A Laid Back Day

Today, Saturday, was very dark when I awoke. About mid-morning the thunder started and the rain began to fall in copious amounts. I’ll post a picture of the rain gauge which shows the amount received thus far. It appears from the sky that we might expect even more. Things are so

dry the rain just soaks into the thirsty ground and gives new life to all things growing – grass, flowers, crops, and weeds. ¶ It is that time of the season when these strange looking stalks grow up from the midst of the Hen and Chicks succulents. They flower with the strangest looking things. One could imagine something like this in an aquarium or on a coral reef, somewhere aquatic. But no, out of

the midst of these little “chicks” these pillars arise. They are certainly one of the things that makes the garden interesting to view. ¶ No progress on the new front landscaping yet. The plants I purchased to occupy part of the new work have grown to full size. I don’t know how well they will transplant now. Perhaps they will be just fine. ¶ This is the day after chemo week. Things went very well. The pharmacy was quite speedy every day but Friday. That day it took an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting for the delivery of the medicine. It was almost as if the pharmacy had closed early for the weekend and

neglected to inform anyone. ¶ I am slightly troubled by my lack of patience. Instead of dwelling on how efficient things were on the preceding four days or considering how busy the pharmacists might have been, I just concentrated on my inconvenience. I was distressed because I feel my time is very important. I forgot that time is also very important to those working in the pharmacy. Then, upon reading my email from yesterday, the meditation from Henri Nouwen was on, of all things, time. ¶ Nouwen said: “I have always been very conscious of my clock-time. Often I asked myself: “Can I still double my years?” When I was thirty I said: “I can easily live another thirty!” When I was forty, I mused, “Maybe I am only halfway!” Today I can no longer say that, and my question has become: “How am I going to use the few years left to me?” All these concerns about our clock-time come from below. They are based on the presupposition that our chronology is all we have to live. But looked upon from above, from God’s perspective, our clock-time is embedded in the timeless embrace of God. Looked upon from above, our years on earth are not simply chronos, but kairos—another Greek word for time—which is the opportunity to claim for ourselves the love that God offers us from eternity to eternity.” I need to look at time differently.

¶ Sophia was so very busy entertaining the housekeeper that she took to her couch (meaning the ceiling in the basement) upon his departure at 2:00 and was not seen again until 10:30 that evening. Entertaining is very hard work, says she, and one must recuperate. I thought for a time that she had escaped to the great outdoors. She made it up to the bedroom, displayed an enormous yawn, and took a nap. It must be nice to be that relaxed with nothing on one’s agenda. Cats are the ultimate creatures of relaxation. ¶ I’m feeling well. I felt some nausea on Wednesday but the pills helped and slept just fine. Thank you for thoughts, prayers, messages, and all that you do, not just for me but for others as well. ¶ Bless you.