Saturday Slight

Iz is just my imagination, or has we had more darkness than usual as we wind down toward the shortest day of the year? I don't know if it's all the rain or if it was that blast of winter air a couple of weeks ago, but I'm finding it hard to imagine how dark it's gonna seem two weeks from now when we finally go off Daylight Savings time and into the real darkness.

It was certainly gloomy yesterday---most of the soggy day, in fact. We're getting a break today, and I can look at the mountains to the west this morning and appreciate the turning tamarack. Their gold is intensifying, and we need to depend on the tamarack to give us the color we're missing from the other trees.

My yard is filled with bland poplar and cottonwood leaves with a few red maple mixed in. I've been using the lawn sweeper to pick up the new deposits on dry days. It's going to be several more rounds, but it sure beats raking foot-deep piles of wet droppings.

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It's Saturday, and it feels like a real weekend to me. No stories to finish. I completed two assignments this week, wrapping up the final one yesterday afternoon. It's always a great feeling to have what I call a "free mind" for the weekend.

Finishing those assignments gave me time to drive to Bonners Ferry to do some grocery shopping at the Boundary Trading Co.

The place was packed. I think everyone else needed a rainy-day project, so why not get some groceries. I was pleased to find several items---regulars around this house---which were much cheaper than I pay in Sandpoint. One example: Tillamook medium cheddar cheese at 50 cents cheaper per block and Scot toilet tissue 50 cents cheaper for a 4-roll pack.

Besides, I can get my Meadow Gold French vanilla ice cream up there, so it was a good trip. I came home with four half gallons.

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Bill and I went out on a continuing soggy night last night and noticed that downtown Sandpoint was pretty quiet. I figured lots of people headed off to Moscow to watch the Bulldogs rout the Bears 31-0. He figured it was the weather.

Still, we had a nice dinner and enjoyed some sidewalk chitchat about the old Great Northern neighborhood with Craig Gildersleeve and Terrence McAfee. My classmate Dann Hall did a lot of listening as the rest of us recounted a few old times in Sandpoint. Craig, Terrence and my hubby Bill all arrived here in the '70s, from Seattle, California and Louisiana, respectively.

Craig has been selling fish at his Flying Fish Co. for years, while Terrence has moved a lot of dirt on Schweitzer Road and even in the old neighborhood while working for Neil Tucker.

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Congratulations to our dear friend Dr. Nancy Copeland-Payton on the publication of her first book: The Losses of Our Lives: The Sacred Gifts of Renewal in Everyday Loss. It's available at www.amazon.com, where I borrowed the following descriptive segment.

From the Inside Flap

Awaken to Life's Rhythm of Gift and Loss

Based on her experience as a physician, hospital chaplain, and pastor, Dr. Nancy Copeland-Payton invites us to awaken to the losses of our lives--big and small--and embrace the wisdom each has to teach us about the deep mystery of God and the nature of living.

Written for those experiencing loss and those accompanying them, this poignant and practical book shows us how to be attentive to the rhythm of gift and loss. It encourages us to venture deeper into our losses through practical exercises drawn from the world's major faith traditions.

Exercises include:

Breath Prayer--to ground us in the wonder of life Walking Meditation--to awaken us to the moment
Examen--to mine our day for patterns of gifts and losses Sand Mandala--to remind us of the transitory nature of all material things
Labyrinth--to walk the journey through gift and loss in our lives
Accompaniment--to help us name and grieve our losses, and let them go when the time is right Lectio Divina--to show us how to listen with our hearts
Guided Meditation--to lead us to interact with scripture in a deep, personal way

"An extraordinarily wise, practical guide ... on how to develop a deep spirituality grounded in the matrix between the wounds of everyday life from birth to death and the longing for God as the sacred ground discovered in the everyday gifts of life." --Dr. Tyron Inbody, professor emeritus of theology, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio; author, The Transforming God: An Interpretation of Suffering and Evil

We've known Nancy since she came to Sandpoint as pastor at First Presbyterian Church. In that role, she teamed up with Fr. T.J. O'Donovan to perform Willie and Debbie's marriage ceremony. Later, she conducted my dad's funeral service. We were touched by her professionalism and care in each. She continues to be a good friend.

Bill and I wish her great success with her book.

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With that, I'm going to call this quits and get outside to enjoy the nice weather.

Dark is coming soon enough, and it has a tendency to stay around a lot longer than needed, in my humble opinion.

Have a great Saturday.