Hello, hello! (Imagine a very breathless me running by and waving madly in your direction as my voice trails into the distance.) I am going to write you all a good newsy letter soon, for now, know that I will be posting again soon but am in the midst of seeing my two brothers off to New York City and Nashville (watch out world!). There are all sorts of “last” things going on, “last coffee out”, “last big dinner”, “last minute packing”, etc. For the moment, I’m off to a last soup and bread lunch on a foggy day with all the siblings before tomorrow’s departure, so here’s late summer good wishes and I’ll be back soon!
- Help Haiti!
HISG is a stellar relief organization run by a friend. Donate now to help them bring doctors and fresh water to the people of Haiti. Thanks! -
Notes from the Journey...
The Astronomer by Vermeer
Reading:
The Fiddler's Gun by A.S. Peterson
The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris
The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry Edited by Norman Wirzba
In my ears:
Classical Station KVOD
Nothing Left to Lose Mat Kearney
- Rich Mullins
There's a wideness in God's mercy,
I cannot find in my own
And he keeps his fire burning
To melt this heart of stone,
Keeps me aching, with a yearning,
Keeps me glad to have been caught,
In the reckless, raging fury,
That they call the love of God. - C.S. Lewis
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. - Madeleine L'Engle
A great painting, or symphony, or play, doesn't diminish us, but enlarges us, and we too want to make our own cry of affirmation to the power of creation behind the universe. - Charles Van Sandwyk
Each time pen goes to paper, the general idea is to try to make the most beautiful book in the world. I’ve failed every time, but it’s still the impetus. Wendell Berry
Imagine the dead waking, dazed, into a shadowless light in which they know themselves all together for the first time. It is a light that is merciless until they can accept its mercy... In it, they are loved completely, even as they have been, and so are changed into what they could not have been, but what, if they could have imagined it, they would have wished to be.Tasha Tudor
Life isn't long enough to do all you could accomplish. And what a privilege even to be alive. In spite of all the pollutions and horrors, how beautiful this world is. Supposing you only saw the stars once every year. Think what you would think. The wonder of it!J.R.R. Tolkien
Eucatastrophe is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence of catastrophe, of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world poignant as grief.Loreena McKennit
I heard an old voice say,
Don't go far from the land,
The seasons have their way,
No mortal can understand...George MacDonald
Be sure that if you go on inquiring, you will find the truth- enough of it to keep you alive and wishing for more, and that is enough for us at a time.Leif Enger
I breathe deeply and certainty enters into me like light, like a piece of science, and curious music seems to hum inside my fingers. Is there a single person on whom I can press my belief? No sir. All I can do is say, here's how it went. Here's what I saw. I've been there and I'm going back. Make of it what you will.Elizabeth Goudge
Faithful... supposed that the harder one's life is the more desperate must be the struggle to find out how to be happy, and the more likely to be successful.G.K. Chesterton
He is a sane man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in his head.George Eliot
We are all imaginative in some form or other, for images are the brood of desire.o world i cannot get thee close enough
Itinerant Idealist 
I do miss your posts Sarah! I don’t comment often but I do enjoy reading what you write here. Such encouragement and inspiration. May God bless you and your family during this time of transition!
YAY! I cannot wait to read what you write when you get back! Sunshine
Oh, how delightful to know you will be returning with a bevy of tales to spread thickly around the blog that has been blanketed in quietness of late. I have learned of “feeds” lately and am delighted to know I shall receive notice when you pop in for a chat. Never again will I stumble here and see that I have missed a missive.
EnJOY all of your lasts, which will surely be followed by a plethora of firsts (first visit to brother in …, first recording of …, first publication of …, first reunion after …) — oh the possibilites are endless. The tears and goodbyes of now will become raucous laughter and embracing at the holidays. I can hardly wait. Oh, dear girl, pen the family memoirs (though embroidered for privacy when needed) and send THAT book out into the world. Your readers are there, for everyone loves a good story of family, fun, and food woven together with the choicest of words and word-pictures. Hemingway entreated one to write of what one knew … you know so much of what so many wish to know. WRITE IT DOWN and send it out. : )
Enough pushing … I look forward to a good catch-me-up post. I will be certain to bring a POT of tea next time, for surely a mere teacup cannot contain enough to sustain me through. (I am still looking for that elusive “large-enough” teacup that Mr. Lewis pined for.)
Always a pleasure! ; )
I like what you wrote in your sidebar about “random delights.” I’ll bet there’s a lot of laughter and heartfelt conversation going on. That sounds wonderful.
How important to live even common, everyday moments with that celebration gusto you mentioned. “Last time” experiences don’t always come wrapped in clearly marked packages identifying them as such.