Forgiveness

Genuine forgiveness is not an easily cultivated art. Especially when we have been gravely wounded by another person, our basic human dignity affronted, it is no simple task to forgive. Nor should it be done lightly. For we need also to recognize and affirm the anger, the pain, the betrayal, or the sense of injustice that we feel when genuinely hurt.

- Wendy M. Wright

The Rising

And Boo to you too!

Happy Halloween!!

Pretty is peaceful

Images of around town.

Like grass roots

The dendrites in my brain run deep, and so full of stories. Ever try pulling grass roots?

Shop locally, eat organically

One of my very favorite blogs to read is very inspirational in many ways. Riana writes about harvesting the land around her home in the south of France. When I read her stories I go back to Mozambique and remember the neighbour who grew much of what his family ate, including rabbits.

For years I have read about eating organic and buying locally. I read a Salon interview with Alice Waters, who believes in this concept as a way of life.

So, today, I ceased the opportunity to do that myself and stopped by the Phoenix Downtown Market. I came home with this:

The pears were the sweetest I've ever had.

I made this: Cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, with a bit of cold Salmon.

The cucumber stand

Plants
This is from Maya's Farm

Next Saturday I will be making cards with her.

Ice cream and tea parties

Come to suburbia and check out the Kid Birthday Party options. We are guilty of such indulgences after years of at home birthday parties. But I always think back to my own childhood celebrations in Mozambique which included no one but those of us in the household, and a cake of our choosing. Zero birthday presents, or at least I cannot recall any.

Mrs. Potts hosts a tea party where the girls learn table manners.

The birthday girl is the Princess and all others are Ladies.

"Introducing Lady Gisella!"

Temporary and seasonal art

Hand carved by wee hands.

Education enriched

Deep inside my person lies a drive to learn, to know, to understand. Parenting is a complex experience where I am aware of me, her, the other parent, the sibling, the school, the friends, and education is intrinsically weaved in all of it.

We are grateful to have opportunities to offer them rich educational experiences.

Don't Script me

I really love this one:

Jesus' approach is always fresh, surprising, new, and unexpected. Consequently, it always provoked a direct reaction.... He shattered firmly formed convictions and beliefs. He often used nonreligious language, avoiding the religious language of his contemporaries, a language that had been used so long, and so often by so many people, that it had lost its meaning almost completely. He continually used examples from everyday life to express himself.
- Joseph G. Donders

Praying and Preaching the Sunday Gospel

Restless inquiry

Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry [people] pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.
- Paulo Freire

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Zalouk

The Soul of a New Cuisine

I flip through the pages, checking list of ingredients, looking for clues as to what are manageable recipes to start with. My pantry is not stocked with smoked herring or the various - and there are many - types of chilies.

I chose a variation of Zalouk, a Moroccan dish, named "Warm Eggplant-Butternut Squash Salad."

This weekend, me and my shopping list will dash to the food store (I have 3 favorites), and bring home the beginnings of my masterpiece.

Red alert! -Taste buds are salivating!

The Soul of a New Cuisine

My "One woman" project. One woman doer, one woman audience, one woman customer/critic.

Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelson, returns to Africa, his birthplace and explores the continent through its cuisine.

I'm going to attempt to follow some of the recipes in his book "The Soul of a New Cuisine".

Details later.

~ Chef D ~

:-D

What is a friend?

You know those conversations you can have with some someone that leave you feeling rich, full, and peaceful? The kind where you and the someone feel valued by each other? Th kind where transparency and honesty are absolute basic ingredients? I have those conversations with very, very few people.

Ultimately, the friends I want to have are those I can have such conversations with... On the other hand, I'm very satisfied with a reasonably intelligent interchange with anyone.

The ultimate experience? Combine the two.

The process of developing a friendship like this is just that, a process. In the beginning one experiences the satisfaction of having found someone with whom you communicate well. They get you. They like what you have to say. You admire them. You learn from them. Polite exchanges are everywhere. Then, the thing happens... things cool off... you consider your next step... you wait it out... you decide to test that honesty level mentioned above. This will determine the next level of the friendship. Let's see what happens... She may have the makings of a friend.

In memory

All that creativity is, depth, color, texture, I can now use to honor the lost ones.

I find myself noticing combinations of three. We are three, the left ones.

I can do that...

They would be the kind of kids who would ride that thing endlessly... as I would :-D.

Fall Break and cooler weather

Girls are off and Momma works. Mid afternoons are for short trips, and there is always something different to do at the zoo. Heck, we can always use our new cameras and spend our time there capturing fun stuff. These creatures were toasting in the mid afternoon sun.

The Phoenix Zoo.

Parenting for High Potential

Here's a list of selected resources for high ability children. Items are chosen based on their WOW! factor.

In our house we started exploring the game "The White House". I look at my 10 yo's willingness to learn about presidential election in amazement.

You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who cannot repay you.

- Ruth Smeltzer

Some guy in church on Sunday said something similar. I call that true giving, but I often find myself expecting my gifts to be used fruitfully...

Majesty

I strive...

Humility is attentive patience.

- Simone Weil: An Anthology by Siân Miles 2000

The Blessing

The great mystery of God's love is that we are not asked to live as if we are not hurting, as if we are not broken.

In fact, we are invited to recognize our brokenness as a brokenness in which we can come in touch with the unique way that God loves us.

The great invitation is to live your brokenness under the blessing. I cannot take people's brokenness away and people cannot take my brokenness away.

But how do you live in your brokenness? Do you live your brokenness under the blessing or under the curse?

The great call of Jesus is to put your brokenness under the blessing.

- Henri J.M. Nouwen Lecture at Scarritt-Bennett Center