MaryBeth at RevGalBlogPals asks for five Halloween/All Saints Day memories. Since my family didn't go to church much, mine are all Halloween: I am one in a mob of kids unsupervised by adults but bound together by our parents' edict: stay together! Big kids are expected to look after the littles and no one is to wander …
Month: October 2015
RevGalBookPals: An Ordinary Death
Reblogging this as I was the child of two parents who both died with no wills, no instructions, and I had no clue how to handle any of it. From discussing these things with one's spouse and children, to writing a will and Advanced Directive, to your funeral arrangements, thinking about this stuff ahead of …
Going Viral: Bad Cops Vs. Everyday Miracles
My adoptive state of South Carolina is making the news again, and it hurts my heart. I'm sick over the video all over the internet and news channels this morning, of the teenage girl knocked to the ground while still in her desk, then thrown across the room and cuffed by a Sheriff's Deputy/School Resource Officer …
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A Tardy Friday Five
MaryBeth at RevGalBlogPals poses the question, if you had to be in a hotel suite for an extended period of time, say, a month, what five items would you most like to have with you? So here goes: Laptop - it brings the whole world to me without all the screaming and agita of TV …
State Fair
Two veterans of the State Fair of Texas journeyed forth to its cousin in South Carolina. I imagine most fairs have many of the same things: animals, agriculture, and fried foods. Texas being Texas, it's all on a ginormous scale. Since one could comfortably fit about five South Carolinas inside Texas, the fair was naturally a …
The Grace of a Gift in the Morning
Yesterday morning at church I received a small gift from new friends. In an effort at clearing the clutter of their house Steve and Jim had a yard sale, but one thing Steve rescued and presented to me: a Texas trivet, the type of thing one finds in gift shops at every tourist attraction everywhere. It …
A Monday Prayer: Patience/Gratitude
Heavenly Father of All, who knows that for me, Patience is the virtue most elusive, I thank you for all the once and future cosmic two-by-fours with which You routinely instruct me. But today I offer a grateful Thank You for all the gentle, nearly invisible lessons of it on display: The lovely woman and her …
Good News from South Carolina: The Miracle of Pumpkins
Flap on over to one side, Swallows of San Juan Capistrano, and meet the Pumpkins of Irmo, South Carolina. One of the things that drew us to our new parish of St. Simon & St. Jude Episcopal Church (SSSJ) in Irmo, South Carolina, is the commitment to outreach in the community. Outreach takes money, and …
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Can We Have Honest Conversations about Guns on Campus? Please?
In the aftermath of yet another school shooting, we're being inundated with the shouting: more guns on campus! Let those with a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) carry on campus! Good guys with guns will take out the shooters! I held a CHL for the last three years I lived in Texas. I am a good …
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An Old, Unlikely Angel
I was feeling a bit sorry for myself yesterday, finishing off left-over pasta puttanesca. For the record, puttanesca is delicious the first day, a bit lack-luster the second, but the mediocrity both suited and fed my mood. Today is October 1st, and the fourth anniversary of my friend's, Jeff's, death. I've been feeling his loss …
Southern Fried Californian 