After spending time with my dear extended family last week, I couldn't get this wonderful quote out of my mind. It's an oldie but such a good one, don't you think?
Love Them Anyway
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Be good anyway.
Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People need help, but may attack you if you try to help them. Help them anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." ~ John 15:12
This week's Quick Takes are some random thoughts from my quick trip to Houston earlier this week. Caution--I was feeling a bit snarkier than usual! :)
~ 1 ~ I’ve lived in the Midwest now for 15 years—long enough to think we have some pretty hot summers. But now I know that my memory of what real hot summers are like has faded. Or maybe it's just impossible to imagine that heat until you’re in it. See, Houston was a whole ‘nother level of hot. Blasting the car’s a/c at all times hot. Wondering whether my deodorant is working hot. Steam coming up off the freeway pavement hot. We don’t have that kind of hot in Wisconsin.
~ 2 ~ So these old women with tattoos liberally sprinkling their arms and legs; I just have to wonder. Did they get the tattoos recently, when they were already in their 60’s? Or did they get them decades ago, with no foresight whatsoever regarding how stupid they’d look when they got older? Either way, what were they thinking?
~ 3 ~ En route to Houston via Chicago via Charlotte (?? Yes, really) I had a last-row seat and listened to the two flight attendants discussing their vehicles of choice to own and to drive. As in, which model Mercedes vs. which model Lexus. Really? Really? Could Bill be in the wrong profession, perhaps?
~ 4 ~ Overheard at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston: “Kashir Mohammed Makeer, please return to baggage claim for a lost item.” Not to sound like a country bumpkin or anything, but “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Wisconsin anymore!”
~ 5 ~ Even though I did quite enough travelling in my younger days to become quite cynical about it and quite happy to stay clear of airports, I do love them. Especially O’Hare, where at one time in my life I was pretty sure I spent more time than at any of the places I actually slept overnight. My imagination just goes hog-wild thinking about where all those airplanes are headed. I love seeing them all lined up circling the gates, headed for every corner of the globe. And the people! I love watching them and trying to guess where they’re going. I love seeing people in flip flops or even sporting leis, obviously just back from tropical vacations, standing right next to businesspeople in overcoats or people carrying ski jackets or people wearing saris or cowboy boots; young people, old people, bored people, excited people, people with little kids, people speaking various languages—talk about a global melting pot! I just love it. I used to think it would be really fun to work at the airport, like in customer service or something. I’m over that, but I do still love airports.
~ 6 ~ Does anyone ever get over being just a teeny bit afraid of flying? I’m a pretty sensible person, and I’ve flown hundreds of times (perhaps hundreds and hundreds—I’m not sure), including through turbulence so bad that I actually thought we had landed when we hadn’t. While coming into Chicago this week, my plane had an aborted landing where we got down just a few feet from the ground, ready to touch down, and then—oops—went quickly back up to retrace our circle out over the lakefront and around back to re-approach the runway. Jaded traveler that I am, I had an almost full-out panic attack over this. Sheer terror. The two chattering magpies sitting next to me weren’t worried; they’d flown many times before, they said. (Ha!) I just wanted them to shut the heck up as I feverishly prayed my Rosary. Obviously, we made it—turns out it was nothing but an O’Hare traffic jam. But know what I mean? Don’t you just hate that whole sheer terror feeling?
~ 7 ~ It’s amazing how dressing up a little and making some sort of attempt to do something to make my hair resemble something attractive can make me feel happier, friendlier, more confident. Like a whole different person, in a way. Maybe I should try it again sometime.
I wish you were here on the plane with me so much! From up here in the sky, all the little lakes down below look like little mirrors reflecting the blue sky and white clouds. I bet if I could look at just the right place, I would see my very own airplane in one of those mirrors!
You would love seeing all the farms way down below. The fields look like a quilt with lots of green and brown rectangles all patched together.
And now we’re coming over the huge city and WOW I can see the big big Chicago airport down below—it looks like a toy play airport with the little airplanes all lined up. My plane will be landing there soon.
And WOW! The huge city skyline with a line of skyscraper buildings! If we went into one of those buildings, the elevator would have fifty floor buttons to choose from. But from way up here those towering buildings look tiny, sticking up like the soda straw stalagmites that we saw on our trip to the cave. In the distance, all behind the big city buildings, I can see Lake Michigan, which looks like a shiny yellow mirror with the early morning sun shining on it. I’m not too far from where Paddle washed ashore in that sailor’s duffle bag in our story.
J there is so much to see that I can’t even write it all! I can’t wait to bring you up here with me! It is so much fun to explore God’s beautiful, amazing world with you, my dear little guy! I sure am missing you right now!
Dang-it all, I love Houston. I just do. I know that it’s glitzy to the point of extreme cheesiness, with a Gentlemen’s club on every corner. I know that its lack of zoning gives it a certain “something” that can be described as “quirky”—or just plain “gross.” I know that it’s roughly comparable to the Amazon rainforest in terms of heat and humidity, and that the sheer volume of traffic on the vast concrete freeways is enough to make any cowgirl quake in her boots.
But when I was a girl, a trip to the Houston Galleria easily rivaled Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I’d always treat myself to a new paperback book, a gold bangle bracelet, a treat from that European chocolate shop with all those cool little marzipan figures. When I was a very young woman—old enough to drive but still young enough for the sight of city lights to take my breath away—seeing the Houston skyline at night, and sailing around the perimeter of downtown on the Pierce Elevated I-45 freeway, made me absolutely thrill with the possibilities and wonders of my life as it stretched out ahead of me.
I loved working downtown in the Pennzoil Building, wearing heels and a suit and a starched white cotton blouse and trying my best to act like a grownup. I loved driving my little white car to work on Memorial Drive past the park, with that shimmering skyline popping into view when I came up the hill. I love driving out west along Memorial, with all those graceful old—interspersed with new—houses. I love the crazy jumble of people from all over the globe that makes a Vietnamese restaurant a perfectly acceptable neighbor for a taco joint or a place serving up Cajun seafood.
I love the whole NASA thing, and the evidence of the oil business everywhere (especially at the prices at the gas pump!) and how you can take an hour’s drive and get to the beach. I love the sea gulls and palm trees, reminding me of the beach even around downtown. I do appreciate seeing right-leaning political viewpoints expressed on bumper stickers around town, and Houston certainly delivers on that. I love the Houston zoo; it’s my favorite one in the world, for sure. I love the graceful, gnarled old oaks lounging around everywhere, and the azaleas and the crepe myrtles and the monkey grass that lines so many walkways. I love when those walkways are made of pea-gravel, which reminds me so much of my grandmother’s house. Nothing says summer to me like the sound of the cicadas crackling in the trees on a stifling August afternoon.
In a strange way, I do love the summer heat, just because it belongs here. It’s connected to the glitz of the people, somehow. Maybe hot temperatures call for metallic sandals, bright glossy fingernails, tank tops, and expensive handbags. It’s certainly true that perfectly coiffed hair makes more sense here than in the wintry Midwest, where winter hats are smashing down your hair so often anyway. I think the heat is also connected to Houston’s culinary smorgasbord, although I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just that muy caliente outdoor dining is so deeply embedded in my memories that I can’t think of eating Tex-Mex, or barbecue, or fried shrimp without psychologically experiencing sitting in the Texas heat as well. After all, that’s why we need plenty of margaritas or sweet iced tea to cool us off with our lunch.
It’s funny how cities do have personalities, for whatever reason. Chicago is solid, experienced, known for its gangsters and skyscrapers. Minneapolis is funky, Norwegian-inspired, otherworldly in its wholehearted enthusiasm for wintertime. Dallas is hip, polished, sure of itself. To me, Houston is real—the place where ladies get out of pickup trucks sporting high heels, and where nobody’s perfect, but anything’s possible. No guts, no glory, down there in that steaming concrete oil town, home of Enron and BP, but also home to NASA and Continental Airlines, Rice University, and a beautifully built new Roman Catholic Cathedral, earthy stucco amidst the steel-and-glass downtown.
Sure, Dallas is way more stylish. Austin is much prettier. Don't get me wrong; it's not that I want to actually live in Houston, necessarily. But for me, as it turns out, there is really no place like home. And Houston is it.
There has been no shortage of soccer going on around here. Everyone wrapped up a great season last Saturday; next Saturday, it's on to swim team! A while back, I mentioned that I was doubting the future of soccer for our family--less is more, and all--but I've backed off on that, of course. Here's the plan as of now: Both girls are going to stick with their same teams again next year. KLD loves playing with her friends, and they'll be moving to a new league next season. MRD has really loved this spring with a great team and two awesome coaches, and she's turning out to be kinda great at soccer (I'm still waiting to find anything that she's not great at!), so we're in for another year. At this point, I'm thinking that JPD's going to take his kindergarten year off from soccer. As the years go by, I am more and more convinced that early-age organized kids' sports is pretty much a total waste of time, at least for someone so active and athletic as JPD, with a bunch of siblings to play with. Learning to listening to a coach, staying with the group, and having fun with friends (kids and parents) are all good reasons--but for us, I'm not sure that those are enough benefit to warrant having one more thing to be late to on Saturdays! :) (I'm working on my whole tardiness thing, really!). And I'm thinking that JPD might really love hockey for a year or two, until he's old enough for basketball and football. (Plus I really miss hanging out in the freezing rink with a toddler climbing under the bleachers, and spending half an hour before and after each game and practice getting my hockey guy's gear on for him!)
In the meantime, everybody's swimming...stay tuned for lots of pics from the first meet!
~ 1 ~ First week of summer! Everyone home all week + all our friends still in school and no summer activities going yet = Family Togetherness Bliss. Right?
Right! It's been great having everyone home--we did a few little outings, swim team practice every day, one whole rainy day of total lounging, daily Mass a couple of sweet times, and...plenty of homeschooling! Really!
And I have to say, oh my goodness...how did I ever do this? It's so hard! Just kidding--sort of. I'm getting used to the higher level of general chaos around here again (so are JPD and MPD, which has been one of the hardest parts of this week), but it certainly is different from my relatively peaceful days with my two brown-eyed boys. Prayers and profound respect to all you full-time homeschoolers.
~ 2 ~
Want to know what we've been studying? This awesome literature/geography study. I highly recommend it. We are all loving it, and it's working well for our 6th, 5th, 3rd grader, and kindergartener too. Everyone loves it at their own level, which is so cool to see. We're reading Paddle to the Sea, which is exquisite, and working through the map that goes along with the book. JPD's busy making models of canoes, MPD's perfecting her beautiful map, KLD's in the process of re-starting her map right now, and WWD's gobbling up facts for his next go at the Geo-Bee.
Everyone's also working through their Singapore Math books, which we all seem to appreciate a bit more now that we haven't seen them in a year. It's interesting to see how Singapore meshes with the math curriculum they have in school; I'm hoping that between the two, they'll be well-prepared for middle school math.
~ 3 ~
Pray for my sweet friends who departed for China yesterday to meet the two precious children who they're adopting! It's such an exciting story! Read it and see if you can't help imagining being called to adopt a child--I know I've certainly been checking out the adoption agency website! (Don't get excited--we are old and tired and have no plans.)
~ 4 ~
So this week I've been big into reading the Nourishing Traditions cookbook that I referred to earlier this week. Fascinating, fascinating, fascinating. Please get it and tell me what you think. To me, the biggest deal has been learning about the nutritional value of real, raw milk--and conversely, the worthlessness and even toxicity of all the rest of the milk that I've been drinking all my life!
You'd think such healthful milk would be widely available in my area, where I drive by half a dozen or more dairy farms on the way to drop off the kids at school each morning. Well--not so fast--turns out it's actually illegal in my state. Here's a cool story about an independent farmer fighting back this week against Big Dairy. I like him already. (Did you know there was such a thing as Big Dairy? Of course there is.)
~ 5 ~
Lately Bill and I have figured out our two oldest sons. Perfectly. Here it is: WWD is my dad, and JPD is Bill's dad. I don't know why I never realized it before, but it's so right on I can't even believe it. And it helps me understand my sons so much better than ever! If you know my boys in real life, don't you agree?
~ 6 ~
I need ("need" as in "want") a new camera. One that can zoom far enough and with shutter speed fast enough to get good pictures at swim meets and football games. And one that's easy to use, even for a spaz like me who can barely focus my brain, much less a camera. Any advice? Anyone love/hate their camera?
~ 7 ~
We saw this on TV tonight (Rachel Maddow show--believe me, I did not have control of the remote!). Funny video about a current event that is beyond sad...
"In 1960, researchers at Ann Arbor University performed an interesting experiment on laboratory rats. Eighteen rats were divided into three groups. One group received cornflakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the cornflakes came in and water; and the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats receiving the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. But the rats receiving the cornflakes and water died before the rats who were given the box--the last cornflake rat died on the day the first box rat died. "Before death the cornflake rats developed schizophrenic behavior, threw fits, bit each other and finally went into convulsions. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves in the spine--all signs of 'insulin shock.' "The startling conclusion of this study is that there is more nourishment in the box that cold breakfast cereals come in than in the cereals themselves. Loren Zanier, designer of the experiment, actually proposed the protocol as a joke. But the results are far from funny. They were never published and similar studies have not been repeated. If consumers knew the truth about breakfast cereals, vast fortunes would be jeopardized."
We had a great end-of-school field trip wrapping up the kids' geology unit.Before going into the cave, the kids got to pan for 'gold' and gems in the sluice stream. I think they like this more than the actual cave. I didn't get a lot of great pictures, because MPD and I (shrewdly) decided to forgo the tour of the cave. Instead we took our own field trip to the center of MPD's UNIVERSE...the school bus! What could be more exciting than that?! He even got to "zoom zoom" it! Heaven!
"You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love at which we do them." ~ St. Therese
A master of interior life, a worker deeply involved in his job, God’s faithful servant: that is Joseph. With St Joseph, the Christian learns what it means to belong to God and fully to assume one’s place among men, sanctifying the world.
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." ~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
"You should behave as if it all depended on you: whether the atmosphere in your place of work is to be one of hard work, cheerfulness, presence of God and supernatural outlook." ~ St. Josemaria Escriva
