Blessings on an early Monday morning walk

215. early morning chill in the air, misleading start to another 90 + degree day
216. the doe with her fawn, standing in the neighbors yard, frozen still, watching my every step
217. sunrise over the lake
218. early morning mist hanging low over the water, sun hasn't reached it yet
219. the way the rising sun colors everything in its path with an orange pink glow
220. the absolute, ordinary beauty of sunrise and sunset - since the fourth day of creation the sun has been rising and setting as we rotate 'round it, we take it for granted, hardly even consider it most days,  yet each time I witness it, it takes my breath away
221. smell of honeysuckle in the bushes
222. hum of crickets mixed with the chirp of birds, morning sounds and lingering night cadences all mixed up
223. pounding rhythm of feet on pavement
224. the way the Jesus prayer flows so easily to the pace of pounding footsteps

The Call

Last week Father asked a question at the Paraklesis service.  When you get the call saying your mother is dying, what do you do?  Does anything else matter?  Do you concern yourself with daily life and routines?  Do you explain, I am just so busy, I'll try to get there when I can, but you know how it is, so many other commitments, it's such a busy time of year?  No, you drop everything to be at her side.  You rearrange your schedule, you lay aside all earthly cares, do whatever it takes to be with her, to show her you love her.  Every August first we get that call.  Our Mother is dying.  Do we notice?  Have we changed our own lives and pace to be with her?  Will we come running to her side?  Or will we allow the world to pull us in a thousand directions?  The church gives us two whole weeks to come, to mourn, to offer our prayers, to be with her, to sing those beautiful hymns. 

Our Mother is dying, let us run to her.

"If a human being were a machine, education could do no more for him than to set him in action in prescribed ways, and the work of the educator would be simply to adopt a good working system or set of systems.  But the educator has to deal with a self-acting, self-developing being, and his business is to guide, and assist in, the production of the latent good in that being, the dissapation of the latent evil, the preparation of the child to take his place in the world at his best, with every capacity for good that is in him developed into a power"  (Charlotte Mason  Volume 1, p. 9)

A Sobering Time

The weeks of summer fly past.  Trips, training,  gardening, canning and cooking consume every moment.  There is a seeming lull in the liturgical year, as if all energy was expended throughout the marathon of Lent and the Apostles Fast, and we collapsed into exhausted celebration with the feasts of Ascension, Pentecost and the Apostles.  Life seems to pull at us - with fewer added services, life in our home takes on an agrarian rhythm.  Everything builds around the harvest, whether from our own garden, or the weekly CSA box, or the Farmer's Market, I spend much of my time considering what foods must be frozen, canned or cooked.  Enjoying parties with family and friends, breathing deeply the humid air, a feeling of indolence and joy at letting go of a few responsibilities.  I suppose that is the way the end of the year should feel - hot, heavy, with thoughts turning to the next year...school plans...the liturgical gauntlet of September with its many services.  So it is good to have a sobering time.  A time to call ourselves back from the carefree days of July, to ease us back. 

 For that, the church offers the Dormition.  We end the church cycle as we begin it, with she who was permitted to hold God both within her and in her arms.  So many names......... she is the ladder of Jacob..... the burning bush of Moses....the cloud of glory which contained our Lord.  She is the ark, the tabernacle - holier than the Holies.  She gave birth to the light which illumines the world, and the stone cut from a mountain by no human hand.  She is the gate that shall ever remain shut - for the Lord, the God of Israel has entered by it.  She is the very temple veil she stitched, and the golden urn which carried the Manna.  She is the rod of Aaron, which sprouted the Flower of Immortality, and who gave birth to the Rod of Jesse.  She is the holy altar who bore the bread of life, the branch of the unwithering vine, and her prayers are the sweetest of incense to her Son.  As we enter the season of the dormition, may we remember the most holy Theotokos, and beseech her prayers on our behalf - for what better mouth to voice our needs to the ear of the Son of God............. than those of his Mother.

candles

wax for decorating

cutters



Busy Week

It's been a busy week around here - today was the 11th day of training for Catechesis this summer, with 3 more to go next week.  Wednesday means certification! 

Today was a materials making day - our intrepid group spent the morning building the walls of Jerusalem, using the above as our model, we set to work figuring out how to recreate it!

I am pretty sure when we signed on, none of us realized it was going to mean an education in woodworking!  Here are two catechists who are now quite proficient with a mitre saw.  Next up, learning how to use a scroll saw!

It's beginning to come together -  

And our amazing formation leaders spent the day painting puzzles pieces and Good Shepherd materials for us.

Garden (Over) Abundance

Still trying to claw my way through an abundance of cucumbers - so far 4 jars relish, 12 jars bread and butter pickles, 8 jars dill spears, and countless batches of refrigerator pickles.

And these are still taunting me from the sink!

A Picture Perfect Saturday Morning: or blessings #206-214

yummy home baked goodies, Laura's little maple cakes, lemon corn muffins, fruit and salad....

.....freshly squeezed lemonade.....

......dancing on the front porch to Pa's fiddlin'  tunes .....

... an excursion to a 200 year old mill - where the cornmeal for those yummy muffins was ground....

....little girls in bonnets all in a row....

.... watching the fish.....

....dancing like no one is watching....

......a final turn on the tree swing ...

......and beautiful bouquets of flowers to take home with the memories - Thank you V!