{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Current mood: matching the rain, I’d say… a little time of recuperation after my exertions!
Got back from driving down to North Carolina, to the base, with Rosie and the children. Probably the hardest part (other than getting Nora to sleep on a mattress on the floor at a friend’s house by getting her to look at the fan and saying “it just goes round, and round, and round, and round… ” — yes, I hypnotized my grandchild, because a grandma’s gotta do what a grandma’s gotta do!) was the ride home from the airport. Pro tip: major construction on the Mass Pike, ditch the tunnel.
My report is that things are cute there in her little house, the children were enthralled to find their books and toys from oh so long ago, and the base seems friendly!
And I got to go swimming in the ocean! Something that has not happened for decades, because I personally do not regard “Cape Cod” or the “North Shore” as beaches, but as “beaches” complete with air quotes, where you bake on the sand and freeze in the water — where it takes moral stamina to go in, and then you must stay in for as long as you can, for you will never go in again once you come out! Sometimes there are waves that crash stones into your flesh, but sometimes there is just… flat, freezing water. I mean, I take it if I can get it, because I love even the “beach” — but don’t try to pretend it’s the beach!
But North Carolina is as memory held it dear — soft sand, gentle water, perfect (that is, exciting but not dominating) surf. I even got my whole head under water!
Meanwhile… it’s so quiet here.
This is a picture of a mudroom with virtually no shoes in it.
On to our links!
I had never thought of it, but wow, I think this is really true (only get sturdy ones!): why you should have drawers and not cabinets in your kitchen!
I think we were all following the heart-stabbing story of Charlie Gard. Do read this piece by a Fordham theology professor that clearly lays out the ethical (that is, moral) framework we should be using: Learning from Charlie Gard.
Do you have boys? Do you know a man? Sometimes when I watch baseball I laugh when I think about how carefully we are all instructed to “talk things out” and “search for a solution” and “not resort to violence.” I offer you this retrospective of a classic brawl on the diamond, that time that Robin Ventura charged Nolan Ryan on the mound. Can you imagine that there is a whole industry where a bunch of men respond to stress on the job with a general melee? That one employee gets in another’s face and shouts as loud as he can, “BLEEP BLEEPING mother BLEEPER BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP” etc etc? A veritable brouhaha ensuing, on top of the previous one? Why am I showing you this? (Do check out the video embedded at the end of the article.). Because I believe that it helps us understand those creatures, those strange, brawling creatures, men. Or at least, to understand that we don’t understand…
Is hunger in America what we think it is?
An account by the artist of the making of incredible mosaics for a church, with a fascinating glimpse of the actual process and aesthetic choices.
In search of really beautiful Tiffany mosaics, some sacred.
Today in the liturgy is a feast of a building! The feast of the dedication of St. Mary Major (also known as St. Mary of the Snows!).
“We could point out how the divine Motherhood mystery dominates all Marian liturgy; for the Theotokos doctrine has kept Mariology Christo-centric in the Church’s worship. Although recent popular devotion to Mary has become to a certain extent soft and sentimental and has, one may say, erected its own sanctuary around Mary as the center, devotion to our Blessed Mother in the liturgy has always remained oriented to Christ. In the liturgy the divine Motherhood has always been the bridge from Mary to Jesus. One need only examine Matins in honor of Mary or the Masses from her Common to be reassured. Everywhere Christ takes the central position, and Mary is the Christbearer.” ~ The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
From the archives:
Two rules for kids that might help you with that old exasperated feeling.
I’m going to keep re-upping this until I can remember to get in on the sidebar: How to do sex education right.
A real oldie, but so special to me: Let’s visit a friend of mine!
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