolled her window, screamed expletives that were downright nasty, eventually to speed off. I glanced at my speedometer, finding that even paused down, I was going the speed limit.
{Michelle’s Self-Wisdom Insert #2 (also straight from the mouths of my folks): Don’t let anyone on the road make you react. You just take your time. It’s not worth your safety.
Amazingly, and I credit my age and experience on this one, I remained as cool as a cucumber…
[Cucumbers on my salad and on my sandwich! So summer! So refreshing!]
Truthfully, that woman was doing herself harm by getting so upset. That couldn’t have been good for her blood pressure. Or her soul. My word.
{Michelle’s Self-Wisdom Insert # 3: Find empathy. Even when it’s difficult. And forgive quickly.}
I decided to forgive the woman instantly in my mind.
If you’d seen it, I know it was road-rageous. Truly. Pulling up beside someone to honk, scream, and profane (it was yikes), borders on threatening behavior. It’s not right. However…do I remember ever getting over-the-top-upset on the road? Sure. I blush at all of the impatience I’ve had in my life. Life is stressful. It can make you bubble.
But nowadays I think…that car in front of you? Maybe that person just lost their loved one. Maybe they feel nervous on the road. Maybe they are a new driver. Maybe they are driving home from the dentist. Maybe they are overworked. Maybe they’re getting on in years.
Maybe, it doesn’t matter. Maybe…we should just be kinder to one another, through our impatience.
Maybe…it’s just me.
{Michelle’s Self-Wisdom Insert #4: Eat lots of cookies after visiting the dentist. Didn’t have a cavity this go around? Time to live a little more on the wild side!}
I must confess however, I have been harboring a secret impatience lately. You may have guessed from these photos, but how tempted I’ve been to cut off all my own hair!!!
My head is a wild mess (you can’t see the terrible tangles…but they are there). I swear, faeries dance on my head when I sleep every night. And oooohhh, that makes me mighty aggitated! And no. It’s not because I do, and always will, refuse to brush my hair. It’s faeries. Sometimes they leave glitter, and twigs, and feathers and stuff.
Do you believe me?
This brush my Mama bought me ages ago (I gather she was hinting at something), is still in the packaging. We should have a blog giveaway! I mean, I’m not going to use that contraption.
I guess where stubbornness resides, wisdom still won’t grow with age.
But don’t worry…I made an appointment. My hair will be cut by a professional. This time.
Stay cool. Don’t stress. Eat your veggies. Don’t honk and curse on the road. Don’t squash a faerie if you find one dancing on your head. They’re endangered.
Grow in wisdom. Grow in patience.
Stay Inspired.
Welcome All. I hope this message finds you full with good health, safety, love and light today…
I am well. Though, it has been another few unusual and tense weeks. There is civil stress, both locally, and throughout the nation. And there is Covid. It hasn’t gone anywhere. As with everyone else, it’s just one day at a time.
God, please bless, heal, and keep us in your hands.
As some of you readers are already aware, being revelers, vendors, and employees at Bristol, the Bristol Renaissance Faire (and my book shop The Quill and Brush) will remain closed for the 2020 season. It was announced earlier this week. In my view, it was most certainly the right decision, for the health of all…
Of course, there is disappointment in it, for many. Bristol is a beautiful, magical outlet. The festival (and all of the hundreds of other canceled events around the nation) are also basic income, for thousands. As I packed my costumes away yesterday, and simply sat with all that has happened these last months, this closure was harder to swallow than I’d anticipated.
My Mom mailed me masks, which she made, and which I make use of every day. I am thankful. My Dad mails me books, which in reading, have been a recent escape. I am thankful. I am thankful to have family that think of me. It is a reminder to pay it forward, with small gestures that uplift others, when I have the opportunity…
Yet today, I want to share something personal that happened this week. For whatever reason, I normally wouldn’t. I try after all, to keep things light here on Inspired By Venice. But I feel compelled. Perhaps because what I am going to say, may be important to even one reader here, someday, somehow. God works in mysterious ways…
A man pulled up on the side of the road, as I was walking with my groceries on the sidewalk, a few evenings ago. He offered me a ride home in his car. A stranger. I said no. He encouraged. I said no.
I need not offer more detail on the happening, but this…
It quickened my heart, the way a deer must feel when it knows it needs to run the other direction. I watched nervously when the car drove away, until I could not see it anymore, and then I wove through an alleyway home, to be sure I wasn’t being watched for where I lived.
This is not the first time. And maybe it won’t be the last. I’ve a few stories that will turn the hairs up on your neck. Was this individual a bad person with bad intentions? I don’t know. But what I know is, a stranger has no business offering me a ride in their car.
I shared this to say, when your instinct alerts you, listen. This may apply, in many other ways, than this. But if your gut is telling you something, listen. And carry yourself, the other direction.
Have I mentioned I’m eating Chuckles for stress management?
Love one another, lift one another. Love and take care of yourself.
Stay Inspired.
Hello Friends! I hope the sun is shining for you today!
It isn’t shining here in Evanston. We’re in for thunderstorms, and then rain for some days more. That cold wet chill has also returned. But our springs seem always to cling to winter’s hand until the bitter end!
This just means, I’ll have to make my own sunshine!
Fortunately, I’ve a knack for stirring up my own mirth and entertainment. Probably because I was an only child. Today I’m working on something fun that I’ll share with you soon…
For now, please excuse my piercing kissing noises in this video, but when this baby squirrel plunked his head down like he was pouting (I think he was trying to get a nap in), it was just a little too cute!
And to the spider that popped out of my Kleenex box early one morning when I needed a tissue, scaring the wits out of me before I’d had any coffee…
That’s not nice. I like spiders and all, but please don’t test my nerves.
Another nature sighting, a beautiful mother rabbit and her three babies…
That’s my car. I had to move it the other day for street cleaning.
Are cities still ticketing if residents are supposed to be keeping to their houses? I wasn’t taking any chances.
As I pulled up, I saw three itty-bitty-baby-bunnies pressing up against a street utility box. I thought, what a precarious place for a nest of bunnies. But as it turned out, there was a ground nest just beside the street. The babies were spending a little time outside the nest. Mama came back, and all the babies went to her and started nursing…
Sweetest little things God ever made. I was glad I parked there. I don’t move my car much, so maybe it will give them a little block from the road traffic.
I digress, but isn’t my mama’s painting so pretty. I wish I could paint whimsical little scenes like this…
[Make your radishes swim in cold water in the fridge to keep them crisp and fresh.]
I further digress, but I think radishes are one of the most delicious things that grow in the dirt. I’m nuts for radishes. What’s your favorite veggie?
I roam even further, but if you want the easiest supper ever, and like me, you enjoy a lot of green on your plate, do try avocado toast…
Simple and made in minutes. I like to top mine with arugula, sea salt and ground pepper. Finish the meal with cookies, of course…
My best friend Jessy sent me a gift in the mail this week. A miniature library to construct and personalize myself! I’m going to have a field day with this one. Some of my own books might appear in miniature in this little library!
Don’t ya’ just love best buds?
And then there’s my little indoor potted herbs. I’m disappointed to report that the cilantro is beginning to fail. Of the 4 variety herbs I potted, only cilantro and basil grew, and now I fear I’ll just have the basil left…
It’s for the best anyhow; I have a cilantro allergy. You know, it isn’t as easy as one would figure, trying to keep indoor plants alive!
I have a philosophy about that though. Plants weren’t really meant to be indoors. Outside, bugs visit, plant matter decomposes in the soil and brings nutrients, the rain adds its own magic elements I’m sure. Inside, a plant is just stagnant. That’s not right.
Sounds a little like all of us! We all need a bit of sun and fresh air ourselves these days, and visits with others, don’t we? People weren’t meant to be stagnant either…
Nonetheless, as I glanced over my basil the other day, I said a little prayer.
Bless my basil!
Wouldn’t it be glorious if I could get it to flourish?
And about that tiny prayer…
No matter how trivial or dire, small or great, He hears you…just sayin’.
And here’s something, also so small indeed, but I thought it was special…
See the far left basil sprout? When it popped up, the hard seed shell and dirt never fell away, so that it could not grow. Only the stem stood. One day, I thought I could try to pluck it off with tweezers, hoping I wouldn’t pluck the whole sprout out. I did this ever so carefully, with success. But as I looked at it, I supposed it still wouldn’t grow. It was too late for this sprout.
But you know what? I was wrong. It spread two little leaves, and is now growing out more between.
I was inspired to think…given the chance, it’s never too late to grow.
Stay Inspired.
Greetings, my dear friends…
I hope this message finds you in the very best of health and comfort, in spite of every challenge there is right now. May the sun shine serenity on your life…
I myself, sweetly lament today. But let me assure you, it isn’t with a heavy heart, but rather with a love so great…
My Grandpa Ron passed this week, whom I loved, very very much. My Grandma Ina and Grandpa Ron had a great influence on my upbringing, and on the person I am. They loved and cared for me, so absolutely and selflessly. I will always be so thankful for them.
I love you, Grandpa Ron. Thank you for being so good to me.
And also to those before, forever beloved…
[Annette, smiling with her husband David, and children Amber and David Jr.]
Your beautiful smile, sweet spirit, and infectious laughter, were the brightest light in our family…
Love you always and always, Aunt Annette.
[Brian with wife Lisa, and granddaughter Macy]
Thank you for being a part of our rambunctious clan! And for all the love, care, and laughter you brought to it…
Eternal goodness, light, and love to you, Uncle Brian.
[Family friend Steve Randahl singing and playing the lap guitar]
Thank you for the friendship, fellowship, and music you gave to my family.
Keep on Rockin’ on, Steve.
And to my baby Tiddo…
Catch all the mousies, feathers, and strings, and wait for me in Heaven…
Mama loves you forever and ever…
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
2 Corinthians 2:4 KJV
And to all you readers out there…
Love each other, love yourself, stay inspired.
Hello dearest Friends, Family, and Readers! I hope with all my heart that this message finds each and every one of you well. I know it’s hard right now. I know.
God bless you.
I figure we’re in for a longer post today since it’s been a few weeks. Just some Michelle musings, with no particular order or theme, and which will no doubt be eclectic. As always, I only wish a smile, a chuckle, a “that’s curious”, or an Amen! in it for you…
Here we go…
As you may remember, I started a teeny-tiny kitchen herb garden weeks ago. I have since been daily brooding over my little pots like a nervous mother hen. Cluck-cluck-cluck! Do they need more sun? Less sun? More water? Was that too much water? Oh geez…
Truly, I’ve no green thumb. However, I was born with my toes in the dirt. Where was that hospital? I’m delighted by anything in nature. So, when my first sprout peeked out, I was brimming with excitement…
I’ve got cilantro and basil growing at a snail’s pace…
But no chives or parsley. I tried to keep the faith a little while, but I don’t think those are coming…
I’m tickled by how the cilantro is sprouting these itty-bitty leaves. How tempted I am to clip one and take a nibble. I hope the basil grows full and strong. I’ll replant it and let it get out of control. I’m bonkers for basil…
[Image by David Schwarzenberg from Pixabay]
Michelle fun fact: I have an allergy to cilantro. This is unfortunate, because I really like the herb. In general, I’ve already bad allergies. I sniffle all day long, medicine or no medicine. I’ll blow my nose in my sleeve at this point, in drapery or table linen, anything made of cloth or paper really. I don’t care. I’m so over allergies. I’ve got that respiratory system that screams No Ma’am! with great clout, the moment I so much as toe near something to which I’m allergic…
Oh that delicious, emerald-green, bright, fresh, cilantro! Sniffles, congestion, and itches! I get so itchy! The more I eat in one sitting, the louder the No Ma’am! Once, my palms itched so bad after eating a healthy portion of cilantro, that for at least half an hour, I thought I’d go crazy!
True story. Except the part about linens and drapery. I use tissue…mostly.
Ok, I have a mystery for you!
But first, I must digress to say…look at those little flower paintings my mother Lita did! Aren’t they so pretty! They were just so cheerful, I propped them on my writing desk to celebrate spring. Love you Mama!
Ok, back to the mystery…
Do you know what sea glass is? I honestly didn’t until recently. See, I grew up around small bodies of water, and I don’t remember ever seeing any, or it ever being introduced to my vocabulary. So, as an adult, I’ve discovered the joy of searching for this on the beach…
At first, I think I genuinely thought they were some sort of stone. Natural. Yes, go ahead, feel free to have a giggle on me! I was just ignorant of what they were. But now I know that it is actual glass, tumbled around in the water, for a long, long time. When it washes up on shore, it’s lovely.
So, living a few blocks from Lake Michigan, let’s just say I’ve now added this to my list of mini-hobbies. And, as I’ve just learned, sea glass is only from salt water, beach glass is what we have here.
So what’s the mystery? Well according to Wikipedia, it can take many decades for these to form. I might be collecting pretty-bitties that have been tumbling around for 100 years for all I know. So, imagine how curious it was to find this one…
Of all the billions of stones and shells and grains of sand along our shore…I found this oddity. A piece of frosty-white beach glass, etched. Now, from this photo, it may look like XXI. But I think it may have been XXX, with the right-most part of the etching fading away. I’m not entirely certain.
Roman numerals? The symbolic X’s of kisses? And this etching isn’t new. It is worn. I can’t say how old it is, or who etched it, or simply how. But, believe me…my imagination could come up with a few stories. Perhaps I’ll write a short book of tales one day, each a possibility stemming from this one piece of glass.
Another recent and curious mini-hobby I’ve picked up…quite literally…pennies.
You know, my step-dad Charlie always had this knack for finding money on the sidewalk, in parking lots, anywhere really. That’s always made me smile. “Look! I found a dollar!”
Well, with recent stress (to which we are all enduring), I’ve tried tricking myself into being distracted. Small amusements. I still walk to and from work, and am during this time, considered an ‘essential worker’. I have for some weeks, worked almost entirely alone. At first, this was kind of eerie (I’ve been playing a lot of classical music in my cozy little nest of an office – I helps me feel calm and focused). But now, I’ve adapted, just as each of you has had to do in one way or other…
In any case, I always delight in noticing birds, or budding flowers, along my walk. But then, I all of a sudden, started to feel both distracted and amused, by searching for pennies along my route! Instead of fretting about uncertainty, I began making a game of spotting coins. And, don’t they say to find a penny is good luck?
I’m now collecting a jar of good luck. And, I’m going to buy something special with them someday! Probably cookies…
In other news, wearing a mask took some adapting to as well. In Evanston, it is not only suggested, but now mandatory for essential workers to do so. I don’t have to all day (thank goodness – I’d quickly become claustrophobic – God bless our medical workers) as my interactions are few. But, I wear them around others.
This specific mask with flowers on it…was left on the doorknob of my office. A gift, made by a colleague’s wife. That really touched my heart. How sweet are small gifts. Sometimes from those who know us, and sometimes from someone we hardly even know. I am so humbled by that. It reminds me to be kind to others, even in little ways, whenever I can…
I even wear it out for walks when I am treading the urban sidewalks. Who says your mask can’t be pretty?
With that said, I’m going to try and make one for myself. I’ve some fabric from a dress that never fit right. I’ve needle and thread. I’ve a hot iron for ironing. Yes, you read that right. I don’t own an iron. I embrace my wrinkles. So, let’s just see if my hair straightening iron can’t do the trick for this small craft? I’ll let you know! Don’t they say that necessity is the mother of invention?
I may be tempted to sew some loose pearls on it. Too bad I don’t have any spare sparkles around. Hmmm….
As for other DIY projects, I repaired my vintage medicine cabinet door with a glue gun. A glue gun I pulled out of a box from my younger, more craftier moments. Cause I love my classic medicine cabinet. I’d use bubble gum to keep it together if I had to!
Once, I made a pair of angel wings for myself, glue-gunning every feather. It was, crazy. The very best crazy.
[Image by congerdesign from Pixabay]
Another time, when really young, I left a glue gun plugged in on a holiday. I realized this, while on a family visit, away from the empty house where said glue gun was oozing fiery glue…
There is no worse fear for a youngster, than believing you may have just burnt the house down, while away eating mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie at a family gathering. I snuck into my aunt’s bedroom to dial my house several times. Because, you know, in a child’s innocent mind, this must mean my house was still there. I never said a word to my Mom, and was terribly anxious to get home again. When she smelled the house as we entered, that very distinct smell of burning glue and metal that can only come from a glue gun (which had miraculously caused no damage), she knew who the culprit was. The glue gun disappeared for a little while. Probably a few years…and then there were angel wings – 1996 Romeo and Juliet style baby!
In other news. God’s been good to me. Tea and cookies good…
Fresh fruit and green juice good…
Fill my belly good…
Fine health, and a soft bed to rest my head, good.
What more could I need?
If you’re reading, say hello friend! Leave a comment! Share a few lines of your DIY, a beach-glass mystery, a blessing you’re thankful for, a funny story, or your favorite tea-time treat! What’s blooming in your garden? Love it!
And wherever you are in the world, I wish you ever well. Hang in there! All things have a season. From out of hardship and gloom, there is always rebirth and renewal.
So I say again, and always will…
Stay Inspired!
Hello Friends. I hope this message finds you, above all, healthy. I also wish you a calm spirit, and enduring strength, as all the world’s fortitude is being tested…
I know that for many, life is very strange, strained, and scary right now. And I’ve of course, no more wisdom that anyone on how to find those moments of tranquility, which seem so very fleeting. However, for me, there are a few things that bring a snatch of daily peace…
[Cheerful blooms I bought myself last year…just love the smell of fresh roses.]
Thankfulness. Thinking on those people in my life that I am grateful for. Remembering all the ways that I am blessed. Being content with small things, and thankful that I have them at all…
[Ahhh…nut butter and jam! Bringing back those shelf-stable old friends.]
Remembering that ‘It is well with my soul’. I find personal peace in my beliefs, believing that through faith, prayer, and patience, we can endure anything. And at the end of the day, no matter what happens, I rest easier undoubting that my life is in God’s hands…
[New Apostolic Church Orchestra and Choir: Silvertown, South Africa]
Memories. Looking at all the beautiful parts of my life, and believing that it won’t be long before some normalcy returns, even if things look a little different for a while. That brings me happiness…
[Milwaukee shoreline on Lake Michigan last summer]
Just pretend like you’re camping. Okay, this one’s from my Mama. I don’t know how many times she’s said that in my life. Maybe she doesn’t even realize she’s said that a whole bunch…
[Image by jplumb from Pixabay]
See, we used to go camping when I was younger. Loved it! There’s nothing cozier than a campfire, and no better a night’s sleep than in the fresh air of the outdoors, and nothing more awe-inspiring than a starry sky…
[Image by skeeze from Pixabay]
But why has my Mama said that since? Maybe because sometimes in life you have to go without, and have a little less. And, you know, when you’re camping, you may run out of toilet paper and have to use leaves. Or eat beans and marshmallows for supper, instead of what you’d usually have…
This is certainly not to belittle hardship, nor the need for vital necessities. But, for so many of you who are staying in, and perhaps running out of the items you’re used to having, try to shrug your shoulders and pretend like you’re camping. Making a game of things in your mind sometimes softens the strangeness of a situation…
[Photo by 631372 from Pixabay]
Humour. I’ve a story for you. Taking notice that one of their cats were acting oddly at the basement window the other evening, and assuming it to be another neighborhood feline on the prowl, my folks found to their complete bafflement, a wild turkey pecking at the window. What? At length, it strolled off into a neighboring yard. Though such wild fowl aren’t unknown in the surrounding farm country, certainly that was the first turkey in decades to be on such an adventure. Wish I could have seen that! No wonder the cat was acting a little strange. Never seen a bird like that before! The wildlife really is coming out while the towns are quiet…
[Lovely pink peonies snipped from one colleague, and a piece of fruit from another, last spring. The smallest gifts can bring such joy to the heart.]
My little offering to say, I hope serenity for you today, in whatever ways are personal. And, I wish you all the grit there is as we wind through the seriousness of these current days.
You’ve enough, I promise you. You’ll see…
Stay Inspired.
Taking a peaceful moment today, I started a little kitchen herb garden. It will be a delight as the days go by, to watch it grow…
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1: 11-12: KJV
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Psalms 126: 5: KJV
In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me.
Psalms 120: 1: KJV
Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
Psalms 130: 2: KJV
Pray for one another. Lift up one another. Take care of yourself. Keep faith and an inspired heart.
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3 John 2: KJV
[Image by Aleksey Kutsar from Pixabay]
When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, Oh Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
Psalms 94: 18-19: KJV
[Image by Michael Gaida from Pixabay]
For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isaiah 41: 13: KJV
[Image by Ulrike Leone from Pixabay]
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41: 10: KJV
Good Morning Dear Friends! How are you doing this blustery, sunny, February morning? Did you enjoy your Valentine’s? Did you eat lots of decadent delights, stuff yourselves with fancy bonbons, and flutter rose petals into the sky with romantic abandon as you skipped down the street with your beloved?
I did none of the above, although I might have devoured half a package of crunchy-dark-chocolate-chip-cookies in bed like they were my last. Crumbs in the covers. Where would my life be without cookies?
Yes, we’ve a bit of sun and blue sky here in Evanston, which feels like a miracle. Sunshine makes a big difference for staying inspired, so I find!
But apart from sunshine, I also spotted another precious miracle this week…
[Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay]
We had one very cold day this week. And as I walk to work, I bundled up a bit especially. I don’t know how I can still find this amazing, having lived in North America all my life, but I can’t believe how instantly some fingers can feel on the verge of irreversible frostbite! Sometimes, it’s like, a minute…
I like to eat my morning muffin as I walk, which means at least one hand isn’t wearing a glove. That poor hand. Yet, must…eat…muffin.
[Image by MH Rhee from Pixabay]
Along my way, there is this particular house, of which I always purposefully travel past their backyard. They have some habitat signs up, and in the warmer months, that backyard is a veritable little jungle.
I have noted, almost each day that I pass it, all year round, that the birds are going just bonkers for that yard. There is some fruity compost out on the ground, and bird feeders, and clearly the types of plants growing that yield what the chirpers enjoy eating the most…
[Image by aekadtke from Pixabay]
As I went by on this particular morning, freezing my own feathers, there was this singular birdsong. Beautiful, beautiful warbling. Oh, my, heavens. And though I was already running minutes behind, I stopped in my tracks nonetheless. I figured some very unique bird was passing through, and I had to see it. Here in Evanston, I’ve chanced to spy some wonderfully out of place birds migrating through…
[Image by aekadtke from Pixabay]
I discovered the creature. So pretty a soft red, and not the crimson Cardinal (which are very active and thriving right now). It was so precious. Oh my word. Having its little song on that glacial, albeit sunny, morning. As cheerful as ever…
And as I marveled, I literally thought, I want to be her. The one who’s singing. The one who, even during the coldest day, when all the other birds are so hushed by the season, is still singing. I will be her.
[According to my Birds of North America book, it was a red finch, though I am not absolutely certain which one. A House Finch, I believe.]
How joyful, that such a tiny creature can bring such lightness to the day. She offered me a more inspired heart, a brighter smile, and a sunnier step, in just seconds. If a little bird can do that, then what can I bring to others, just by offering a more positive spirit?
Sing like the red finch, my friends…
Good morning friends! It’s 2020! Here in Chicago, it’s cold, but there is a layer of beautiful snow on the ground along with a sunny bright blue sky! I’m thinking of taking a bit of a walk later to take in the air, on this, the first day of the new year. I’ll have to bundle up!
[I’m presently reading Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman. The copy was courtesy of my dad (we snail mail each other books because we have similar reading interests). My dad nailed it. I don’t want to put the book down. An incredible, page-turning, true adventure!]
How did I bring in the new year? In my pajamas. I was chiding myself for not being asleep at that hour. I have a bedtime and all, which the holiday season has quite disrupted. 9 p.m. these days. 9:30 when I’m apparently feeling spunky…
[My town of Evanston, on a sunny winter morning just before Christmas. The cold is nothing I find, when the sun is shining and the sky is blue, and the crimson cardinals are merry about the trees.]
So midnight, yikes! But I thought since I was already up so late, might as well take in the moment! I was snacking on salty nuts and chocolates (which I am certain assisted in making my dreams especially erratic last night…I have a ‘no-eating-chocolate-before-bed’ policy too…which I’ve hurled out the window for the holidays)…
[Is there anything better than tea, cookies, and a book, on a cold winter’s day? Can’t every day just be tea, cookies, and books? Can I please earn a salary sitting around with tea, cookies, and books? And maybe some coffee, and cats?]
And just as the 12 o’clock hour was about to strike, I closed my eyes and began a prayer, feeling that that was a nice way to bring in this new decade. I thanked God for everything I have, and welcomed whatever was meant for me in the coming years, and asked for blessings for my loved ones and friends, and for peace for all…
[Want to know something quirky about me (besides everything)? Each morning before I leave my house, I look in the bathroom mirror, and smile. I swear. For quite some time now I’ve been doing this. A little self-encouragement? Starting out the day with a positive expression, no matter what the day may bring? A smile, to stay inspired.]
And then it was promptly lights out! Midnight had come and gone, to sleep I went!
Now, I don’t make resolutions. But if I were to form thoughts for what I want for myself in this new year, and new decade, they would revolve around…
[I digress but, I noticed these itty paw prints cemented in the sidewalk when I was out for a winter walk. Do you see those adorable little nail prints on that left claw? Was it a raccoon? Bet he didn’t like that cement on his little toes! I find the most delightful things, when I keep my eyes open…]
Well, I’m going to spend part of today writing, so I better hop to it. But, I just wanted to wish you all, the very Happiest New Year, and all of the peace, health, and joy in the world. Welcome 2020!
Stay Inspired!
On this beautiful Christmas morning, I wish each and every one of you…
…all of the peace, love, health, and happiness in the world.
Merry Christmas to you all! May your hearts be filled with good cheer!
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 KJV
Living in an urban environment, I walk around town all year long. When I toe out my door each day, I leave the car right where it’s parked…on the city street. I power-step to work, I stroll for groceries, I hike to the post office. If I don’t have to drive, I prefer not to…
And I love walking, so I’ll go out for an amble just because, as often as I can. I enjoy the fresh air, the lakeside, scenes of nature wherever they are found, and I also enjoy a little bit of city bustle too. It’s specifically lovely when like today, the sun is shining and the biting temperatures have eased up…
As I was going about my way, I heard the slightest, prettiest little song, and gazed up to see where it was coming from….
It was an American robin, ever so gently caroling amidst the berries up in a tree. It seemed to be singing just to itself, which I found so very special and sweet…
I believe they were enjoying the sunshine and temperate weather, just as much as I was! I’m very glad that I paused a spell, to listen to this robin’s sweet song.
I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.
Psalms 104:33-34 KJV
Hello All! Here’s wishing each and every one of you good health and happiness today! I wanted to share something very special today. After an almost two-year writing journey on this project, my newest novel Ancient, is finally here!
When I woke up this morning, one of first things I did was go to my computer to peek and see if Ancient was live, available to all. When I saw that it was, an instant little cry burst forth, tears spontaneously pooling. A total sneak attack cry that I wasn’t expecting. But it only took me a few seconds to understand the sudden emotion…
Writing Ancient felt a little different to me than my other books. Where before, I felt something like a puppeteer, moving my characters where I would, looking at them from above, or like a narrator, this time I felt like I’d taken the journey with my character. And this morning, when seeing that the story was now no longer just mine, I felt like I was letting go. Waving to Hem in the desert, as she disappeared like a mirage, out into a vast landscape of sand. Very bittersweet…
For everyone who reads Ancient, it is a wonderful adventure, with a delicious pinch of romance, and many thought-provoking twists of the spiritual. Hem, a nomad in the wilderness of ancient Egypt, loses everything, her family and her life, and is left dangerously and desperately alone. This is her journey from out of darkness, and back into the light. I was with her every step…
Ancient can be purchased here in the U.S., and is available in Europe through Amazon.
When reading Ancient, remember to take along your water bottle and sunscreen, and do beware the asps and scorpions. Maybe don’t wear sandals. Just saying…
And as ever, my dear, dear friends…stay inspired.
I’ve had a mind for some time to go through my old photographs, most of them taken before the advent of digital cameras and smart phones. I thought I might select a handful to share with you, for a few of the travel adventures, costumes, special stories and sparks of inspiration they might contain. But also, for I am considering digitizing my photos and purging the actual bulky box they fill. Of course, some hard copies I will always keep, the most special of these slipped between the pages of my Bible, a safe place where I keep some of my treasures…
[My baptism at the age of 12. I was very happy.]
Now, please don’t frown when you read this, for it is actually funny. If you were witness, it would make you chuckle. There are two things that make me cry on cue in this world…
The first of these is Christian music. You could actually test this like a science experiment, and the result would be the same every time. Come sit in the car with me, for example, and switch the music to the Christian station. I’ll start blubbering in about 15 to 30 seconds. Why? I dunno. Fond memories of singing hymns in church on a sunny Sunday morning? Moved by the Holy Spirit? A feeling of hope and a vision of eternal light? Whatever it is, pass me the Kleenex…oh heavens!
The second thing that makes me cry on cue? Christian movies. For real. Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea? Noah and the Ark?
Me: “RUN MOSES! Hurry! Lead the people to safety! Sob, sob, sob, squeal. Noah! Collect all the animals!! Hurry! The rains are coming! Get your family to the Ark! Blubber, blubber, blubber. Oh, for goodness sake…
Well, now there seems to be a new item to add to this quirky list of what makes me cry on cue. Perhaps it is because I am getting older and beginning to understand the idea of nostalgia…but my old photos now make me reach for a tissue box…oh geez!
Here is one taken on the drive of my grandparents’ home, certainly just returning from school on the bus. I am guessing it is autumn, I in my little sweater, carrying my itty-bitty pink jacket and my red school bag. Was this where it all began? My love for school? Where my insatiable curiosity, and elation over the smell of old books and pencil erasers began? Gimme’ a handkerchief somebody! What, nobody carries a cotton hankie anymore? Sniffle…sniffle…
And here, a photo with my Mama at a family Christmas gathering. My beautiful mother. My hands up to my mouth with the surprise felt in opening a special present. I love you Mama! I love you the most!
And here. Do you see the awe in my face sitting in a diner, anticipating that dinner plate?! That’s the same look I still get every time I go to a restaurant to this day! Anyone who knows me can attest that this is true…
More fun blasts from my past to come! And also, release of my newest novel Ancient not afar off! Stay tuned friends, but most importantly…Stay Inspired!
Hello Friends! Happy, Happy New Year!
How did I spend my New Year’s Eve this year? Let’s just say my 2019 came in with a terrible sneeze! LOL! A whole week later and I’ve finally mentally surfaced from the murky fog of one dreary head cold. I usually don’t get more than one cold a year, so let’s just say I got mine out of the way for 2019 nice and early. I pride myself on being an overachiever!
Now that I’ve got my ability back to coherently write a sentence, I wanted to send out a special message to all of you to start out this new year…
I must say, something has been on my heart these last few months. I’m hearing that many folks are struggling. So many seem to be saying that 2018 was not a good year for them. I’m hearing about a lot of pain, heartache, and worry. Each story seems worse than the next. Though I myself had one of the happiest summers of my life, the rest of the year was full of lessons in bravery! I’ve had to rally to overcome a few shake-ups and not-so-nice-surprises, and let me tell ya’…I’ve got some steel flowing through these veins now! Bring it on 2019!
Of course, this message may not so much apply to you. Perhaps you had the best 2018 ever, and are smiling as you pass into your new year! Bless your heart! Bask in the sunshine of your good season, and count your blessings. But if you’re struggling friend, I just want to say this to you…
Your life is a gift, and so is everyone in it. You are stronger than you think. In this journey, you will be given good seasons, and sometimes very difficult seasons. Every difficult season has a reason; perhaps they make us stronger to face future challenges, perhaps they make us more empathetic and caring of others. You keep your chin up. God loves you.
Love yourself. Love one another. Everything will be ok.
Right now, I’m turning up the volume to I Just Need U by TobyMac. Random dance in my living room?! Heck yea! There’s a song to lift your spirits and remind you of courage!
I wish you all the very best of health and happiness in 2019! And of course, I wish so very much, that you will stay inspired!
My newest novel (I’ll be releasing the cover and title soon), is a romantic odyssey that takes place in ancient days. I’ve been enjoying the research more than I can say. Research is truly one of my greatest joys and I’m having a blast learning what life was like while the ancient Egyptians were building their pyramids…
I hadn’t a clue that this would happen, but the novel inexplicably began to saturate some Biblical stories into the weave. It just felt right. Now, I’m certainly no Biblical scholar, but I have read the Bible through several times (completely through…even every verse of ‘who begat who’ which I thought would go on forever and ever)…
In any case, my mind is now buzzing with both the ancient past, and a sprinkling of Bible passages that have left me both awed and haunted…
Consider for a moment, angels. There’s a verse that has made my eyes grow wide with wonder every time I think of it, for some years past. I think with the holidays in full swing, and all the goodwill that it is about, this verse is quite applicable to the current season…
[KJV: Hebrews 13:1-2] Let Brotherly Love Continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Think about that for a second…
A few years back, I participated in a Sunday morning Bible study that spoke on this verse particularly. The main question posed, was whether it was safe to entertain strangers in these times? Just being charitable to a stranger in public on the street, can sometimes feel dangerous. I understand these feelings, though I absolutely believe that Biblical times and our current times are equally scary in their ways. For instance…
Let us pretend for a moment that it is long, long ago. A wayfarer knocks on your door in the middle of the night, a stranger calling out in need. You quickly light an oil lamp, your family scurries behind you in confusion and trepidation as you consider what to do. Could you admit entrance to a stranger into your humble dwelling, to eat amongst your loved ones, to partake of your meager staples with those ever looming threats of plunder or worse, that were so frequent? Man, you had to be pretty brave (or be housing a brood of burly sons with fast and sharp daggers)!
I haven’t the answer to ‘entertaining strangers’, whether now or then, except that I believe we must all remain charitable, while doing our best to remain safe.
But let us consider that part about angels. While writing this week, I deeply pondered these words from Hebrews. I find them both fascinating and terrifying. Could you imagine such a powerful creature of God sitting before you in a soup kitchen, while you helped to prepare and serve a meal for them? They all the while, appearing as a downtrodden, regular person?!
My brain just broke…
My first thought is that I’m quite humbled by God’s reminder to be charitable, for I don’t consider myself charitable enough. Further, would I fail such a test if God sent an angel in disguise before my path? This verse challenges my bravery, my willingness to give, and my personal judgements about my fellow man. Humbled, humbled, humbled am I…
Second, the angels in the Bible aren’t quite like those cute chubby cherubs or prettily robed ladies in white that might come to mind. If I’d later discovered that the man asking for a dollar on the street had been an angel in disguise, I’d certainly fall to my knees in trembles, cry my eyes out, and potentially go mute for a month. Angels are mighty creatures that serve God, and I have to admit that I’d be mighty terrified to have been in the midst of one…just saying…
Now it is not exactly comparable (particularly owing to the spiritual component of angels), but it might feel a little like the reaction you’d experience if aliens landed on earth tomorrow, and one approached you in your backyard. My guess would be that anyone would be quite terrified. Encountering a being not of this earth would likely challenge your ability to remain standing…
But all of this to say (and whether or not you yourself believe in angels or aliens), this verse inspired my writing and excited my thoughts. How would my ancient characters react to the presence of an angel? How can I be more charitable today? What if I have been in the presence of an angel before, and didn’t even know it!? Just a little fun for thought! Every time I spy an angel topper at the height of a Christmas tree this season, I’ll be cautiously glancing around me for secret angels in my midst…
Stay charitable folks! Happy holidays, love yourself, love your neighbors, stay inspired!
As most European cities are, Paris is filled with breathtaking churches; mind-boggling, Gothic-architecture behemoths built from stone. One such venerated place that I entered on a solitary wandering, was Sainte-Chapelle, meaning Holy Chapel…
From the outside, patterns can be made out in the window panels, but the beauty of the stained glass from within the chapel are yet to surprise you…
Religious figures and chiseled-out arches, grace its aging facade…
And if you look carefully enough, you’ll catch glimpses of the gargoyles that are peering down at you from above…
While the fleur-de-lis and castles that decorate the stone, are powerful markers of the history of this particular house of worship…
Markers that continue inside of the church, painted in gold upon the ancient red and blue pillars. I gasped at such a display of color, which I was not expecting…
Sainte-Chapelle began construction in the year 1242 and was completed in 1248, making this glorious building just about 774 years old! Folks who live abroad may not find this uncommon, but coming from the U.S., we consider a building or church that is just several hundred years old as being historically important. Therefore, I was absolutely in awe as I toed about this holy place built in the High-Middle Ages…
Once making a slow entrance into its absolutely magnificent chapel, I heard angels singing. A whole choir of them. This was all in my head of course, for the place was so reverently quiet that you could have heard a mouse sneeze…
It was a breathtaking moment. The sun glowing through the stained glass, the candlelight, the woodwork, the vaulted ceilings, the decorative alter…
All I can say is, oh heavens! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!…
And then I got closer to sneak a peek at the stories in the glasswork and my brain just broke. In the year 1248…how?! How did they do it? It’s…just…amazing…
Some who visited the church plunked down in reverie to view the scene. I wouldn’t doubt if folks stayed for hours to do so. The hundreds of stories and patterns in glass could keep anyone mesmerized. And to think, many if not most of these scenes in glass must have a meaning, some background to them. Whether a political rendering, or a story from the Bible, how many narratives the glass holds…
Sainte-Chapelle was built by Louis IX, King of France from 1226-1270. When he became a king, he was but 12 years old. He constructed this church in a courtyard where his palace stood in Paris, for the purpose of housing religious relics (including one crown of thorns alleged to be the very one Jesus wore at his crucifixion, and which is now housed in Notre Dame)…
At this time in the High Middle-Ages, there was both great population and economic growth in Europe (with a blossoming of urban life). It was a period posed after centuries of barbaric invasions, but set just before the Black Death (which potentially took up to 200 million European lives in the mid-1300’s, up to 60% of the peoples)…
Sainte-Chapelle housed just more than 30 religious relics acquired by Louis IX, items that would have caused absolute fervor in the devout. But even without the relics, if any common citizen could have gained access to such one chapel of a king (not likely), the view alone would have brought them to their knees. For that time period, the innards of a building like this would have been something hardly imaginable, a sight of unfathomable splendor…
Alas, as I finally walked down an ancient stair to leave the church and gain access once more to the rest of Paris, perhaps I passed the ghost of King Louis’s wife Margaret of Provence as she glided up in the opposite direction, heading into the chapel to say her prayers under the rainbows of the stained glass. Only my imagination of course, but how I wish I could catch but some small glimpses back in time while visiting such ancient places…
And as I walked back out into the light, the windows hardly giving away the colorful views that were within, I looked up to the gargoyles and said goodbye while angel song flitted up and away into the blue sky. What a place of beauty, is Paris’s Sainte-Chapelle!
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Frills and Frivolity!
Because we’re all recovering from something.
The world is everything that is the case. --- Ludwig Wittgenstein. "die Wahrheit ist konkret"---Bertolt Brecht.
Sarcastic and inappropriate commentary on sensitive topics
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
The Victorian Seamstress
THE WELL DRESSED HISTORIAN
Exploring Japan Through Pictures
A pictorial record of life as I see it.
Embracing Absurdity One Day at a Time
Let's go around the world with SAWAWORLD!
It's the little things that confuse
Inspired By Venice 