August Already

How time flies! So much has happened in July and I'm still processing it--road trip, family reunion, Trump assassination attempt, Biden stepping down as DNC candidate, and hurricane Debby already dumping massive amounts of water in the Lowcountry. Even so, we have God's peace, saints to emulate, walks on the beach, good books to read, and kitties! As Providence would it, we were able to have a procession (with the relic of the True Cross) around the church praying for protection against storms, so I think we're covered. The previous year we didn't and the church flooded Gaudete Sunday. Prayers really are powerful! And we are praying for all in the path of hurricane Debby. 

On Holy Week and Triduum and Solar Eclipse

Some day I will have grandchildren, so I had to get my own copy of: My Book of the Church's Year! I know, excuses, excuses to buy books, especially children's books :) But Peter Kwawniewski echoes how I feel about giving children (and adults) the best books. Consider how we spend Lent with three practices: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. How beautifully Enid Chadwick shows that these are our weapons against the devil, the flesh, and the world respectively. She creates space to ponder the Mysteries of the Faith with all the details in her artwork.

This was perhaps the best Lent ever, bar our first when we were in RCIA; my niece is being received into the Church this Easter Vigil. Her marriage, too, is being convalidated. She will receive the Body and Blood of our Lord. So much to celebrate! Glory, glory to God! 

This Eastertide is special for another reason--signs from heaven. Fr. Ripperger has a wonderful reflection on the upcoming solar eclipse on April 8th, the fact that its path takes it through the towns of Jonah and Nineveh. If this isn't a call to repent and turn to the Lord, I don't know what would be clearer. I especially liked that at the end, Fr. Ripperger reminds us how God created. He calls upon the waters to bring forth the fish and the earth to bring forth plants and animals. But when He creates man, He says, "Let US create man in our Image." He points out that if you take a fish out of water, it dies; if you take a plant out of the earth, it dies; and so it follows that if you separate man from God, he suffers a spiritual death. Anyway, Fr. Ripperger packs a lot in 11 minutes. For a more detailed description of all the cosmological things going on, see: Guest post: Laramie Hirsch on the April 8 solar eclipse – Nurse Claire Says. Granted, I have a fascination with numbers and names and coincidences but I've come to believe that there are no coincidences, simply signs from God. We should do as He commands in the Garden of Gethsemane: Watch and Pray! A Blessed and Happy Easter to you! 

Check out these cool maps! I like the patterns they make, the letter A, which is the beginning of the alphabet (aleph; I'm reading a fascinating book Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story by Michael Rosen), or the X's where a place experiences two solar eclipses. Just don't ask me to explain the difference between annular and total solar eclipses :) 

Summer Memories

What a summer! What a life of leisure! I've been reading, singing and playing so much, I've not taken the time to do much else, even write. But here I am on my poor, neglected blog. 

Dagny has moved farther away from her work and church and us but she's enjoying living closer to the beach with her new friends. I just love that her new home has a little stairway just for fun--just like in the song, If I Were a Rich Man in Fiddler on the Roof! I believe it must be a school project; both new housemates study here: Trades — American College of the Building Arts (acba.edu). My heart is at peace knowing she's in a good place with young women who share not only many interests, but also faith in Christ. It's been lovely to watch her grow in love and friendships and virtues.

I'm learning all kinds of new things at the library. We meet for "crafternoons" once a month and it's so fun. I get to be a kid again. I'd collected lots of pretty shells on the beach and learned to decoupage them; next, some painting! We're also learning to play the recorder in a group and purchased a tenor recorder for Michael--its tone is lovely, same range as the human voice. Luckily the fingering is the same as with the soprano, only it's twice as big, so he's getting used to having the fingers separated more--it helps to have big hands :) We continue to sing at both Stella Maris and Sacred Heart--it is our joy! I also got an invitation (from one of the ladies in the recorder group) to come listen to her women's acapella group, Charleston Sound Chorus, and since our church choir was on a summer hiatus, I thought it'd be fun. Barbershop has a unique sound. Melody (how aptly named) gave me a folder of music to sing along and I struggled my way through. But such fun! Challenging! I prayed to God that if it were His will for me to sing with CSC, He'd have to make it happen. And He did! All the details. I promised to do my part, which was to practice faithfully. Singing in three choirs is making me grow in musicianship. What's funny is that sometimes I wish I had my recorder at barbershop so that I could play the parts that I'm having trouble singing. But isn't it incredible that we're born with a musical instrument! 

Now that I'm mostly caught up with all the talented ladies in barbershop, I want to see whether I can write more productively (as in publishable material). I'm still only scribbling ideas (they just keep on coming) but I put away my historical novel...so pray that I can do it all. I want everything, yes, it's true. Sometimes I talk to St. Therese, the Little Flower, about it because she, too, wanted everything! But she also gave everything, her very self, completely to God. Do I? I try. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Max and his friends from American Moment came for a visit in Sept. and it was such a joy to spend some time with them celebrating birthdays, solving puzzles, discussing politics and religion, making music, and of course, eating good food and drink! It reminds me of the poem by Hilaire Belloc: 

Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!  

We all enjoyed some homebrew. Michael got some art from Tridentine Brewing Co. and it fits so perfectly with why we do what we do--for the greater glory of God. My motto is that of the Knights Templar: non nobis Domine (and we sing it often). Michael planted a fall garden and it's doing well (the bunnies haven't been able to get at it). 

Hard to believe that we're already in the last days (of the liturgical year, but also considering the chaos and evil in this world). All we can do is pray. So I leave you with a picture of the Source of my peace and joy along with some Lowcountry beauty captured by Dagny and Max. Pax Christi.   

Reading

I've not been on the computer much, preferring to sit on the porch to read or write, listen to the birds and squirrels, join their chorus, pick fresh tomatoes, preserve what we cannot consume right away (our kitchen counter has many jars in various states of fermentation), go on walks. Now that it's gotten too hot in the afternoons, I'm back at my desk. We'll start going to the beach in the evenings (taking cues from our kids). But here's a summary of the outstanding books I read in May and June.

On our train trip to DC I read Two Under the Indian Sun by Jon and Rumer Godden. It was a delight; they capture the essence of an idyllic childhood in India, full of joy and wonder, even if there are a thousands dangers from cobras to rabid dogs. The book begins with the girls (aged 6 and 7 yrs) in care of spinster aunts in England and there's such a contrast with the strict upbringing there and the freedom they experience when they join their parents, two younger sisters, and a house full of servants in East Bengal (now Pakistan) at the start of WWI. They write with great sensitivity and love for the Indian people and I loved that the book doesn't impose adult sensibilities upon their child-selves. They evoked so many of my own childhood memories, from making up games to reciting poetry to adults. Their voices blend beautifully--they were so close and yet at the very end, I could feel that abrupt end of childhood and their return to England five years later. But India was their home--both Jon and Rumer returned as adults to live and write there. If you wish to make a visit to India, read this book.

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford is based on a fascinating premise--epigenetics--that is, inheritance of traumas from our ancestors through modification of our genes. I don't doubt it, simply from observing families. I enjoyed the stories of different generations of women descended from the first Chinese woman in the US. Ford jumps back and forth in time to narrate their stories but still it fell a little flat for me because there was so much trauma and no sense of any real healing. What about the blessings? Shouldn't they also carry over? I didn't connect deeply with any of them. How does one break the cycle of trauma? In the book, there is an experimental treatment but I do not know if it's something one ought to do even if one could--messing with our genetic makeup and brain can have unforeseen consequences. Better to stick to natural remedies. Much food for thought in this book. In our own family, I am very deliberate and intentional about not perpetuating familiar traumas, though I am more like my mother than not. I invoke the Blood of Christ for healing, for all generations, past, present and future. 

 

The Perfect Rock by Sarah Nobel was such a cute picture book with darling illustrations of otters. Sibling otters fight over who gets to keep the perfect rock for the shellfish feast.

The Depth of the Lake and the Height of the Sky by Kim Jihyun is a wordless story of an Asian child who goes from the city to the countryside and marvels at the natural beauty. It's a book that invites contemplation.

Mama: A World of Mothers and Motherhood by Helene Delforge and Quentin Greban has beautiful portraits of mothers and their children in all their joys and sorrows accompanied by lovely poems. A book to counter all the terrible books that celebrate the destruction of the sacred bond between mother and child.  

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Macksey is such a beautiful meditation on life's important questions. I loved the line art and calligraphy--it's amazing what a talented artist can do with pen and ink.

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain is a lovely book that examines its role in our lives and being a Catholic, I kept nodding my head, yes, yes, yes, you can transform loss and sorrow into art, unite it to Christ's suffering, make it count and no, no, no, you needn't be an agnostic because this longing is pointing you to God, He's with us, practice being in His Presence. You have a God-shaped hole in your heart that only He can fill. I pray she will take that leap of faith...He will catch her. A great follow-up to Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking.

Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher is a reminder that totalitarianism is on the rise. It's an excellent overview of what we must do to resist--from always choosing to live truthfully to strengthening our families and communities and to be willing to suffer for the faith. Covid was a test to see how quickly we'd surrender our freedoms in the name of medical safety and boy did we pass with flying colors. Not good. More tyranny is on the way. My motto is Live Not in Fear. Only have fear of the Lord.    

Paths of Resistance: The Art and Craft of the Political Novel edited by William Zinsser is a collection of thought-provoking essays and lectures and gave me much food for thought for writing my own political novel.  

Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch is such an important book for us creatives (and we're all creative!) because it encourages us to return to the natural state of free play. Even gaining technique is part of free play. I've been listening to more classical Indian music (a clip of Kaushiki Chakraborty singing with her son) marveling at the ease with which they improvise. It's been about a year since we've started singing the complex Graduals and Alleluias instead of the simple psalm tones. The melismatic chants have a similar quality to Indian classical music and unfortunately we're nowhere close to singing with ease. We can follow notes and there can be expressive moments but nowhere close to how the monks sound, heavenly. I spoke to one of the Benedictine monks of Norcia several years ago when they visited our parish and he said it takes about a decade to chant well. And they pray/sing seven times a day. They probably achieve their 10,000 hrs in 5 yrs. Time for more play and practice. As the choreographer and dancer Garth Fagan said, "Discipline is Freedom." Indeed. It is through discipline and mastery of the arts that one can truly express what's in the heart.

What are you reading? What are you making? What are you practicing? I hope you have a lovely summer making art.