A Positively Poetic Priest

 “We seldom admit the seductive comfort of hopelessness. It saves us from ambiguity. It has an answer for every question: "There's just no point."; Hope, on the other hand, is messy. If it might all work out, then we have things to do. We must weather the possibility of happiness.” This was written on the former Twitter, by The CryptoNaturalist last July. (July 22, 2022, Twitter) This quote spoke to me about the reason hopelessness seems so easy in the face of so much in our world that seems so hard. In order to have hope, we have to be willing to change whereas hopelessness gives us an easy out. In August of 2017, the United States experienced what some media outlets called "the Great American Eclipse." It was a total solar eclipse that spanned fourteen different states, with a partial eclipse being visible from parts of Canada to parts of South America. I was traveling that day and remember pulling off the highway into a shopping mall to catch a glimpse of the...

I biked my errands today in honor of Earth Day. I dug around in the dirt in my garden and planted some potatoes. I spent time connecting with the sun and the wind and the earthworms.  In college I was one of the few people who had plants in my dorm room, and when others who had plants had neglected theirs, they would bring them to me and ask for help or simply give them to me. Throughout my student years, going into seminary too, I received a bunch of plants, and pet fish, and even two pet mice.  It seems to me that we know we need to be in connection with plants and animals, we are just not doing a great job of making it a priority or passing that knowledge along. I've learned from my mother and random books and people I've asked, but without everyone learning how to be in better connection, we are going to lose the relationship.  I know environmental science is not everyone's cup of tea. But we all need to know more about our own relationship to our environm...

Today's action was not really that environmentally friendly or related to the garden, but it is festive and made me happy. My mother-in-law gave me Earth Day themed nail stickers for Christmas, so I put them on in preparation for tomorrow.  In other news, the tomato, carrot, cucumber, and pumpkin seeds I started in my dining room are starting to sprout. 

The Good News Garden got a bunch of sleet and rain last night. The roof has pooled water. I'm going to have to rethink how we put plastic on the roof. 

I started working in my backyard at the beginning of April and already have suffered a couple of weeks of poison ivy rash. I pulled out half of the ivy that was in the backyard, but now I am reluctant to pull out the rest of the ivy. I have started planting some things in my new (very messed up) greenhouse.  The greenhouse was a saga I am not proud of. It is working, but I didn't put the plastics on very well and so I have lots of leaks and I'm going to have to figure it out at some point. Part of the problem is that it has a flat roof, which is not great for rain.  But I now have lettuce and kale and spearmint growing in my greenhouse. I am starting tomato, carrot, cucumber, and pumpkin seeds in my dining room. I am hoping to plant them in the yard in May. The yard seems to have pretty good soil. I have plenty of worm casings in the morning. Roses, ivy, trees, lemon thyme, and other things (dandelions) are growing well.  Good News Gardens is an initiative of the Episcopa...

For the first time in my life I have been given land to care for.  Its not a big backyard, and I think at one point in the last fifty years it was a playground. Indeed, I think it has been many things in its lifetime.  Before Europeans arrived, this land belonged to the Lenni-Lenape.  Over the years as Morristown grew, someone built a house on this land, which at some point was bought by St. Peter's.  I hope as I live here, I will be able to fill in this sparse history with more details, as I fill in this yard with love and plants.  Right now, with the current freeze, it is hibernating. Waiting to come alive again. 

Trainspotting with my handsome man in my plum Willow. I love these dresses. 

So... today... I realized I can't count.  I wrote this challenge for 121 days, from the beginning of September to the end of December. However, tomorrow is the end of December... and will be Day 122.  Either way, I have come to the end of my Wool Challenge and I can definitely say I have loved it. There are a few items of clothing I am looking forward to using again, but all in all, I love the dresses and will wear them out! 

We went for a two hour walk in the cool moist air. It was nice. I had my black Cora on, with leggings and a sweater. 

It's been a slow day in mostly pajama type clothing. We watched a movie this morning. I do love this thicker Smartwool black long sleeved shirt. Warm and comfortable! 

You'll see peeking out of my coat my pink Smartwool shirt and under that I had on my black Cora dress. We visited my aunt and uncle today. 

Boxing Day! Roll out of bed late and don't care! 

I wore my red Willow dress for Christmas morning church! I matched the poinsettias. 

Christmas Eve! This is my special Christmas dress, I've worn it the last few years on Christmas... And it is a wool blend! Not fully wool, but I'll take it. Getting ready for the services this evening. 

I'm in my red Willow dress today and the Altar Guild directress gave me some of the extra Christmas flowers for my desk. 

It's Christmas week! So naturally I'm planning Epiphany event stuff at work today. 

Staff holiday party. I have my black Wool& dress under my polar bear sweater. 

A Monday cuddling and recovering from the weekend! We did go for a long (almost three hour) walk in the afternoon. 

My black Wool& dress appeared again today with my new sweater for church. It was a full morning, and my parents came too! 

Early morning picture of my new Wool& sweater!! I bought this with my coupon for having completed the 100 day Wool& challenge. I thought grey would compliment the three dresses I have already, plum, red, and black. I have a feeling I will be wearing this sweater a lot!