thank you Saturday
In the process of refurbishing our kitchen, we've come across the most helpful people imaginable. I know some of it is customer relations policy like "Welcome to WalMart," and "Did you find everything you need?" at the grocery store checkout, but the cabinet and countertop folks and their subcontractors from Flooring Depot, the plumber and electricians from Peaden's, and the folks from The Appliance Center have been so cooperative in helping us through this project; as was the kind forbearance of our neighbors here at Harbour Village as the place rocked with the noise of hammering and sawing. It was sheer chaos here at 7H, and we appreciate everyone who helped smooth it out. I was reminded of Isaiah chapter 40, verse 4,
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
It all finishished up this week, and we are grateful and relieved.
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Doubtless if I'd been more interested in exercise than in food I'd be in different shape as I close in on my ninetieth birthday the middle of next month, but delicious Southern food was a principal feature of life growing up in my family, where my mother and both grandmothers were wonderful if very different cooks. So, breakfast yesterday a coleslaw & extra sharp cheddar cheese omelet,
breakfast this morning (top photo) a bowl of coleslaw dressed with the delicious vinegary sweetness from a jar of pickled onions, a small pour of olive oil from a jar of sardines, and one large sardine from Ortiz, crushed up and mixed. Already I'm looking forward to Monday lunch/dinner, which could change but at the moment I intend to be a visit to Gene's Oyster Bar in Millville. Barukh ata, Adonai Eloheinu melek ha-olam: ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz.
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Someone wrote that anyone who never made an enemy ain't worth a damn, and I'm not aware of but one enemy at this Time of life. It's the lamppost on the shoreline just below 7H porch in Under the Oaks Park next door.
The light, shining in the lower right hand corner of the photo above, was always out, never burned until it was restored in the recovery after Hurricane Michael. Resurrected, its brilliance ruins my night sky to stargazing, and shines blindingly in my face early dark predawn mornings when I come out here with my hot & black to welcome the opening of the first day of the rest of my life. So I do have that one enemy, although I know the light is there for the safety of others, and I'd not wish it extinguished.
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Yesterday, Friday, was extraordinary: the groundbreaking
for the new STREAM building on the old Cove School campus of Holy Nativity Episcopal School. STREAM stands for science technology robotics electronics art mathematics, and the new building,
on Hamilton Avenue between the Bill Lloyd Building and the old basketball court, which blends beautifully with our beloved Cove School Building, a place of many hearts, is named for Linda and me. Thank you Carolyn, we are never surprised by your kindness and generosity, but this honor overwhelms us. The STREAM building will enhance the excellence of HNES for generations to come. The school is richly blessed to have a corps of enthusiasts among alumnae, faculty & staff present and retired, the school's board of trustees, the Holy Nativity School Foundation, neighbors, friends, and students.
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Sunday comes round again tomorrow. Here's the gospel reading again, I think I may have published it here earlier this week, but it's a good one, especially for someone who is counting the days until the birthday he turns 90
Luke 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."
Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said to himself, `Self, I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'
"But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."
The gospel of the Lord.
RSF&PTL
T89&c
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14