Reflections
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Her Name Is Ashli Babbitt
She is not at home with her family tonight. Mike Pence is in his comfortable lair, but Ashli Babbitt’s body is in a morgue, and her family is making funeral plans. Mike Pence hasn’t even spoken her name aloud. Mike Pence’s security cop murdered Ashli Babbitt, but he hasn’t been named, his address and family’s address haven’t been posted on social media, and he will likely be hailed as a hero by the same people who denounced the Covington Boys before the truth came out. I cannot express the situation more eloquently than the Z Man did today, so I will simply post what he wrote. I will spend the…
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The Epiphany of the Lord
While on our daybreak walk this morning, Jinx and I watched two men setting up chairs under the tent at the newly-opened grave in the little country graveyard. The spotted menace seems to take a special interest in the craft of the sexton; I was grateful he didn’t leap onto the tarp covering the grave. This time. The wind was chilly and brisk but not unbearable…about 43F. The clouds moved like a flock of sheep across the sky, low and swift and wooly, and the tang of silage came to me when I turned into the wind. As I walked, watching Jinx gallop in one of the pastures, I engaged…
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Auld Lang Syne
“Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away…” Isn’t that how the hymn puts it? Time to put away this exhausted year, my friends. I wish you all a very Happy New Year. May the Lord bless each of you and give you grace as we enter the next phase of our fading days. ~ S.K. Orr
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Languages
The super-frigid temperatures have subsided somewhat, and so the snow has had a chance to melt a bit. Today it’s in the 40s, with the high 50s forecast by Friday. If this prediction holds, the New Year will come riding in on a mild current of air. Thought I love the cold weather, it has been nice to walk with Jinx in the evenings and not wince and shiver and grimace against the onslaught of the twin blades of wind and ice crystals. I’ve shoveled with a diligent rhythm against the mountain of leftovers remaining after Christmas day, and we are nearing the end of them. Unlike many others, I…
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On The Feast of Stephen
The dogs allowed us to sleep late today –0700 — and after they had eaten and while the good Texas pecan coffee was brewing, I took Jinx for a walk. Not even a hundred yards into the ramble and I was wishing I’d worn sunglasses. The fresh-risen sun was slashing across the diamond-studded smooth white surface laying on the fields, and it hurt my eyes. All about me, though, was beauty of the pure shocking kind that only wintertime can produce. The snow lay all around, deep and crisp and even, and Jinx chased a cow that had somehow escaped her fenced pasture. My heart lifted as the sun lifted,…
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Merry Christmas
Several inches of snow, amongst which the Spotted Menace has streaked and slid all day long….a warm home, a beautiful and loving wife, friend and family who have written, texted, and called to wish us a Merry Christmas…the presence of birds outside at the feeders…the glow of the tree and the lights…the aroma of roasting turkey and pumpkin pie and dressing and green bean casserole and potatoes and all the other side dishes…wine in the glass and cheese on the plate….a beautiful and peaceful and blessed day. I wish the same for all of you, my readers,who mean so much to me. Thank you for visiting here regularly, and for…
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White Christmas Eve
Our family Christmas party last night was a rousing success. It was so good to have everyone here, our usually quiet home transformed into a place of light and love and boisterous good fun. We were very pleased at Jinx’s behavior at his first large family gathering. He was calm and friendly,even when little boys were firing off toy machine guns a few feet from him. Sprawled in the floor and sporting his Yuletide bandanna, Jinx was an island of quiet in a tempest of child-noise. We awoke to rain this morning, and it grew steadily more intense throughout the day. By the time Jinx and I took our afternoon…
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Between Solstice And Celebration
I didn’t plan to stay away from this blog for so long, but life sort of ganged up on me there… We’ve been preparing for the grandkids’ visit. Once again, I am amazed at the number of things that need cleaning, stowing away, and rearranging. And in the midst of all the preparations, we’ve had repairmen and contractors and electricians here to do some much-needed work. For the past few years, my wife and I have been torn about whether to stay here in the mountains or to return to Texas. We’ve back-and-forthed ourselves to the point of exhaustion, covering all the pros and cons, exploring as many options and…
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Nearer
So often in life, we have moments of awareness of the present moment, an awareness in which we think, “If only…if only this could go on and on, this feeling of peace, of contentment, of quietude.” Such is the present moment for me. The morning’s chores are done, and I have a soft stretch of minutes before I have to travel from my home and enter again the environment that abrades my soul every hour that I am there. But for now, Jinx is sleeping in his bed near me, his spotted paws twitching as he dreams of chasing or being chased. The (brand spanking new) heat pump is blowing…
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The Resilience of Infamy
Seventy-nine years ago today, the United States of America was the recipient of a treacherous attack by a cunning enemy. The country rallied and did battle with her attacker, making Japan pay for her act of war. Today, another attack was launched by an even more cunning enemy, an attack carried out in secret. Much damage was done, but not a single man of combat age so much as opened his mouth, much less drew his sword. They were too busy buying NASCAR hats or perusing the offerings at a microbrewery. No one on the side of right fights anymore. This is sin and scandal. S.K. Orr