Christmas greetings to all!
This will be the last time you hear from me until after Christmas. This year’s celebrations have proved to be extra hectic, with dentist and orthodontist appointments1 and a furnace that gave out as an extra surprise.
I am truly grateful for the year 2022, the year that offered me more sweeping, drastic change than any year in the last two decades, perhaps. More to come on that soon.
The Part Where There’s an Essay: A Poem for You at Christmas
Making the House Ready for the Lord by Mary Oliver
Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
uproar of mice — it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances — but it is the season
when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard
while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling
in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door. And still I believe you will
come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox,
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know
that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.
For the Anglophiles
The UK received some snow this week, which reminded me of the week we took the kids there and we woke up to snow in Oxford:
We were not well-dressed for this surprise turn of the weather, but everyone we met all day long told us how fortunate we were to see Oxford in the snow because it doesn’t happen often. We heartily agreed.
Reads & Listens of the Week
I’m so thankful to live in a world where Tim Keller gets an op-ed in The New York Times to talk to us about forgiveness. What Too Little Forgiveness Does to Us. Tim’s book is waiting on my to-be-read pile right now.
The Reason for Libraries was a nice long read. “…the real purpose of libraries: to preserve human memory and community against the acid of time. It’s why aggressors destroy the libraries of their enemies, and why people fight so valiantly to protect their cultural collections.”
I’ve enjoyed listening to After the Whistle throughout the World Cup. It is hosted by Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard of Ted Lasso2 fame) and Rebecca Lowe. This episode after England and Portugal lost last weekend was one of the best. Adult language.
“…kindness begins where necessity ends.” - Amor Towles, The Lincoln Highway
Just a tiny suggestion here — why don’t these places just close for December, except for emergencies? No one has time for this in December.
BUT REALLY when will season 3 come out?! *sigh*