Author: Maria Johnson

back in the saddle again

I suppose that’s a pretty ironic title for me to use since I’ve never been on a saddle or a horse. Nope. That birthday pony a million years ago that my dad walked me around in circles on, that doesn’t count.

It’s just as well. I mean, I’m a little afraid of those huge beasts. I admire their beauty and grace from afar, but I like a fence between us.

On the other hand, I do like cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and one good-looking cowboy-wannabe, in particular, and it ends there.

But I’ll indulge the cultural use of that saddle to mean, finally, I went back to work after a forced vacation due to the crazy weather around here. I missed my office. I missed my door. I missed the lock on the door.

I did not miss the whiny students.

I also missed a part of my day that had come to mean a great deal to me. It started off as a little joke, an opportunity to run away from the madness in the office and eat my lunch in peace. I’d sit in a parking lot across from a fairly good view of Stone Mountain and make all kinds of silly jokes about visiting the rock, but eventually, it really did become an oasis. A spiritual oasis at that, since it was perfect for some reflection, prayer, and more often than not, just a place to sit in silence.

Funny how I am always seeking silence. Even when I’m blaring music in the car at 80 decibels. Except at the rock.

almost normal…whatever that is

I went to bed relatively early, and got up, if not quite making it at 5 AM, well, closer to dawn than I have in weeks. Tomorrow, God-willing, I return to work, and perhaps more important for me, I return to some good habits I let fall by the wayside. It’s a new day, as they say.

Who are they, anyway, always putting in their two cents where my life is concerned?

Well, one of them is St. Paul, and his advice is clearer than anything I’ll pick up from the anonymous they:

…it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness (and) put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day….But put on the Lord Jesus Christ….(Romans 13:11-14)

So I sit in the silence of my kitchen, enjoying an aromatic cup of fresh-brewed hazel-nut coffee with a splash of cream, staring out the window at the stubborn remnants of a crazy little snow storm.

My backyard, full of unmelted patches of snow, reminds me that perhaps I am like that. It’s just a regular yard — perhaps a little in transition. We fenced it for our dog, starting a continuous project of clearing and cleaning and prepping that seems endless.

This morning, I see it as a metaphor for my life — each season has wreaked havoc on the yard, bringing with it the dramatic changes that ultimately renew it and give it beauty, repeated again in the new seasonal changes. It’s always the same yard, right? But also new and different.

These days it’s looking a little tattered and in need of some work and we’re not even done with winter yet! The snowy blanket that covered my yard for almost a week changed the landscape, though. It didn’t really change anything about the yard — it’s certainly the same one, but made so much more beautiful — so much more gentle and inviting. It didn’t fix the places that need my attention in the Spring, but it softened them, drawing attention to the need but at the same time, gently re-forming it so that the entire effect is dazzling.

I thought about what Paul might have meant about putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and how He can transform us.

what inning is it?

I admit that I probably spend too much time on Twitter. It is a vast sea of ridiculosity, sometimes empty and sometimes fun. But generally, it’s a time suck.

Generally.

Other times, though, it can be a great source of news and even education. It reminds me to pray. It invites me to reflect on some deep thoughts. It has gently and rather casually linked me to scripture and spiritually uplifting articles and blog posts that have made me a better Christian, and subsequently, I’d like to think, a better person.

It has provided me with a vast playground of like-minded people, which more often than not, in small spurts of 140 characters or less, makes me think.

I won’t delude myself into thinking that this can be a substitute for healthy personal relationships, which requires a different kind of intimacy, but in today’s vastly changing world, it is one window into a new kind of dialogue, and as it happens, it has turned out to be quite engaging, and a lot of fun.

I invite you into that little virtual world via Katharine Grubb’s blog, 10 Minute Writer, where she hosts a little virtual play-off party, no doubt inspired by some of the playful banter that gets thrown around the twitterverse.

Come to the party here.

Day 2 of the little dusting that wanted to be a blizzard

Well, here we are, living in the new Ice Age, Atlanta-style. That means we have plenty of milk and bread. I wasn’t in town when the preparations were made, so I’m kind of afraid to check on the status of the toilet paper. Not too worried, though, cuz you know, this too shall pass.

BAHAHAHA. Sorry. I’m getting slap happy. Or stir crazy. Or whatever you people in really cold places call it. I might be calling it murder if things don’t loosen up soon.

Anyway, I digress. I intended to post about the beautiful snow and some darling little pictures of our dog romping around in the back yard and the scarlet hues of the cardinals as they eat from our feeder. You know, the quaint stuff that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

And then the damn dog peed in my foyer, evidently because she is displeased with exposing her delicate butt to the formerly fluffy snow now glazed with about an inch of hard, cold ice. She fell. I almost fell. In the end, I was pissed (heh, heh-heh) but I understood. I had a rather shocking wake up this morning when I went for my morning…ablutions.

Yesterday, the snow was fresh, the excitement was contagious, and I didn’t have to work. I used my morning for housekeeping and cooking, and then played all afternoon.

Today I haven’t changed out of my pajamas. I’m not even wearing a bathrobe. I didn’t brush my hair, instead, putting it up in a top knot. I look a little bit like a Sumo Wrestler so I will consider my husband’s feelings and go get dressed.

I sat through the View.

I think this is how people get depressed.

Rumor has it more of the same tomorrow. It seems that the city is unable to recover, not from the snow, but the ice that has sandwiched it. If so, I think I’ll get up and wear a suit around the house.

It may be the only thing inspiring me to avoid Jerry Springer.

where do we draw the line?

So I went to Borders this afternoon to buy a book. Just a cookbook. That’s all — one of those in and out trips. I knew what I wanted and went straight to the desired section and would have left immediately except for this epic weakness that I have.

I like journals.

It’s a little weird. I don’t necessarily buy them, or even use them. (Well, full disclosure, I do now, rather obsessively. The using, as in actually filling them up as opposed to just standing in front of them and coveting them). So naturally I went to look at the journals and selected a nice sturdy one that would take some abuse.  But I digress, this is not about journals. It’s about the display next to them.

There was this heinous fuchsia sparkly statue of Mary. Oh, and there was a silver one of Jesus. They are banks…with slots on their backs and rubber stoppers on the bottom.

It makes my soul cry a little. I mean, I like kitschy and fun as much as the next person, and I have been known to be a little irreverent. Maybe. Just a little.

But this? Too. Much.

I had blueberry pie for breakfast

How can it get any better than that?

I wish I could say I’m going to spend the rest of the day curled up in my love seat next to a cozy fire and sipping herbal teas with fanciful names and read.

Waitaminute. And why not? It sounds delightful.

Let me change direction on that rant I was about to launch. I’m going to go through that box of papers that need to be addressed.

THEN…

I’m going to spend the rest of the day curled up in my love seat next to a cozy fire and sipping herbal teas with fanciful names and read.

the obligatory end of the year post

A found poem comprised of the first line of the first post for each month. Makes funny sense to me.

Ah.

It seems like I’ve been having a little bit of fun with Trekkies lately.

I was going to let this post slide.

I don’t do it often enough, but sometimes I get up very early.

I am soooo excited!

Sometimes I blog.

Don’t forget to thank our servicemen and women who keep it that way.

fresh coffee

“God has created me to do Him some definite service.”

A kid who is big and strong and isn’t afraid to live right…

It’s more than a civic duty: it’s a moral responsibility.

Congratulations to all of the winners!