My New Favorite

It’s been a tough week. I think it’s been my hardest week ever at my job. My little family is going through yet another change as we transition to life in the summer with mom at work full time. Friends and family are all traveling on in their journeys as we travel on in ours and sometimes the roads don’t ever meet up again. And my big family is grieving with my dear sister-in-law’s family as they mourn the loss of her precious brother, who passed suddenly this week. How my heart aches for them in their pain.

But I’ve found a book I love so much, I’m going to tell you about it even before I finish reading it, which is something I’ve never done before. Because at this point, even if the ending is as horrific as The Lord of the Flies, it will STILL be the most achingly beautiful book I’ve ever read. It sustains me as I listen to it on my way to work each morning, sometimes with tears blurring my vision as the words of a wise old woman threaten to break my heart wide open. And when that happens, pieces of my heart will be spilled all over this city that I have come to call home. And I don’t know if I will still be able to tell you then how good this book is. So I tell you now, while I am still able. I believe I actually know Hannah Coulter. I believe that she is me and that she is my mother and my grandmother too. I do not believe for a second that she is a fictional character. I know her well. And I’m grateful for her story. It’s changing my life.

“The stream and the woods don’t care if you love them. The place doesn’t care if you love it. But for your own sake you had better love it. For the sake of all else you love, you had better love it.”
– Hannah Coulter

Summer Love

Summer. That time of year when everyone in Dallas complains because it’s hot and I suffer through the worst cold I’ve ever known. My feet were so cramped and numb after a couple hours of church yesterday that I had to go sit in the 100 degree heat of my back porch with my husband for a couple hours in the afternoon just to thaw out again. He’s such a nice husband. He was dripping sweat. I was pretty hot too, actually. EVERYWHERE EXCEPT MY FEET. But I won’t bore you once again with my rant on ridiculous air-conditioning temperatures. And I won’t go into my circulation issues, even though I’m more sure than ever that something must be seriously wrong with me. Somehow I’ll make it through another (freezing cold) summer just like I always do. But I refuse to complain unlike all my Dallas friends that I have now had to hide on Facebook, one by one. Bunch of joy-suckers, they are. I’m also hiding everyone who’s anywhere on vacation. I’ve had to because it’s so seriously depressing to see all their happy pictures when I’m just here, being grouchy. Oh yeah, and I’ve also hid anyone who depresses me with their opinions on basically anything. I don’t want to hear it. I’m down to about three friends. Aren’t you glad I’m not complaining? Want to be my friend?

How about those Mavericks, huh? Yeah! I love Dallas.

When I go to Hawaii in a couple weeks, maybe I’ll get warm. I hear there’s no air-conditioning there.

And when I put the pictures of my vacation up here, you can delete me off your RSS feed if you want. I’ll understand. If there’s anything I understand, it’s grouchiness. If you want to rant about it here, go ahead. This is the place where all grouchies can be spilled safely.

But before you do, look at my niece in the pool. She’s got some great faces:

Oh yeah, and I really love these guys too:

HAPPY SUMMER! Rant away.