weather, books and schedules

I just arrived home with Grandma Margaret. Anne and Bill are without power (their back up generator is on the bum) so they are also without water. They have a lot of trees down, fences that will need mending , and it is unlikely that their power will be restored before Saturday. Dad is going over on Saturday morning with his chain saw to assist with the clean up...with the other two Davids. Fortunately, we have not had any damage here from this round of severe weather that really began last Friday. There were some destructive tornados not far from Joe and Elizabeth. Mimi was without power from Friday until early Tuesday. However, she would not come to stay with us....so intent on maintaining independence! I do not know how much longer that will last.
Michelle, I was moved by your poem. I am certain that your friend's husband will benefit. There really IS only one thing that will satisfy...and as I recently read in my book of meditations, THE BETTER PART, Christ is always in your boat, even when he appears to be sleeping! (you can guess which scripture passage it was referring to!). Congratulations on the sales recognition. We are looking forward to our weekend with the girls!
Emily...we already spoke about John's "series of unfortunate events".
I read the book , THE END OF THE ALPHABET while I was at your house. As I was reading it, I was not thrilled by it (though I was somewhat attracted to the particular stylistic prose...it was good that it was a short book because too much of that is not my preference) , and yet I could not wait to get back to it at the end of the day to finnish it. It is one that simply got under my skin in a way that made me contemplate the brevity of life and how Dad and I should be proceeding. It is good to be reminded...even through the example of secular literature.
I have returned to my ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE, a Year of Food Life. I really enjoy her presentation of the seasonal food cycle, the joys of growing your own food and supplementing only with local fare. Just yesterday, Elizabeth and children were here and we feasted on strawberry shortcake with strawberries from her neighbor's garden. Emily, it calls to mind the article that you had published in Canticle several years ago about the Jewish way of eating with "meaning". After reading a couple of chapters over the weekend, I hurried out to put my beet seeds into the ground. We are really behind on our garden...corn, tomatos, potatos, peppers, and beets. Hopefully soon we can get a few more things planted. On the good side..every single rose bush I have is blooming now.... a glorious show of color!
About schedules...I certainly was not a particularly good example for you...and still can not be. My days seldom ever turn out the way I think they will. My friend, mother of 12, has struck a balance between (what I perceive to be) the over the top planning of Holly Peirlot (which I think would result in greater stress, not less) and utter chaos. She says that she has learned to simply try and prioritize the importance of things on a daily/weekly basis, so that when things enevitably get off schedule, the essential things have a greater chance of getting accomplished. Makes sense to me. (and might explain why there are articles of clothing in my ironing basket that have been awol for years!)