Christmas decorations

I’m writing on Monday as a pizza is in the oven, but I can see the Christmas tree lit and twinkling in the living room. There are Christmas decorations in all of the downstairs rooms, and in my bedroom upstairs. And I’m happy. In the dining room: And on the mantel:

Thanksgiving food

Scenes from Thanksgiving with friends on Saturday….

Cardinal virtues

George Washington Carver’s eight cardinal virtues:

Sisters

At the family home in Lee’s Summit on Thanksgiving, with my sisters (l-r) Beth and Karen. And more—

Masking

Why I keep masking . . . . I continue to purchase a number of fun and interesting masks from Beau Ties Ltd. The masks are now as much of a fashion accessory as my cufflinks and spectacles! Science tells us that masks are generally effective at reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449

Another prayer

A prayer for Thanksgiving Eternal One, we give thanks this day for all the goodness and kindness of this year, and for the illness and madness too, for in the darkness we are reminded of light, and in the agony of our days the ecstasy quickens and provides deeper meaning. We give thanks for the

#TBT: London

Sixteen years ago today, in London with my son for a quick Thanksgiving trot over the England and back. We packed a lot of activity into five days!

Thanksgiving

My Dean shared this poem/prayer this week, and I must re-share: Poem /prayer by MAX COOTS  LET US GIVE THANKS  Let us give thanks for a bounty of peopleFor children who are our second plantingand though they grow like weedsand the wind too soon blows them away,May they forgive us our cultivationand remember fondly where

Ancient enemy

I was reading the Daily Office for the Feast of St. Edmund, and one sentence from the Collect for this feast day really slammed me: “Bestow on us your servants the shield of faith with which we can withstand the assaults of our ancient enemy.” Our ancient enemy . . . . So what is

13 years

Thirteen years ago this week I was packing and prepping to move my new home in Saint Louis. I closed on the house the day before going to Seattle for a conference, then moved on Thanksgiving weekend with the wonderful help of my sister Beth and niece Anna. Thirteen years later, both the house and