The Light and The Dark

You can run in circles.  But it’ll make you dizzy.

You can turn into a couch potato.  But it’ll make you dull.

You can tackle a big job alone.  But it’ll make you wish you had someone by your side.

You can spend all day thinking about unfortunate things you can’t change.  But it’ll make you despair.

You can beat yourself up and analyze all your faults.  But it’ll make you a cripple.

You can be halted in your tracks by people who slap you in the face and make you cower in your chair.  But it’ll make you doubt.

You can cut out red and green letters that spell “Merry Christmas.”  It’ll make you smile.

You can watch some cool kids act out a skit and wrap up some presents.  It’ll make you happy.

You can joke around with your coworkers and exchange good-sprited jibes.  It’ll make you laugh.

You can watch snowflakes float to the ground and smell the clean winter air.  It’ll make you know that there’s a God.

You can let someone take you by the hand and show you the way.  It’ll make you know that life’s worth living.

You can appreciate the small things:  the person who smiles at you as you pass them by in the grocery aisle, the smell of cookies baking in the oven, the face of the moon shining down from a clear winter sky, the cows in the pasture amongst the mountains, a table surrounded by people singing “Happy Birthday”.  It’ll make you grateful.

Life comes with the good and the bad, the light and the dark.  Which are you going to mull over?

I’m changing my ways.  It might take awhile.  But that’s okay.

The Things They Found

We left the trailer hastily.  We had been waiting to move for a long time and we jumped at the chance.  Once we left, we didn’t want to go back.  Hence, the trailer has remained uncleaned since we left it.  Kate and I decided to rectify this problem this weekend.

The trailer was pretty disgusting.  A dog died on the porch this week.  He probably thought that it looked like a good place to die, next to the abandoned chairs, the bath rug, and the garbage can.  I wish I could say that that is all that’s on the porch, but I would be lying.

You find unpleasant things under beds.  Old slimy feeling sticks of gum.  Dead wasps (or waspers if you happen to be a local).  Dust balls.  Partially painted rather disgusting looking toenails.  Beads that accidently get sucked up by the vacuum.  The like.

You find unpleasant, undefinable things stuffed into window crevices.  I can’t tell you what they were.  They were undefinable.  Fossilized bugs? Fungus?  Moss?  Rust?  Dirt?  Leaf bits?  General grime?  Who knows?

You find strange things under sofas, or in this case under love seats.  Lord knows the trailer doesn’t have enough room for large furniture.  Abandoned self-help books.  Empty CD cases.  Old mail.  Dust balls.  Rubber bands.  Paper clips.  Ant traps.  The like.

You find strange things in pantries and refigerators.   Old turkey bacon.  Mysterious smelly canned goods.  Frozen….um…soup?  Broken pitchers.  Empty cracker tins.  Ants.  The like.

Yup.  That trailer was in desperate need of cleaning.  And Kate and I are, unfortunately, not done yet.  We’ll have to add it to our list of fun things to do next weekend.

The Good Shepherd

There’s a tiny church in Whitley City, KY, where the local Catholics gather to worship every Sunday.  You can find it inside a converted garage, still attached to the house that it was built for.  Shall we look inside and observe?

Three minutes ’til church starts.

“Are you going to light the candles?”

Folks sit in black chairs where cars used to park.

“Where’s the lighter?”

A dark-haired woman wanders behind the wall in the front of the church.

“Do I light just one of the candles or two?”

One purple Advent candle flickers into flame.

“Have you moved into the house yet?”

The people in the second row chit chat.

“Hello Father.”

The priest, six feet-ten of clergy, enters the room, not quite ready.

“Do we light just one candle or two?”

Another purple Advent candle flickers into flame.

“Welcome to Good Shepherd.”

The dark-haired woman flicks on the cd player and the recorded music floats through the air.  Time passes.

“Must you squish bugs during my homily?”

The woman who has just stood up and approached the column next to the front row of chairs goes back to her seat.

“I’m sorry.  I think they’re termites.”

The congregation goes up for communion, noting that they are nowhere near 6’10.

“Does anyone have any announcements?”

One lady stands up and addresses the congregation, telling them all of the upcoming events.

“Wait.  Are we having mass on Thursday?”

The announcements turn into a discussion with several participants.

“I’ll be helping but I have to go to the store and get some fruit first.”

The mass comes to a close and the congregants trickle out the door.

The Good Shepherd is a disorganized and scatterbrained, but likeable fellow.  Oh, Kentucky.

‘Tis the Season

As you can tell from the fact that I am currently typing this post….drum roll please…I did not die during my Thanksgiving plane rides!  Whew.  What a relief.  Actually, the plane rides weren’t that bad.  I think I have developed a system for creating a tolerable plane riding experience.  Here it is step by step:

1.  Take a pill.

2. Get on the plane.

3.  Sit as still as possible with head back.

4.  Close eyes.

5.  Get off plane.

Yup.  I have fun on planes now.  At least, I have fun if fun equals not feeling like I’m going to barf.  Besides that though, it still isn’t really all that enjoyable.  But I’m alive and well, so who’s complaining?

Anywho, I had a lovely time at home.  My kitties are looking plump and healthy.  I gave all of them a good petting.  The critters are also looking lovely.  Some of them are looking a little shaggier.  (They’re getting ready for winter.)  I went out into the barnyard to visit with my buddy Holly Beanie and my Beautiful Susie.  They gave me a good slobbering.  I also saw my lovely family.  They are also looking plump and healthy.  They’re the bestest.  I’m looking forward to going back for Christmas in two weeks.

My return to work was sprinkled with Christmas preparations and activities.  In SPARK, we are making pillows for the people who live at a rest home down the road.  The pillows are especially beautiful because they are made out of High School Musical fabric.  I’m so jealous of those rest home people.  They’re going to love those pillows.  The pillows are going to remind them of their high school days, when they used to burst into song and dance around the hallways in musical fashion.  Fantastic.  Nothing Christmas related happened with the 4th graders, unless you count that the school is decorated – but they did that before Thanksgiving (the stinkers), so I’m not going to. I had two meetings and a Christmas party this week as well.  The meetings were not that exciting, but meetings rarely are.  The Christmas party was nice.  It was at my boss Brinda’s house.  She has a beautiful home and there were lots of good breakfast foods and Christmas-y activities.  While I was there I had my first ever taste of wassail.  I’m sorry to say that it wasn’t exactly my bag of beans, but that’s okay.  At least I know what it is now.

In other exciting Christmas related news:  The McCreary Volunteer House now has a Christmas tree!  It’s fake, and we had to decorate it with icicle lights because the regular ones croaked on us, but it’s just dandy.    While we decorated the tree we listened to Spice Girls music, because when I think “Christmas”, I think “Spice Girls”.  And so does everyone else.