Treacherous Brook

            W e tried.  Our cat....the one I have dubbed "Cat'...is indispensable and obviously knows it.  Our son found "Cat' outside his apartment a few years back and called to see if we could give her a home.  He named her 'Sheba'--but I've never quite settled into that name, so for me she remains - 'Cat'. I'm going to admit right up front that I am not an 'animal lover,' but when our children were still home we had our share of pets....several dogs (one at a time, thank you) and cats who mostly lived outside, and we have enjoyed them all.  We even still enjoy watching the cows that belong to our neighbor that occasionally graze in our back field.  They make for a very pastoral setting here. Since we have said field, we have field mice.  One summer, we took a trip to Chicago for the July 4th holiday for about four days.  Our family cat had met an untimely death just weeks before we left. ...

A few thoughts on Lent for 2013.... I need a good Lent....      Because I have an awareness of how undisciplined my life can sometimes be.  I'd like to blame my distractability on my ADD, but in truth it is mostly due to the honed chaos I've developed in my life.  I dread nothing more than being bored--a sad commentary on my generation.  As a result:  I tend to leave everything not quite finished; have too many magazines stacked waiting for me to pick up, read and pass along; untold numbers of 'projects' I plan to craft in my basement--someday; and some wonderful books on a faith that I have, by being a confirmed Catholic, an obligation to read and learn to enrich my soul that get started but never quite finished.  All that aside, at any given moment, the God of the universe is ready and willing to converse with us -- how can we ever be 'bored'? I need a good Lent.....      Not just for what the season requires; ...

(c) Emily Rose Studios I was warned.   My mom used to complain how "time flies" the older she got.  In my youthful mind, with three little ones under my feet, I scoffed.  Silly me.  Today, January 4, 2013, would have been her 82nd birthday.  I guess that has gotten me to thinking of all she wisely told me. Funny how all of these memories come back regularly to remind me how much I didn't understand back then.  Back when I thought we had all the answers.  Every time I think I have things figured out....something totally new will come along and reshape my thoughts and views. Yesterday, I noticed that I had forgotten to change the wall calendar in the kitchen.  I love the large type that fit in my frame.  I had purchased one early this year and walked to the desk drawer to get it.  Turns out, I had purchased early  last  year!  Oops.  Really?  Last year?  Hope it's not too late to find one that ...

One of my very first posts was written a little over the first year of Barack Obama's presidency.  All felt so gloomy.  At the end of that post I used the phrase '...and it was night'.  As it turned out, that really was the beginning of a very personal, close to home kind of nightmare.  My husband has a small contracting business and seemingly overnight, work had vanished.  We had two years of the most hellish time financially in our 35 year marriage.  My 'day job' as the Director of a non-profit paid just enough to keep us in groceries.  We regularly sought God's intervention and prayed that if it was not His will that this crisis be resolved, He would give us the courage and strength to see it through.  Most of all we prayed for and received, peace in this storm.  Provision came.  It came in ways unimaginable to us back then.   Some friends of our from our parish suddenly decided they needed some work done at their home. ...

I have a love/hate relationship....with Facebook®. While I am prone to keep up to speed by anyone's standard, it seems that they change the format often enough to confuse me just when I think I'm getting the hang of it. Admittedly, I have always been a sort of 'geek'. I like technical things and am curious enough to try and figure out how to use new gadgets as they come up -- within reason. Now, I am not one who needs the latest and greatest right now, but I do like to keep up with my now adult children, long-time friends and various nieces and nephews and their families from day to day. It is one of the benefits of this particular site. Information is another benefit. Of late, there has been an interesting dynamic of widespread opinion and passing of information on the HHS guidelines and its assault on all religious institutions--especially Catholic institutions. It was first through this site that I learned much about how our own Bishop understands the issue ...

It's no secret that our life profoundly and permanently changed on a beautiful Pentecost Sunday about two years ago. Our first grandchild, Bailee was born to her very proud parents and her delighted grandparents! Those of you who have experienced this wonder in your life know what I am talking about. For some of the rest of you who have that to look forward to...it is nothing short of amazing! In no time at all she has captured the hearts of all of her extended family even causing her Auntie Em to move back home from her life over two thousand miles away. All for good reason. This new life brings to us all a new hope; a new take on this life of ours and a fresh sense of purpose and meaning. In the past couple of months, Miss 'B' has started something new. When I or her 'Papa' stop by for a visit, she will come running from wherever she is and say with excitement: "I'm right here"! While sharing this with the rest of the family on a recent vac...

My husband gets a local newspaper generated from the town is parents and grandparents resided. There is a feeling of 'keeping in touch' with his roots in this that I envy. His Mother's extended family still get together every so often for reunions and we've always enjoyed attending and catching up with his cousins and their families. This morning he showed me a reprinted obituary from that area originally published in 1895. My, what a difference a century makes! It was beautiful...throughout the piece, her 'history' kept coming back to the touchpoint of her Christian faith. It got me to thinking of my own 'touchpoint'. Marie Elizabeth Eilers, born this day, January 13, 1898 in St. Louis, Missouri. Grandma was the daughter of man who, at the time, delivered ice in a horse drawn wagon. The scene of just such a man in the movie "Meet Me In St. Louis" with Margaret O'Brien playing the part of a girl about Grandma's age always sets my...