Refractions and Reflections

Link Here to Bloghop at DL Hammons [I originally posted this during the A to Z Challenge in April 2013, but recently it has been getting some hits, so because people seem to be interested, here is a timely review of Boxing Day.] December 26 is a national holiday known as Boxing Day in Australia, the UK, New Zealand, and Canada. Many people do not really understand the historical meaning of this holiday (kind-of like Christmas and Easter!), believing it to have arisen from the need to empty the house of empty gift boxes the day after Christmas. Rather, from what I can tell, December 25 th was traditionally the date upon which people exchanged gifts with their equals – family and friends; while the 26 th was a day for alms – when people gave gifts to those subservient to them, such as employees, servants, and the poor. Honestly, I think Boxing Day has a more applicable meaning than our current translation of Christmas Day to the true spirit of Christmas. Christmas honors the...

After completing my graduate degree coursework in September 2013, I decided to use 2014 to catch up on my reading for fun (instead of primarily for assignments)!! One of my year-long goals was to read at least one book per two weeks. I am now in the midst of my twenty-sixth, so...CHECKMATE! ;) I even caught up on a few classics I'd never had time for. Overall, I'm very satisfied with my year of reading. Here are the books I read this year: 1) The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson 2) A Better Atonement by Tony Jones 3) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 4) The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger 5) Dorothy Parker: Complete Stories 6) Anna Karenina  by Leo Tolstoy 7) Wicked by Gregory Maguire 8) Something Other Than God  by Jennifer Fulwiler 9) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens 10) Three Lives by Gertrude Stein 11) The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 12) Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen 13) Southern Living: Easy Gardening (Spring 2010) 14)...

There comes a limit to my compassion, my understanding, my friendship...my love. Especially when it seems someone kicks and screams against it...or misuses or takes advantage of it. In my entire life there have been MAYBE 10-12 people with whom I have particularly not meshed...people toward whom, for some reason or other, I found it difficult to live out the love of Christ. Or even just my own love. I'm a pretty loving person, after all...generally speaking. But yeah, there have been times when, though I didn't not love someone, I chose to be selfish rather than giving...perhaps the person needed me and I chose to be lazy or self-serving rather than go the extra mile to do something for them. I have a couple of regrets in this area, in fact. But I'm talking about the people against whom I would rather take revenge . Someone from whom I would like to withhold love, in order to punish them, or at least in order to just "be done" with them in order to protect mys...

---1--- I have not done 7QT in so long...but I have been collecting snapshots for a little Take I've been planning on CREEPY THRIFT STORE FINDS: Hunchback Santa or South Park Santa?  Take your pick here.... I thought the PeeWee Herman costume was the creepy thing about this photo, but now that I see the ceiling, I think I was mistaken. There is absolutely NO CHANCE this doll will come to life and kill you in your sleep if you take it home. Money-back guarantee. Glowing, smiling rabbits in a rusted-out amusement park ride cage. The thrift shop people really are trying to give the children nightmares.   ---2--- Speaking of thrift store finds (but non-creepy ones this time), I learned a little more about my icon egg.     I discovered (from the Cross on the back of the egg) that it is Russian Orthodox in origin, and through a little more digging found that it is Our Lady of Kazan, or Holy Protectress of Russia....