Gray, or Grey

However you spell it, it is a gray day in Chicago.  Not much fog but the lake and sky were almost indistinguishable from each other.  Rain.  A frequent occurance this fall, so much that all of our farmers in Illinois are having a hard time harvesting, and then getting the corn dry when it goes to the grain elevators.  The weather here is inconsistent, perhaps like its people.  No string of hot days or rainy days or snowy days - just enough to drive a person a little looney.  It does make life more interesting, I think, than experiencing that "wonderful" dry heat of Las Vegas most of the year, or the boring sameness of San Diego and Hawaii.  We have change in our lifes and the weather people on TV are wrong most of the time - why do they even have the weather on TV in the aforementioned places?  Why? 

The changes make us resilient.  That's what we need to be.  We need to be able to withstand the latest scandal in the Daley administration.  Hired trucks, hiring, police brutality, whatever.  Life is hard, man.

So out to face life.

Take care.

To be blessed

The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog


To be blessed
said the old woman
is to live and work
so hard
God's love
washes right through you
like milk through a cow


To be blessed
said the dark red tulip
is to knock their eyes out
with the slug of lust
implied by
your up-ended
skirt


To be blessed
said the dog
is to have a pinch
of God
inside you
and all the other dogs
can smell it



Alicia Suskin Ostriker

The Book of Seventy

University of Pittsburgh Press

(from Poetry.com)

The Lake

My drive down Lakeshore Drive was spectacular this morning, as it often is. A very bright sun rising quickly over the water - and the Lake was very choppy and sparkling - with all of the boats finally gone from the harbors. It seemed like they stayed a little later this year. The active and inactive water intakes standing solemnly in the distance.

A brief rise in the spirit, and then gone, replaced by the a sinking feeling and emptiness. Why? If I knew....

I am in a bible study at church which meets on Tuesday nights - the first one I have participated in for many years. It is a survey of the core stories of the Bible. Pretty good. Last night we talked about serving like the Christ of the Cross instead of the Christ of Glory. The important thing is to help others, have concern for others, and forego personal glory in your religious life. Very hard to do. One must make sacrifices for those who are less fortunate.

The sun continues to shine brightly - I don't think that it will be hidden today. A good sign.

Take care.

Blogs

I have just started to follow various blogs - there are some very creative people out there. It is fun to browse.

It has turned into a sunny day here, but the sun has not reached my soul. It is still rather dark there. Perhaps the warmer, and hopefully sunnier weather forecasted for the weekend will help. As the days get shorter, however, the impact is greater. I do have an all spectrum light that I turn on in the morning, but it hasn't helped much yet.

Hopefully your day is going well and you are able to oversome the annual onset of seasonal affective disorder.

Take care.

The Lake

In this great city by the great lake one sees amazing, beautiful, unbelievable, and unique things almost every day.

Yesterday evening, when driving home from Hyde Park, I was at Grant Park at about 5:05 pm (CST) when I looked out over the water and saw the moon rising from the depths and, at this point, the full orb was just sitting on the dark blue black water, blazing in a brilliant orange against a dark blue sky. It just was a spectacular sight. Within two to three minutes it lifted itself above the mighty lake and continued on its evening's journey. It climbed into the light cloud cover and was at least partially covered as it climbed higher and higher.

Mother Nature sure can give us a thrill if we just pay attention.

Take care.

another day

The sun is faller lower in the sky and is now streaming into my office around 2:00pm. while I love the warm feeling I will have to close the blind or the heat will put me to sleep and I can't have that. Saw the film Man on Wire this weekend - a good documentary of the man who walked between the World Trade Towers in 1974. Fascinating on how he got the wire up there.

the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is coming up and some folks from my church are going to the screening of Fish out of Water next Sunday afternoon. It is a documentary in which a guy from our church is interviewed. should be an interesting documentary.

Take care.