SINCE GRANDPÈRE IS THE CHIEF COOK...

...I bought the sign for him in a shop in Scotland.

Yes, I know that the wallpaper is dreadfully outdated, as is the rest of the kitchen. I'm just not ready to bear with the turmoil that having the kitchen redone would involve. Sorry.

DEAD BIRD ISLAND - TERREBONNE PARISH, LOUISIANA

Aug. 19, 2010 - On a journey to take soil samples from the BP Spill we came across an island full of dead birds in various stages of decay. For more information or to support our ongoing efforts please visit http://www.lmrk.org/

From the website of the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper:

In "Julia," the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper Boston Whaler and a local fishing vessel we made our way south from Pointe Au Chien across Lake Chien and Lake Felicity to Modoto Island. What we encountered there stunned us all. The ground was littered with dead birds. So many dead birds that we aren't sure how many were out there, many dozens of dead birds just in the small area which we surveyed on the island. The dead appeared to included mostly seagulls and terns though some were badly decayed and identification was difficult. It was clear to me by the various states of decay, from scattered bones to a tern that couldn't have been dead for more than a day and everything in between, that this is an ongoing situation.

We also saw a juvenile gull that was in distress. It could hardly walk and was very unsteady when it took a step it also had very little energy. By the time we finished our sampling and were ready to leave the island the bird had died. I asked Kurt if he had seen anything like the dead birds and he said that he had been visiting this island his entire life and he has never seen dead birds in the numbers we were seeing. It is clear to me that these birds are somehow being poisoned by the BP event.

I'm hearing that oil can no longer be found in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Gulf Coast. Note the date of the video. It seems the birds are better than humans at finding the oil which threatens their lives.

Terrebonne Parish lies south of Thibodaux, where I live.




Thanks to Pat B. for the link to the video.

STORY OF THE DAY - REMINDER

I don't think about sex as much as I
used to, I said. But all it takes is a little
reminder. Like what? she said. You
name it, I said & I knew instantly I had
lost all credibility.

From StoryPeople.

DRUNK ON SOUL MUSIC?

Is it possible to get drunk on music? As we rolled through Scotland in MadChauffeur's wheels, along with the chills and thrills of riding fast on one lane roads with two way traffic and "Oooh!" and "Aaah!" scenery around every curve, we had SOUL in spades. I love soul music and have done so since my teens, however, I have never listened to soul music for such a sustained period of time in my whole life. By the end of 8 days of hours of listening to the music, I was a-groovin' and a-tappin' away in the car. If there had been room, I'd have been a-dancin'. I felt drunk on SOUL.

Here's a top-100 list and more of the greatest of soul and R&B recordings. I know we heard a good many of the artists and some of the songs, but as I said, I was drunk, and one tends to lose one's sense of accurate recall when enebriated, so I can't say for sure.

Cathy brought along opera and classical music CDs which did not get played until MadChauffeur abandoned us at the Glenuig Inn, and we hired our car for Cathy's turn at driving. Since I also love opera and classical music, I was quite happy with the change in sound, but without the total immersion in the music for hours on end, I did not get drunk.

And speaking of drunk (Did I really say that?!!!), I developed a taste for single malt (Bruce and Caminante alert!) under the influence of the wicked Cathy. Now I'd tasted the drink before and never liked it, but this time around, I acquired a taste for it, and I blame Cathy. She made me do it.

I posted the following comment at MadChauffeur's blog using Cathy's Notebook with the tiny keyboard, and thus was born Mimo, my evil Doppelgänger.

Hi everyone. Mimi here from Newcastle.

Johnathan has a sweet side that he doesn't reveal very often. He was quite kind an patient with me when we went shopping for the prop0er shoew for me for trekking in Scotland. He picked ouu thick socks for me qnd even noticed when the clerk at checkout was charging me too much for my shoes. He's a lovely man, you know even if he's shy aqbout letting that part of himself shop.

Mimo

Do you see? My Doppelgänger took over my comment, and she can neither spell nor type. Just so you'll know, I deny responsibility for anything that Mimo says.

Below is a picture of the boots, which are quite comfortable and were just the thing for the oftentimes wet terrain in Scotland, having good grips on the soles along with ankle support.



The boots were half-price, and the clerk at checkout was charging me full price until MadChauffeur noticed the mistake. My only caveat about the purchase is the shoelaces, which do not stay tied even with a double knot and are also too long and sometimes trail on the ground. Plus, already the tip of one lace came off, which would make it impossible to thread should the shoelaces come out. So it's new shoelaces for the boots, which, all things considered, still makes them a wise purchase. I had no room in my luggage for the boots, so the only way I could get them home without having to carry another bag was to wear them.

Oh dear! I hope that my future posts on the trip will not stray so far into stream-of-consciousness mode. Once I have my 500-plus pictures uploaded and culled, I hope to be a bit more settled in my writing.

À bientôt!

THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:


ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.

ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

THE MAIN REASON THAT SANTA IS SO JOLLY IS BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE BAD GIRLS LIVE.

I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELF- HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?"

IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE 'S' IN IT?

WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT THEM?

WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL PERSON IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DOES HE BECOME DISORIENTED?

CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?

Don't blame me. Blame the irrepressible Doug.

PLEASE PRAY FOR LITTLE JAMES AND HIS PARENTS

Dear friends and associates,

Please pray and/or think good thoughts for my little great-nephew, James Theophilus Smith, who was born late Tuesday night and baptized just yesterday. He is undergoing open-heart surgery this morning at 10:00 (Eastern time, USA) at the University of Virginia Medical School Hospital. He will die within a month's time without the surgery.

Also pray for his young mother, Jane (my niece), and her husband, Chris, as well as Sam and Susan (my brother and his wife.) As if the baby's illness weren't enough, Susan just got back suspicious mammogram results. She has already been through a bout of breast cancer so this is very worrying.

Thank you all more than I can say. Blessings to all.
Ellie

Lord Jesus Christ, Good Shepherd of the sheep, you gather the lambs in your arms and carry them in your bosom: We commend to your loving care this child James. Relieve his pain, guard him from all danger, restore to him your gifts of gladness and strength, and raise him up to a life of service to you. Hear us, we pray, for you dear Name’s sake.
Amen.

UPDATE: Prayers also for a good report for Susan. "Suspicious mammogram results" can be frightening, especially for a person who has already had breast cancer.

HOME AGAIN...

...exhausted and happy to be back here safe and sound in sleepy Thibodaux. Yesterday was a grueling, 20 hour travel day after my fantastic and fabulous trip to Scotland and England. I've a load of pictures and wonderful memories of my travels, but I'll need time to settle in here, take care of all the business that piled up while I was gone, and process and reflect on the journey, which was a dream come true for me. From where I sit at my computer, the trip already seems like a dream.

My main projects today are to wash my clothes and sort through the mail which piled up while I was gone, and that's just for starters. Have patience, my sweets, and you will hear it all.

TRAVEL BREAK

Tomorrow, I leave for my great adventure into the wilds of northwest Scotland. Please pray for safe travels for the mad three. For details of our trip, see my earlier post.

I will not have my computer with me, because I don't want to wrestle another item through security. Also, I want a break from blogging to return fresh and rejuvenated to pound the keys once again. You'll hear all about the trip and see pictures when I get home. Who knows? Even MadChauffeur may strike a pose. Before I leave, I will turn off the comments function.


Oban, Scotland

Message to the Scots: Forewarned is forearmed.



Photo of moi courtesy of Paul the BB.

Other photos from Wikipedia here and here.

UPDATE: Miss Cathy and Miss Mimi waved a tearful good-bye to MadChauffeur this morning. He left quite worried that Miss C and Miss M would not be capable of making their way on the rest of the journey without him, but they will be fine.

STORY OF THE DAY - OBVIOUS MISTAKE

Some of the stuff I learned early on was
useful, she told me, but most of it was
obviously meant for someone who was
not me.

From StoryPeople.

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION

Transfiguration - Lorenzo Lotto, 1510-12

Luke 9:28-36

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings,* one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’—not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen;* listen to him!’ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

From Fr. John Dear's sermon on the vigil of the Feast of the Transfiguration, August 5, 2005.

Tomorrow, we commemorate two events, one a great holy event, the other an evil, demonic event. On the one hand, we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus, when he was revealed as the face of the God of peace, as he exploded with the spiritual power of inner nonviolence and unconditional love into the light of the world, the fullness of love and peace for the whole human race. So beautiful!

On the other hand, we remember that 60 years ago, our country dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and vaporized 140,000 people in a flash and did it again three days later in Nagasaki. Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker, called our bombing of Hiroshima, "the anti-transfiguration," and said in effect that we have rejected Jesus' loving nonviolence, and created our own demonic light, the blast of the bomb, the dark cloud, and instead of bringing light and peace to the human race, we are bringing death and destruction to all.
....

First, we have to recognize and name, that we live in the culture of the anti-transfiguration.
....

And this anti-transfiguration culture is trying to instruct us, the church, on sin and morality, telling us what is right and wrong, distracting us from the criminal, immoral, and sinful murder of 130,000 Iraqis in the last two years or the development of these weapons at Los Alamos. Unfortunately, many people in the church are being misled by the culture of the Bomb. So like Dorothy Day, we have to be clear about our predicament.

Second, I would say, because of this, because of our story, we are called to go forth into this culture to fulfill Jesus' mission of Transfiguration nonviolence.
....

I think that as his followers, our job is to carry on that mission of transfiguration nonviolence, to follow Jesus down the mountain, confront systemic injustice, and go with him to the cross with perfect nonviolent, forgiving, suffering love.

How do we do this? The voice from the cloud says first we have to listen to Jesus which means we have to take time every day...to hear what Jesus is saying to us, and then go and do it.

And when we listen to Jesus, we hear a few simple commandments: Love one another; love your neighbor; forgive one another; be as compassionate as God; seek first God's reign and God's justice; do unto others as you would have them do unto you; put down the sword and Love your enemies." That is the mission for the rest of our lives.

PRAYER

O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.

READINGS

Psalm 99 or 99:5-9;
Exodus 34:29-35
2 Peter 1:13-21




I am not a pacifist. I am not courageous enough to be a true pacifist. I wish I were. Pacifism is not talking about hating war and linking to Fr. John's web site on my blog. Pacifism is active. It's "getting in the way" as the Christian Peacemaker teams do when they put themselves between the warring parties and risk being kidnapped, like the four team members in Iraq, with one of their number, Tom Fox, being killed.

No, I am not in their company. God bless and keep them and all who strive for peace and justice.

Note: Reposted with editing from the feast day and the anniversary in 2007.