Who needs Italy...

when we have The Cathedral Basilica of St Louis?

A Romanesque exterior that projects all the majesty, pomp and substance befitting a major place of worship.

Entering the church is literally removing oneself from the world...

and being surrounded by a very different sense of beauty.

I'm tempted to say a darker sense of beauty and more mysterious - but there's nothing much darker or more mysterious than the 'real' world we live in!

You don't come to the Basilica for the leaded or stained glass...

you come for the mosaics!

This is the world's largest mosaic collection: the work of 20 artists over 83,000 square feet.



Over 41.5 MILLION pieces of tesserae (mosaic tile) in approximately 7000 colors!

I love the almost Native American feel of this one!

Gold mosaic is everywhere - and while this Byzantine style of art (and ostentatiousness of worship, for that matter) isn't my 'cup of tea', I can certainly appreciate the craftsmanship and 'otherwordliness' of the effect.


The mosaic work was 76 years in the making ( 1912- 1988).

The Cathedral was designated as a Basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1997.

So, while you're saving all your money for that trip to Italy to see the frescoes and mosaics in Ravenna and Florence (and you really SHOULD go see them, they're exquisite too), don't overlook the beauty that's right here at home!



You really can get quite lost in your thoughts - and in 'looking heavenward' - while you're there.



It was the perfect place to spend some quiet hours on Holy Saturday.

Easter Miracle

I thought of him today - and could still hear his words ringing in my ears, even though it's been several years since I've seen him..

His name was Sam; he was 7 yrs old.

He came to the hospital for what was to have been a routine, 10 minute, same day surgery procedure on his eye.

What the nurses discovered however as they helped him undress for the operating room was anything but routine.

Bruises - of all ages and colors; loop marks, cigarette burns, old scars and new welts covering every surface of his small body, including the bottoms of his feet.

With the nurses discovery, events took on a life of their own - as they do in these cases.

Social services was contacted; family members interviewed and law enforcement notified.

Paperwork was done taking Sam into protective custody, preventing any further contact with the people with whom he'd been living.

Sam was rushed to x-ray and photographed, literally inside and out.

He was subjected to rounds of lab sticks, moved from pre-op to Emergency and, then finally, to the Intensive Care unit.

He had been beaten so badly for so long that muscle tissue had started to breakdown, affecting both his kidney and liver function.

Through the long morning, Sam, although cooperative, had lain mute, his eyes tightly closed. For hours, while staff and circumstances swirled around him, he remained steadfast in his refusal to acknowledge anyones presence.

Up in Intensive Care, there was finally a lull.

As the room cleared out, I pulled up a chair.

I told him that I was just going to sit there with him for a while; we didn't need to talk but I suspected he might have felt alone for a long time.

I thanked him for being so patient with all that had gone on that morning and I said I hoped, as he felt better, he could find the courage to let someone know what he had gone through.

At that point, he opened his eyes and, staring directly into mine, replied "What I know hurts".

While I suspect few of us have experienced Sams' physical reality, I know that most of us can relate to the feeling; we've had our own moments in which failing bodies, broken relationships or wounded hearts have brought us to cry that what WE know of the world hurts.

You don't have to have my job to see evidence, almost daily, that human beings are capable of making really lousy choices.

Simply listening to one newscast a day offers ample proof.

I sometimes think that giving us free will was Gods biggest design error.

But God had a choice too.

And I think Easter is a day we celebrate because we have a God who loves us SO much that He wasn't willing to let us stay alone in the messes that our choices create.

He sent his son and because Jesus was one of us, there is nothing in our human experience that is alien to God.

Nothing about our lives or who we are is beyond his understanding and mercy.

On this day, we celebrate our reality that not even death can separate us from the love of God.

If that's not reason to rejoice, I don't know what is!

I DO know that Sam was adopted by one of the nurses who had been in the OR that day and that, by all accounts, he's thriving, physically and emotionally.

This is a day to believe that miracles DO happen!

Happy Easter!

Friday Fotos

I know this spring has been unseasonably warm and we're a full month ahead of where we 'should' be in the growing season; I also suspect there's a price to be paid with how hot this means the summer will be; but there are days when you simply have to be aware and thankful that, no matter the cost, we live in a beautiful world.

Days when even man made structures seem prettier - like this one at the end of my block.

My trillium, deep in the heart of the shade bed returned...

and by 'shade bed' I mean the part of the garden where the dogs go to lie down among the weeds and stay cool. The part of the garden that always gets weeded last - frequently after all my steam has run out -which means it doesn't get weeded at all!

Have you ever watched a pansy unfold?

I highly recommend it.

And I FINALLY was able to get photos of the play equipment in a nearby park - without kids being on them! (It's hard nowadays to go to a park playground with a camera and minus kids without being perceived as a perv, ya know?)

I went everyday last week, on my way to work, thinking no one would be there... but no, it was spring break and even at 8AM, there was plenty of action.

Who'd have thought if I waited until Saturday morning I'd find them free!

I'll let you take the rest of the walk in silence...

sometimes, it's good to just be still in the face of beauty.

Thanks, I needed that.

Dear Mr and Mrs Child Abuser

This note is just to thank you for giving me a much needed laugh yesterday afternoon.

I must admit that when the Children's Division worker brought your 2 yr old son in for an exam and I saw he was covered in bruises, I didn't expect there would be anything to smile about for the next few hours.

Just goes to show how looks can be deceiving.

I was wrong - and I'll own that; it's a posture, by the way, you might want to emulate.

In case you hadn't heard by now, we're living in a post racial world.

That means that a persons ethnicity, while noticeable, doesn't determine how they're treated or limit what they can become.

So I'm sure you can appreciate our surprise when you informed us that "we can't have you arrested for felony child abuse because you're white, upper middle class and educated".

We were, of course, happy to help you advance your knowledge of civics and legal process by proving that, actually, we can.

Your wife might also want to reconsider making disparaging remarks like "yuck...no, I'm not Hispanic " in front of a Detective who, while "she doesn't look it", is, in fact, Hispanic!

I'm not saying the remark exponentially increased your chances of being provided with "three hots and a cot", but it didn't help either.

I'm guessing your mother's already pointed out that you are your own worst enemy, right?

You both certainly provided us with some levity in an otherwise dismal day.

As soon as your son regains the ability to sit down on the ass that you beat bloody, I'm sure he'll laugh it right off; well, maybe not.

By the way, the handcuffs match your suit SO well; they really are YOU!

day of opposites

The memorial stone I ordered arrived and it's perfect in its simplicity - just like him!

After I finished crying, I made plans for the garden and the roses I'll plant this weekend in his honor... right in the sunny spot he loved the most!

After work, I played with the camera and created some Easter fun!!

I don't mind experiencing both the highs and lows of life ... as long as there's a decent balance between the two.

between sky and sea...

she was forced to be earthbound... and she shared the time with us!

My great niece, Eleanor, was headed from Chicago to FLA for spring break with her water polo team and had a long layover in our fair city.

Long enough to leave the terminal, have some fun, and savor some treats.

Even if that meant joining her older cousin and his fiancee in their mockery of me since I said she was with a synchronized swin team - not water polo!

Hey, it involves a team in the water... what's the big deal?!

Back at the airport, GI Joe got us into a private club...

and participated in some suspicious behavior that came close to getting us evicted!

And, heaven forbid, kids today go 'unconnected' for any length of time!

Pretending you're a celebrity won't discourage the paparazzi -

although 'the look' will give me pause!

This unintended capture says it all...

his fiancee in one lens, his mom in the other!

OK... THAT look will get me to stop!

There... no people; does that make you happy?

At least, Pearl never complains when I take her picture!

Good girl!

Is it any wonder, I have so many nature pictures?
Never once heard them complain!

Tax Evasion

Took a break from taxes - not that I DO them, but I have to get everything together and take them to my accountant, don't I; surely THAT counts - and allowed myself some playtime, using items from around the house, inspired by Pinterest.

Not that I have a bare necked refrigerator but I decided to add some graphic interest, use an old game board, some of the tiles and viola!

Since the tiles were placed using double sided tape, they could technically be re-used.

I did decide to use push pins on the pictures tho, so the board would be hole-y but it too could be used again - tho I doubt I'll have much use for Scrabble Jr anytime soon!

I also bought this old chalkboard at a garage sale for .25... the front was nothing special, although I do like the ghost writing of both chalk and then pencil around the frame.

The graphics on the flip side, however, were spectacular - and perfect when using it to frame two of my favorite great nephews who live in Michigan.

Use what you've got and what seems to work for you is MY motto!

And while we're wasting time, seriously, could there be a dog cuter than this?

No, I don't think so either!
Both of us are still adjusting to being without Jack, but we're getting there!

Back to trying to create order from chaos...

and then escape for a little bit back into yard work...

hope your Sunday is as productive as you want it to be!

The Blue hairs

When my children were little, we used to laugh (lovingly, of course) about the older women in our church congregation who always sat in the front pews at church; their hair elegantly coiffed - all with 'rinses' in varying shades of blue or purple.

We referred to them as 'the blue hairs'.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against coloring your hair - I used to do it so often my drivers license had a color wheel on it - but blue?

What was THAT about?

It struck me on Sunday that,while many of them are still here, their ranks are sadly diminishing and, God willing, some of us are going to have to be moving on up to those pews ourselves!

On a recent work day with Habitat for Humanity, this brush was going to be thrown out.

I decided to salvage it and do a tribute to all the blue hairs out there - and see how I will look when my turn comes around!

I think I could totally rock it!
Although my 'coloring my hair days' are over!

The 'style' is about right tho!

Yeah...'elegantly coiffed' will never be a phrase anyone ever connects to me - in any color!!