Wednesday Wordless (Almost) Wonder

Don't you just love finding something new to marvel to your friends about? I do, and I probably drive them crazy with my enthusiasm for the "most lately discovered" thing on my list!

Today is Margaret's Garden. I met my friend Darlene over there at 9 this morning to see the irises and peonies. Margaret is Margaret Thomas. She owns the property and loves vistors. If you want to know more about the garden, go here because I wrote about it for the Friends blog.

If you just want photos, enjoy! Today's photos are all mine. The really nice ones in my Friends posting were by Darlene.

Kelley

Ruby Tuesday

I can't believe it! I actually took photos and got them uploaded...and on Tuesday! Thanks to Mary/the Teach at Work of the Poet) for the great idea to get out and look at things differently!  So here they are. I volunteered at my son's school library this morning, so these were photos on the way there and home.  

/kw

ANOTHER NEW WORD

This one is cool!

Commination -- 

• prayers proclaiming God's anger against sinners; read in the Church of England on Ash Wednesday
• a threat of divine punishment or vengeance

Obviously, we're not C of E.  And of course, I found it in a British mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers. But she uses it in the second sense, very neatly in a paragraph about the tutors, students and exam week. Very cool.

On another note, I've decided that the internet has freed up people to feel their opinions are facts and therefore they are experts on everything. The proof of this is in many of the blogs I read yesterday. People are SO SURE that GW Bush lied...were they there? do they trust the same media they vilify to discover the 'truth'? Why do they see Congress as somehow more vested in truth? Does the record support that? I don't believe he did, but for the sake of argument, does that make everything he ever did while in office a wrong choice? People need to be careful where they go with this. If they will judge him by that standard, will they also hold liberal politicians to that standard? Or even themselves to that standard? I sure don't want to be judged by one mistake I make!

Unfortunately, scripture says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That means ALL of us are condemned, for the 'smallest' lie or the biggest murder. In short, we who commit 'small' sins, like greed or sloth or gluttony, are just as deserving of punishment as is Adolph Hitler. Oof.  Kinda gets you in the viscera, doesn't it?

Solution? Praise God for sending his son to be a substitution for us. Thank you Lord Jesus!

/kw

Ruby Tuesday

Well, it's Ruby Tuesday (hosted byMary/the Teach at Work of the Poet). I'm going to try to tie in with these themes...but I'm not very organized about blogging.  I am about other things, but not blogging. At any rate, the point is to post a photo with something red in it.  Here goes!

This is one wall of the mural in the Childrens' area at our regional library.

Photo by Darlene (my friend -- next week I'll use one of my own)

/kw

Cool New Word

I'm reading a book set in Venice. Writing about the city at night, the author says, "A boat, that during the day, was making a delivery of soap powder or cabbages, at night became a numinous form, floating toward some mysterious destination." Now I have to figure out a way to get it into normal conversation today. Stay tuned.

The dictionary: Numinous - adjective

1. of, pertaining to, or like a numen; spiritual or supernatural.

2. surpassing comprehension or understanding, mysterious.

3. arousing one's elevated feelings of duty, honor, loyalty, etc.

Wikiepedia:

Numinous is an English adjective describing the power or presence of a divinity. The word was popularised in the early twentieth century by the German theologian Rudolf Otto in his influential book Das Heilige (1917; translated into English as The Idea of the Holy, 1923). According to Otto the numinous experience has two aspects: mysterium tremendum, which is the tendency to invoke fear and trembling; and mysterium fascinas, the tendency to attract, fascinate and compel. The numinous experience also has a personal quality to it, in that the person feels to be in communion with a wholly other. The numinous experience can lead in different cases to belief in deities, the supernatural, the sacred, the holy, and the transcendent. /k

Wordzzle Challenge - Maxi

I guess the maxi is using all the words in the regular and the mini.  Here are the words from the mini.

operatic, stuffed animals, anger management, biographical, paint splatters

And here is my maxi:

Sara rearranged the stuffed animals by the back door and as she stepped outside, looked across the lawn to her neighbor who sat in her window watching Sara’s every movement. As she started out the garden gate to catch her bus Sara began an anger management mantra. "I will smile at the busybody. I will smile at the busybody," she muttered under her breath. A gentle spring rain had started falling by the time she reached the bus stop. Underneath the paint splatters left by grafitti artists stood a guy in a tailored blue suit. Sara glanced at her watch and registered the time. Then she glanced again and freaked out. “Oh my goodness! I am in such trouble,” she exclaimed. The guy asked, “excuse me? Do you need assistance?” Sara moved toward him as she tried to crowd under the shelter out of the rain. “I’m a teacher and I needed to be at school like an hour ago! Now I know why my neighbor was laughing as she waved goodbye at me! My principal is going to throw a fit of Biblical proportions. A mere seizure won’t be dramatic enough! This is the third time it has happened this semester. Last time she was positively operatic in her disapproval...” Sara’s voice trailed off as the man looked straight into her eyes. His were deep blue, hypnotic in their intensity. He asked, “what made you late?”  Sara considered giving him a quick biographical sketch and her phone number. His gaze made it difficult for Sara to admit that she had been watching a TIVO’d soap opera from earlier in the week. “I guess I just got lost in the story and a paralysis overtook my actions.” He turned away from her saying, “television? It’s bubble gum for the brain. I thought you looked more intelligent than that. But don’t worry, I have the solution. When did you need to be at this bus stop to be on time?” “Umm…7:00, but how…” Sara squinted at the bright sunshine flooding down on her. The man said, “don’t squint, it will give you wrinkles.” “But where did the sunshine come from?” she asked. “Oh, I just reversed time. At 7 a.m. the sun was still bright. Now you won’t be late.” Just then, the bus drove up. As Sara boarded she looked back to thank him. But he was gone. Sara wondered, “if I’d told the truth --  that I was watching that History Channel special on the woolly mammoth, would he have been more impressed?”

Wordzzle Challenges

Very cool blog. http://ravensviews.blogspot.com/Gets the creative juices flowing.  Here's my attempt at the challenge.

gentle spring rain, mammoth, soap opera, worry, bubble gum, garden gate, seizure, of Biblical proportions, paralysis, wrinkles

Sara flipped her blonde bangs out of her eyes once again, waved to her neighbor who sat in the window watching Sara’s every movement, and started out the garden gate to catch her bus. A gentle spring rain had started falling by the time she reached the bus stop. There was a guy in a blue suit standing under the shelter facing away from her. Sara glanced at her watch and registered the time. Then she glanced again and freaked out. “Oh my goodness! I am in such trouble,” she exclaimed. The guy turned around, and asked, “excuse me? Do you need assistance?” Sara moved toward him as she tried to crowd under the shelter out of the rain. “I’m a teacher and I needed to be at school like an hour ago! Now I know why my neighbor was laughing as she waved goodbye at me! My principal is going to throw a fit of Biblical proportions. A mere seizure won’t be dramatic enough! This is the third time it has happened this semester.” Sara’s voice trailed off as the man looked straight into her eyes. His were deep blue, hypnotic in their intensity. He asked, “what made you late?”  His gaze made it difficult for Sara to admit that she had been watching a TIVO’d soap opera from earlier in the week. “I guess I just got lost in the story and a paralysis overtook my actions.” He turned away from her saying, “television? It’s bubble gum for the brain. I thought you looked more intelligent than that. But don’t worry, I have the solution. When did you need to be at this bus stop to be on time?” “Umm…7:00, but how…” Sara squinted at the bright sunshine flooding down on her. The man said, “don’t squint, it will give you wrinkles.” “But where did the sunshine come from?” she asked. “Oh, I just reversed time. At 7 a.m. the sun was still bright. Now you won’t be late.” Just then, the bus drove up. As Sara boarded she looked back to thank him. But he was gone. Sara wondered, “if I’d told the truth --  that I was watching that History Channel special on the woolly mammoth, would he have been more impressed? It is so difficult to know just what interests men these days!”