Today is Aunt Suz’s Birthday. She just got a spankin’ new job as a librarian for Utah State. Woohoo Susan! This video clip is dedicated you to [Note: perhaps Pete the dog can pinch hit for you in the wild animal department as needed].
Note: tomorrow is someone else’s birthday. She is getting something that’s purple and something that’s yellow (at least that’s what she thinks she’s getting….)
Picture: Pink rose with drops of water on the petals.
This rose is so small, that the green ‘stems’ you see around it are actually blades of grass. It’s from a mini-rosebush that I received as a gift a few years ago.
Recently I sat down with a dozen or so of my LDS friends and spoke with them about my desire to affiliate with Quakerism. I talked about my deconversion from Mormonism and the joys I feel when worshiping with Friends. As I spoke about Quaker beliefs, practices, and values, one of my friends questioned whether The Religious Society of Friends could really be labeled a ‘religion’ because it doesn’t have any concrete beliefs about the afterlife.
I found this post from Friend Heather to be a nice response to the question of whether Quakerism is a religion. I particularly like these paragraphs:
I don’t worry too much about whether others call what we do a religion. What does the name matter? If we earnestly try to turn our hearts to God, to sit together in waiting worship, and to follow the promptings of the Light revealed to us, then it doesn’t matter what we’re called.
I thought of the many other times and places where I feel the sense of worship: around trees, in meditation, at concerts, in acts of service, walking, dancing, in the presence of the ocean, listening to a child, making love with my husband, experiencing sudden natural beauty, doing mundane chores, knitting, sharing a cup of tea with a friend. I am reminded that it’s all sacred, that God is everywhere, and that all I need to do is open my heart and be where I am, right now.
What do you think? Do names matter? I suspect that most LDS would say that they do. Mormons hold the belief that the name of their church was divinely revealed and that each word in its name has significance. I’m not sure that Quakers give such importance to such words. I do know that they call themselves a ‘religious society’ rather than a ‘religion’ to distance themselves from the hierarchical trappings of most religions (and certainly those contemporary to the founding of Quakerism).
I’ve discussed before how labels matter to me because they are about creating self-identity. But I’m not sure if it’s important to me whether Quakerism is a ‘religion’ per se. It just feels right to me and for me. And perhaps that’s all that matters?
Picture: a closeup shot of a gold-colored marigold with various marigolds of reds, oranges and yellows in the background.
A bit of sunshine for this very overcast day…
:)
Picture: closeup photo of a dragonfly–green body with translucent wings–perched on the deep green leaf of a clematis vine.
This little guy greeted me this afternoon by perching on my rapidly-growing clematis vine. If you click on the image it’ll take you thru to the flickr page. Click on the “All Sizes” link above the photo and you’ll get to enjoy him in greater detail. If you look at him at the largest possible size you can see the fuzzy little hairs that emerge from around the area where his wings connect to his body. Amazing. Who knew that dragonflies were so complex and fascinating?
Picture: closeup photo of a sunflower with yellow-reddish petals.
This sunflower is from a seed mix called “Moulin Rouge.” the name charmed me (being a Francophile) to I had to try it out. So far the flowers are quite small compared to the typical Mammoth varieties that I usually grow.
Did you know this?:
“In the head of a sunflower, the tiny florets that turn into seeds are typically arranged in two intersecting families of spirals, one winding clockwise and the other winding counterclockwise. Count the number of florets along a spiral and you are likely to find 21, 34, 55, 89, or 144. Indeed, if 34 floret (or seed) rows curve in one direction, there will be either 21 or 55 rows curving in the other direction.”
This fascinating article explains the mathematical patterns found in sunflowers. Interesting, indeed!
My husband John, commenting on the very positive article written about the blog Feminist Mormon Housewives in BUST magazine (fyi: BUST is a hip feminist magazine).
What John doesn’t mention is that he was interviewed by the writer of the article (as were Caroline, Kaimi, and a few other friends), though only FMH bloggers and Margaret Toscano are quoted in the piece.
Picture: Underside view of a tomatillo bud hanging from a plant.
I picked and ate my first tomatillo yesterday. Having never grown my own before, I wasn’t quite sure if it was ripe yet (how do you tell if a green fruit is ripe?). It tasted both sweet and salty. Different, but not unpleasant.
Soon enough, I will have enough of a harvest to make some salsa verde. Do any of you have a favorite recipe to share?
“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called. ~A.A. Milne
This blossom is from the dwarf satsuma tree that my Mom gave me for my birthday 2 years ago. The little tree is thriving in its new home in my garden (it didn’t seem to like my porch so well).
I wish I could bottle the scent to share with you, too. It’s intoxicating!
Our family was in the elevator going up to the third floor to visit my Great Aunt Madge. She lived in the same downtown Salt Lake City apartment building as many members of the LDS church’s leaders. On this particular day when the doors opened on Madge’s floor we found ourselves face-to-face with Elder Faust, a favorite member of the three-man triumvirate that sits just below the Prophet of the church.
So when we met up with Elder Faust we greeted him warmly, reaching out our hands for his hearty handshake. John, perhaps carried away a bit with the thrill of meeting a revered leader (for those of you not LDS, it would be akin to running into the Dalai Lama or Pope Benedict–ok, maybe just slightly less well-known). Anyways, so John had a mild slip o’ the tongue when he addressed Elder Faust, saying:
“So good to see you Dr. Faustus.”
Can I just say that I almost peed my pants right then and there. I wanted to laugh, but I knew I couldn’t. I had this sense that Elder Faust didn’t hear exactly what John said so I didn’t dare acknowledge it. So I did a lot of dry-coughing and throat-clearing as we stepped away from Elder Faust and the elevator doors closed behind us.
[Note: As John and I are reviewing this story just now, he’s insisting that he said “Dr. Faust” and not “Faustus.” Yah. right.]
Early this morning I found myself at Trader Joe’s buying quinoa (or at least attempting to buy quinoa, but eventually settling for a 3-grain rice blend because they were out of quinoa).
Anyways, there were the most gorgeous bouquets of peony buds all through the lobby–large pink knobs on long stems. On impulse, I bought a bunch, brought them home and put them in water. All day long they’ve been unfolding one cup-shaped petal at a time–literally changing every few minutes.
So…you guessed it…peony photos coming soon. :)
PS: Ellycat loves peonies almost as much as I do–she’s nibbled the tips of most of the leaves off already…
