No heat in the middle of winter?

After our main heating unit broke down twice within three of the coldest days on Long Island this winter, I wondered what a family would do if they did not have a backup heating source, or a close friend or family member with whom to spend the night. Today's Examiner article tells the whole story of what happened to us, what we did, and what I suggest families do to have some kind of an emergency heat disaster plan.

My fears of freezing to death really were worse than the actual cold, and I was left feeling more sympathetic than ever toward those in the plight of having no shelter whatsoever in this weather.

Visions went through my head of the people who must have suffered in the camps at Krakow, Poland. I visited there when I was 18 and I can still remember the small, bare hovels. My imagination peopled those rooms with women and children, no meat on their bones, struggling to keep each other warm as snow came in the poor shelters.

We have so many comforts in our modern life, with much to be thankful for. If you are reading this on a computer, you are probably in a well-heated environment right now, with clean tap water within reach and something good to eat if you desire it. Say a pray of thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

These chocolates were made by my children today. They are girl and boy pilgrims, bats with baseballs, and turkeys. I am so thankful for them, for America, and for my readers. Happy Thanksgiving!

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Golden Standard in Friendship

Tonight I am thankful for my dear friends who reach the “gold standard”, as described in the wonderful book of Sirach.

“A kind mouth multiplies friends, and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings.
Let your acquaintances be many, but one in a thousand your confidant.
When you gain a friend, first test him, and be not too ready to trust him.
For one sort of friend is a friend when it suits him, but he will not be with you in time of distress.
Another is a friend who becomes an enemy, and tells of the quarrel to your shame.
Another is a friend, a boon companion, who will not be with you when sorrow comes.
When things go well, he is your other self, and lords it over your servants;
But if you are brought low, he turns against you and avoids meeting you.
Keep away from your enemies; be on your guard with your friends.
A faithful friend is a study shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.
A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds;
For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself.”

Sirach 6:5-17

If you don’t have a friend like this, start looking. If you do, recognize her great value and treat her as such.

Happy Thanksgiving !

Painting by Norman Rockwell

The Woes of Dial-Up Internet

Happily, I now have DSL!

I wrote this paragraph during the week before the primaries. . .

Normally, I try to do all my internet work after-hours. That is, after telephone calls are normally received. Today I was doing make-up work with my fourth grader, who missed school due to a cold on Friday. I discovered she had to do an online project, which was due on Monday. So I went online at 4:00 in the afternoon on a Friday. This was an extremely bad time to be using the telephone line, as election calls were coming in quite frequently. Every time I was in the middle of downloading the Power Point template, a little box would pop up saying my connection was being interrupted by a telephone call. Thinking it could be a family member, I would pick up. After repeated election calls, I ignored the telephone interruptions and clicked to resume the connection.

Now, I can blog any time during the day that I am able to get away to the computer. I no longer have to stretch a fifty-foot telephone cord from my computer to my bedroom. I no longer have to be afraid of missing an important telephone call, or be annoyed at a caller for interrupting my internet connection. I am so thankful for this little luxury!

Portraits of a Turkey

Much of New York is shopping today, on “Black Friday”, the commercial kick-off to the Christmas season. The malls were open at 4 A.M. this morning for those who wanted to get an early start. I suspect many of my readers, like me, avoided the sale craze in favor of a warm, cozy day indoors with the children, baking, crafting, or playing games.

The children made me these beautiful turkey pictures for Thanksgiving yesterday. The eldest made the most flamboyant, resembling a peacock as much as it does a turkey. My son also made a colorful one, with a serious look much like his own. My eight-year-old dreamer was aiming for a realistic-looking turkey.

I woke up to her shrieking while they were in the middle of making their surprise cards Thanksgiving morning. She ran to her room and would not tell me what had upset her. I peeked in the garbage and saw a crumpled-up paper with the cutest little turkey head, and a body that had obviously disappointed her. She would not cheer up until she had gotten it right. I think she did a mighty fine job.

I find it amazing how much of one’s self can be found in a portrait of an animal. Posture, pose, and the look of the eye and mouth are likely to be reflected in any picture created by a child. When the children are in school next week, I can look at these turkeys and feel the presence of each of my little ones.

“God looked at everything He had made, and He found it very good.”
Genesis 1:31a

Scriptures of Thanksgiving

Psalms 8: 1 - 5
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1 I give thee thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing thy praise;
2 I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word.
3 On the day I called, thou didst answer me, my strength of soul thou didst increase.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, for they have heard the words of thy mouth;
5 and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.

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Sirach 50: 22 - 24
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22 And now bless the God of all, who in every way does great things; who exalts our days from birth, and deals with us according to his mercy.
23 May he give us gladness of heart, and grant that peace may be in our days in Israel, as in the days of old.
24 May he entrust to us his mercy! And let him deliver us in our days!

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