A Storm Is Coming

The four horsemen of the
Modern apocalypse are
Congregated in my head.
Ignorance and Disdain
Gaze balefully
At their brothers,
Apathy and Greed.
A storm is coming.
A storm is coming.
And these four
Callous equestrians
Will be no help.

The table is empty now.
The feast table is laid bare.
Gone, the bread,
Gone, the cup,
Gone the voice
Singing in my head,
“Just as I am, I come, I come.”

Four sets of hooves
Scatter compassion
East West North South.
If you look hard enough
You can find it buried
In the Book of Common Prayer
Huddled between
The Psalter and
The Catechism.

If you look hard enough
You can find it buried
Inside your own heart.

2012 Project 365 – Week Forty-Three

I guess you could say that the pretty part of fall is winding down – there are a LOT of leaves on the ground now – but as you’ll see, there are still a lot of gorgeous trees out there. It was really warm this week – in the 70s a few days – but now we’re back to more seasonably cool & rainy days. I’m starting to feel slightly nest-ish. Why, I might even vacuum the floors this weekend!

Saturday, October 20^th

Dr. M’s school is trying to make homecoming more of a celebration by having people come early & “tailgate” (no actual tailgates were involved – we had a tent). His college decided to do NC barbecue – pulled pork, homemade sauces, coleslaw (you saw that in last week’s post) & baked beans. I do believe we were a hit – certainly the best smelling tent around! Here is his colleague who smoked the pork – he is a most excellent cook!

The committee in charge of the tailgating thought they’d be cute – it’s supposed to be the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences – ha!

There was a zip line – the college mascot decided to participate.

On our way home we took the scenic route. It was almost like we were saturated with gorgeousity – too much appreciation going on to take pictures. But we got a couple.

When we got home the roofers were putting the finishing touches on the roof – we timed it just right!

Sunday, October 21^st  

Everybody gets a bath on Sunday whether they need it or not!

When I got home from church I saw this blowing in the breeze on the garage roof. Apparently the workers took the warning seriously!

The moon!

Monday, October 22^nd    

Dr. M saw some critters on his way home from school. Imagine that!

Flower hanging on.

We voted after work. It’s kind of cool to live in a state where our vote really does count! Now, let’s just hope our people win. Heh.

Tuesday, October 23^rd  

Today is all about lovely autumn. I especially love the picture Dr. M took with the trees reflected in the water. Dr. M posted more pictures of this day here.

Wednesday, October 24^th    

Leaves on a sidewalk.

I don’t know why inflatables make me smile so much – these ones are definitely contagious!

The Tax Time Pig is under that sheet somewhere!

I’ve made a bluemillion of those pink & yellow dishcloths (bought two giant skeins of the yarn for cheap), so today I decided to get some new colors. My stack is getting taller!

The moon!

Thursday, October 25^th        

More pretty trees.

I saw this truck on my way home.

Friday, October 19^th          

Pinky in the rain…

The State of the Bug. My bangs are out of control! They have a life of their own & I might have to trim them just a bit to show them who’s boss. But I’m still going to try to grow them out.

Dr. M made a peanut butter chocolate chip pound cake for the benefit I talk about here. We didn’t get to eat any cake, but I got to lick the bowl – yum!

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask! 

Short Stories

It’s a good thing that I didn’t take the time to pull my hair back before I left for work this morning. That meant that when I had the eggsplosion in my car it mostly landed on my hair instead of my clothes. A quick rinse in the bathroom sink & I was good as new. Next time I fry an egg I’ll try to remember to poke the yolk to make sure it’s really done. My breakfast sandwich was tasty though – and aren’t eggs good for hair?

It’s been in the 70s this week & we even ran the air conditioner for a while last night. My question is why do we have to have global warming while I’m going through menopause? One would think that all menopausal women would unite & make all these governments do something about it! (Says the woman who drives 80 miles a day. Sigh.)

I had a nice talk with my cousin KJ yesterday & she laughed at me (laughed!) because I thought I was having a busy week. Just because she has two active teenage daughters & a full time chaplaincy job doesn’t mean that she can talk about busy. Well, maybe it does. For the record, in addition to all the other things I’m doing this week, I’m also doing altar set-up at church tomorrow. So, you know, I’ve had one extra thing to do every day this week. It’s outta control! When am I supposed to play Words with Friends & work my puzzles (not to mention crochet all those darn dishcloths)?

I feel like I’m reaching some sort of Zen-like state regarding politics. Everyone around me is screaming & I’m just moving toward election day calmly. Actually, the image I have in my head is when that awful Lord Beckett is walking down the stairs as his ship disintegrates around him in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Hmm – maybe since I have the image of a sinking ship in my head I’m not as calm as I think I am.

I wonder how people write whole posts about one subject? I’ve always known that I wouldn’t do well writing a novel, but this is ridiculous! Not that I’m feeling very “writey” anyway – yesterday I tried to write a poem about the time I stole a grape & my mom made me go back & pay the nice lady at the fruit stand a penny for it. I know it would have been a Fabulous Poem if only I could have found the right words.

First World Problems

I almost tripped this morning heading out to the garage (In. The. Dark. Sigh). Our landlord had our house reroofed this weekend & the workers left behind some materials when they were done. We assume that someone will come & get them sometime, but in the meantime the sheets of plywood are kind of stealthy. #ihavearoof

The microwave in the office next door died last week so now to nuke my food I have to go up to the 2nd floor & walk down a long hallway and security-card-swipe my way through to the 2nd floor break room, wait in line to use the microwave, and then carry the hot food back to my desk! Not only that, my coworkers were kind of laughing at my distress (which is no more than I should expect given my Drama Queen Status). #ihavefoodtoeat

Did I mention that it was dark when I left the house this morning at 7:15? And heaven help me when the time changes – it’ll still be dark when I get to work. #ihaveagreatjob

This week is going to be really busy. Tonight I’m voting, tomorrow is my regular dinner out with my friend Joanne, Wednesday is choir practice, Thursday I have a pre-convention meeting (I’m a delegate from our church to our diocesan annual meeting), and Saturday is this benefit*. I really really don’t like it if there is more than one thing per week on my calendar. #ihavetimeandtalenttogive

In short, I do believe I’ll just shut up now!



*I had someone ask about making a donation for Jennie. If you are so inclined, please make any checks payable to Christ Episcopal Church Xenia, put "Jennie Hudson Fund" on the memo line & mail them to 65 East Church Street, Xenia, OH 45385, and Thank You VERY Much!

2012 Project 365 – Week Forty-Two

It was another seriously gorgeous week in our part of Ohio – our trees have been so beautiful this fall. Dr. M has two posts on his blog that you should check out. Go ahead – go here and here & then come back. (Here is where you imagine hold music while my post waits for you to come back). [Note: if this sounds familiar, it’s mostly the same intro from the last TWO weeks – ha!]

Saturday, October 13^th

Chick-a-dee-dee-dee!

Sunday, October 14^th

The volunteer maple tree in Pinky the Geranium’s pot is changing colors. It’s almost time to prune everyone back & bring them inside.

Squirrels.

Monday, October 15^th   

Fall in our Ohio.

The squirrels are nutty!

Campus deer.

The roofing supplies arrived! [Please note – this is Monday. They didn’t come to start on the roof until Friday, & they finished on Saturday.]

Tuesday, October 16^th  

Birds on the wing.

Wednesday, October 17^th    

Shag Bark Hickory & Sweet Gum Trees

Thursday, October 18^th        

Hold onto your seats everyone, this is gonna be a long one! First of all, The State of the Bug – I am this | | close to chopping off those bangs!

Fall is winding down here in Ohio. Lots of leaves on the ground.

Of course, there are still a lot of leaves on the trees!

And a buffalo.

And the moon!

Friday, October 19^th          

Critters.

This evening as I was leaving church (Church Lady Altar Guild Duties) I saw this black squirrel eating berries.

Dr. M volunteered to make coleslaw for his college’s homecoming tailgate party. It’s a vinegar based slaw – perfect for the pulled pork sandwiches we were going to have (if you like coleslaw which I do NOT). It was a big hit, but those pictures are for another week.

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Most of our photos are taken with a 12 megapixel Nikon D5000 DSLR, using a 55-200mm zoom lens. This is the camera that Dr. M takes with him most days. The Bug uses our new Nikon Coolpix S6200 most of the time. If you’re interested in which camera was used for a particular shot, just ask! 

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