Not by Might

For me one of the deep truths - the sparkling ornaments that I learn from during Advent seasons (the time of celebrating Christ coming to dwell with us) is that victory really does not come from the kind of might I think it does. I have been mulling over some of the lovely sides of that ornament. 

~ ~ ~

I remember one of the first latin phrases I picked up in junior high, probably from a poem. Amor vincit omnia. Love conquers all. True of God's love. We are reminded of that love with the birth of Christ, and then again, so much at his death and resurrection.

~ ~ ~

Not long after that, I got the same idea about God's love often conquering us quietly and seemingly from a place of weakness, in the Edwin Markham poem Outwitted:

He drew a circle that shut me out —

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in!

We drew a circle that shut God out. But He showed how large His love is by drawing a huge circle with Christ to take us back in.

~ ~ ~

And James 2:13 includes "Mercy triumphs over judgment." Not the usual cry of power.

~ ~ ~

Last week at a Christmas concert we heard this song, new to me. It moves a little fast, so the words are posted below.

This little Babe so few days old, is come to rifle Satan's fold;

All hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold do shake;

For in this weak unarmed wise the gates of hell he will surprise.

With tears he fights and wins the field, his naked breast stands for a shield.

His battering shot are babish cries, his arrows looks of weeping eyes,

His martial ensigns Cold and Need, and feeble Flesh his warrior's steed.

His camp is pitched in a stall, his bulwark but a broken wall;

The crib his trench, haystalks his stakes; of shepherds he his muster makes; 

And thus, as sure his foe to wound, the angels' trumps alarum sound.

My soul, with Christ join thou in fight; stick to the tents that he hath pight. 

Within his crib is surest ward; this little Babe will be thy guard.

If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy, then flit not from this heavenly Boy.

"foil thy foes with joy" - there is the reminder that my soul longs for

~ ~ ~

Luke 5, So Far

I'm working my way through Luke slowly, more or less memorizing it (certainly less on that geneology). Anyhow. I have the great blessing of having been churched all my life, and am struck by memories as I work through the miracles of Christ: I am pretty sure my Sunday School in kindergarten must have worked through the miracles in Luke. 

Each time I read one of them slowly, I notice I have the sense of being in the room that was our church's kindergarten classroom. Last week ago I was there, in that room, being amazed when Jesus taught the crowds from a boat and then had Simon Peter let down the nets for a catch: today I am there to see the paralyzed man's friends let him down through the roof! to be healed and have his sins forgiven. I feel some of the same wow! as I did as a little child with layers of new understanding on top of it, and I can almost feel the lacy gloves, scratchy slip, and church hat I wore in those days.

~ ~ ~

I just love Simon Peter's "at your word I will let down the nets"
and then to see all those fish flopping in the nets. 

Here She Comes

Last year "they" started naming winter storms. Meet this year's first 26:

Apparently Atlas has started already. Oh boy. Oh joy.

App Development Time

I am working on new apps for my iPod and open to suggestions. Sadly I do not know any coding stuff so I am a bit light on the details of how to make these things actually work, but the idea is the main thing, right? right?

Virtual Cuppa - this app gets you through rainy days, boredom, slight illness, or anything else that cries out for comfort. You pour a mug of water, hold the mobile device over it, and type in what sort of tea you want and if you want any sweeteners. The app even heats it. There will definitely be a beta version for hot chocolate (gotta figure out how to whip the cream) and probably some coffee lover will insist on yet another similar app.

Not Today - allows you to hit the button and bump a crisis into the future. Bad day for the washing machine to flood the basement? Just access Not Today and it will be moved forward. (One guess what may have happened here today) I am pretty sure you will not be allowed to bump a particular crisis more than once, so use it carefully.

TruPaint - I have been thinking about the need for this one from way back in Commodore 64 days. This app Truly Paints your walls, furniture, car, whatever, just as quickly and smoothly as a paint program fills in areas on the screen - no drips, no spills, no missed spots, no brush strokes or gnats stuck in the paint. Just take a photo of what needs to be painted, highlight the area to color, and click on the desired shade. Voila - your item is immediately and perfectly painted, in just one coat! Did I mention it dries instantly to the exact hue you chose, no matter what the lighting is?

Math Meld - This app is pricey, sorry about that, but I call it a bargain. It allows the homeschooling Mom to simply wirelessly convey math skills to the somewhat frustrated child by accessing the app and placing her hands on the child's head, Spock style, assuring success in everything from decimals to factoring pesky trinomials to basic differentiation. 

ReDo - This is the biggest idea yet. It quite simply moves you back five seconds so you get a second chance to not touch that live wire, drop the casserole, or say the smart aleck remark. 

got more ideas? I'm sure I'll be adding more as soon as I figure out the details so the apps work.  :) 

Too Easy

Miss Language shared a 7 minute workout with us and I decided to give it a try because, really, how hard can anything be that only runs as long as about two youtube videos?
So Monday I asked Miss Dog Lover if she wanted to join me for it and her answer gave me my first inkling that it may not be as painless as I was thinking. She told me she didn't want to do it because "it's too easy."

I have a theory that Screwtape could have written a letter to Wormwood about the advantages of teaching humans not to bother with doing things that are "too easy" but saving their strength for the Big, Important Work.

Not to jot out a thank you or get well note, much too easy. Not to bother with a simple kindness at home. Not to do the easy work of memorizing a verse, or of praying for someone in need. Not to hold your tongue or your temper. Because all of these are Too Easy, and really not worth doing.

And what do you know, those 7 minutes are not actually as easy to do as they are to think about.  :-P

One-word Quotes

Yesterday at a meal it came up that one of Miss Language's friends has just watched (sit down here) The Princess Bride for the first time. (fan yourself and recover a bit. I know. Poor deprived young adult.)

Anyhow.

We all started quoting the movie and of course came to "Inconceivable." And we began to wonder what other one-word quotes are famous. We came up with a few but I am curious about what you will come up with.

The follow-up question is this, Do one-word quotes exist in books, too? Or do they need the inflection etc of a song or movie? The only contender we came up with was So (or more accurately Hwaet), although I thought the So could be just as well Vonnegut as Beowulf. 

The final tunnel in this rabbit trail was one-word tags: Mr Music suggested for example that there is really only one place to go from "Ishmael."

Anyone here want to contribute to this discussion?  :)

Snidely and Inhalers

This week I've thought of "distress" and the whole SOS idea a bit.

It started with a friend who had been hospitalized with asthma. We were with her Sunday and her breathing was obviously far from normal. Good for Devastatingly Handsome, who told her to use her inhaler. She tried to tell him, no, it was only for when she was in respiratory distress (which is what the doc told her). DH explained to her that she was, in fact, in distress. She had no idea she needed help. Amazing.

I guess we think of distress looking like this:

But often distress is more common place and hard to recognize. I am asking God to give me eyes to see when someone is in distress, to be able to show them their need, to cut the ropes, and point them to the Rescue. 

~ ~ ~

Psalm 59:16 ~ But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

Kosher Gone Krazy

Sometimes at our local Ollie's store I find a product so mind-bogglingly strange I have to have it.

Who on earth decided matzos!?! could become decadent by being dipped in dark chocolate? What was wrong with just dark chocolate covered chocolate? 

Lessons from the Porta-Potty

I am preparing to spend a month in China with Miss Language. I have never prepared for a big trip, (except, of course, the Ultimate Journey). 

I expected to have to buy a backpack, get a passport and visa, check on immunizations, make many lists, and get some lighter travel-friendly clothes and a new journal. Maybe even pick up a few phrases in Mandarin. But I did not expect a change in the way I feel about using porta-potties. 

One of the things Miss Language has told me to prepare myself for is Asian toilets. These are not raised seats, just a hole over which you strategically squat. Paper is not provided, and when you use the paper you hopefully remembered to bring - you don't flush but put it in a trash can. And there is sometimes a dipper and bucket provided for flushing. Very not me. 

And so, when I entered the porta-potty the other night at Mr Music's baseball game, and was met by The Well Known Odor and saw a lack of tissue, I was surprised to find myself thinking, not "I'm out of here", but "Oh, good, a chance to practice."

Which makes me wonder, of course, about the more spiritual applications of preparing for a Journey and seeing life in that light. As is so often the case, C S Lewis has something to point the way, from God in the Dock: 

If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it's not so bad.

If I am willing to prepare for squatty potties, how much better to prepare for glory? What Well Known Odors and lacks should I be glad to welcome as needed practice?

~ ~ ~ 

II Corinthians 4:17 ~ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Just One Thing Question

Wondering here if it's easier for me to identify which is my favorite in a category or which is my most hated... 

Hmm. I got to wondering about this when Mr Music ordered a Mountain Dew. I have long felt it is an evil beverage and thought, Mountain Dew is the world's worst drink. But then I remembered Tang, which is ALSO the world's worst drink (I agree with my brother who maintains it is too bad the astronauts did not LEAVE it on the moon). And then, as I was trying to figure out which is REALLY worse, I remembered Vernor's Ginger Ale. Aged three years in oak. Ugh and blugh. Yuck and nasty. 

My quandary is this: when I think about each one, I am sure it is the worst. Maybe they all ARE.  :)

And then I thought about soap. If there were to be only one kind of soap in the world, what should it be? This question at least is more pleasant. First I thought Ivory, it makes things seem so clean (that 99 and 44/100% thing, I guess). And, it floats. How cool is that? Hasn't everyone carved a little Ivory bathtub boat? Then I remembered Camay with its sweet scent and the even sweeter cameo. But then there are also two widely different Yardley soaps I love, the smooth foaming Lavender and the Oatmeal & Almond with little scrubby flecks.

Sigh. Choices, choices. Do YOU have favorite soaps or most hated beverages? And which is more fun, to love and enjoy something simple, or to indulge a harmless hatred?

Packing List

now it is time to start thinking about what clothes to pack for a month traveling in China living out of a backpack.

I feel like I may be too old for that.

I think research is killing me, trying to maximize everything I take and guess exactly what I will want or need.

I might even like to look cute.

I read to wear neutrals in China so you don't stand out. I read to wear bright colors because that is what the Chinese like. I read that dress there is casual and anything goes. I read that the Chinese people like to see a bit of fashion and that you are Making An Effort. I google "travel wardrobes" and see outfits that are put together. I do not wear outfits. I wear plain old clothes. I am a homeschool mom, just one step away from denim jumpers.

I don't want to carry anything heavy around. Or hard to wash and air dry. 

I want stuff with very secure pockets. Concealed. And comfortable.

Did I mention I might want to look cute?

I hate buying new clothes. I always think of Thoreau, "I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes." Was he thinking like a woman preparing to go halfway around the world? hmmm?

I have a feeling no matter what I do, the people of China may notice I am not a native. And the bag may get heavy.

*whine over* off to try on things in my closet and obsess some more. 

Knocking

This morning I woke up thinking about the old proverb (English? Scottish?) "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there."

Now, though, I am hearing it changed a bit to Love answered.  I suspect that is a change so people who make no claim to faith can still, um, borrow the idea. But even with the change, it works for me. Because what I know of love is because of Christ ~ I John 3:16 ~ By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us. If He laid down His life for me, I know He will answer the door for me. In fact, He is the door. No one is there to harm me.

Conquering X

Today on Scripture typer I finished off Romans 8 with verses 31-39. When I work on a passage I have a variety of thoughts go through my head, some of which certainly lack that certain spiritual je ne sais quoi.

Today I started thinking what the Homeschooling Mom's version of parts of this would look like, something like:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall standardized tests, or book fairs, or socialization, or clutter, or algebra, or writing, or noise?

Anyhow. They won't and that is good news.

But then following that encouraging part comes the part that does not seem to me to belong, according to my frail logic. Here we have this wonderful list of things that will NOT separate us from the love of Christ, and just when I would like to hear something warm and cuddly instead we get a nasty quote, something that might happen to hapless critters like hobbits:

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

And yet we are reassured that we are still more than conquerors. I do not often picture sheep as the conquering type. It is great that even silly sheep have One who makes them more than conquerors.

Even when algebra is whipping your students. :-P

Friends or Foes?

Good, Better, Best
Never let it rest
Till your Good is Better
And your Better is Best ~ rhyme Miss Duffer drilled into my brother in 6th grade.
~ ~ ~

And Oswald Chambers said, The good is always the enemy of the best. This fits in with the demonstration where you fill a jar with SO MUCH stuff by first putting in the big rocks, then the pebbles, the sand, and finally filling in the tiny gaps with water. Good point that you must choose those things which are best, or the merely good eat up your time and resources (ie, life). I try to apply this in school - make sure we are studying The Most Important things and not trivia, reading The Best Books, and thinking Biblically about the world we study.

But.

I am starting to think there are also times when The best is the enemy of the good. Example: dinner. If I wanted the Best dinner every night, I would spend all my time shopping, preparing, cooking. It would be a never-ending task, and since I am no chef, I would not be able to do it. If I insisted on Either the best or nothing, my family would starve. They have to make do with something between good enough (occasionally) and pretty good (hopefully most days). Perhaps once or twice in my life they may hit the best. And good enough is still a lot better than nothing, at least in many many areas of life.  :)

My First Computer

The Bananalets and I are on a technology unit in history. Yesterday's lesson talked about the development of computers, and, as I added asides, they got an idea of How Old I Really Am, since I remember things like the computer room in high school being huge and having the windows covered with foil so the computers did not overheat, and punch cards, and dot matrix printers. (Yes, I still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.) *

Anyhow.

I started getting a fuzzy memory from some time in high school of having a penny that answered all yes/no questions in a logical way. And today its name came to mind: Miniac. After a bit of an online search, I found the rules for Miniac so you can build your own. (I originally read this in Vicious Circles and Infinity: An Anthology of Paradoxes by Patrick Hughes and George Brecht.)

Here ya go:

In this age of computers it seems a pity that sincere but impecunious scholars should be deprived of their benefits. Herewith are presented do-it-yourself plans for constructing a computer that will answer questions not resolvable by any other present machine. Among its advantages, MINIAC is (1) small enough to be carried in one's watch pocket; (2) inexpensive; (3) infallible; (4) easy to build; (5) child's play to operate.

To build MINIAC:

1. Obtain a penny. (Substitution of a ha'penny will not materially affect MINIAC's operation.)
2. Typewrite the words "YES" and "NO" on two pieces of paper and glue one to each side of the penny.

To operate MINIAC:

1. Hold MINIAC on the thumb and forefinger (either hand, either side up) and ask it question A (e.g. `Will it rain tomorrow?').
2. Flip MINIAC and allow it to come to rest.
3. Note the answer, either YES or NO. Now MINIAC has given us either a true answer or a false answer. To determine which:
4. Hold MINIAC as in operating instruction 1, ask question B: `Will your present answer have the same truth-value as your previous answer?' and flip.
5. Note MINIAC's response to this question, either YES or NO.

Suppose MINIAC's answer to question B is YES. This is either a true answer or a false answer. If true, then it is true that the answer to question A has the same truth-value as the answer to question B, hence the answer to question A was a true answer; if false, then it is false that the answer to question A has the same truth-value as the answer to question B (which is false), hence the answer to question A was a true answer. In either case, if MINIAC answers YES to question B, then its answer to question A was a true answer. If MINIAC answers question B with NO, a similar line of reasoning shows that its answer to question A was a false answer.The electronic character of MINIAC is obvious from the fact that there are two free electrons in the outer shell of the copper atom.

I think at the end of the year, I will have the student body build their own and see how far they can get in figuring out Miniac's logic circuits.


 ~ ~ ~ 
* did anyone else have a clock radio where the numbers were printed on cards that made a loud click when they flipped into position? Amazing.

Spring Somethings

I think the coming of Christ's kingdom is a bit like things growing in spring, they come silently, just pushing right through the dead stuff. And somehow God even uses the dead stuff for life. 

~ ~ ~

and there is e e cummings: 

                        Spring is like a perhaps hand
                                               III

Spring is like a perhaps hand

(which comes carefully 
out of Nowhere)arranging 
a window,into which people look(while 
people stare
arranging and changing placing 
carefully there a strange 
thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps 
Hand in a window 
(carefully to 
and fro moving New and 
Old things,while 
people stare carefully 
moving a perhaps 
fraction of flower here placing 
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything.

~ ~ ~ 

God is in the business of changing everything carefully, without breaking anything. Isaiah 42:3-4 ~ 

        a bruised reed He will not break,
            and a faintly burning wick He will not quench;
            He will faithfully bring forth justice.
        He will not grow faint or be discouraged
            till he has established justice in the earth;
            and the coastlands wait for His law.

Hope, Ice Cream, Bilbo, PotC, and Aslan

Yesterday we took the crew to see The Hobbit, as Bilbo and company have finally arrived at the theater that fits our budget. 

On the way we drove past an ice cream stand. The owner  has signs up letting you know it is getting near for a couple miles ahead in each direction, and also signs afterward, which let you know you have missed your chance for some ice cream. Signs like "You Just Passed Betty Jo's Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt." I thought about asking to stop for a photo but did not want to miss the beginning of Bilbo's adventure, so I missed my opportunity.  :-P

Which all got me thinking about The Opportune Moment.*

Wouldn't it be nice, if, in real life, there were some sort of Jack-Sparrowlike announcement when you have just missed a golden opportunity that might give you a chance to go back and do it over? I mean, what if it turns out Betty Jo really does have the Best Ice Cream ever? Wouldn't you really rather know it and be able to turn back and get some?

But it doesn't work that way. We miss opportune moments and don't even know they were there. And there is what Aslan told Lucy in Prince Caspian, when she asked, "Am I not to know?" He said, "No. Nobody is ever told that." But he goes on to say, "You must all get up at once and follow me -- what will happen? There is only one way of finding out." 

That trust is a part of the hope we have. 

* For the word nerds reading this, it turns out the greeks have a word that fits in here, kairos - the right or opportune moment. I love that wikipedia says it "signifies a time between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens." I am trusting Christ to help me to recognize kairos when I see it.

bleh and ahhhhhhh. AKA March

mid-March 

sleet icicles on

empty birdfeeder. Dryer

 fluffs warm towels inside.

Missing User's Guide Needed

So. Devastatingly Handsome knows I am saving my pennies for some sort of new electronic toy: maybe an iTouch or a Samsung Galaxy Player or some sort of tablet. 

Somewhere around 3 or 4 AM, he presented me with a red Galaxy, the phone, though, not the player. The first thing I noticed was the extreme thickness of it ~ about 5/8 of an inch. Then I noticed it was a 64 gb. That seemed to account for the thickness. Then I started looking at the features, like a page of text, top to bottom, left to right.

See, I have often thought cell phones are similar to Swiss Army Knives. You carry just one item around and it handles lots of varied functions. Well, this red Galaxy proves me right. The first three features I came to were ~ and understand, these are not apps but true physical features built into the phone ~ a toothpick in a small sleeve, a tiny hummingbird feeder, and a wee bottle of hand sanitizer. 

At this point I realized it was not the same Galaxy I had looked at on Amazon and Best Buy's sites. I asked Devastatingly if he could pass me the user's guide.

"Um...," he said, "they did not actually put anything like that in the box."

I thought that odd and asked to see the packing materials. He took me to the mudroom and showed me a beat up wooden crate, about 2 feet by 2 feet by 7 feet long that had some big chunks of styrofoam in it and also contained a little wooden box the size two pounds of Velveeta comes in, that held polished stone butterflies about the size of eggs, made of agates and jaspers. But no instruction manual, no charging cords or accessories, no information on returns or customer service. The only paperwork was a receipt, for $86.50. 

Thank you, Devastatingly, for the gift. You get extra points for making sure it was red and for the amazing features. Since I can't make it work, though, I sure hope you can get your money back. And I also wish I had seen the rest of the features before I woke up.

Peter Frampton on a Sunday

Yesterday Peter Frampton showed up during the sermon. I have not seen much of him since high school, but there he was. 

The pastor was preaching about how we are already delivered in Christ, already to the point of salvation though it *ahem* sure does not look like it from time to time around here. And next thing I knew, Peter Frampton. 

And of course I started thinking about the three-part chorus - Signed/Sealed/Delivered. Signed ~ that's pretty much the Father's role ~ He chose us and He predestined us. (Ephesians 1:4&5). Sealed ~ certainly that is the work of the Spirit ~ In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 1:13). Delivered ~  that is Christ ~ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm His. Amen and Amen.

The Problem with History

I like math. In math there is a right answer and there are wrong answers. I also like literature and other arts assignments. In literature and arts assignments there are a wide variety of ways to achieve excellence. But I have never been fond of history, and here is why: it is so slippery. 

You cannot just know that because someone won a war, or an election, that they were the Good Guys and that it was the Right Thing to happen. You can usually not even be sure they really won (remembering the Hanging Chad election, for example).

And now Presidents' Day. We had a lesson on it in our Notgrass Uncle Sam and You text. It turns out it really is not Presidents' Day (officially) but Washington's Birthday. It turns out that Washington was born on the 11th of February but then when he was 21 they moved his birthday to the 22nd when they changed the calendar altogether. So for a long time our country celebrated his birthday on the 22nd but then they passed a "Uniform Monday Holiday" act and moved it to the 3rd Monday of the month... which is never on either the 11th OR the 22nd. Go figure.

So, to continue the confusion, we celebrated a night early, or maybe six days late, or maybe five days early, depending on how you think of it, with this pie, which, not surprisingly given the way this holiday goes, was baked in Canada. Go figure. 

The Superbowl Letters

Did you see the Mercedes ad from the superbowl? 

I watched it three or four times. The first time I noticed how much fun someone had doing up the contract in Latin. Homeschooling Moms notice things like that. And I noticed the nails, I think they are a nice touch, just quietly evil. 

I keep thinking about it, a few random things. Of course I think of The Devil and Daniel Webster. And I think about two old songs, Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" and Terri Gibbs' "Somebody's Knockin'." But mostly I am wondering in terms of Lewis's  The Screwtape Letters - because my first instinct watching this ad is to think, Ha, the devil lost this round. But then I start thinking about pride. What sort of pride would it take to just take on the devil on your own power as this guy is doing? And would Lewis find that pride a bigger sin than signing the contract offered him? And how often do I take on Satan on my own strength? 

Just Wondering

I never have understood why some people like winter...

Sword of Damocles

If you don't know it, the story is:

Dionysius (II) was a fourth century B.C. tyrant of Syracuse, a city in Magna Graecia, the Greek area of southern Italy. To all appearances Dionysius was very rich and comfortable, with all the luxuries money could buy, tasteful clothing and jewelry, and delectable food. He even had court flatterers (adsentatores) to inflate his ego. One of these ingratiators was the court sycophant, Damocles. Damocles used to make comments to the king about his wealth and luxurious life. One day when Damocles complimented the tyrant on his abundance and power, Dionysius turned to Damocles and said, "If you think I'm so lucky, how would you like to try out my life?"

Damocles readily agreed, and so Dionysius ordered everything to be prepared for Damocles to experience what life as Dionysius was like. Damocles was enjoying himself immensely... until he noticed a sharp sword hovering over his head, that was suspended from the ceiling by a horse hair. This, the tyrant explained to Damocles, was what life as ruler was really like.

Damocles, alarmed, quickly revised his idea of what made up a good life, and asked to be excused. He then eagerly returned to his poorer, but safer life.

                         ~ synopsis from ancient history at about.com 

And I don't know why, but this story keeps playing through my head. Do you think there is an unseen sword hanging over every head? 

Fog and Glory

It is bad writing but I often start here having no idea what I want to say. I guess that makes us even since you have no idea what you are about to read. Life is a crazy adventure like that.  :-P

Last week we had two crazy warm days and amazing fog just above the ground ~ life looked like you were stuck in some sort of special effects. I tried to take pictures. I am not good with my camera, and that only magnified my woes because even a good photo looked like a blur in a terrible photo ~ everywhere you looked, parts of the landscape were out of focus. So the part to the right of the electric pole that looks out of focus ~ that actually is how the little whiffs of fog were: some places they were just little hints, and some places the fog was pervasive, filling every bit of space between houses and trees and blades of grass.

For awhile I felt like we were in Brigadoon and then it started reminding me more of how God's glory filled the temple when we came to places where it was thick and unmistakable and pretty much filled all the earth.

The weather also left these amazing droplets in the woods, which I found beautiful.

from Job 36 ~  God is great, and we know him not;
                   the number of his years is unsearchable.
²⁷                        For he draws up the drops of water;
                   they distill his mist in rain,
²⁸                        which the skies pour down
                   and drop on mankind abundantly.