Life Is Hard But Good

OK. Suna blogged this one, too. But it’s such a nice picture. Photo by: Jon Montgomery

Well, I’m still not blogging with the consistency that I was earlier this year, but maybe that’s a good thing. Work is good, and it’s been taking most, if not all, of my writing energy lately. So I’ll keep this Grateful Monday short.

This week I’m grateful that our family economics are to the point where both Suna and I can start investing some of our energies outside the home. Tonight, Suna is leading a meeting at church. I cooked a nice sausage dinner—Suna and Beccano picked out the sausage yesterday—and had it ready when Suna got home.

Suna, the boys, and I sat down to dinner and conversation, something else to be grateful for. In spite of the dreadful manipulation of paranoid souls in which the Right continues to engage, I have some hope for the future. With Trackgrease, Tubaboy, and Beccano putting their energies into making the world a better place, how can we fail? Again.

Mother’s Day

I started Mother’s Day last night by giving Suna one of the presents I bought for her. My niece has started a soy wax candle making business, and I ordered some stuff from her. Last night I gave Suna two rose-scented candles. Beccano cleaned the whole house for her. I think she appreciated that more than anything he could have bought, especially since she knows how much he abhors housework.

We skipped church this morning because the choir had to perform at an ordination service this afternoon. That was really great. Ministers from all over the country who knew our intern were there. Some of them were really good speakers.

The minister from his church in Boston told a really uplifting story about embracing a near death experience and finding god in her child. She was swinging over a waterfall when the branch broke. She tumbled about 30 feet to land sitting in a shallow at the base of the fall. Her daughter, who was playing in the sand on the bank, looked up and welcomed her back into the world of the living by saying, “Hi, Mom,” as if her mother always simply appeared at the base of a waterfall.

After the service, we went to Mesa Rosa for dinner. The kids were waiting for us when we arrived. We all ate well and had a really good time just being together. Afterward, TubaBoy gave Suna a really funny card and an apple-pie-scented candle. I brought out the second half of my gift—a set of merlot-scented candles in a wine service. My niece donated the wine service, and made the candles. Unfortunately, nobody thought to take pictures.

Finally, I hung the wooden blinds in the front room.

I miss my mom.

Monday Night Football

Four of Cups Photo by: Rider-Waite

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,

The dear respose for limbs with travel tir’d;

But then begins a journey in my head

To work my mind, when body’s work’s expired

—William Shakespeare

Today’s Card

Four of Cups. Being a bit of a mystic, I see this card differently than most. I see the young adept manifesting his desire. He sits with his back against a tree and visualizes the cup. And tho his eyes are closed, it appears before him. I don't know that I've always seen it that way, but I do now. We each create our own worlds and our own happines through the choices we make. I choose to get thru a difficult time with dignity, calmness, and the happiness I can find.

Today’s Hexagram

Sun (Decrease). Thru sincere sacrifice, there will be good fortune and freedom from error. Firmness and correctness can be maintained. In the foreground lie stillness and obstruction. In the background are joy, pleasure, and attraction.

Enjoyed watching EW at work all day—assertive, decisive, glowing with enthusiasm. Dinner and then the first Monday Night Football I’ve seen this season. The Rams and Bears played like two high school teams. It was a quiet good time.