Fall Leaves and Nickle Creek.

So a weird fact about me…I categorize all of my music according to weather. This semester as I discussed some of my favorite music to a friend she pointed this out to me. “Oh I love this song, it is perfect to listen to as you sit on the front porch on a summer day sipping lemonade” or “Oh I love listening to this artist during the winter as I am wrapped up in a blanket” or ” I like this type of music as I am driving with the windows down on a spring day”. I don’t know where this comes to…but not only do I describe my music this way I listen to my music this way also…the time of day also plays a part in my music listening, which in a way has to do with what it is like outside…sun coming up…or twilight…there is music for all of it. For instance, Nickle Creek is perfect for a crisp fall day ( the three times that it happens in Texas) and a sweater…while Patty Griffin is good every day…she is best on a cold rainy day. The Shins or The Killers…perfect for the summer. Over the Rhine….on a clear and 73 spring day…. Most Blue Grass music…best during the summer …. except for the Wailin Jennys which I prefer wth cold weather and a quilt. …Regina Spektor..it should be sunny outside….David Gray, winter…Indigo girls…depends on the song…they can really be all seasons…how do you categorize your music?

An Advent Song for Life: Trumpet Child

This song is Advent. If you have not listened to it. Do your self a favor.

“The trumpet child will blow his horn
Will blast the sky till it’s reborn
With Gabriel’s power and Satchmo’s grace
He will surprise the human race

The trumpet he will use to blow
Is being fashioned out of fire
The mouthpiece is a glowing coal
The bell a burst of wild desire

The trumpet child will riff on love
Thelonious notes from up above
He’ll improvise a kingdom come
Accompanied by a different drum

The trumpet child will banquet here
Until the lost are truly found
A thousand days, a thousand years
Nobody knows for sure how long

The rich forget about their gold
The meek and mild are strangely bold
A lion lies beside a lamb
And licks a murderer’s outstretched hand

The trumpet child will lift a glass
His bride now leaning in at last
His final aim to fill with joy
The earth that man all but destroyed”
-Trumpet Child, Over the Rhine

A Few of my Favorite things…

I was listening to a commentator on BBC World News, she said that the Grand Pleasures in life come around every once in a while, and they are not to be depended on to bring us our life’s happiness. Instead she says, in life, in our daily life, we should count on the simple pleasures, like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. We can find simple pleasures every day.They are dependable. It got me thinking about the simple pleasures in my life. What are the little things that bring a smile to my face throughout the day? I love drinking coffee on Sunday mornings while watching the CBS Sunday Morning Show. I love wasting a day on a book, because really it isn’t a wasted day. I love running at the dam and watching the sunset over the lake. I love going to a friend’s house thinking that you might watch a movie, but you end up talking instead. I smile when I look at the church bulletin and realize that we are singing one of my favorite hymns. I like a good pen, and I really do like taking notes in class. Speaking of class, I love it when a concept all of the sudden clicks and I can see how it fits with everything else that I have learned. I like it when I realize that I have finished my homework, so I can read the paper in between classes or talk to a friend in the hallway a bit longer.
I wonder if all of the simple things in life add up to one grand and dependable pleasure?

Sunday

The only thing that would have made this sunday better is if I had woken up in time to watch the CBS Sunday Morning show with a cup of coffee.
Today consisted of:
- Sevice of Carols at Calvary. With the children and adult choirs singing “Christmastime”. We also sang O’ Holy Night, which brings me to the Lord always.
-Came home and took a nap.
-Ate Berries that I purchased on sale yesterday.
-Cleaned my room
-Finished the last hundred pages of the Kite Runner alongside an apple and penut butter and two cups of tea.
Now before I end the night I will make one more cup of hot tea…its cold outside I can’t help myself…and curl up on the couch with my next Christmas Break read, Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry….yes I do love closing one book and opening another all in the same day.

DONE!

I have just finished my final paper of the semester! Thank goodness we do not have finals in Social Work. Just copious amounts of projects and papers the entire semester. I have been longing for endless days of reading, long runs, sleeping in, coffee in my PJ’s, time with friends and simply rest. I am becoming well aware that these blissful Christmas breaks will come to a close soon…as I begin to wind the corner of FINALLY finishing up school.
But until then, for the next month and a half, my mornings will consist of Gilmore Girls and Coffee, afternoons of a good run with a friend, and evenings of reading and spending time with friends without the nagging feeling that I should be doing something else.

Thankful.

Meredith made a good point today. Thanksgiving is a day when Americans take a day off of work, and spend the day with family and friends…eating. That is it. A national Holiday to eat and be merry…and be thankful. We should have more days like this.
Clearly I must reflect on what I am thankful for:
1. My wonderful and loving family.
2. Old Friends…Favorites… and those who have walked with me through seminary thus far..including the ones who have scattered all over that nation…and the ones who are about to scatter.
3. New Friends….everytime a few are about to leave, a few more walk in.
4. A nice and comfortable house to live in.
5. My new found love and excitement for Social Work
6. Good books.
7. A new phase of self reflection and self care.
8. Running is no longer a chore. It’s fun most of the time.
9. Coffee every morning.
10. A life giving church family and life group.
Praise God from who all blessings flow.

A Quote.

“Wash the gum from your eyes and dress yourself for the dazzle of light.
Long have you timidly waded, holding a plank by the shore.
Now I will you to be a BOLD swimmer!
To jump into the midst of the sea.
Rise again not to me.
SHOUT! Laughingly dash with your hair”

- Walt Whitman.