how 'bout those snakes?

So Liz and I were walking through the back yard, pretty motivated to watch 'The Informant" that we had rented from Redbox (beings as The Young Victoria was unavailable). All thoughts of movie and popcorn and leisure were absolutely erased when our attention was riveted on a squirming/writhing/tumbled ball of snakes. Plural. Oooh! Blech! Agh! We screamed in soprano and acted so girl-like. Unashamedly. The men folks were out golfing and we were alone in a house that was in grave peril of being invaded by this slithering horde.

What to do?

We called snake-killing males in an ever widening circle of distance from the house. We tried several attempts at snake-containment using buckets and rakes and bricks. So futile. Finally one of our brave friends showed up and promptly dispatched a number of the reptiles. He even dug up a few that had escaped into their burrow. The battle field was strewn with snake parts by the end of the episode. Did that allow us to relax and smile in relief? Not really, because we knew there were more down under the grass.

It was a subdued pair who sat and watched Matt Damon, munching some popcorn. Thoughts of snakes sneaking into the gaps in the basement windows are still making me tense.

A bit of Harry Potter

This is a first for me....I have quoted Piper and Lewis and Thackery. I have quoted Twain even more. But this short piece was so piercingly sweet it brought tears to my eyes. Thanks JK.

Harry did not really listen. A warmth was spreading through him that had nothing to do with the sunlight: a tight obstruction in his chest seemed to be dissolving. He knew that Ron and Hermione were more shocked than they were letting on, but the mere fact that they were still there on either side of him, speaking bracing words of comfort, not shrinking from him as though he were contaminated or dangerous, was worth more that he could ever tell them.

Perhaps one has to be in that precise place to understand how he felt. But I have been gifted with the presence of others and bracing words that comfort. People too brave to shrink away from me. What a generous gift that is!!

Phoenix!

These are three happy women at the Phoenix zoo. My dad invited us to go and spend a week with them and we gladly accepted. Basically pool-side the whole time with a brief outing to the zoo so Addie could pet some animals.

And run and giggle and squeal at the spraypark.

Nora perhaps didn't appreciate the details of how cool the week was, but oh my, she was dazzling in her bathing costume!

Thanks Dad and Sue! It was exactly what we needed.

People Are Cool

People are so cool. Some are tiny and some huge. There are old ones and very young ones (loved watching you smile tonight, Ellaina.) Some have adventurous hearts and some that have hearts that are barely beating. You can see hard workers and also hard players. Some are grateful that they can see the sunrise and others that sleep through every sunrise of their lives. Every person I have been privileged to know are different from another. No one is quite like me (lucky universe!) Each one carries a piece that reflects God. Every one was lent the breath of life.

(I ran outside tonight in a gloaming that gave me bursts of speed...it is so beautiful. And even though my breath was running short I couldn't stop running until I arrived home. I want that to be a metaphor for the years of my life.)

Right now I am finding myself in a very sad conflict with a friend. And there is absolutely no way to imagine myself into that other's head to think their thoughts about this tension. Because all of those other cool people are OTHER. As in, NOT ME. Different. And how each person solves distress and discomfort are different. So I bumble along, praying lots. Knowing that my Redeemer has a way through this one too.

Colorado!

This is the view of Blanca, elev 14, 560 ft, from my dad's property in Colorado. Jay and I drove there last weekend to see it and dream about possibilities. By the way, there are LOTS of possibilities. Driving and talking and listening to music and eating and climbing with Jay made for a terrific weekend. He knows how to explore and notice and enjoy. It was the best sort of road trip.

And here we are in a cave that one can find on the west side of this beast of a mountain. To get to the cave Jay had to do a little free climbing on some rocks to the side of the frozen river, and then haul me up over the slippery frozen waterfall. So worth it!