I’m doing a new thing right now. I’m teaching classical education students analyzing stories and the bones of the Art of Organizing Writing. It’s two days a week, but I’m trying to find a rhythm. The baby, he’s getting married in two months. . . and it’s August with my 40th anniversary and my 3-score and one year birthday. It’s … Continue reading →
(It’s been a big week – my birthday and our 40th Anniversary. It sure doesn’t feel like 40 years until I start stringing all the stories together. When my sons’ say their ages, it sounds like 40 years. When little people called grandchildren call me, “Muddy,” it sounds like 40 years. . . but the spirit-girl inside – she doesn’t … Continue reading →
I was born in the early 60s, but I grew up in an earlier generation. I grew up in my grandparent’s house, with a grandmother and grandfather who were pre-teens during the first world war – and were raising pre-teens to babies in the second world war. My neighbors were spinsters, widows and couples who grew up during the same … Continue reading →
My new lavender died in a sudden December cold snap, along with the oregano, thyme, and basil. The old lavender met with an unfortunate and unplanned mowing mishap the year before. Even the Zinnias seem forced to show up – as though I’d sent out hundreds of invitations but only a handful came – and somewhat reluctantly. The Dill were … Continue reading →
“O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.” – St. Augustine It rained last week. Rainy days are a favorite. A summer storm rumbling through is part of summer’s charm. Doors have been opening and closing, closing and opening on new things and old. There are … Continue reading →
I’ve been reviewing 14 years of Blue Cotton Memory posts over the last few months. I’m working on a project, so they’ll better understand what I’ve been doing in this space for all this time. As I dug around, I found this post – it feels like I wrote it just yesterday, but it was about 12 years ago. Some … Continue reading →
“Everything is a grace because everything is God’s gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events – to the heart that loves, all is well.” – St. Therese of Lisieux. Everything. . . everything is grace! Because everything is God’s gift – how that truth goes straight to my heart. Big or small, even the hard and … Continue reading →
These promises – God Promises – for you and for me. I believe in them because 1) He says them, and 2) I have lived them. When I struggle, when I fall, slipping into doubt, I cry out to Him, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” Then He comes alongside me, watering that mustard-seed size faith – or maybe by then … Continue reading →
I first met my husband’s grandmother, June, on his mom and dad’s porch at a typical Kentucky Sunday afternoon family gathering. It was a precursor to the Hamburger & Hotdog Thursdays we did when the boys were in college. It taught me how. Grandma had a cane. “Grandma will whack you with that cane,” he’d laugh. She wasn’t a warm, … Continue reading →
