Caleigh O'Shea's Blog, page 39

Favorite Place … to Pray

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Come humbly to pray

Ask for faith, light a candle

Leave in complete peace

Note: This is my interpretation of Favorite Place, this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge theme. The idea is to share a photo of our “happy place” or a spot we love returning to over and over again. Officially called the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, this shrine at the University of Notre Dame is one-seventh the size of its French counterpart. I took this shot when my son was a freshman there, and I never failed to visit it when I came to campus thereafter. I’m told it’s the site of many a marriage proposal, an urgent prayer for help on exams, and daily Rosary.

Sunday’s Gem — Aquamarine

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

The traditional birthstone for March is the beautiful Aquamarine, a transparent bluish member of the beryl family.

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Thanks to healingcrystals.com for this photo of an uncut chunk of Aquamarine

From the Latin for “water of the sea,” Aquamarine once was valued as a green stone; today, it’s traditionally heated to bring out the blue hues the public demands.

The best Aquamarines come from Brazil. Other sources include the Soviet Union, the U.S. (it’s Colorado’s state gem), Madagascar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and India.

Aquamarine is a 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs scale of hardness (1-10), making it fairly durable for use as jewelry, including rings, pendants, and earrings. It’s the typical birthstone for March.

Brazil in 1910 claims the largest Aquamarine ever found — a 243-lb. stone that was cut into smaller stones and yielded more than 200,000 carats.

Ancient peoples viewed Aquamarine as the treasure of mermaids; today, it still protects all who travel near water.

Aquamarine is associated with the apostle St. Thomas, who traveled the seas preaching the gospel. Roman doctors used it to treat overeating. Aquamarine beads were found in Egyptian mummy-pits; ancient Greeks used it for intaglios; and the shoulder stones of the High Priest of the Second Temple were said to be Aquamarines.

Emitting a gentle energy, Aquamarine fosters tolerance, negotiation, and natural justice. It’s believed to encourage a lover to return and is often given in eternity rings to boost fidelity.

Aquamarine has a rapport with sensitive people, clearing confusion, fostering self-expression, and soothing fears. It’s believed to be protective during pregnancy — for both mother and baby — and it lessens overreactions like allergies.

Metaphysical healers associate Aquamarine with the Throat Chakra, helping overcome the fear of speaking and boosting conviction in articulation.

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Fine 11-carat aquamarine ring found at Ivy and Rose, Chicago. Yours for just $4,000 (but what a beauty, huh??)

Feng Shui experts see Aquamarine as water energy, yeilding yet strong. Traditionally associated with the north area of a room or home, water energy can enhance any room where you rest or meditate.

An excellent stone for meditating and quietening the mind, Aquamarine is useful for laryngitis, sinus conditions, allergies, sore throats, and gum problems. Ancients used it for fluid retention and eye diseases. Writers in the Middle Ages said Aquamarine was a popular oracle for fortune-telling as well as an antidote for poison.

Clean your Aquamarine with warm, soapy water; avoid harsh chemicals and ultrasonic cleaners. Aquamarine can fade in sunlight — you’ve been warned!

Note: The claims here aren’t meant to take the place of medical advice. They’re based on folklore and other sources, and likely “work” best if one’s belief is strong enough!

Wishing, Hoping

Hope is the physician of each misery. ~Irish Proverb

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Fed up with winter

Longing for warm sandy beach

Need a vacation!

Note: This is my rendition of I’d Rather Be…, WordPress’s Photo Challenge for the week. We’re supposed to photograph something we’d rather be doing, or a place we’d rather be, right now. Mine is on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and I suspect I’m not the only one eager for a change in seasons!

New Season Emerging

Adopt the pace of nature:  her secret is patience.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet

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My Daffodils are peeking through, and I find myself eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spring! Yes, it will be weeks before these babies bloom and the temperatures stay consistently warm, but now that I see progress, it’s easier to be patient.

I found the following quote in a publication I was reading and decided it was appropriate for ALL of us (but especially those of us trying to write a book!) Have a beautiful Sunday, my friends!

Have patience with all things — but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You are a perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist. And no amount of triumphs or tribulations can ever change that. — St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of authors, writers, and journalists

Storied Tradition

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On football weekend Fridays, guests of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish can walk — for free! — the tunnel every Irish football player has taken into Notre Dame Stadium since the Knute Rockne era in 1930.

View the hanging national championship banners, take a photo with the field in the background, and imagine what it’s like to race into the stadium to the rousing Notre Dame Victory March and the cheers of thousands of fans!

Note: This is my take on Story, this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge topic. The idea is to use a photograph to convey a story. Kind of relates to the English idiom, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” don’t you think?

Sharing the Sorrow

A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. ~Peter De Vries, American editor and novelist

We’ve got to find a better way of teaching our kids how to drive.

Last week, a 16-year-old honor student at our local high school was killed after apparently disregarding the railroad crossing gates on his way to school and being struck by an Amtrak train.

We can’t fault the train; no one was injured there, though it took them way longer to reach Chicago than they’d planned.

We can’t fault the weather; it was clear and sunny.

We can’t fault the state. Illinois has a graduated driver licensing program designed to reward young drivers with increasing privileges and responsibilities as they reach milestone ages, practice hours, and education.

It’s that practice hours thing that I think holds the answer, and it’s the parents/guardians who must take charge.

An Illinois teen needs to complete 50 hours of behind-the-wheel practice — 10 of which must be at night — with a responsible parent or guardian, along with a state-approved drivers education course.

Fifty hours might sound like a lot, but we know it’s not.

Not really.

When Domer was in high school, we easily racked up 50 hours of practice. I insisted he drive on sunny days, on snow, during rain and wind. I put him on rural roads, interstates, and busy city traffic. I had him drive at night, on weekends, before and after school.

All in an effort to simulate the varied experiences he could face once he got his license and was permitted to drive solo.

It’s paid off. He’s a good driver, careful and alert.

Since then, I’ve heard of parents who fudged on the practice hours. Some claimed they didn’t have time to practice driving with their kid. Others figured the kids were getting everything they needed to know at school. Some said their kids had been “driving” farm equipment for years. Others assumed their kids would take to driving like baby ducks to water and not need practice.

We might never know the circumstances surrounding this latest accident.

Was the young driver running late and in a hurry? Was he still half-asleep? Was he (horrors!) on a cell phone?

What we do know is, his life ended far too soon, and every parent can feel the agony.

Carefulness costs you nothing. Carelessness may cost you your life. ~Safety saying, circa early 1900s

Nature is Industrious

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest. ~J.G. Holland, American novelist and poet

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Clever Miss Spider

Spinning a delicate web

To catch her dinner.

Note: This is my interpretation for the weekly Photo Challenge by Word Press. The idea is to take something familiar and make it look Out of This World. I took this shot early one summer’s morning after a particularly heavy dew (hence, the cottonball objects scattered throughout!).

Performance Anxiety

Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.  ~Brendan Francis, Irish poet and writer

Dallas here.

I have a bone to pick with my mama and that flute of hers.

Now I’m a reasonable dog. I’ll gladly take my snoozle while she’s practicing, and I never complain about wrong notes, shaky rhythms, and the inevitable squeeks that a beginning instrumentalist makes.

But recently I overheard Mama talking to The Kid (AKA Domer) on the phone. Seems she has to play in a real concert.

Soon.

Of course, I’m not invited. That’s the first problem.

Because how does she think she can play without ME lying underneath her?

I understand when she leaves me every week to go to something called band practice.

She comes home with a smile on her face and a tune in her head, and I guess that makes her happy.

I’m happy when Mama is happy.

But this concert feels different somehow.

Poor Mama is freeting over:

What to wear (all black, Mama, head to toe — you don’t want to stick out)
Whether she can play all the songs well enough, and in tune (practice, Mama!)
Having to sit in the front row, within spitting distance of the conductor (don’t give him any reason to spit at you, Mama!)

And she’s wondering whether she’s bitten off more than she can chew.

Her daytime angst is bad, but I’ve noticed it affecting her nights as well.

She tosses and turns, flips and flops, and is so exhausted from dreaming that she drags through the next day.

We can’t have that!

This band thing was supposed to be FUN. Not something that would turn on performance anxiety.

I’m clinging extra-close to her these days in case she needs to stroke my furs. Pets know that relieves anxiety, but Mama’s best bet is getting past this concert.

Wait, she just informed The Kid she’s got a second concert coming up in about six weeks.

What’s a dog to do?

Rushing To and Fro

Once you stop rushing through life, you will be amazed how much more life you have time for. ~Author Unknown

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Chipmunk scurrying

Where ya goin’, Little Guy?

Too busy to talk.

Note: I’m participating in WordPress’s 2018 Photo Challenge. This week’s topic is A Face in the Crowd. I took this shot while visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden with my son a couple of years ago and this seems as good a chance as I might ever have to show it to you.

Sweet Dessert

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Deliciously sweet

Booze, mint, cream, and Oreos

St. Patrick’s Day treat

 

Note: I’m participating in the WordPress Photo Challenge for 2018. This week’s topic is Sweet, and you have until next Wednesday if you’d like to participate. For anyone interested in making this yummy Southern dessert called Grasshopper Pie, here’s one recipe.