Which way is up???

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Marooned Without a Compass Day."  Fortunately for me, I seldom roam far enough from home to need a compass and if I have gone that far we are likely to be in my husband's car which has a compass built into the rearview mirror.  That does come in handy occasionally.  But with GPS even that isn't really necessary.  However, now I'm wondering, do compasses work the same if you're south of the equator?  As soon as i wrote that question I realized that I could Google the answer and so I did.  Bottom line, a compass made specifically for the southern hemisphere will work better there than one intended for northern hemisphere use.  In fact manufacturers of compasses customize them for five different geographic zones.  Just Google the question yourself and you will learn more than you ever wanted to know about compasses.  In case you're wondering why I even care about this it's because, in February, my wonder spouse and I will actually be travelling in the southern hemisphere, and while we will mostly be on a ship, you just never know when a compass might come in handy.  

still counting...

 I voted today, as I'm sure most of you did.  Then this evening I attended a church committee meeting, totally unrelated to politics. At the meeting a wise young man, realizing that we all had the election on our minds, gave us some good advice.  Among other things he said take a deep breath (or several as needed) and decide on a time to turn off your TV and go to bed.  I've decided that the time is now, so good night.  Sleep well.  The world will still be turning in the morning.

Here it comes...

 Election Day is almost upon us.  I don't mean to make light of it, at least not too much, but I did have to laugh when my west coast brother sent me the 'day' for today.  It happens that today is "National Waiting for the Barbarians Day."  I think that some people are so tense about this election that they actually do envision an invasion of barbarian hordes.  Can you imagine what it was like in the Dark Ages when barbarian hordes were actually rampaging around Europe, and, especially if you were a serf, tied to the land, you might nor have had any forewarning of doom on horse back coming your way?  Compared to that, life in these United States is not so bad.  So tomorrow go vote, if you haven't already, and on your way home or while you're waiting for results (which I fervently hope are clear-cut and decisive) take a deep breath, or several, and count your blessings.  

another saint...

 Today we celebrated All Saints Sunday at First Pres. It was a lovely service with candles lit and names read, to remember the saints who had died this past year and also those we chose to remember from the past.  Their names were all printed in the bulletin.  We sang "For All the Saints" and "Blest Be the Tie that Binds" and it was all quite moving.  It naturally got me thinking of all of the saints in my life and this evening I want to honor my mother who was a truly good person.  From an early age she had wanted to be a nurse but her mother, a pastor's wife, didn't think that was an appropriate job for a well brought up young lady (whatever that means) and insisted that she become a teacher.  So my mother became a teacher and worked at that career for several years.  During the summers having lots of summer jobs and travel adventures that I loved to hear about.  But after her mother died, when Mom was 33, she started working toward her dream. She was accepted for nurses training at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.  I have no doubt that she would have been a marvelous nurse, but during that year she met and fell in love with my father, an Army sergeant, and they got married.  Sadly, that was the end of her nursing dreams, because in 1943 you couldn't be married and be a nurse.  Fast forward twelve years and Mom was teaching third and fourth grades full time at our little Lutheran elementary school.  Although she never wanted to be a teacher, she was a wonderful one.  I asked her once, while I was at Ball State, studying to be a teacher myself, what her secret was to being a good teacher.  Her answer "You must find something to love about every child."  She must have succeeded because for years, whenever I have been back in my hometown, someone will say "Your mom was my favorite teacher." or "I loved your mom."  She died much too young, at 56, but she will always be remembered with great love and admiration.

just for fun...

 Don't go if what you want is high-brow sophisticated entertainment. But if you want a ridiculously silly evening of comedy, I highly recommend the play currently running at Arena Dinner Theater.  It's on for one more weekend, so you still have a chance.  "Murdered to Death" is a spoof on every Agatha Christie novel ever written. Even Miss 'Maple' makes an appearance.  The cast did an excellent job of bringing the zany characters to life.  From the doddering butler to the blundering detective, aptly named Inspector Pratt, the actors were great fun, and very well cast in their various roles.  

Kudos also to the caterers, Walnut Hill Catering & Events,  The meal was one of the best I've ever had at Arena, featuring smoked beef brisket.  It was the best brisket I've ever had.  Truth be told, I've only had beef brisket twice in my life, but this was far and away the best.

All in all, a delightful evening.

a gift...

 Today I attended another Celebration of Life/Memorial Service.  That's two this week if your counting.  Not too surprising since I have attained a certain age.  I didn't know until I saw the dates, but the deceased was only a year older than me.  That gave me something to think about.  As I was driving to the service I was having some rather uncharitable thoughts about why I was even going.  While I knew the deceased, we weren't particularly close, and I was really going to be supportive of her husband who was ten years older than his wife and, from what I had been told, very shocked as well as grieved by her unexpected death.  I do know what he's going through because my first husband died very unexpectedly.  But even with that knowledge, I was still doubtful that I should be bothering to go since I might not even get a chance to speak with him.  As it turned out I was right about that.  His family was, rightfully, very protective of him.  During the service, his daughter read a beautiful 'family remembrance' which she had written and in which she stressed, among other attributes, that her mother had been excellent at organizing things.  I had to laugh at that because I think, probably sacrilegiously, that she was still organizing things from heaven.  That's because, before the service began, a good friend from my days in real estate, whom I hadn't seen for nine years, came up to me and suddenly it was like we had never been apart.  I did not go to the funeral expecting to have a pleasant time at the reception, but that's exactly what happened.  I'll take little miracles however they come along.