well...

...do you??

humble thoughts on forgiveness...

forgive me if i've seen
the splinter in your eye
then hit you with the plank in mine
while reaching to "fix" you

free-falling...

did you ever have one of those days when beauty conspires to pull you out of your ordinary, maybe even kicking & screaming out of the clutches of feeling blue? why do we sometimes wallow willingly in drudgery when we live one blink of the eye away from the incredible?...last monday was like a waking from my all-too-usual sleepwalk through a mundane monday. D. came home from work & proclaimed it a day too gorgeous to spend indoors any longer & so we were off, wandering the nearby tidal creek, basking in fall's perfection...he knew i might have a tendency to be a bit blue that day as i remembered my daddy's passing & as we meandered, he kept telling me that spending some time in nature would be just what daddy would want to do...so true! i could feel a rush of wonderful memories from years past~~moments working side-by-side in the fading dusk to rake fall leaves, filling bird feedings while he taught me the names of the birds, rides on the tractor to collect tree prunings (oh, the joy when i could sit in his lap & steer!!)...we were regaled with otters' antics...late-season egrets returning to their old summer roosts...flocks of geese on the move (& a tad camera-shy too)...even a curious feline...the russet hues & slant of light...capped off with a brilliant sunset for the slow cruise home with a pause to watch the stars come out, one by one...
a day well-spent, weaving memories old while making new!

beauty all around

on land...or at sea...the fruits of this season are not to be missed!

remembering 20 years ago today...

the fall of the berlin wall on 9 november 1989 was a profound moment in time. as i traveled this past summer behind the old iron curtain, i did so with disbelief...i never thought that journey possible as a teenager & yet there i was. i kept telling myself, 'never, ever forget.'


my time in romania & hungary was spent with a deep sense of gratitude. when i would catch glimpses of old barricades & watchtowers, i would shudder at the thought of what those now-abandoned structures used to mean. we all need to jog our memories from time to time, because as the years pass, it is so easy to fall into complacency, especially when life is good & trials are few.


in remembrance today i offer more 'snapshots on the journey'~~ this time from budapest, hungary, which is my very favorite european city, for me second only to venice, italy. our border crossing was met with friendly guards who took our passports & offered us americans condolences on the passing of michael jackson...we were welcomed with such kindness & fields of sunflowers...& a sunset over the danube in budapest...this is a city of great beauty~ even the subway stops are gorgeous...we decided to start our first day with some persective for the younger folk traveling with us who were not old enough to remember the cold war...a visit to the terror museum was a sobering event...every face on the walls in the atrium represents a victim...we moved from this tragic reminder of the past into the beauty of now...wandering first around pest, visiting sights like heroes' square...enjoying something a bit lighter~ the zoo...before deciding to brave the climb of buda & see the city from a different angle...we crossed the szechenyi chain bridge...hopped the castle hill funicular (vertigo, anyone?!?)...to enjoy the view from the top of castle hill...& after walking many, many miles that day, an awesome meal (hungarian goulash...ohhhhh, those noodles. carb-loading perfection!.), some of the best food on our entire 5 week trip!!...the next morning we dashed to the train; our short weekend in budapest had come to an end...it was time to head back into western europe~~ next stop vienna, austria...moving on, but not forgetting...

prayers please...

...for mandy

la festa di ognissanti

& so today begins a month that is not always so easy for me to navigate...it seems so fitting to me that my parents' passings were during the month that begins with the feasts of All Saints & All Souls...st. benedict wrote in his 'rule' to 'keep death daily before one's eyes'...during november this directive to remember death is not so difficult for me to follow...last night at the All Saints vigil Mass, fr. T's encouraging words reminded me that for most of my days i do not spend enough time thinking on the Last Things...nor do i usually frame the context of my thoughts & actions around my final end...does what i am thinking, doing, creating in my everyday life matter toward this end?...in other words, am i doing what i am supposed to be doing right here, right now. i so often find myself looking down~ looking at the nitty-gritty very small picture...forgetting my purpose, forgetting to look up~ keeping an eye on the end of our journey...this feast reminds me of where i am going...& it reminds too that we do not navigate this alone; we have friends for the journey, friends in very high places! their examples of holy lives, their intercessions available to us now offer much comfort to us each day...