Garden of Holiness: 7 Quick Takes

Friday, January 27, 2012

7 Quick Takes

It's a small World Wide Web, after all!

The other day my husband's uncle (more about him in #2) posted on my Facebook wall that he'd been reading The Crescat on Patheos, clicked on someone's comment, and found himself reading an update on the very goats he'd milked himself. That commenter was me and it linked him to this! I hadn't started blogging the last time he visited, and I guess I hadn't mentioned it, so finding himself over here, reading about his own family was a bit of a surprise.

Click here to submit prayer intentions to the Holy Cross community

My husband's uncle is my youngest child's Godfather. He is also a Holy Cross Brother in Ohio. He teaches physics and is wicked smart, like all my in laws. He's fun to introduce as "My uncle, Brother David" (say it fast). It's also very handy having a Brother for an uncle because it's a constant reminder that there are Religious out there ready and willing to pray for any old body. All you have to do is ask. It's their job.

On a related note, I spent a bit of time over on Patheos the other day, trying to track down which comment of mine my uncle in law had read just in case I'd been a jerk. Although I find it convenient to be the same person on-line as off, occasionally it backfires. Since I don't have the mental energy required to keep up appearances in real life, I certainly don't have what it takes to keep track of an on-line avatar. What you see is what you get, folks. Hence the anxiety about the jerkiness: sometimes it slips out, like gas.

"Please excuse me, uncle Brother."

Speaking of being a jerk, I was being one the other day. There were tons of mediating circumstances: moving, an over scheduled calendar, interrupted sleep, cranky kids. I found myself saying, "Just because I'm being a jerk right now doesn't mean I'm a bad person. I'm just having an bad day" right before my husband went in for the hug. It takes a brave man to hug a bristling porcupine, but that's the one I married. He's all awesome like that.

"...and then the dishwasher threw up and one of the kids did, too, and the dog tracked in mud, and..."

As you may have guessed, we are all moved in to the farmhouse. (Back story: we bought an acre a year and a half ago, put a trailer on it, downsized into that, and then began a hunt for a house to relocate onto our property. We just got a farmhouse moved here, all house systems up and running, and are back on our land after 6 months of living with my mom and dad) (thank you again, mom and dad!) We're unpacking, rediscovering furniture we haven't seen in a year or so, and enjoying all the space. A few other things we are enjoying are the sunsets in the country, the sunrises, the quiet, and the neighbors. We have some of the world's best neighbors. Missed them all.

I've been cooking up a storm on our first, ever antique!

My husband invested in one of these beauties, fully refurbished, and I'm finding myself broiling and baking a whole lot more than usual. I think I appreciate beautiful things enough to work harder just to hang around them.

One of the things I missed the most, living in town, was milking in the predawn hours. I know I complain about the cold (because it is COLD), but I really do enjoy the routine, the peace, and the little chance to commune with the animals. I must say it's very, very good to be home.