What's In A Name?

My name is Martha. I've always taken the story of Martha-in-the-kitchen-while-Mary-enjoys-Jesus-time personally. I do like having a biblical name, and I do like the reminder to look for the Mary moments of my life and fully participate in them.

My "Mary moments" this week were times with my children. The reminders to cherish such moments were strong. Megan was in town to attend a viewing for a high school classmate who died of a brain aneurysm. Auntie Erin postponed her return to college to that she could see her sister and niece. Auntie Clare and I also got some good Hannah time.

Thursday evening, in the course of some volunteer work, I saw Esperanza for the first time in several weeks. She left town quickly to be with her son who was suffering from kidney failure. Her son died within hours of her arrival. I told Esperanza that I was sorry for her loss. We cried together. We'll probably cry together the next time I see her, too.

As I was driving home, knowing that Megan and Hannah were at my house, I remembered that the word "esperanza" means "hope." I think that Esperanza will have a hard time living into her name for a while. I felt a little guilty leaving the grieving mother to be with a joyful little 7-month-old. Esperanza will be in my prayers; I will pray for hope.

Photo is Auntie Clare with Hannah. 8.23.2007

Yellow? Not Pink?

I got a call today about church flowers. I've been doing a lot of wedding flowers lately and had thought to make a fun arrangement for church on Sunday including some summer farmers market bounty. But that won't happen.

The caller said that Angelique has died. Now, I don't know Angelique personally. I do know several members of her extended family. She was an elderly lady, frail enough in body that she hadn't been to a church service for quite some time. Her spirit was strong, though, and she had communion brought to her home. I know that she was the recipient of a beautiful pink prayer shawl.

That would be why I questioned my caller when she said Angelique's daughter had requested YELLOW roses.

"Really, not pink?" I asked. "No," said my caller, "Her daughter said Angelique loved pink clothes but yellow was her favorite flower color." So, we'll have yellow roses and white gladiolus. And on Monday, we'll lay to rest a matriarch.

Friends, when you wonder about flowers for my funeral (some day far in the future!), tell the church ladies to make the arrangements big and bright. When it's all over, though, just leave a couple blooms wherever you leave my remains... take the rest of the flowers home and enjoy them! And when you wander through the farmers market in the summer, remember how blessed we are that God's creation includes zinnias, lisianthus, sunflowers and lilies. Take home a fistful of flowers and think of me.

I am no country, I am every country

This is just too funny. Thanks, Progressive Pragmatist.

You're the United Nations!

Most people think you're ineffective, but you are trying to
completely save the world from itself, so there's always going to be a long
way to go. You're always the one trying to get friends to talk to each
other, enemies to talk to each other, anyone who can to just talk instead of
beating each other about the head and torso. Sometimes it works and sometimes
it doesn't, and you get very schizophrenic as a result. But your heart
is in the right place, and sometimes also in New York.


Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

Beach Litter

This story just tickles me.

Can you imagine being at the beach and having your kids wake you up from your book-induced nap to say they found an 8-foot Lego man?????

Oh, sweet mysteries of life. Was he on his way to see his buds Big Foot and Yeti? Or maybe he's being recruited by the Transformers?

Wanna create your own Lego person? Try this!

Endeavor - And Away She Goes!

This evening, twenty-two and a half years melted away as I watched the space shuttle Endeavor lift off. All those years ago, I watched, with my oldest daughter, as the space shuttle Challenger lifted off. Megan was just four years old. We had talked about the teacher astronaut for several days. And then, suddenly, the teacher astronaut was gone.

Tonight, another teacher astronaut rode the shuttle from its launch pad. Tomorrow we'll see her in news stories and begin to follow her adventures aboard the Endeavor and the space station. Christa McAuliffe's back-up and partner-in-training has finally done what we had hoped would happen all those years ago. There's a teacher in space!

Here's a snippet of NASA's Preflight Interview with Barbara Morgan:

...That was a long time ago, Barbara, but as you head into these final months of training for your flight now some of the same things about training were ... are ... are occurring that occurred before 51L. Do you think of those days very much? Do you think of the training days back in 1985 leading up to January of ’86 in a fond way? Are the memories still strong after all this time?

You know, it hasn’t been a long time. It was just yesterday. It still feels like just yesterday. As we go through training now, those memories still are there with me. For example, when we go flying in the T-38s (and we do that every week), it’s a wonderful, wonderful experience and it’s a great part of training as we fly those aircraft. I always remember the very first flight I had with Mike Smith and how he showed me what it’s like to do barrel rolls and how to fly lazy eights and how to fly in formation with another plane and how, at that time, I knew absolutely nothing about flying. And I’ll never forget after Mike showed me a few of these things and he said, “OK, Barb, it’s your turn, push the stick.” You can fly the jet from either the front cockpit or the rear cockpit. And, I said, “Which way?” And, he said, “Any way you want. It’s your plane. Take it.” And I was shocked by that, and flew some barrel rolls and, you know, realized that Mike had just opened up a whole new world of opportunities for me. Those were opportunities that have carried into today, as we learn as crewmates to fly and communicate with each other and to communicate with our air traffic control and to do everything that we need to do both in the T-38s and in spaceflight. Read the rest here.

Barbara Morgan's flying tonight! I'm so glad. And, I appreciate her efforts to share her opportunities with the rest of us.

Harry Potter - Does He Live Or Die???

I know the answer!!!!!! But I won't tell.
I finished the book today at about 1 a.m. It was a great read. I marvel again at the craftsmanship of J.K. Rowling. I mourn the end of the series and the passing of some of my favorite characters. I wonder where I put my old mug - the one with Hedwig and Platform 9 3/4.

Officially Tagged

rene said...You are now officially tagged. In order to play the game, you must now post 5 things about yourself and then tag 5 other people to do the same. :)

So, here you go, Rene.

1. I love peach pound cake and peach jam. (I'll make some today! Maybe I'll post the pound cake recipe.)

2. My favorite meal ever involves fresh rainbow trout, cornmeal, bacon grease and a wood stove. All that would happen in the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Colorado - maybe we'd use a propane camp stove these days.

3. I'm a slow reader who accumulates good books I still haven't read. That's why I have a new list of books I want to read on the sidebar. I'm hoping that will encourage me! (Though I am more than halfway through the new HP book... that's self defense as I know someone will tell me how it turns out.) Maybe I'm not that slow a reader, just easily distracted!!!! That crochet project needs some time...

4. MMMMMmmmm, good coffee! (Same reaction for good chocolate.) I learned to drink coffee during visits to Colombia. Then I lived in Puerto Rico for several years. Really dark coffee, with milk, no sugar.

5. I'd really like to learn a new language - either sign or Arabic, can't decide.

Now, as to the tagging 5 more, watch out.
Martha