A Different Perspective on the "Fall" of Man

Reflections in Exile: Irenaeus--"Nice Guy" Theologian

Breakfast

Charlie isn't much for breakfast. He's perfectly happy with cereal or nothing, not even coffee.

For me, coffee isn't so much for breakfast as it is a multivitamin--an essential component of the morning routine absolutely vital to daily function.

Breakfast? Well, that's all about the egg.

My family has made an art form of weekend breakfast. My father is the foremost breakfast meat connoisseur. My mother is the scrambled egg whisperer. Whether at home or out of town, one thing was for certain for the Waltons--there would be a country breakfast at the morning table. Cracker Barrel does a nice one, which is where my sister discovered "Eggs in a Basket" (she prides herself on being the last to order and the one giving the rest of us plate envy--she's that good). I found a tutorial for Eggs in a Basket here. Try it for yourself. Yum.

In Honor of Skip

"Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen him. But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, Son thou art welcome. But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me. Then by reasons of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he had truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost thou understand, Child? I said, Lord, thou knowest how much I understand. But I said also (for the truth constrained me), Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days. Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.

"Then he breathed upon me and took away the trembling from my limbs and caused me to stand upon my feet. And after that, he said not much but that we should meet again, and I must go further up and further in. Then he turned him about in a storm and flurry of gold and was gone suddenly" (Lewis, C. S. The Last Battle. New York: HarperCollins, 1956, p.204,206).

A Little Summer Reading

My brother, Rob, is reading Ulysses, by James Joyce, and suggested I pick it up. I found a site online where I can read it for free, so I thought I would share it here. Ulysses is written in stream-of-consciousness style, much like another novel I read back in college, The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner. I read that one based on a challenge that I'd never get through it. I did get through it, and I loved it. So I am hoping I feel the same way about Ulysses. I mean, it' a novel about a day in the life of a man whose wife is cheating on him. And her name is Molly. How can it not be a good read?

My Boys on Father's Day

Dot Store Shoppin'

On the front door last night

Gardening, Rent-Style

I grew up among gardening folk. Nana, in Jacksonville, will tell you that her mama had a real way with things that grow out of the ground. I know the truth. She's just as much a green thumb as "Mamama" ever was. Charlie takes pictures of Nana's flowers all the time. They are truly lovely, but what fascinated me most about being with Nana and Grandaddy during the summers of my youth was the nightly trip out to the garden come sunset. The heat of the day would be passing lazily over by then, and out we'd go with a bucket or a tin pan to collect the bounty the Carolina sun had ripened to perfection for our harvest. Okra, snap beans, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash. Nana's gardens produce some of the most beautiful fruit and vegetables I've ever known, and to this day her crops are the standard by which I select produce for my own family's dinner table. Sadly, the choices seldom measure up.

Nevertheless, I had some success with my own 6' square garden spot along the lake--mostly okra, which I love lightly dusted with salted flour and fried in just a little canola oil...mmmm, summertime.

Charlie and I don't live on the lake any longer. We rent a home in a suburban area with very little water around. And though the ground is not ours to do with as we see fit, I still wanted a garden for the summer. Last summer we had a brand new baby boy to cultivate, so I did not want to pass another summer without one. What to do...

Container gardening.

Charlie andI live on one income--his. So I knew I wanted to keep our expenses to a minimum and invest most in the plants themselves. I had been collecting old formula and coffee cans, and we had an old entertainment center that got demolished in our cross-country move. I salvaged two drawers from that and had Charlie drill holes in the bottom of them for me. I used a scredriver and a hammer to punch holes in the bottoms of the cans. Voila! Containers. I did, owever, purchase a couple of 88-cent pots from the Big Box.

Potting soil at the local Big Box Store was relatively inexpensive--I think I paid $2 per 40-lb bag, and I also bought my plants there--all for under $3 each. I bought tomato, okra, bell pepper, strawberry, and [what I thought was] squash plants--turned out to be zucchini rather than yellow, and where I come from zucchini is zucchini and squash is yellow squash!

Only the strawberry plant has suffered. It must not like containers. I tried the hanging method with one of the tomato plants, and it's working out just fine. Still no fruit but it's early yet. The okra and zucchini are going to take over. Seriously, save yourselves.

I added mint and rosemary plants to the collection after a recent trip to the local farmer's market, and a lady I interviewed for one of my news stories graciously sent me home with several starters of angel's trumpets to plant. They need to be repotted but are also hanging in there.

Now, I'll have more to say about container gardening once it actually produces fruit for us. We do have some tiny okra buds coming in. For now, the jury is still out, but I will say that container gardening, so far, has been a real pleasure. I get such a kick out of nurturing these tender plants, watering them in the mornings and evenings, closely inspecting them for health and defense against rodents and insects. There like little babies who need special care, and that touches a deep place in me that needs to nurture and protect. I also relish the appeal to frugality that gardening satisfies. It's just one of the many means to the end of keeping me home with our son, yet affording pursuits that interest, challenge, and inspire me.