Home Comforts

Geo And I are nearly recovered from a week-long illness, but we’re still only operating at about 75% of full power. We’re emotionally tender, and that calls for a bit of home comfort. 

Today that looks like knitting and filling the house with home-baked goodness.

I’m casting on a new blanket in a deep, rich brown—Purl SoHo’s Knitting Wool in Peat Bog—while a fresh batch of whole-grain mustard matures on the counter and the dough for butter rolls rises. 

We rarely eat the rolls before they go stale, since they only last a day or two, and I might take half the batch to a friend, or I might divide the dough for fresh cinnamon sugar donut twists. 

Dreams

Last night's dream found me sitting at the small wooden table, the mid-morning light falling through the the tall window onto my notebook as I wrote about how many quarter-acres to plant with oats or barley, quinoa and wheat. I was chilly but not cold, and the mug of tea warmed my hand.

The Bookshop

Continuing with the foolishness of my world, this week's Sunday movie at the Grandin was The Bookshop, a perfectly charming film adaptation of the book by the same name.

The pacing is spot-on, and Mortimer is brilliant as a widow who decides to open a bookshop in a small eastern town, incurring strong emotions in residents, who respond in ways that surprise everyone, including themselves.

Set in the late 50s, it feels as relevant as ever. Nighy and Clarkson are as good as ever.

A perfect rainy Sunday film when you're feeling off-kilter and courageous. The power of books, of books as friends, and the power of friendship. Never underestimate the power of believing in yourself and others.

Libraries are the way

Today, as cities and suburbs continue to reinvent themselves, and as cynics claim that government has nothing good to contribute to that process, it’s important that institutions like libraries get the recognition they deserve. It’s worth noting that “liber,” the Latin root of the word “library,” means both “book” and “free.” Libraries stand for and exemplify something that needs defending: the public institutions that — even in an age of atomization, polarization and inequality — serve as the bedrock of civil society.

If we have any chance of rebuilding a better society, social infrastructure like the library is precisely what we need.

Spiritual Formation retreat

Spiritual Formation Retreat at Priestfield.

Mandala Journaling Workshop
Chanting Workshop
Spiritual Friendship

Roanoke Friends: Harvey, Judith, Tony, Ellen
Also met: Alan, Amy, Janet, Valerie, Susan, Janet and Dayna.

Reading chosen: Practicing the Presence of God

Dinner meeting coming up to discuss the reading: Wednesday, September 27th at 6 pm at the Friends Meeting House.