~Living a life of sophisticated domestication deep in the heart of Texas~

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

I never met a Dorothy I didn’t like….

Isn’t she a beauty? Dr. Dorothy Height has gone from our world now, yet she has left us talking about her behind her back, so to speak.


I won’t even pretend to understand or be aware of all that she accomplished in the interest of civil rights. I suspect you don’t have to be black (and I’m not) to wonder who will come along and take up her cause(s)…

So, I just happened to be surfing the I-net and somehow found myself on the “clutch mag” page, glimpsed this picture of Dr. Dorothy and thought, “Wow, look at her. How wise and beautiful, and how sad those she left behind who were lucky enough to love her and learn from her must be….” And then I thought, how marvelous and amazing it must have been to be her. Just think, accomplishing so much for others and making a big difference in a big world, being steadfast and focused about it all….and yet, she was merely a woman with womanly flaws and womanly vulnerabilities. Just between you and me, don't you think she had something extra, that “above and beyond” what it takes to be a dynamic woman of color in today’s world?  Look at her, she must have!

There were two very special women in my life named Dorothy….

When I was a child, Dorothy A was wonderful to me. She had a cupboard in her kitchen that was for me (as well as other really little kids) and it was filled with wonderful things. She laughed a lot and said funny things, like “This day God hath *not* made.” She was an artist and I really, really like her a lot. She lived at the south end of Oregon.

When I was an adult, Dorothy C was wonderful to me. She lived up the hill a ways from me. I was kinda new in town and she came knocking at my door, bearing homemade cookies. That was the first of many, many wonderful visits. She was always encouraging and enthusiastic. I think her motto must have been “You can do it!” She was a writer, the wife of a writer, and I really, really like her a lot. She lived at the north end of Oregon.

I’m really lucky to have had a couple of Dorothys in my life.  I think they believed in me.  They were both good and beautiful, just like Dr. Dorothy Height. May she R.I.P….

Shawn
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photo courtesy of: clutch magazine

Thursday, April 22, 2010

National Day of Prayer Need Not Be Unconstitutional....


On April 15, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. She is mistaken, of course. Presidents and Congress have violated no one's rights in proclaiming this patriotic holiday. If there has been a civil liberties problem associated with the official (city hall or courthouse) observance in some communities, it is only because churches have been allowed to commandeer the affair and make it Christian-only, and that is vexingly contrary to the "no establishment" clause of the First Amendment.

The City of Abilene has wisely heeded this plain point and has had fair and lawful National Day of Prayer events in the two ways that it can be done. In 2005, wonderfully enough, a City Hall observance was conducted by the Interfaith Council and featured Protestant, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Bahá'í and Universalist prayers. It was very right and very American to have the community officially embrace religious diversity like that -- but then we were just as appropriate last year in having no ceremony at City Hall, the faithful gathering at one park or another for their observances, respectively inclusive and exclusive. That way, too, the principle of constitutional religious liberty was maintained.

Though the latter method with no ceremony at City Hall might appear more satisfactory to Atheists, nonbelievers in prayer could very well participate, too, show up to be heard and respected for their philosophy that the religions are mistaken and that rationality and a humanistic ethic are more beneficial. Free exercise, thus, for Atheism as well. How generous and liberal is the spirit of the constitution, if we care to step up and claim the blessings!

Judge Crabb's well-meaning decision was a bit wrongheaded, but not as whacked as the rumor, spilling across the Internet at about the same time, that the National Day of Prayer for 2010 had been canceled by the president! That farcical myth obviously germinated out there on the fringes, where (ahem) informed and thoughtful folks take this president for the Antichrist.

As this good society advances, our freedoms may develop and refine and adjust to suit the idea of equality, but there is no reason to expect a capricious about-face -- especially while we have an administration so nimble of wit as to comprehend liberty and equality at the same time.

SGTex
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Saturday, April 17, 2010

Nothing profound to say, just an excuse to listen to our tunes for a bit....



...and to say "WoW!" about the redbud that was blooming around town...We don't have that up in Washington that I ever saw. I'm the consummate lover of all things tree. I absolutely adore Texas, and have been delighted with all the gorgeous specimens that adorn the streets of this city. There's something wonderful about the old, ordinary Douglas Firs back home, I know, but gee whiz, the trees in Texas are very, very special to me. I'm thrilled that the house across the street from us has a glorious redbud, right where I can look out the window and see it.

I think I made an error this evening. I wanted to do something nice for SGTex while he was out shopping for groceries and getting dinner. I washed his very old, very pretty blue hurricane lamp. I did such a thorough job of it, that I washed the blue right off the chimney. :+( I feel very awful about that...but he just called to tell me he's on his way home and maybe he won't be too unhappy with me. I hope not.

So, it's a rainy and cold Saturday evening and I should go put on a pair of his socks, but here he comes with dinner. Oh good, he wasn't mad at all. In fact, he was marvelous....and I am so in love with this man.

The lamp is tucked away safely in the china cupboard and my man is home.

All better now :+)

Shawn
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

So there was this deputy sheriff, a priest and some guy in a tutu….


…who appear in my dream last night.

I’ve been knocking out carbs, see, and I start dreaming. In my dream I get up from somewhere to grab a bite to eat, and the next thing I know I lay eyes upon a huge saucer with some ginormous pieces of white bread.

As I said, I’ve been knocking out carbs. Apparently in this particular state of Dreamland, it’s illegal to be in possession of *white bread.*

Enter the deputy sheriff, who informs me that since I've been caught with white bread I'm on my way to jail. I am astonished! Now, I must tell you it is small comfort when the priest steps forward and pats me on the shoulder. He then kindly explains to me that I’m going to have to surrender my Social Security card, signed in own hand with black (not blue) ink and it must be left on my bedroom dresser to be collected later.

At this point, I realize that my darling husband SGTex is at my side, who jumps up to announce, “I’ll get it for you, Honey!” (I vaguely remember giving him a sideways, withering glance, for he seemed suspiciously too enthusiastic and helpful. Hmmm. He later told me that he felt that surely he was up to something and had plans to save me from such an awful fate. Well, okay then...)

So, the priest fades out, but the guy in the tutu is still standing there staring at me with this odd look on his face as I begin to wake up.

Later when I described my dream to SGTex, he suggested that I should have just gone ahead and eaten the damn bread, because then I couldn’t be charged with possession.

Sweet dreams....

Shawn
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Sunday, April 11, 2010

"Are you blogging, Honey?"



"Uh huh, I think so...." I'm not really sure what I'm here to say, actually. I had the urge to blog, I guess because it's a nice Sunday evening and all is well with us. I suppose I could say something about our car sitting in the Starbuck's parking lot, where it died. Well, paused, shall we say, not actually expired.....which makes me think I could say something about Urge, one of Noel's cars from long ago. (See the play on words, urge to blog, Urge the car, our car issues, yada yada. I think I've mentioned Urge before). Sigh. I told you I didn't have a lot to say.

But it's actually nice to sit here and listen to our tunes--that's fun :+). I could mention this great picture I found when searching for spring shots, and since it's such a lovely spring picture taken in the Holy Land/Japan (you Baptists out there don't be shocked--Noel is Buddhist). That's one of two locations I've always wanted to go and see the cherry blossoms, the other one being Washington DC. They're lovely in Olympia, WA on the capitol grounds there, too, but I've BTDT.

Speaking of blooms, I'd better get out there and water the hanging baskets, so that's about it for now.

Shawn
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photo courtesy of: Tripadvisor,Photos of Asakusa, Taito, MaySpecial/Guam

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

שיר השירים


Shir ha-Shirim....

The Song of Solomon has always been a favorite, and I haven't read it in a long time, but I did think about it the other day, musing about poetry and prose and things written recently, things written long ago, and just how important is the written word. I don't mind telling you that my most fav writer is my DH, SGTex. His stories absolutely rock, I kid you not.

Anyway, he and I were talking about closed-mindedness, censorship and such things the other morning. I briefly touched on the destruction of the library at Alexandria, Egypt. I remember how sad I was as a child in school when I learned about those events and thought about how much we might never know, what treasures of thought and ideas will never be discovered, since it all went up in smoke. My teacher told me to not be so upset, that it was a very long time ago. But you see, at that time in my life the library was my most favorite place in the world, and I couldn't imagine it all disappearing on me, YKWIM?

According to Wikipedia, destruction is said to have happened not merely once, but four times: Julius Caesar's fire in The Alexandrian War in 48 BC, the attack of Aurelian in the third century AD, the decree of Theophilus in AD 391 in response to the Emporor Theodosius ordering the destruction of all pagan temples, and then the Muslim conquest in AD 642 or thereafter.


A crying shame.

So, what does the Song of Solomon have to do with anything? Nothing, except I'm wondering if somehow it accidentally got left in and unintentionally became part of the Canon of scripture. Maybe the person responsible for censorship was actually a nonreader and didn't get past the title (or else he had a thing for a hot love story), so there it remains.

Like I said, it's a good read....

Shawn
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photo courtesy of: Tabitha of MyHeartBeads on Etsy

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Le sacre du printemps.....



Just stopping by to say Happy Easter! It's been a beautiful spring day here in Texas, all blooming and balmy. Tomorrow we'll hang our his-n-hers petunia Easter baskets on the front porch (our gift to each other) and enjoy being homebodies.

We're wishing each of you a great day, celebrating it your way...

Shawn&SGTex
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photo courtesy of media.nj.com/hudsoncountynow