salliesART

Calla Lilies and Orchids

2012-02-16T11:59:00.000-05:00

White Calla Lilies, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012

Every time I post another drawing of Calla Lilies, I think to myself "well, this is the last time". Each time I feel as though I will somehow be able to discipline myself sufficiently so that I refrain from doing anymore drawings of these lilies which are not real lilies at all. But, then I see a new photograph somewhere of these beautiful flowers and my fingers get itchy, wanting to try to draw what I see. What can I do? I think I must be an addict. If I am, this means that you, my dear followers, will have to either patiently endure more drawings of Calla lilies or do without any postings at all during the time I am in rehab! -- I wonder if there really could be a facility for people addicted to flowers?!!

Orchid miltoniopsis, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012

And here is another Orchid. What did I say about these flowers last time I posted a drawing of an orchid? In case you have forgotten, I wrote: "I really don't know why I am trying to draw Orchids again. I have never been very successful as Orchids really need to be painted and not drawn in order to show something of their intricate beauty. The way I have to draw and colour on the computer is just too heavy handed, I find, to create the complex loveliness of Orchids. Yet, for some reason, I keep trying."

So, here you have it folks... two new drawings of two of my favourite flowers which I continue drawing even though I keep telling myself that I shouldn't. I wonder what this says about me! Maybe I don't want to know. Whatever the case, I hope you don't mind looking at new drawings of Calla Lilies and Orchids just one more time. Honest!

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CATS IN THE SNOW

I have heard reports that in some places on the earth this winter, people are having too much snow and cold. Here in Toronto, we have had too little snow (so the children are saying) and very mild temperatures. So, when a friend sent me a pps full of photos of cats in the snow, I thought it would be fun to share some of these delightful photos. If you are glad not to have snow this winter, you can enjoy looking at the photos and being thankful; if, on the other hand, you really wish we were having a regular winter, you can look at the photos and imagine that all that snow is here! Whatever your choice, enjoy.

"Uh, oh, should have worn my boots like my mom said."

"Here comes the Winter Princess -- what a beauty I am!"

"Actually, this stuff tastes pretty good!"

"I am convinced that I am perfectly hidden, just waiting to pounce!
No one can see me, I am certain of it!"

"He jumps, he hits the ball into the basket, HE SCORES!
Super Cat has won the game for the Cat Team once again,
beating the Dog Team 174 to 170!"

"This snow bath is kind of fun! Why don't you
come on in and join me?"

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SUKI AND SALLIE
Well, while Suki is sleeping the morning away, I am waiting for the arrival for a dear friend of mine who now

Suki wanted her photo taken in the snow but
since we have no snow, I had to fake it!

lives in the U.S. of A. I haven't seen her for some months and so I am really looking forward to our upcoming visit.

She hasn't seen me since my last fall and I wish I could be more improved than I am. My face remains a lovely shade of blue/ gray which does not seem to be fading very much these days. As well, I am still having to wear a hat all the time when I am with other people so that they won't have to look at my head wound from two months ago. I never knew these things could take so long to heal.

At any rate, once we sit down and start visiting, none of this will matter anymore -- we will just be too busy catching up on each other's news. Suki may or may not deign to join us. She is very cat-like in this respect. With some of my visitors, as soon as she hears their voices, she comes to investigate. With others, she may raise her head when they first enter the apartment, but after that she just goes right back to sleep. I would think it might have something to do with how she is feeling on a particular day except she behaves this way consistently with the same people over time. I do wonder what goes on in that little head of hers!

I will have my first ever stress test tomorrow. Since I can't walk or run on a treadmill for very long, I understand that they will be inducing the stress somehow. I have puzzled over how this will be done and have had visions of their putting me in the same room with a punk rock or rap group during a practice session. This would certainly get my stress levels up in a big hurry! But, somehow, I think they are much more sophisticated than that which is why they are sending me to nuclear medicine instead of to the gym! I will let you know what they do and how it worked in my next posting.

Meanwhile, I had better go and finish getting organized for my visitor.

May the peace of God be with us all.

Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko

2012-02-12T14:05:00.000-05:00

Icon, Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, drawn by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012

Poster from Polish Film Festival, 2009

I recall first hearning about Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko some years ago when a dear Polish friend of mine took me to see a documentary about him at a Polish film festival. The story of his life was so inspiring, showing how he became a martyr for the Faith in the late 20th century when Poland was still under Communist oppression. I was deeply moved as it is an unforgetable story. Since then, an actual feature-length film has come out and was shown at the Polish Film Festival held here in Toronto/Mississauga in 2009 (see poster above).

I was delighted when I heard the news of his forthcoming beatification back in late 2009. I was pretty certain that he was already in Heaven prior to that announcement, but since that time I have been able to ask him to pray for me and with me with the certain knowledge that he now definitely has direct access to the "Throne Room"! I have been wanting to do an icon of him for some time and kept praying about it until God's grace inspired me to do so.

Since you may not have heard of him, let me briefly tell you his story.

Jerzy Popiełuszko (September 14, 1947 – October 19, 1984) was a Roman Catholic priest from Poland associated with the Solidarity union. He was murdered by three agents of the Polish communist internal intelligence agency, the Służba Bezpieczeństwa, (English: Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) who were shortly thereafter tried and convicted of the murder. He has been recognized as a martyr by the Church.

Jerzy Popiełuszko was a charismatic priest who was first sent to strikers in the Warsaw Steelworks. Thereafter he was associated with workers and trade unionists from the Solidarity movement who opposed the Communist regime in Poland. Popiełuszko's sermons were routinely broadcast by Radio Free Europe, and thus became famous throughout Poland for their uncom-promising stance against the regime.

The Służba Bezpieczeństwa tried to silence or intimidate him. When their techniques did not work, they fabricated evidence against him; he was arrested in 1983, but soon released on intervention of the clergy and pardoned by an amnesty. A car accident was set up to kill Jerzy Popiełuszko on October 13, 1984, but he escaped it. The alternative plan was to kidnap him, and this plan was carried out on October 19, 1984. The priest was beaten and murdered by three Security Police officers under the direction of a superior. Then his body was dumped into the Vistula Water Reservoir near Włocławek from where it was recovered on October 30, 1984.

News of the political murder caused an uproar throughout Poland, and the murderers and one of their superiors were convicted of the crime. More than 250,000 people, including Lech Wałęsa, attended his funeral on November 3, 1984. Despite the murder and its repercussions, the Communist regime remained in power until 1989. Popiełuszko's murderers were jailed but released later as part of an amnesty.

Marianna Popiełuszko
attending the beatification
of her son, 2010

In 1997, the Roman Catholic Church started the process of his beatification. On December 19, 2009, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI had approved the decree of beatification of Father Popiełuszko. He was beatified on June 6, 2010 in Warsaw's Piłsudski Square. His mother, Marianna Popiełuszko, who had reached 100 years of age a few days earlier, was present at the event.

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Unusual Art Forms

I am always on the look out for unusual types of art, especially folk art. Just this week I received emails about two such types of art in my inbox. The first pps showed the work of a Russian artist who creates creatures from cedar wood chips. These are lasting works which people want to purchase, but which he will not sell. The second pps showed temporary works of "art" created from fruits, veggies, nuts and grains in the form of giant floats. These floats are entries in a parade which takes place in the Netherlands, using creations built entirely of edible products. (I do hope they have a big vegetarian cook-out once the parade is finished!). I hope you find the following of interest -- apologies if you have also seen one or both of these pps productions.

Owl made from cedar wood chips by Sergey Bobkov

Other creatures made from cedar wood chips by Sergey Bobkov
(artist in background)

Dragon from parade in the Netherlands
Everything used in the creation is from some sort of
fruit, vegetables, nuts or grains.

Friendly dragon from parade in the Netherlands
Everything used in the creation is from some sort of
fruit, vegetables, nuts or grains.

Owl from parade in the Netherlands
Everything used in the creation is from some sort of
fruit, vegetables, nuts or grains.

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Suki and Sallie

What kind of mischief
can I get into next?
(NOT when she is
sleeping!)

Have I told you about my discovery that it is a very good thing for me to have company? Yes, and not only company, but noisy company! Let me explain.

Over time, I have noticed that the louder the company, the more stressed Suki becomes (this might be because we normally live in a profoundly silent home). Normally, I wouldn't think that stressing out my cat would be a good thing, but it turns out to be the case with Suki. Why? because after getting all stressed out, she will get into her "crow's nest" bed and sleep deeply for hours. No matter what I do, she rarely awakens which means that I don't have to watch out for the "cat between the legs almost tripping me" problem. Nor is there any sandbox cleaning to be done. In fact, I often have to awaken her to tell her that it is time to eat "din-din".

Today, for example, I had three visitors in the late morning. They were from St. Michael's Cathedral and had come to bring me Holy Communion (alleluia!). One of the three is a bit louder than the rest of us so with her voice combined with the other two plus me, Suki was quite "stressed" by the time they left after being here for about 30 minutes . She crawled into her bed and has been deeply asleep ever since. Normally, I wouldn't be able to see the clock reach 1 p.m. without having to deal with Suki begging for her lunch -- but not so today. She is sound asleep. I feel a bit like I think young mothers must feel when the baby takes an unexpectedly long nap giving them a bit of a breather. Of course, mothers have to be a bit concerned if the nap lasts for too long, but I can just enjoy every quiet moment.

As for me, I am doing well today. I didn't feel well enough to try to go out on such a cold day, but I have had a pleasant day at home, especially since the Lord came to visit me in Holy Communion. What a blessing is the service to shut-ins. I am so grateful for the generosity of the parishioners who are willing to go to all the extra effort to bring Holy Communion (plus a bit of a visit) to all those members who are unable to get to Mass for one reason or another -- especially on a cold day like this one. Truly, I feel doubly blessed.

I am asking Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko to intercede for all of you who read this blog, for myself and for all those who look to us for prayer. May one of us, if God so wills, be the means by which Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko is deemed by the Church to be St. Jerzy Popiełuszko!

May the peace of God be with us all. Amen.

Sweet Calabash (Passiflora maliformis)

2012-02-08T14:15:00.000-05:00

Passiflora maliformis -- Sweet Calabash, drawing by
Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012

I really don't know why I am so attracted to Passion Flowers since they are almost borderline grotesque. I imagine that it is partly because they are so extremely colourful, but I think that it is also partly because the "flowers" are so completely ridiculous -- almost as though God threw a bunch of colours, designs and patterns up in the air and just let everything stay the way it fell.

Another factor might be that they are almost impossible for me to draw on the computer. There are just too many patterns -- the kinds of patterns that require the artist to do something like the "spatter painting" that we used to do in elementary school art classes. Since I can't create the many complex designs involved, I have to find some other way to give an impression of design and pattern which often leads to the discovery of new artistic techniques on the computer. Anyway, enough rambling, let me tell you a bit about "Sweet Calabash".

Passiflora maliformis (family, Passifloraceae) or Sweet Calabash is cultivated for its beautiful fragrant flowers and delicious fruit. The name maliformis name means “apple-shaped” referring to the fruit.

This species is native and common in the wild in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Barbados and Trinidad; also Venezuela, Colombia and northern Ecuador. It is cultivated in Jamaica, Brazil and Ecuador for its fruits.

The fruits ripen from September to December, are light-yellow with a very hard shell, difficult to open but the seedy pulp is much enjoyed. Yellow-orange pulp is aromatically scented and flavoured. In Jamaica, it is scooped from the shell and served with wine and sugar. The strained juice is excellent for making cold drinks. Snuff boxes have been made of the shell of the hard type. This species is noted for its resistance to pests and diseases that affect its relatives.

All in all, a fascinating plant. Be advised, there are still a number of other Passion Flowers I haven't tried drawing yet, so...

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ST. MARTIN OF TOURS
Recently I came across some photographs taken of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Martin in Beuron Germany. I want to show you examples of the particular type of art work was developed there and, as well, I want to tell you about the patron of the abbey, St. Martin.

Beuron Archabbey (in German Erzabtei Beuron,
otherwise Erzabtei St. Martin) is a major house of
the Benedictine Order located at Beuron in the
upper Danube valley in Baden-Württemberg
in Germany.

First let me tell you about their patron saint. St. Martin was born in 316 of parents who worshipped the old Roman gods. However, as the story below indicates, by his teen years he was thinking of becoming a Christian, but remained undecided. He had become a catechumen (he was studying the faith in the local church) but by age 18 had not yet taken the final step of asking to be baptised. It was at this time when he had an experience which changed his life forever.

For those of you not familiar with St. Martin of Tours, let me quickly tell you the story about the event for which St. Martin has been most frequently portrayed artistically and for which he is best known.

As reported by his biographer, Sulpicius Severus, a contemporary of his, Martin was already a tribune at the time of this event. It happened when he was on garrison duty at Amiens. On a bitterly cold winter day, the young tribune Martin rode through the gates, probably dressed in the regalia of his unit -- gleaming, flexible armor, ridged helmet, and a beautiful white cloak whose upper section was lined with lambswool. As he approached the gates he saw a beggar, with clothes so ragged that he was practically naked. The beggar must have been shaking and blue from the cold but no one reached out to help him. Martin, overcome with compassion, took off his mantle. In one quick stroke he slashed the lovely mantle in two with his sword, handed half to the freezing man and wrapped the remainder on his own shoulders. Many in the crowd thought this was so ridiculous a sight that they laughed and jeered but some realized that they were seeing Christian goodness. That night Martin dreamed that he saw Jesus wearing the half mantle he had given the beggar. Jesus said to the angels and saints that surrounded him, "See! this is the mantle that Martin, yet a catechumen, gave me." When he woke, it was the "yet a catechumen" that spurred the 18-year-old Martin on and he went immediately to be baptized.

Here we see the beggar and St. Martin handing him half his cloak.
The Latin reads: "Saint Martin, pray for us"

A central dome, side chapel, with an icon of Our Lady and the Child
The Latin 'Mater Dei' reads: "Mother of God" The art work
found in the monastery, known as the Beuronese School of Art,
saw the important role of geometry in proportions. "Geometrical
proportions determine ideal forms, and the result is an innate harmony
comparable to the mathematical relationships in musical composition."

The saving act of our redemption appears to form the trunk
of a tree with the hart and the lambs feeding at the
edge of the stream. It reminds me of the verse from Psalm 1:3
"They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield
their fruit in due season and their leaves do not wither." (side chapel aspe)

This icon, from the cloister, shows very clearly
not only the desire for geometrical perfection in the art
but also shows the strong influence of Egyptian art which
had a profound effect on those who founded the Beuronese School.
This icon is entitled 'Sedes sapietiae' or "Seat of Wisdom"

http://www.conceptionabbey.org/basilica/beuronese-murals?start=2
This link gives you a selection of Beuronese works if you are interested.
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Suki and Sallie

Well, the preceding section got me into rather an Egyptian mode so I decided to use this drawing of the Egyptian cat god. I will not be showing this to Suki for fear that if she knew that at one time the Egyptians worshipped black cats, she would truly become impossible to live with!

Actually, she has been doing much better of late. She seems to realize that I am not going to get up now in the middle of the night just because she is hungry. I only get up now if there is something that I need to do and I feel awake enough to be safe. Only occasionally do I get that rather scary feeling which lets me know that a fall could be imminent. I try to stay alert for that feeling and if it comes, then I quickly get myself back to bed.

Each day that passes without my falling is just another day to be so very grateful.

I don't know if I have mentioned it or not, but in not too many more months there will be a new baby in my family. This baby has been long desired and we are all waiting joyfully for the great day to arrive. I am working on a couple of special drawings -- one for the mother-to-be and one for the new baby. And, should you feel so inclined, I would really appreciate prayers for the safe delivery of "Baby" (don't know if it is a boy or girl yet) and the continued good health of the mother-and-father-to-be. This is their first child! Thanks.

May St. Martin of Tours pray for us all and may the peace of God be with us today and always.

Naomi and Ruth

2012-02-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

Iconic drawing of Naomi and Ruth by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012
Ruth is holding wheat in reference to the wheat fields of Boaz

Here is an icon of Naomi and Ruth. Like so many people, I have always loved the story of Ruth -- of her dedication to her mother-in-law, her willingness to accept marriage with Naomi's relative, Boaz, so that they both might be provided for and the fact that this dedication led to her being an ancestor of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin through the birth of the son she bore by the name of Obed. Obed, as you probably recall, was the father of Jesse who was the father of King David himself.

Icon, King David, descendant
of Ruth, ancestor of Christ Jesus
by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

What an honour God gave to Ruth, not an Israelite, but a woman of Moab, because of her kind and compassionate heart which led her to say to Naomi after the death of her husband, Naomi's son:

"Entreat me not to leave you or return from following after you, for wherever you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people; your God, my God."

The final place where we find Ruth’s name is in the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah found in the first chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel. All those centuries before the birth of Christ, the story of Ruth was included in the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures just waiting for the day when her name would become part of the story of our salvation.

Now, speaking of people with a kind and compassionate heart, let me tell you about my friend whose nickname is "Chaos Bedlam" (the nickname was given to him by some of his grandchildren during a visit to Shropshire, England).
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CHAOS and BEDLAM (an actual intersection in Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire, England)

I have a dear friend, Charles, who lives in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a truly wonderful person -- intelligent, creative, generous and compassionate. Even though he is a Protestant, he truly seems to understand the Catholic teaching that we are all called to be saints and that we should be working on it now!

He got his PhD in some type of engineering years ago and not only had a successful career but continues to work at creatively improving production techniques. He is also an inventor. So often he does things that help people in big ways without any expectation of remuneration. Here is one recent example taken from one of his emails:

"Many people in manufacturing think that a person with a PhD degree has a pointy head. They might make good theoreticians but have absolutely no practical sense. I have heard it said that they don't know which end of the hammer to use to drive a nail. Last Friday, I was over at a foundry where I do some of my work part-time. Almost all of the pipe they were making after 11:30 AM was failing a particular test. I told them what was wrong, but the operator of the furnace told me that I was wrong. What I proposed to do would make absolutely no difference to the product quality. So I told him that since everything was failing anyway why not try making the change. I also told him that if the pipe did not improve, I would take he and his wife [or girlfriend] out to dinner at least once and maybe twice. He said that was worth the gamble so within 15 min. he had made the changes that I wanted, and within 30 min. every single pipe was passing. So I gained some credibility with both he and his supervisor that afternoon. I may have a funny head, but I know what I am doing with Cast Iron. Having established a little bit of credibility, I had the confidence to try a different experiment on another furnace today. The same two people were involved so both knew that I had a general understanding of what we were trying to do. At 10:30 this morning I suggested another change to improve the productivity and reduce the cost. Without any arguing, they agreed to it. We increased production by approximately 33%, made the properties of the pipe better and never had a failure. We did all that with no additional cost of operation."

Coalbrookdale by Night, oil on canvas, 1801,
by Philip James de Loutherbourg (1740-1812)

This is actually Bedlam Furnaces on the right, with the coke heaps behind creating fiery glow. The large building on the left has nothing to do with the furnaces and was known as Bedlam Hall.

Three-hundred years ago this valley changed the world when Quaker ironmasters found a much cheaper way of making iron. In 1709 Abraham Darby fired his blast furnaces with coke instead of charcoal, and he and his descendants developed products to exploit the iron - the first cast iron wheels, iron steam engine cylinders, iron rails, the first iron bridge, iron aqueduct, iron-framed building, and even the world's first railway locomotive. This burst of inventiveness set in motion the Industrial Revolution and changed the world for ever in both good and bad ways.

From 1700 to 1800 the furnaces in the Gorge burned day and night, and visitors came to marvel at this "most extraordinary district in the world". But as the raw materials were used up in the 19th century and industry developed elsewhere the valley fell silent and nature reclaimed the landscape. It is hard to imagine that this was once the home of the largest ironworks in the world. Today in this beautiful gorge the remains of those momentous times are celebrated in 10 remarkable museums - of iron, porcelain, decorative tiles, of ironmasters homes, of furnaces, factories and a lost way of life. At its heart is the internationally recognised icon of the Iron Bridge of 1779 - and Darby's furnace dating back to the mid-1600s. The Ironbridge Gorge is a World Heritage Site and its history is cared for by a trust that preserves and interprets the remains of this birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.

This photo was taken of a framed print of the actual painting.
Personally, I find the image to be very effective in portraying
the feeling of the furnaces as they burned through the day and night.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Now for the latest news on myself and Miss Suki.

I hesitate to tell you about the only change in Suki's behaviour of late -- her increasing attentiveness to any bathroom activities involving the toilet. Her fascination seems to increase daily. If I want any privacy, I have to actually shut the door and listen to her scratch and meow plaintively from the other side. Otherwise, she is right there, perched on the laundry hamper, watching my every move. Then, as soon as the toilet is flushed, she must immediately jump up on my raised toilet seat to observe the movement of the waters!

Suki watching the movement
of the waters!

In ancient days, there were soothsayers who actually made predictions about people's future by observing the movement of the waters after having the person stir the water in a bowl with their hand. Perhaps Suki is in training to become a soothsayer! Maybe this is why so few black cats are adopted in comparison to other colours and patterns -- they are into devilish activities!

Actually, my biggest concern is that I know that Suki is bound to figure out, sooner or later, how to flush the toilet by herself. She has almost gotten it figured out already, but just needs to use a bit more strength to push the handle down. When that happens, I am not sure how I am going to manage things. What a crazy cat.

As for me, I am grateful to say that another four days have passed with any falls. I think I may be learning, finally, to be a bit more careful. For example, last night about a half an hour before I normally go to bed, I realized that I was starting to get the "space-y" sensation that always precedes a fall. As soon as I noticed this, I did the last few things, quickly, that had to be done before going to bed and was in bed within 10 minutes. During this 10 minutes, I was making a very conscious effort to stay upright. I fell asleep almost immediately. In the past, I would be stubborn and say to myself that I wasn't ready to go to bed yet regardless of how I was feeling. The result was usually a fall or a near fall.

Then, this morning when I noticed that I was getting very sleepy withing a few hours after eating breakfast, I took a nap for about an hour and awoke feeling well rested. This is what Suki has been teaching me: when you feel sleepy, you sleep. Cats are very wise about such matters!

Well, I should end this rather lengthy posting.
I am asking Holy Naomi and Ruth, ancestors of our beloved Jesus, Mary and Joseph, to pray for us that we, too, may become saints even now as we seek to "deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily, and follow Christ". Where are we going? Where do we think we are going if we are carrying a cross?

Blessings and peace to you all.

Capparis erythrocarpus

2012-01-31T20:27:00.001-05:00

Capparis erythrocarpus, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012

Capparis erythrocarpus of the family, Capparaceae, is a tropical or subtropical evergreen shrub or small tree which produces peculiar looking “flowers”, but also red fruit.

The most usable parts of the plant are the roots and a few other bits of the plant. These have two rather different uses. First the dried root bark and a few other ingredients from this plant can be used to prepare a decoction which is helpful in treating arthritis. The second use is very different, but the people of Ghana in West Africa, which is where the plant originated, swear by it as an aphrodisiac!

The local names for this plant I find fascinating. Here are some of them: apana, pitipiti and patahofuo.

Capparis erythrocarpus, drawing by
Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012 -- hue enhancement

Of course, I couldn't help playing around with such an unusual plant.

This first version was created by using the software that calls itself
"hue correction". I am not sure exactly what is being corrected, but I do like the colours that resulted.

Capparis erythrocarpus, drawing by
Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012 -- Solarization

Here is my old favourite software: solarization. I am not sure exactly what is meant by that, but it always does interesting things to the colours I use.

I was thinking of lightening the results here, but decided against it after seeing how washed out everything became. Better just left as it is.

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LAKE SUPERIOR -- GICHIGAMI

The Ojibwa named the Lake "Gichigami" meaning "big water". Even the Native People recognized creation as the gift of God. How much more should we who know the Creator, personally, be aware of this. St. John says "All things came into being through Him and without Him not one thing came into being."

Lake Superior is one of the most beautiful of the Great Lakes. After receiving a pps this week about the Lake, I just couldn't resist sharing these photos with you along with some of the information. Enjoy.

4.4 Celsius is the annual average temperature of the water.
The clear visibility ranges from 27 to 100 feet making it one of
the clearest and cleanest of the Great Lakes.

Lake Superior is one of the earth's youngest major features -- estimated at 10,000 years. The next youngest is a lake in Russia age 25 million years.

The lake contains 10% of all the earth's fresh surface water.Lake Superior contains over 3 quadrillion gallons of water, enough to flood all of North and South America with
at least one foot of water!

"Lake Superior", Lawren Harris sketch

Here is a sketch by Group of Seven artist, Lawren Harris of Lake Superior. He did a number of sketches there and a few finished paintings as well. He was able to capture the special beauty found there.

Below is a photo of the ancient rock which surrounds the Lake.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

I am very conservative. I never think outside the box!

Suki and I seem to be managing all right these days. More and more I am seeing the benefits of learning to sleep like a cat. Since at my age I no longer sleep properly in the first place it does seem pretty foolish to attempt to get all my required sleep during the hours between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Far too often I spend most of the night trying to find some way to force my legs to stop being so restless -- as has been the case lately. So, if I was depending on that time period to supply me with the rest I need, then I would be very disappointed and probably very likely to fall asleep standing up, ending up with another black and blue face or another cracked rib.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with what has been known, up until recently as Restless Leg Syndrome (the condition is now known as Willis-Ekborn Disease). As I have gotten older, the disease symptoms have gotten worse -- sometimes almost unbearably so. Considering all the things I have working against me when it comes to just getting a decent night's sleep, it is really no wonder that I sometimes "pass out" when I get up in the middle of the night!

But, as most of you are aware, I am not complaining about this suffering. For me it is just one more thing which I can unite to the perfect sufferings of Our Lord in His Passion and Death. How grateful I have been over the years of my life for the Catholic "theology" of suffering. To know that nothing is wasted in God's economy is a cause for great rejoicing.

I am not certain I will ever understand why other groups seem to see suffering as God's punishment or even a sign of sin in a person's life. Did not our Lord say that we are to pick up our cross daily and follow Him? I mean, what is a cross used for and if we are following Him carrying a cross where do we think we are going? Are we not on our way to be crucified with Him?

Meanwhile, I just got a look from Suki which seemed to be saying: "why aren't you taking a nap instead of making all that noise on the computer keyboard?" So, I guess I had better get to it!

May our dear Lord bless us all and may our Blessed Mother intercede for us.

St. Sava

2012-01-27T19:15:00.000-05:00

St. Sava of Serbia, icon by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011
(Feast Day January 27th in the Orthodox churches)

Saint Sava (Serbian: Свети Сава, Sveti Sava; 1174 – 14 January 1236) was a Serbian Prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law and literature, and a diplomat. Sava was born Rastko Nemanjić (Растко Немањић). He became a monk in his youth, receiving the monastic name Sava (Sabbas), subsequently founding the monasteries of Hilandar on Mount Athos (Greece), and Žiča (Serbia). In 1219 he was recognized as the first Archbishop of Serbs, by the Patriarch of Constantinople, and in the same year he authored the oldest known constitution of Serbia, "Zakonopravilo", thus securing full independence; both religious and political.

St. Sava is widely considered as one of the most important figures of Serbian history, and is canonized and venerated by the Serbian Orthodox Church, as its founder. His feast is celebrated on January 27 (14th by the Julian calendar).

The story of a vocation: St. Sava’s spiritual vocation is highlighted by the story that he left his father’s house at the age of seventeen years against his father’s strong wishes, who knowing that his son had gone to Athos, mobilized his retainers and wrote the governor of the district that if his son was not returned to him, he would go to war against the Greeks! Despite this, St. Sava received monastic tonsure (in 1186) and sent to his parents his worldly clothes, hair and a letter, attempting to persuade his powerful parents to accept monasticism. His father sends messengers to Athos for the return of Sava to Serbia, but in vain. Sava replies to his father: "You have accomplished all that a Christian sovereign should do; come now and join me in the true Christian life". (Ultimately, the father, Stefan Nemanja, followed his son and entered a monastery himself, and his mother as well joined a religious order of nuns.)

The Temple of Saint Sava in Belgrade was built in his name, on the scene where the Ottoman Turks burnt his remains in the 16th century, and is currently the largest church building in the Balkans. The legacy of St. Sava lives on in the Orthodox Church traditions. He introduced the Jerusalem Typikon as the basis for Slavic Monastic Rules. The Serbian Hilandar monastery on Mt. Athos follows the Typikon of St. Sava to this day. http://orthodoxwiki.org/Typikon

As a saint, Sava was respected even among the Roman Catholics. Tomko Mrnjevic, a Bosnian bishop in the early 17th century, wrote, with great respect, the first biography of Saint Sava.

[This information was gathered and organized by my friend, Amra, a member of the Serbian Orthodox Church. She writes: "I know that I can always depend on St. Sava to intercede for me that I may persevere in my Faith."]

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TREES, (BIG) CATS and BIRDS

From my collection of photos...
Along with terms of venery (you know how I delight in these)...

A Grand Democracy of Trees

A Leap of Leopards

A Murder of Crows (Looks more like a Suicide of Crows to me!)

A Shimmer of Hummingbirds

These terms of venery are all taken from the book "An Exaltation of Larks" by James Lipton.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Well, Suki is trying her best to teach me how to take "cat naps" on a regular basis, but I still have a difficult time stopping whatever I am doing just to take a nap -- even if I am feeling sleepy. I hope to get the hang of this sooner or later. Meanwhile, Suki is very patient. For example, if I won't stop what I am doing and settle in for a snooze, she just goes right ahead and takes a nap herself!

She doesn't fret about me at all. I think that is the best way to handle things since if she kept nagging, I would probably just get my back up and refuse to sleep at all!

Seriously, if I can just teach myself to take more naps, I really think it might make a big difference in the number of times I fall or almost fall.

You may or may not have noticed that I am posting a day early. I have been posting every four days for a number of months and I find that it works well, giving me just enough time between posts to prepare without feeling rushed. Today, however, I wanted to post on the feast day of St. Sava, the 27th, even though it is only three days from the previous posting.

St. Sava, pray for us.

May the peace of God be with us all.

Gong Xi Fa Ca!

2012-01-24T21:56:00.001-05:00

Gong Xi Fa Ca! drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer (colour saturation)

Gong Xi Fa Ca! That’s the traditional Chinese New Year greeting that means “wishing you prosperity” in Mandarin. The first day of the Chinese New Year – which begins at midnight on January 23, 2012 – is the most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by over 1.3 billion people in China and by millions of ethnic Chinese around the world. It’s a celebration that lasts for 15 days, culminating with the Lantern Festival. Each year is associated with one of twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2012, it’s the Year of the Dragon.

Gong Xi Fa Ca! drawing by

Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012

The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere (such as Toronto).

Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors. These include Korean, Bhutanese and Vietnamese cultures. Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. People will pour out their money to buy presents, decorations, material, food, and clothing -- even going into debt.

Gong Xi Fa Ca! drawing by
Sarah "Sallie" Thayer (colour inversion)

It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans their house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for incoming good luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red coloured paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families. Food will include such items as pigs, ducks, chicken and sweet delicacies. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes.

Gong Xi Fa Ca! drawing by
Sarah "Sallie" Thayer ("posterization")

The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone. Although the Chinese calendar traditionally does not use continuously numbered years, outside China its years are often numbered from the reign of the Yellow Emperor. But at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various scholars, making the year beginning in AD 2012 the "Chinese Year" 4710, 4709, or 4649.

Living in Toronto with its huge Asian population, means that I have often been caught up in the celebrations of Chinese New Year during my residence here. I have even tried the traditional Chinese treats served during the 12 or so days that the New Year is celebrated (I never knew that bean curd could be made into a delicious sweet!).

This Year of the Dragon is especially poignant for me as I was born in the Year of the Dragon all those many, many years ago. This is the 6th Year of the Dragon of my lifetime. The next one will be in 2024. Will I still be here then? All I know is that when the good God is ready, He will call me Home. Meanwhile, I will enjoy reminding everyone that the Year of the Dragon is my year!

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Keeping to the theme of the Chinese New Year, let me show you some interesting drawings I came across recently on the Internet. You may have already seen them, of course, but just in case you haven't...

Some artist has taken the continents and islands and used them to create the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. While I certainly put no faith in zodiacs of any kind, I am impressed with the work it took to create these designs. Although in retrospect, I wonder if the artist is trying to tell the rest of the world that all the property on the earth will eventually be owned by China!

Dragon

Horse

Rooster

Boar (Pig)

Dog

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Suki and Sallie Update:

I have revised my earlier decision!

I have decided that if this lady, to whom I have offered Suki (and who really seems like a great candidate), turns down my offer, I am going to give keeping Suki another try. I realized yesterday how I have allowed my fears to suddenly drive me into retreat without even making an effort to fight. This is so unlike me and I do not enjoy the way it feels. While I do realize that there are problems with keeping Suki, these are problems that quite possibly can be dealt with creatively.

I have discovered over the past few days, for example, that if I establish sleep patterns that are more like a cat’s, I seem to be able to get enough sleep to feel rested and also avoid the problem of having Suki awaken me during the night when I am trying to get my full quota of sleep -- which is when I so often fall. Trying to get to sleep and stay asleep for at least six hours straight is being a bit unrealistic at my age, cat or no cat. It seems to me to be much wiser to sleep when I feel sleepy, sleeping until I feel really rested, and then getting up and being active again.
As for the litter box, I am experimenting with using various chairs and stools to help me overcome the strain of bending over and straightening up. I haven’t found the perfect fit yet, but I am working on it.

I feel as though I must make the effort. I have been a fighter and survivor all my life and this just feels too much like giving up.

Of course, should I have another bad fall in the near future, I will quite possibly go back to plan A! As you can imagine, however, I really want to find a way to keep Suki in my life -- and if I could ask her, I think she would probably say that she really wants to continue to share my life!

May the peace of God be with us all.

St. Agnes of Rome

2012-01-20T14:59:00.000-05:00

Icon, St. Agnes of Rome, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011
Feast day (memorial) January 21st

Christ made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him whom the angels serve. - Saint Agnes

Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of thirteen. There was little or no room in that small body for a wound. Yet she shows no fear of the blood-stained hands of her executioners. She offers her whole body to be put to the sword by fierce soldiers. She is too young to know of death, yet is ready to face it. Dragged against her will to the altars, she stretches out her hands to the Lord int he midst of the flames, making the triumphant sign of Christ the victor on the altars of sacrilege. She puts her neck and hands in iron chains, but no chain can hold fast her tiny limbs. In the midst of tears, she sheds no tears herself. She stood still, she prayed, she offered her neck. You could see fear in the eyes of the executioner, as if he were the one condemned. His right hand trembled, his face grew pale as he saw the girl’s peril, while she had no fear for herself. One victim, but a twin martyrdom, to modesty and religion; Agnes preserved her virginity and gained a martyr’s crown. - from an essay On Virgins by Saint Ambrose of Milan

Saint Agnes had made a promise to God never to stain her purity. Her love for the Lord was very great and she hated sin even more than death! Since she was very beautiful, many young men wished to marry Agnes, but she would always say, "Jesus Christ is my only Spouse."

Procop, the Governor's son, became very angry when she refused him. He had tried to win her for his wife with rich gifts and promises, but the beautiful young girl kept saying, "I am already promised to the Lord of the Universe. He is more splendid than the sun and the stars, and He has said He will never leave me!" In great anger, Procop accused her of being a Christian and brought her to his father, the Governor.

The Governor promised Saint Agnes wonderful gifts if she would only deny God, but she refused. He tried to change her mind by putting her in chains, but her lovely face shown with joy. Next he sent her to a place of sin [a brothel], but an angel protected her. At last, she was condemned to death.

Even the pagans cried to see such a young and beautiful girl going to death. Yet, Saint Agnes was as happy as a bride on her wedding day. She did not pay attention to those who begged her to save herself. "I would offend my Spouse," she said, "if I were to try to please you. He chose me first and He shall have me!" Then she prayed and bowed her head for the death-stroke of the sword.

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PENGUINS

Following are some fun facts about Penguins taken from http://www.about.com/
PENGUINS are some of the most recognizable and beloved birds in the world, and they are also some of the most unique.
1. There are 18 species of penguin in the world. While some species are thriving, 13 of them have declining populations.
2. Penguins are found only in the Southern Hemisphere. While most people associate penguins with Antarctica, they are much more widespread and penguin populations can also be found in South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
3. The northernmost penguin species is the Galapagos penguin, which lives year-round near the equator.
4. Penguins lost the ability to fly millions of years ago, but their powerful flipper-like wings and streamlined bodies make them very accomplished swimmers. They are the fastest swimming and deepest diving species of any birds.
5. While swimming, penguins will leap above the surface of the water, a practice called porpoising. This coats their plumage with tiny bubbles that reduce friction, allowing them to swim as fast as 20 miles per hour (32 kph). 6. The light front and dark back of classic penguin plumage is called countershading and it provides superb camouflage from above and below to protect penguins in the water.
7. Penguins are carnivores that catch all their food live in the sea. Depending on the species they can eat a variety of different marine animals, including fish, squid, shrimp, krill and other crustaceans.
8. Penguins’ eyes work better underwater than they do in the air, giving them superior eyesight to spot prey while hunting, even in cloudy or murky water. 9. The emperor penguin is the largest of the penguin species and can weigh up to 90 pounds. The fairy penguin is the smallest and weighs only 2 pounds. 10. The yellow-eyed penguin is believed to be the rarest penguin species, with only approximately 5,000 birds. They can only be found along the southeastern coast of New Zealand and nearby islands.
11. Penguins are social birds that form breeding colonies numbering in the tens of thousands. They may use the same nesting grounds for thousands of years, and colonies can number in the millions. They mate for life.
12. Emperor penguins and king penguins do not make nests. Instead, a single egg for each mated pair is incubated on a parent’s feet and kept warm by a flap of skin called a brood pouch.

13. Emperor penguin males will incubate their eggs for two months in the winter without eating while the females are at sea. During that time, they live off their fat reserves and may lose half their body weight. When the females return shortly after the chicks hatch, they switch parental duties and the females fast.
14. Depending on the species, a wild penguin can live 15-20 years. During that time, they spend up to 75 percent of their lives at sea.
15. Penguins have many natural predators depending on their habitat, including leopard seals, sea lions, orcas, snakes, sharks and foxes. Artificial threats are also a problem for penguins, including oil spills and other pollution, global warming that changes the distribution of food sources and illegal poaching and egg harvesting. By Melissa Mayntz, About.com Guide

So much in love...

First there were two; then there were three

Characters from the movie, "March of the Penguins"

Penguin day-care!

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SUKI:

Well, this is a paragraph I hoped I would never have to write; however, the time has come for me to face an issue that I can no longer deny. I am simply unable, physically, to take proper care of Suki. So, I am now searching for a new home for her. Until I can find some place for her that is exactly right, I will not give her up even if I have to take extra pain medication just to do the tasks necessary for her upkeep.

I know that there are a number of my readers who have grown very fond of Suki so I wanted you to know what is happening and why I haven't been commenting about her lately. She continues to do cute and funny things, but it hurts me too much to have to focus on them and write them down as it makes me just too aware of how short the time is before I have to give her up.

As I am writing this, she has gone back to her favourite "perch" after spending some time earlier today lying in the sunshine and giving herself a good bath.

I will keep you informed as things develop.

St. Agnes pray for us, asking that the peace of God may be with us all.

Anthurium andraeanum

2012-01-16T13:51:00.000-05:00

Anthurium andraeanum drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011
For previous posts related to Anthurium, see Nov. 01, 2009;
Jan. 03, 2011; May 13, 2011

The proper name of this striking plant is Anthurium andraeanum (Family, Araceae – Arum family). The common names include: Anthurium, Flamingo-lily, Flamingo Flower, Oilcloth-flower and Tail Flower.

This popular ornamental garden plant is native to Colombia and Ecuador. The colours range from yellow to red and even multicoloured. In the wild, they flower all year round and can grow up to 3 feet tall.

Now for your botany lesson for today! The flowers (see gold coloured area above) are actually the tiny blossoms on the slender, finger-like or tail-like spadix [a fleshy club like spike bearing minute flowers, usually enclosed within a sheath like spathe, characteristic of such plants as anthuriums] above a very shiny, waxy, colourful, crinkled, heart-shaped spathe [a leaf like bract that encloses a flower cluster or spadix, as in the jack-in-the-pulpit and the calla lily]. The flowers are sometimes followed by small, fleshy berries (none of these are shown in my drawing). The leaves are large, glossy dark green or even black in some varieties, leathery, alternate, and oblong-heart-shaped to arrow-shaped. The plants are epiphytes [a plant, such as a tropical orchid or a staghorn fern, that grows on another plant upon which it depends for mechanical support but not for nutrients. Also called aerophyte or air plant] but can be grown in loose rock, bark, and fibre soil mixtures as well.

While the plants can appear quite striking in an outdoor garden, gardeners should be aware that Anthurium andraeanum are poisonous and contain calcium oxalate crystals, which can cause severe mouth irritation and swelling if ingested. Should you have one of these plants in your home, please make certain to keep it where your pets or young children can't reach it!

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Now for one more drawing of my favourite flower. This one also contains both spadix and spathe (see definitions above). Yes, it is another effort on my part to capture the curving beauty of Calla Lilies. I don't think I will ever get tired of drawing them! If you are tired of looking at my efforts, feel free to skip to the next section.

"Calla Lily Still-Life", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2012

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Now for something truly beautiful...

On the weekend I made a marvellous discovery. I was introduced (online) to an iconographer who writes some of the most beautiful icons I have ever seen. His name is Marek Czarnecki http://www.seraphicrestorations.com/
I wrote to him right away and, delightfully, heard back from him right away! I asked if I might share a few of his icons with my viewers and he very kindly said "yes". So, following are four of the many wonderful works he has been inspired to write. See if you don't agree with me as you view the delicate details found throughout.

Sadly, it does not appear that individuals can purchase a copy of his work since each work is uniquely commissioned by a church, organization, person, etc. Thankfully, he does maintain a gallery online which means that we are able to go and look at the icons and even find out where they are located in case we are going to be travelling to that area. Anyway, for the moment, just enjoy!

The traditional Sacred Heart image has been written as a true icon.
The border legend reads: "Learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart."

St. John the Baptist portrayed with an inner beauty, visible even
with his external "wildness" shown with detail. Note the wonderful beard.

This is the iconographer's icon. Here St. Luke, considered to be the first
to write icons, is being shown how to draw Our Lady and the Child.
There are several icons which vie for the spot of being one of St. Luke's
icons, for example, Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

This is such a beautiful expression of that incredible moment when
St. Juan Diego opened his tilma filled with roses in front of the Bishop
and his companions. Can you imagine what it was like to suddenly see,
on this peasant's "cloak", an image of Our Lady in glowing colours
of turquoise and gold?

Please go and take a look at the rest of Marek's work. It is well worth the effort. I know I will be going back for frequent visits!

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Something even more beautiful than an icon...

My friend's little boy at the age of 21 months (taken Nov. 4, 2011)
While religious icons are "windows looking into Heaven", the eyes
of our children, in their innocence and clarity, can give us an even
deeper view into our eternal Homeland -- if we just have the eyes to see.

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As for Suki and myself, both of us are doing reasonably well at the moment -- kind of in a holding pattern, you might say! Suki's orbit is the circumference of her padded, "crow's-nest" bed while mine is the area between the computer, my reclining "bed" and the two Catholic TV channels! Fortunately our orbits intersect very nicely and so peace reigns.

More details on our lives when I post again at the end of the week.

For now, I need to return to my place of rest as the rib injured in my last fall is beginning to complain!

Oh, before I forget, I managed to get the statue of St. Joseph repaired. It will never be the same, but somehow, I like it even more now than before it was broken! My dear friend, Amra, wrote to me after hearing that the statue was broken and said: "I hope your dear statue will be fixed soon and that you will embrace that "small imperfection" of St. Joseph." Yes, Amra, I will.

May the peace of God be with us all.

St. Catherine the Great, Alexandria

2012-01-12T11:25:00.000-05:00

Icon, St. Catherine the Great, Martyr, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

I am well aware that most scholars consider the story of St. Catherine of Alexandria to be nothing but a pious legend. I disagree. She was always there to intercede for me during my years of preparing for and working in the library world, and while there may be just a touch of exaggeration in the account of her martyrdom, she was, indeed, a convert in the early Church, she was martyred and she is now in Heaven with her Divine Spouse forever. You can take my word for it! She is the saint of attorneys, educators, librarians, mechanics, philosophers, preachers and libraries.

Since not all of your may know the wonderful story of St. Catherine of Alexandria (Egypt), let me tell you a few of the highlights. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine was born c. 282 and died c. 305.

According to the traditional narrative, Catherine was the beautiful daughter of the pagan King Costus and Queen Sabinella, who governed Alexandria. Though raised a pagan, she became an ardent Christian in her teenage years, having received a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, in which the Blessed Virgin gave Catherine to Jesus in mystical marriage.

As a young adult, she visited her contemporary, the Roman Emperor Maxentius, and attempted to convince him of the moral error in persecuting Christians for not worshipping idols. The emperor arranged for a plethora of the best pagan philosophers and orators to dispute with her, hoping that they would refute her pro-Christian arguments, but Catherine won the debate and succeeded in converting all of them to Christianity, for which the philosophers and orators were executed by an enraged Maxentius.

Catherine was then scourged and put in prison, during which time over two hundred people came to see her, including Maxentius' wife the empress, all of whom converted to Christianity and were therefore martyred.

Wheel for torture which came
to be known as Catherine's Wheel

Upon the failure of Maxentius to make Catherine yield by way of torture, he tried to win the beautiful and wise princess over by proposing marriage to her, at which point in time the Saint declared that her spouse was Jesus Christ, to whom she had consecrated her virginity. The furious emperor condemned Catherine to death on the spiked breaking wheel, an instrument of torture. The wheel was miraculously destroyed, however, in answer to St. Catherine's prayer, and so Maxentius had to settle for beheading her.

According to a Christian tradition dating to about 800, angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where, in the 6th century, the Eastern Emperor Justinian had established what is now known as Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai.

Over 1,100 years following her martyrdom, St. Joan of Arc identified Catherine as one of the Saints who appeared to her and counseled her. The Orthodox Church venerates her as a Great Martyr, and celebrates her feast day on 25 November. In the Catholic Church, after some years of being ignored, St. Catherine is now listed as an optional memorial for the 25th of November.

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The Deep of Winter

I understand from our ever-dependable weather forecaster that we are supposed to be getting our first real snowstorm of 2012 soon. Thus, I felt it appropriate to share with you some of my collection of winter photos. These are not my photos, but ones I have collected over time because they appealed to me for one reason or another. I hope they have some appeal for you as well.

Just the faintest bit of sunlight

Some strange light source shows at the top of the photo

Light from a full moon

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sallie and suki

Both Suki and I are doing reasonably well. At the moment, she is sleeping (surprise) while I work away on this posting. I am thinking seriously about stopping this soon and going for my morning coffee at which time I would expect Suki to suddenly arise from sleep, give a big yawn accompanied by a great stretch leading to a rather plaintive "meow" (translation: "is it time to eat?")

My brother-in-law holding the
Christmas gift I prepared for
him, Christmas 2011

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Here is a photo of my brother-in-law, Tom, taken sometime after the opening of Christmas gifts, 2011. Tom is holding the icon of St. Michael I made for him, using a similar icon from an online company. Tom is the one, you may recall, who has been a volunteer firefighter since he was in high school. Wherever he and my sister have lived, Tom has always been helping out the local fire station in one capacity or another. And, as you also may recall, St. Michael is the patron saint of firemen, police, etc.

Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700)
foundress of the Sisters of the
Congregation of Notre-Dame

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Sometimes Scripture truly strikes you with such an impact that it almost leaves you breathless. This is what happened to me this morning when I was reading the "alternate Sanctoral Readings". These are the special readings that the Church provides for solemnities, feasts, or memorials and particularly when there are proper texts for such celebrations. The Memorial of St. Marguerite Bourgeoys is celebrated on this date in Canada and so there are alternate readings provided for those parishes wishing to use them. One of these alternate readings is from the Book of Sirach where the inspired author says: "Accept whatever befalls you, and in times of humiliation be patient. For gold is tested in the fire, and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation. Trust in Him and He will help you; make your ways straight and hope in Him." (Sirach 2:2ff). This passage was the means by which God spoke to me powerfully today and I am so grateful.

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Meanwhile, I just want you to know that I misjudged Suki. I did, indeed, get up to make myself a cup of coffee. Suki did, indeed, stretch, yawn and meow; however, her meow said "I am going back to sleep" instead of the usual "feed me". At this point she has gone back to sleep in her "crow's nest" and seems to be sleeping soundly. We should never think that we have cats figured out -- they will always prove us wrong!

Now, may the peace of God be with us all and may St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Marguerite Bourgeoys pray for us in the days ahead.

Two Different Orchids

2012-01-08T18:00:00.000-05:00

Orchid "Oncidium", drawing by Sarah-Sallie Thayer, 2011

I really don't know why I am trying to draw Orchids again. I have never been very successful as Orchids really need to be painted and not drawn in order to show something of their intricate beauty. The way I have to draw and colour on the computer is just too heavy handed, I find, to create the complex loveliness of Orchids. Yet, for some reason, I keep trying. Oh, well, it is a challenge and it is difficult for me to resist a challenge!

Orchid "Oncidium", drawing by Sarah-Sallie

Thayer, 2011, special effects created by using

colour inversion software

This is the result of my playing with the colour inversion software. Here the image looks more like a woodcut than ever which I find very interesting. In fact, now I am thinking about going back and trying the software selection for "sepia" to see if it really does look like a real woodcut. That might be more attractive than the original drawing. In fact, if I have time, I may do that before I publish this posting just in case the results are interesting enough to show you.

++++++

Here is some sort of Orchid. I couldn't find the proper name. I came across a photograph of this Orchid in a pps someone sent me. All it had underneath the photo was "Orchid -- Orange/Red". So that is my working title. If you have any idea what type of Orchid this is, please do let me know so I can go back and add it to this posting. Thanks.

Strange type of Orchid, proper name unknown, drawing by
Sarah-Sallie Thayer, 2012

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INTERESTING NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS:

You may have seen these already on the Internet, but just in case you missed them, here are four for your fancy!

You really have to wonder sometimes about the quality of our educational system!

It really makes a person feel good that the State of Colorado is being
run by people with such a profound understanding of statistical analysis

I am really not sure that a public apology would be sufficient
in such a case. My question is: How could "failure to stop
at a railroad crossing" be confused with "prostitution"?

I know I really shouldn't make fun of Wal-Mart,
but they did come into Ontario and cause some of
my favourite "cheap" stores to have to close!

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SUKI AND SALLIE
Well, the story I have to relate today makes Suki look good and me not so

Suki behind statue of
St. Joseph and the child, Jesus

good!

It has to do with my prized statue of St. Joseph and the Child, Jesus. This statue was given to me as a birthday gift back in 1998 by a group of friends here in my co-op building. The friend chiefly responsible was named Jackie. Sadly, Jackie dies a few years later from lung cancer which had metastasized before she or anyone else even knew she was sick.

As a consequence, I have always valued the statue plus the fact that I am very fond of St. Joseph and ask for his prayers on my behalf and the behalf of other very frequently. And, of course, the Boy, Jesus, is the Lord of my life!
I never worried about the statue with my previous cats as they were never much interested in it. However, from the time Suki moved into my life and heart, she has loved to spend time looking out the window in the "shade" of the statue. As a consequence, I have fretted and moaned to her about being careful; threatening all manner of horrible things should she knock the statue over and break it.

Well, the statue is now broken. Poor St. Joseph had his head broken off right at the neck. And guess what?... I did it, not Suki. I mean, Suki was close by when it happened, but she had absolutely nothing to do with the accident.

I had just closed the vertical blinds that go across my living room window. One of the blinds was not straight so I leaned forward, across the statue to straighten it. As I straightened myself up to turn and go, I suddenly found that I was off balance -- not an unusual problem for me these days. Feeling as though I might fall, I quickly reached out towards the window to brace myself. As I did so, my hand just brushed against the statue -- just enough of a glancing blow to knock the statue off balance. As I watched, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I saw the statue hit the floor, the head break off and bounce once as I fruitlessly tried to reach out and stop it. Suddenly time snapped back into place and I heard myself crying out "oh, no!".

Later, as I cleaned up the tiny shards of plaster, I investigated the head carefully. It appears to me that it could be glued back into place with very little evidence that it was ever broken, but it would take someone who really knows how to work with plaster. There is such a person living in my building. I called her last night and left her a message so when she gets back home tonight, I will see what she thinks. I am hoping and praying that it can be fixed. I mean, I know it is just a thing and that in another 25 years it will turn to dust, but it is special to me and has given me a great deal of pleasure over these past years.

Before I end this posting, I want to show you a lovely photo of an owl in winter. There is something so special, almost mystical, about the silent way an owl will sit in a tree just before dusk. Then, if you startle it, the owl will spread those enormous wings and fly slowly off into the darkening trees.
May the peace of the Lord be with us all as the Christmas Season comes to an end. Tuesday we return to Ordinary Time.

David, King and Prophet

2012-01-04T22:26:00.000-05:00

Icon, David, King and Prophet, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011 (portion of Psalm 100 shown)

Who is King David? Almost any person who has been brought up in the Christian community can answer that question even if all they can say is "he wrote all the Psalms".

So many of us have just finished celebrating Christmas (other Christians are just getting ready to celebrate Christmas) and if we attended Mass or church services during that time, we heard the name of David in the Scripture readings for this holy season. In St. Matthew's Gospel we read that the angel of God spoke to Joseph in a dream and said: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife..." [Matt. 1:20]. The angel is referring here to King David, not Joseph's natural father. Then in Luke's Gospel, we read so many references to King David such as these: "All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went ... to the City of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David." [Luke 2:4-5] and "... and the angel said 'to you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.'" [Luke 2:11].

We are told that both Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, and Mary, his mother, were of the house and family of David. Why was this so important? Because of the prophecies found in the Old Testament which indicate that the coming Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David. To this very day, our Jewish brothers and sisters pray daily for the coming of the "Messiah, son of David." For while we Christians accept Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah, they are still waiting for the Messiah to come. In both cases, however, the Messiah is to be a descendant of the house of David.

We really know so very little about David except what we find in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan stele records the existence in the mid-9th century of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David". The Tel Dan Stele is a stele (inscribed stone) discovered in 1993/94 during excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel. Its author was a king of Damascus, Hazael or one of his sons, and it contains an Aramaic inscription commemorating victories over local ancient peoples including "Israel" and the "House of David." His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC, and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC.

Then, of course, there are the Psalms. These are beautiful songs of praise, worship, questioning, struggling and pleas for mercy. There are 150 Psalms all of which are said to have been composed by King David who was also a musician. Whether David actually composed all of them is questionable, perhaps, but it is quite possible that he was the one who brought them all together in one "book". Probably the best known of these songs is Psalm 23. This shepherd's song could easily have been written by David who grew up tending his father, Jesse's, sheep. Then there is Psalm 51 -- the prayer for forgiveness and is thought to have been written by David as he finally faced the truth about the terrible sin he had committed because of his lust for another man's wife. I would also mention Psalm 139 -- if you have never read it, please do so and let the truth of these words sink deeply into your soul.

Since the earliest days of the Church, priests and laity alike have prayed all 150 Psalms over and over throughout the year. This is still done by every priest and religious (plus many lay people) to this very day. In fact, in the early Church, since there was as yet no New Testament, the Psalms were the source of much of the teaching ministry. Jesus quoted numerous times from the Psalms in his teaching and preaching as did St. Paul and the other apostles.

King David, pray for us that we, too, may always be able to say: "The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want."

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I haven't left myself much room for anything else but there is one thing I do want to tell you about.

Some weeks ago, I heard from a member of the Knights of Columbus in Downers Grove, Illinois. He wrote: "We are currently running an article on St. Maximillian Kolbe, and I was wondering if we might use the image you created for St. Maximillian Parish in West Chester, PA. The image would appear once in our newsletter with the article. We would give you credit, of course. The newsletter is distributed free of charge to our membership of about 90 Knights." I, of course, said "yes" and recently I received a copy of the e-bulletin published by this group of Knights. I thought you might be interested in seeing how the image was used.

St. Maximilian: a true hero Often times in Catholicism, we hear the words, “We are all called to be saints.” What does that mean? Does it mean we do charity or good works? Most of the time it means we have to suffer. If you look at the lives of the saints, any of them, you will see that they have suffered, a lot. They suffer for a higher purpose than even they, or anyone, else can imagine. So, what kind of a person takes on this suffering, to put God‟s will ahead of one‟s self, ahead of one‟s own dreams and ambitions? What kind of person would suffer death so that another might live? Who would put Christ ahead of everything else?

Original art work by Sarah “Sallie” Thayer. Published with
permission of the artist. See salliesart.blogspot.com

One such person was Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest. St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Conventual Franciscan Friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi Concentration Camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II. He died on August 14, 1941. After three prisoners escaped, ten men were selected to die of starvation as a punishing example to deter more escape attempts. One of the men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, when selected, “My poor wife, my poor children, what will they do?” So moved was St. Maximilian that he immediately volunteered to take his place in an isolated, underground bunker. For the next few weeks he quietly led the men in Mass and prayers until they all died of starvation, except for St. Maximilian himself. Since the guards wanted the bunker emptied, they gave him a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Some who were present at his death said that he raised his left arm and calmly waited for the injection. The man whose life he saved, Franciszek Gajowniczek, lived until March 13, 1995. He continued to spread the word of the sacrifice of St. Maximilian throughout his life so that all would know of the faith and charity of this great saint.

St. Maximilian 's life was strongly influenced by a childhood vision of the Virgin Mary which he later described: “That night, I asked the Mother of God what was to become of me. Then she came to me holding two crowns, one white, the other red. She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns. The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both.” Early on he was inspired to organize the Militia Immaculata, or the Army of Mary, to aid in the conversion of sinners and to resist enemies of the Catholic Church. Before he was incarcerated in Auschwitz, he sheltered many Polish refugees from Nazi persecution in his friary, including 2,000 Jews. St. Maximilian Kolbe was canonized a martyr by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982, with Franciszek Gajowniczek in attendance. St. Maximilian is a much loved saint of our family: Marikay and I have called upon him to intercede for our needs often. I hope you read more about this brave man of faith and ask him to intercede for your needs also.
Vivat Jesus, Norris Freedman
* Historical info was taken from Wikipedia; Catholic.org/saints [From the Grand Knight: VOLUME 3, ISSUE 4]

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Have you ever seen a sleepier cat?

Well, a picture is worth a thousand words. Poor Suki was frequently disturbed today as there was much coming and going from my apartment during the morning and early afternoon. She was not able to get her accustomed 16 hours of uninterrupted sleep (well, maybe not that many hours). Anyway, by the time 3 p.m. rolled around, Suki was in her bed at the top of her cat tree sleeping away. Here she is shown as she awakens briefly and unhappily because I made a noise that disturbed her! Pardon me, your royal highness!

At any rate, she did not stay awake for long and is now happily sleeping once again. When she sleeps this deeply it is funny to see that her tail becomes very active at times. I know she is dreaming and I wonder what she is seeing in her dreams, especially when her tail is really twitching back and forth rapidly. She is probably dreaming that she has caught one of those pigeons who torment her so just outside the window sill!

Sallie, on the other hand, took a major nap this afternoon. I don't know what was going on with me but suddenly I was just totally overcome by tiredness. Thanks be to God, I had the good sense just to go to bed. I slept 3 1/2 hours and might have even slept longer had the phone not started ringing. Oh, well, I do feel much better and thankful that for once I had the good sense to follow my body's needs instead of my own desires to stay up and work on a new drawing.

But now it is already time to get ready to go back to sleep again and I am looking forward to it! Maybe I am catching the sleep bug from my cat!

Otherwise, I am doing well. All my X-rays, by the way, showed nothing serious. I just got a big bump on my head with bruising on my face and it will take another 6 to 8 weeks for everything to get back to as close to normal as possible! Now, we must all pray that Sallie does not fall anymore. That is my New Year's resolution as I told you in the previous posting. I have also told my guardian angel: anymore falls and I am going to politely request that this guardian angel goes back for some re-training and that meanwhile I get a young and enthusiastic replacement! Well, OK, I didn't really say that, but I thought it.

Now, may God bless us and protect us and may the peace of God surround us all.

Happy New Year, 2012

2011-12-31T22:45:00.000-05:00

Dahlia, Red Orange, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

I am posting another flower drawing tonight rather than a new icon. The reason for this is that it is New Year's Eve and I don't feel like it is the best time to be trying to get your attention with too many details about another saint. As well, I do not even intend to give you any details about the particular Dahlia that I have drawn. I have posted a number of different Dahlias in the past couple of years and I figure if you really want more information, you can take a look back (see postings for 4/13/09; 9/30/09; 7/16/11; 10/11/11 and 10/20/11). I really included this new drawing because it seemed to be a fitting flower for ringing in the New Year, 2012. So enjoy this "red/orange" Dahlia while you sip your champagne and sing Auld Lang Syne!

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JANUARY 1, 2012

Here is a photo I came across this week that seems to be a fitting photo for the first day of a new year. So many parts of the Northern U.S. and Southern Canada have snow or will be getting snow tomorrow night that I thought an early morning snow scene was just the right touch for putting in my New Year's posting.

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NEW YEARS' GREETINGS

As well, I thought I would wish everyone a Happy New Year in four different languages. First, a greeting in French ---

Here are two different English greetings. I figured I should have two instead of one as this is an English-language blog!

Here we have Happy New Year in Spanish. And, finally, we have Happy New Year in Polish!

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Suki wanted me to include this drawing which shows her practising her French. She is actually getting quite good and her accent sounds almost à la parisienne!
Seeing as how it is New Year's Eve, I have been asking Suki throughout the day exactly what she planned to do for the New Year -- her New Year's resolution? Each time I questioned her, she would look at me sleepily, yawn and turn over and go back to sleep! I was beginning to feel as though she was trying to ignore me which left me feeling a bit upset. But, then, I suddenly realized that she was probably giving me her answer in sign language since she knows how difficult it is for me to understand her meows -- especially when she is speaking French! Then I understood -- her plan for the New Year is to get more sleep!

But then I begin to wonder if I had really understand as I truly do not see how she can get more sleep each day and still have time to eat, play just a little bit and pester me during the night! I guess I will just have to wait and see if she does anything differently starting tomorrow.

I spent some time today thinking about what my New Year's resolution might be. I thought of several things that I am not doing too well at the moment, but then I recalled that I had been doing well at those things before I started falling so much. It seems that just when I start getting my life back on track, I have another fall. So, the obvious resolution for me then is to resolve not to fall any more! Of course, as you might suspect, this is easier said than done -- especially since no one has yet figured out exactly why I am falling in the first place!

I do feel I have a somewhat better understanding of the mechanism of this falling business in my particular situation and while I cannot completely control all the various elements I think are involved, I can control a couple of them -- especially the need to refrain from letting myself get overly tired. I now understand that there are two aspects that I can and must control. The first is to rest and even nap whenever I start feeling very tired and the second is to never have anything alcoholic to drink -- not even on my birthday. The second one is really fairly easy as I realized some time ago that alcohol combined with my medication could be very dangerous. The first one is a problem, however, as I hate to stop what I am doing and go and take a rest or a nap. If anyone has any suggestions about how I can better discipline myself in this matter, I would appreciate hearing from you. Maybe there should be some kind of gadget I could wear that would beep loudly when I start nodding off at the computer, for example, and wouldn't stop beeping until I went and stretched out for a rest! I will have to ask my friend, Charles, the inventor, and see if he can invent something along these lines. That would be great.
Otherwise, my goals for this coming year are the same as they were for the past year: to keep seeking to discern and then do the will of God in all things. There is a story about Thomas Merton who was walking along the streets of Manhattan with his close friend. The two of them had just recently become Catholics. Merton's friend asked him what he wanted to do with his life. Merton replied, "Oh, I guess I want to be the best Catholic I can be." His friend responded quickly, "No, Tom, that isn't good enough. You should want to be a saint!" Merton said later that until that particular point in time he had not really realized that we are all called to be saints, every single one of us -- nothing less than saints. So, I suppose that this should be THE New Year's resolution for each and every one of us.

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So, 2011 comes to an end. Let us say thanks to God for all that has been, no matter how different it was from what we had hoped it would be. As St. Paul says, "In all things give thanks".
May the peace of God be with us AND may the coming year be filled with blessings for us and all our dear ones.

Happy New Year everyone.

Hellebore Explained

2011-12-27T12:15:00.001-05:00

Hellebore 'Raspberry Mousse', drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011
Helleborus x hybridus

"The term 'Helleborus x hybridus' refers to any plant resulting from cross fertilization of stemless plants. It also refers to seedlings of any Helleborus x hybridus plant. The name even extends to seedlings of stemless species plants grown in gardens and to offspring of 'species' plants of unknown provenance." So say the authorities regarding the Hellebores! Such a confusing array of beautiful plants -- most of them the result of cross fertilization -- both in the wild and in nurseries.

Lenten Rose, drawing by
Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2009

I actually posted a drawing of the most commonly known plant in this family -- the Lenten Rose (see left). The drawing appeared in a posting dated May 26, 2009 under the title "A Quiet Day". At the time, I referred to it as Helleborus x orientalis; however, I have since learned that this is a more confusing use of a name for a large group of hybrids. Now, from further research, I know that the proper form is to use "x hybridus".

Hellebores have a long history in cultivation, particularly in Europe. For centuries they have been used for various medical purposes, and all contain alkaloids and other chemicals that could lead to poisoning if ingested in large quantities. Hellebores are even mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature, but we cannot be certain if the references are to the same plants that now carry the epithet associated with this genus. They have also been cultivated in western Europe and can be found naturalized around ruins of old monasteries and other structures. It is thus sometimes challenging to determine the native range and those colonies that may be escapes from old gardens. Extracts from hellebores have been used in homeopathy and traditional medicines in several countries. As a garden plant for active hybridizing, the older history is probably less certain, but much of the activity has occurred since around the middle of the twentieth century.

If you would like to learn LOTS more about Helleborus, go to http://www.hellebores.org/

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PUBLICATION PROGRESS -- LECTIO DIVINA GUIDES

Just before Christmas, I received draft copies of the publications for directed Lectio Divina from the Communities of Prayer people in Texas. These are the folks who are using my icons for the Rosary, the Stations and one other publication -- the different guides use the mysteries of the Rosary, for example, as the focus for Lectio Divina [remember Lectio Divina is a traditional way of praying with the Scriptures which involves reading, pondering, praying, listening and, ultimately, encountering the Living Word of God so that the Word may penetrate our hearts and thus we may enter ever more deeply into that intimate relationship with the Lord]. As the blurb from their web site says: "This booklet is designed to be used in conjunction with praying the Rosary. It encourages the one who desires to go deeper in prayer to take each of the mysteries of the Rosary and meditate on them using the Lectio Divina prayer model."

This same model is used for the Stations of the Cross and will be used for any other guide developed by this group. Below are some pages from the Rosary and Stations Guides and the cover of a third guide of which I do not yet have a copy.

Page with reference to the "artist"!

Page with one of my icons on it

Page with reference to the "artist"!

Page with one of the Stations' icons on it

I am waiting for more information on this one

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Suki enjoying the winter sunshine

Suki thoroughly enjoyed Christmas Day. She climbed up into the "crow's nest" of her Christmas gift (her multi-level playing and sleeping combo) and slept almost the entire day! Occasionally she would arise and let me know that she really needed to have some more of her favourite food. Because it was Christmas Day, I fed her almost every time she asked -- which, as you can imagine, was a big mistake! Yes, ever since, she keeps thinking we are going to do things her way as happened on the 25th; and, when she asks for food and is told that she does not need to eat at the moment, she sits there on the rug in front of the fridge looking extremely perplexed, saying things in cat language which I do not understand -- which is probably just as well!

I had visitors yesterday and she found that very interesting as they were very nice to her and kept giving her "scratches" in all her favourite places. One of the guests even brushed her coat a bit. Too lovely for words, that was. Today she seems to realize that while all the Christmas decorations remain up and lit (they always stay up until the Julian calendar Christmas in January), things are pretty much back to normal -- which includes her feeding schedule -- and she seems to be accepting of this for the moment (perhaps she is quietly planning new strategies!). At any rate, she is presently sound asleep.

As for Sallie, I continue to slowly improve. It will take weeks for my face to get back to normal; however, I plan to return to my regular schedule as of New Year's Day -- back to Mass on Sunday, back to the gym at least 3 days a week and so forth!

At the moment, while trying to finish this posting, my mind is already thinking about what errands need to be done before this day is over. As usual after a long weekend, I am constantly confused about what day of the week it is. Since it is Tuesday and not Monday, although it feels like Monday, the Market will be open and so I need to go and stock up on my organic milk. I allow myself to spend the extra money required to purchase organic milk at the Market. After growing up on a farm and drinking raw milk for so many years, I have found one type of organic milk at the Market that comes closest to having the flavour of "real" milk!

Otherwise, the remainder of the week should be very quiet and so I expect to be able to continue to rest and allow my bruising to continue to improve. Most importantly, of course, will be my efforts to keep from having another fall! Please pray for me in this regard as I am not sure how many more blows my poor old head can take! Thanks.

And now, I pray that the peace of God will be with each and every one of us. Amen.

O Come Let Us Adore Him

2011-12-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

Icon -- "Mother Mary with Jesus on Her knee", drawn by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

This is the only icon I have ever drawn in which Jesus almost appears to be trying to play. Of course, no self-respecting icon would show something so far removed from the glory and majesty of the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And, of course, even in this almost "playful" icon, we see the traditional right hand of Christ forming the sign of blessing while the left hand holds the traditional "Book" of Life.
However, the design of this icon was sufficient to cause me to reflect on the boy, Jesus, and what He might have done during the celebration in his home and village of the Festival of Hanukkah. Perhaps Our Lord really was born in what is now our month of December around the time of the Hanukkah celebrations. Would He have followed the traditions in His home. I would think most certainly there would have been the nine-branched candelabra somewhere so that He could proudly light one candle for each of the days of Hanukkah. Quite possibly He might have been given his own dreidel as a birthday gift and His blessed Mother would have served some of the traditional foods associated with the festival.

This reflection took me to the Internet where I sought to find out more about the dreidel. The article below was written by Laura Beth Caldwell in 2008.

Boy playing with dreidel during Hanukkah

THE DREIDEL
"Another tradition of Hanukkah is the dreidel game. The dreidel, or "Sivivon" in Hebrew, is a four-sided spinning top traditionally made of wood. Each of the four sides of the dreidel are marked with a Hebrew letter-"nun", "gimmel", "hey", and "shin". These Hebrew letters spell out the acronym for the phrase "nes gadol hayah sham" or "a great miracle happened there." This simple child's toy is used to tell one of the greatest stories in Judaism.

Nearly two centuries before the birth of Christ, the land of Israel, known as Judea at the time, was ruled by the Greek king of Syria. This king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes was not tolerant of the Jewish religion. It was his goal to assimilate the Jewish people into Greek customs, including the worship of Greek gods. He thereby issued a decree in 167 BCE forbidding all Jewish worship and ritual. He went so far as to instill Greek gods and pagan ritual practices in the Temple in Jerusalem. Under the threat of death the Jews were forced to abandon their ancient customs, including the study of Torah. Many conceded, fearing for their lives, while others improvised.

Refusing to abandon their faith, many Jews continued to study the Torah in secret. Meeting in caves and forests, Judaism became a clandestine practice. And a very dangerous one. The foothills of Jerusalem were continuously patrolled by Syrian scouts in search of Jewish dissidents. This created a need for a decoy- something to divert the attention of the patrols in the event they came upon a group of Jews studying Torah. Hence the dreidel. This seemingly innocent child's toy was used to fool the patrols. When young Jews were approached by Syrian scouts they would quickly dismantle their Torah studies and toss down the dreidel. The scouts believed this simple wooden top was just a very popular game amongst the Jews. Legend has it that at the time the dreidel was marked with Hebrew letters symbolizing stories of the Torah. It actually became a coded way of studying the ancient scriptures.

The dreidel is a symbol of ingenuity and perseverance in the face of great oppression. In Israel the final letter on the dreidel "shin" is replaced by the Hebrew letter "pey" which changes the phrase "a great miracle happened there" to "a great miracle happened here". Today the dreidel continues to teach young and old alike. It is a beloved game, played amongst family and friends each year during the Hanukkah season to remind us of the power of faith."

Here is hoping that all our Jewish brothers and sisters had a Happy Hanukkah!

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CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS

Icon, Christ in the manger at the stable, drawn by
Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2008

And for us, it is almost that marvelous night when we re-live the birth of the one we call the Messiah, Jesus Christ, true Man and true God, Son of God and Son of the Virgin Mary. The little Child depicted in the icon above and to the left is God from God, the very Word of God, begotten not made. Through Him all things came into being.

I love to contemplate -- maybe "touch at the fringes" would be a better expression -- the faith I have been given that God has loved all creation into being, including each one of us. Nothing would exist or could exist without God constantly loving us and all creation into being. Do you know how loved a person can feel when this becomes Truth for them? And our ever-expanding knowledge of this glorious Truth all begin when an unmarried Jewish girl told Almighty God that He could use her however it pleased Him. How incredible that God should ask for and wait for permission to use the very creatures He created. Yet without that Virgin's YES, the plan of God to show all creation, especially mankind, how incredibly, passionately we are loved would not have proceeded. We look upon that wee babe lying in a manger (feeding trough for animals) and can only uncomprehendingly marvel that this is true God and true Man; Son of God and Son of Mary. How can this be and yet Faith tells the heart that this is the very Truth itself. For Christians, Truth is not a thing, it is a Person, the Person of Jesus Christ. Let us rejoice that God loves us so much that He has given (is giving and will give) His only Son so that all who believe in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life. Alleluia.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Suki-type Black Christmas Cat
by ~JacquiJax on deviantART

Well, Christmas Day is almost here and so far, Suki has not destroyed any of the Christmas decorations. I was particularly worried about my beautiful little tree made from metal coat hangers covered in strands of Christmas braid and bows with lots of little bright lights. My friend, Jessie, made it for me a number of years ago and just this year she took it back home to "renovate" it. It looks so pretty, but the only good place for it is on my dining table which Suki is able to reach easily. Up to this point, she has shown no interest in it or in any of the other little ornaments and candles scattered about.

The reason may be that I have already given her what Santa had brought for her -- her very own cat "tree"! It has 4 levels, a crawl space, a ladder, a post with hanging toys and, best of all, is the plush circular bed at the very top. She pays too little attention thus far to the various types of exercise equipment and too much attention to this lovely, comfortable bed! She is perched there about 1/4 of the way up the bedroom window so she can even peer out at the pigeons without moving should she so desire. Most of the time, however, she just sleeps. I tell you the truth, I have never known a cat this young who sleeps as much as Suki. If she was 10 year old, I would expect it, but she will only be three in March.

Oh, well, at least she isn't out getting into mischief!

As for myself, I am looking a slight bit better than I was when I posted on Monday. I still have a huge goose egg on the top of my head, but most of the pain has subsided. My biggest problem remains the reactions of other people -- strange as that may sound. Let me explain.

Whenever I meet up with anyone who knows me even slightly, there is the initial reaction of distress and shock the person cannot hide as they look at me. This is usually followed by either expressions of sorrow, such as "oh, you poor thing... what on earth have you done to yourself?" or else a lame attempt at making a joke, such as "well, I would hate to see how the other guy looks!" I understand people's discomfort with the really awful way I look and do make allowances for their reactions. If people could just leave it at that and be satisfied with my saying something like, "yes, I fell again -- hopefully for the last time this year!" Instead, they begin to ask questions -- some of which are fairly intrusive. It can take me half an hour to get from the elevator door to the exit doors of the building.

I understand where all of these reactions are coming from and don't really even object to their questions, it is just that looking as I do creates a sort of a negative attention getter. After living in the same place for the past 15 years, I know, am acquainted with, am recognized by a large number of people which makes for very slow progress whenever I go even out into the hallway on my floor. I can actually gather quite a crowd around me when I go into the lobby and can actually stop traffic in the aisles of St. Lawrence Market. So, I am spending most of my time at home these days. As you know from previous posts, this is not a problem for me, but it does limit my ability to get things done such as grocery shopping.

However, I continue to give thanks in all things and am seeing good which has come from even this latest fall. Truly, I have discovered over and over again that "all things do work together for good to those who [try to] love the Lord (and try to walk in His paths)". The best part of all this staying at home business is that I am having more time to get back to my art work -- something I have been having too little time for of late.

Now, may the peace of God be with us all as we gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
O, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Columbine Blue

2011-12-19T21:10:00.000-05:00

Columbine Blue, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Aquilegia caerulea is a species of Aquilegia flower native to the Rocky Mountains from Montana south to New Mexico and west to Idaho and Arizona. Its common name is Colorado Blue Columbine; sometimes it is called "Rocky Mountain Columbine", but this properly refers to Aquilegia saximontana not Aquilegia caerulea.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 20–60 cm tall. The flowers are very variable in color, from pale blue (as in the species name caerulea) to white, pale yellow and pinkish; very commonly the flowers are bi-colored, with the sepals a different shade to the petals.

Aquilegia caerulea is the state flower of Colorado. It is also an ornamental plant in gardens, with numerous cultivars selected for different flower colours.

I used my computer software to experiment with "different flower colours as you can see below.

Columbine Blue (Colour Balance), drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

The "colour balance" selection gives a much more lavender/purple cast to the flowers rather than the pale indigo blue of the original drawing. The leaves become dark purple instead of green.

Columbine Blue (Hue Correction), drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

The use of the "hue correction" selection changes the flowers to varying shades of pink and mauve with blue rather than green leaves.

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Some delightful Christmas photos from Italy:

A friend sent me some photos of Italian Christmas scenes. I selected the following four to share with you in this posting.

Snowy Christmas in Milan

The giant Christmas tree in front of St. Peter's, Vatican City

A confused and confusing group of Santas in Venice

Santa in psychoanalysis -- scene in a shop window in Milan
(Maybe Santa saw all those "Santas" in Venice which left him asking "who is the real me?".)

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Suki and Sallie

I asked Suki if she would like to have an outfit like this to wear on Christmas Day. She sniffed the

photo, looked at me and yawned. I think that was her way of saying "no". I think I have shown you this photo previously, but of all the cat Christmas photos I have come across over the years, this one amuses me the most. If you know cats at all, you know how unhappy this poor kitty really is and you also know that only superb training would keep a cat in this position long enough to take a photo! I value my hands and arms too much to ever seriously consider trying to do this with Suki.

While my friend, Brenda, was here, Suki was ignored a lot of the time. She even failed to get fed at her preferred times. She would ask for food; I would tell her "yes, in a minute" and then Brenda and I would become engrossed in our conversation again and Suki would be forgotten. Often, she just gave up and ate a few of her "crunchies" and wandered off to sleep for a few more hours. I should weigh her again and see if she lost any weight in the process.

Since Brenda left this morning to return to Alabama, Suki has been sleeping almost non-stop. I assume having company is difficult for her since I don't pay nearly as much attention to her as I normally do.

Now, as for me... I had a wonderful visit with Brenda on the day prior to my birthday. Then on the day itself, we went out for a delicious, two-and-a-half hour meal. The restaurant is one where I go often and they treated us to a generous slice of an enormous 5-layer chocolate cake with thick chocolate icing in honour of my birthday. This was presented with two forks and coffee. The entire meal was superb.

We spent the remainder of the day talking and talking some more. By that evening, I was very happy, but I felt totally exhausted. This was when disaster befell me... I seem to have been sleepwalking around 11:45 and I ended up falling hard, falling on my head again. This has left me looking once more like a zombie and feeling about as lively. Thankfully, Brenda retired after years of being a super nurse so she was able to nurse me through the following days. I did not get to show her any of the interesting areas of downtown Toronto other than St. Lawrence Market as we spent most of her remaining visit here at my place. We did have a wonderful time together and have renewed that strong bond that was never broken over those 47 years apart.

As for me, I will be staying close to home for the remainder of the festive season. I simply look too awful to go anywhere in public without being covered by my floppy hat, dark glasses and big scarf!

I hope to post again before Christmas. Meanwhile, keep praying: "Come Lord Jesus" as we wait for the days to be accomplished.

May the peace of God be with us all.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face

2011-12-11T17:09:00.000-05:00

Icon, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

As she was dying in the convent infirmary, St. Therese could look out and see the rose bushes blossoming. She loved roses. She had thrown rose petals as a Child before the Blessed Sacrament. As she reflected on her quiet, hidden, and gentle life ending, she believed in faith that God had great things in store for her. She believed that her mission was only beginning as she entered the fullness of life with God. She explained: "After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little saints. My mission is to make God loved..."
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Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), or Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin, was a French Carmelite nun. She is also known as "The Little Flower of Jesus".

She felt an early call to religious life, and, in 1888, after overcoming various obstacles mostly having to do with her young age of 15, she was allowed to enter the convent to become a nun, joining two of her older sisters already in the cloistered Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy. After nine years as a Carmelite religious, having fulfilled various offices such as sacristan and assistant to the novice mistress, and having spent the last eighteen months in Carmel in a dark night of the soul (Mother Teresa experienced this dark night for many, many years), she died of tuberculosis at the age of 24.

The impact of The Story of a Soul (please read it if you never have -- it is a life-changing book), a collection of her autobiographical manuscripts, printed and distributed a year after her death to an initially very limited audience, was great, and she rapidly became one of the most popular saints of the twentieth century. She was beatified in 1923, and canonized in 1925. Thérèse was declared co-patron of the missions with Francis Xavier in 1927, and named co-patron of France with Joan of Arc in 1944. On 19 October 1997 Pope John Paul II declared her the thirty-third Doctor of the Church, the youngest person, and only the third woman, to be so honored.

Devotion to Thérèse has developed around the world. Thérèse lived a hidden life and "wanted to be unknown," yet became popular after her death through her spiritual autobiography - she left also letters, poems, religious plays, prayers, and her last conversations were recorded by her sisters. Paintings and photographs – mostly the work of her sister Céline – further led to her being recognised by millions of men and women.

The depth of her spirituality, of which she said, "my way is all confidence and love," has inspired many believers. In the face of her littleness and nothingness, she trusted in God to be her sanctity. She wanted to go to heaven by an entirely new little way. "I wanted to find something like an elevator that would raise me to Jesus." The elevator, she wrote, would be the arms of Jesus lifting her up to Him in all her littleness -- the way that loving parents lift up a little child. This simplicity is evident in her approach to prayer: "For me, prayer is a movement of the heart; it is a simple glance toward Heaven; it is a cry of gratitude and love in times of trial as well as in times of joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus. . . . I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers.... I do like a child who does not know how to read; I say very simply to God what I want to say, and He always understands me."

St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face

About the picture she venerated -- a picture based on the image of St. Veronica's Veil -- St. Therese said, "How well Our Lord did to lower His eyes when He gave us His portrait! Since the eyes are the mirror of the soul, if we had seen His soul, we would have died from joy."

Remember, the name given to Therese in Religious Life was St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face -- both extremely popular images in the Church during her lifetime.

Above, see St. Therese holding holy images representing her name as well as a close-up of the Holy Face of Jesus that was popular at the time St. Therese entered the convent in 1888.

In 1898, the first photograph of the negative-type image found on the Shroud of Turin was made (see left) and, consequently, replaced all other images of the Holy Face in popularity. It is interesting to note how similar the image from 1888 is to the image found on the Shroud 10 years later after photography developed to the point where it could be photographed.

A recent film about the life of St. Therese, called simply "Therese," was made by Leonardo Defilippis, a well-known Catholic film maker and actor. This is a beautifully crafted film and will give anyone interested a real feeling for the time, place and events of St. Therese's life. You can find out more by going to http://store.stlukeproductions.com/Therese-Ordinary-Girl-Extraordinary-Soul.html

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DOG AND CAT CHRISTMAS SCENES

I came across a bunch of cat and dog Christmas photos recently. I find a number of them amusing and wanted to share them with you. As well, they would make great Christmas cards if you are into making your own.

"I agree, Miss Kitty, I'm not feeling very 'HO HO HO' about all this either!"

"Take my word for it, these folks is about to be very sorry for doing this to us!"

"Do you think my eyes have turned this colour because I am happy?"

"Remember, you promised to give me lots of treats if I would do this for you!"

"Are you sure I'm not going to get into trouble for doing this? Last time I did something
like this, I got into BIG trouble. Are you really sure? Can I trust you?"

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Suki Santa

Well, I think Suki has been reading my blog again -- shortly after telling you folks that I was going to try reducing her food each day in an effort to help her lose weight, she started demanding more food than ever!

She hasn't been too difficult today as I have had company and anything that throws her routine off seems to distract her from wanting to eat. I have tried disrupting her routine on my own, but she won't fall for it. It seems to require strangers in the house which means she has to be on the alert, not allowing herself to sleep too soundly. This leaves her feeling very tired after the guests leave and causes her to sleep through her now new normal food-begging session every 2 hours!

I have tried reasoning with her about this, but she simply yawns and walks away. I tried weighing her the other day, hoping that actually seeing her weight would shock her into some sort of reasonable behaviour. She saw 13 pounds come up on the scale but all that happened was that she tried to play with the flashing numbers! She was 11 lbs. when she came to live with me almost two years ago now so, as my friend, Eugene, pointed out, she is not grossly obese, but I cannot afford to allow her weight to continue to keep creeping up.

At the moment she is sleeping and seems to be unaware that 5 p.m. (one of her usual begging times) has come and gone. If we make it past 7 p.m. without her waking up, this may turn out to be a record-breaking day!

As for me, I am tired but very happy. My godson and his wife took me out for my birthday brunch today. We went to La Papillion as usual. The food was excellent, but we happened to get an either overworked or very distracted waiter which made the meal just slightly less pleasant than usual. Fortunately, I enjoyed their conversation and company so much that this little annoyance was hardly noticeable.

I don't expect there to be any more birthday lunches or dinners until the lunch on the day of my birthday itself. My friend from Alabama that I have been telling you about is still scheduled to arrive on the evening of the 13th and we will be going to one of my favourite restaurants for lunch on the 14th. There is still one more birthday meal that I am aware of but that won't occur until probably some time early in the new year due to scheduling conflicts. It is difficult for me to believe that my birthday is almost here and then so soon over.

BTW, just to remind you, my friend, Brenda, from Alabama, will be here from the evening of the 13th until some time on the 19th so it is possible I may miss my regular posting dates of the 15th and the 19th. While it is possible that I may feel like posting the evening of the 19th, I definitely will not be posting on the 15th.

Meanwhile, I hope every one had a glorious Gaudete Sunday and is still rejoicing! As St. Paul wrote, "...rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances..." As the priest said in his homily at today's Mass, this is a commandment, not a suggestion!

Only two weeks from today and it will be Christmas!

May the peace of God be with us all.

Passiflora hyacinthiflora

2011-12-07T22:00:00.000-05:00

Passiflora hyacinthiflora (oil paint option),drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

I could find almost no specific information on Passiflora hyacinthiflora. There are so many species of Passiflora, only the most well-known are given space in the various encyclopedias I consulted. Thus, I decided to just provide you with some general information on the genus itself.

As you may recall, I have drawn previous examples of Passion Flowers. They are all fascinating in that they appear, to me, to be plants that could never decide exactly what they wanted to be "when they grew up" and are thus keeping all options open as evidenced by things sticking up this way and that!

Passiflora, known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants, the namesakes of the family Passifloraceae. They are mostly vines, with some being shrubs, and a few species being herbaceous.

The family Passifloraceae is found worldwide, except Antarctica. Nine species of Passiflora are native to the USA, found from Ohio to the north, west to California and south to the Florida Keys. Most other species are found in South America, China, and Southern Asia, New Guinea, four or more species in Australia and a single endemic species in New Zealand. New species continue to be identified: for example, P. pardifolia and P. xishuangbannaensis (how would you pronounce that?!) have only been known to the scientific community since 2006 and 2005, respectively.

The Passion fruit or maracujá (Passiflora edulis) is cultivated extensively in the Caribbean and south Florida and South Africa for its fruit, which is used as a source of juice. A small purple fruit which wrinkles easily and a larger shiny yellow to orange fruit are traded under this name. Maypop (P. incarnata), a common species in the southeastern U.S. The fruit is sweet, yellowish, and roughly the size of a chicken's egg; it enjoys some popularity as a native plant with edible fruit and few pests.

One aspect of Passiflora, which I mentioned in a post some time ago, is the reason why "passion" is part of its proper name. When the plants were first seen by the Europeans, they saw in their strange and wonderful design various elements of the Passion of Our Lord. There is plenty of information about this online if you don't recall (or can't locate) what I posted to the blog previously.

As you may have noticed, the one variation I created with my funny software is shown at the beginning of this posting. This was made by selecting the option called "oil paint". Below is the original drawing with no special effects.

Passiflora hyacinthiflora,drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

As is often the case, I cannot decide which of the two I like better. I would ask for comments on this from my viewing public, but since I rarely get any response, I won't!

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Your Cat's View of the World

I had a wonderful luncheon today with my friend, Eugene. He was kindly helping me to continue the long-term celebration of my birthday (which actually occurs on December 14th). As part of today's celebration, Eugene brought me a card that he had made in consultation with his beautiful cat, Desi. I want to show you the newest photo I now have of Desi, the cat, as well as the information she passed along to Eugene about a cat's view of the world. I hope you will enjoy this wisdom as much as I do.

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A Funny Christmas Photograph from Facebook

The family in the white house will certainly be saving a lot of money on hydro this Christmas!

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SUKI and SALLIE

Suki playing in the water

SUKI: Well, Suki doesn't have too much to say at the moment because she is not speaking to me! I know you find it hard to believe that this sweet kitty of mine could be upset with me, but she is. Why? Simply because I forced her to stop playing in the water left on the shower floor after my shower was finished!

This is a cat who had a bath the day I brought her home from the Humane Society, but has resisted almost any contact with water ever since. In fact, she does not even like to drink water and gets most of her daily liquid intake from the gravy in the food I feed her. Let a single drop of water fall on her and she acts as though she is an abused cat. Well, last night, I was sitting in my chair watching a bit of TV on Salt & Light TV when here comes Suki , jumping into my lap. Immediately I was aware of something very wet. Horrified, I thought she was wetting me instead of using her litter box. I quickly discovered, however, that she was simply wet... her tail, her paws and her belly were all soaking wet and she seemed to be oblivious to this. I was very puzzled as to how this could have occurred and did a bit of detective work only to find evidence that she had been in the still wet shower. I spoke to her severely about this and told her "no more" (see item number 10 in the list above).

The next thing I knew, she was back in the shower again -- I knew this because I heard her splashing away in there in the puddle of water around the drain. This time I went and removed her from the shower, dried her off, told her "no" several more times and shooed her out of the bathroom. Then I took her towel and actually dried off the shower floor (remember I have a wheelchair apartment which means no bathtub, just a roll-in shower stall). By this point she seemed to have lost interest. However, when I had my shower today, I decided to pre-empt any problems by drying the shower floor as part of my exit strategy from the bathroom. I then went to my computer desk and listened to see what Suki would do. I heard her go running into the bathroom. Next I heard the rustle of the shower curtains. Finally, I heard the sound of Suki bursting out from the shower, out through the bathroom door, appearing almost instantly in front of my computer where I sat working away. It was obvious that she was not happy. She glared at me for a moment or two and then, without saying a word, turned and stalked off into the living room where she has been ever since.

I might be worried that she will be angry with me forever; however, I know for certain that as soon as I head for the kitchen before bedtime, she will come running, begging for her bedtime snack. But for now, she is giving me the cold shoulder. What a funny cat!

SALLIE: As for me, I have no new medical news to report. In fact, the only medical appointment I have scheduled for this week was this morning when I went to see the chiropractor. He does a wonderful job of helping me to experience a little less pain for a half day or so which is always a welcome bonus.

Otherwise, I have been celebrating my birthday!

For those of you who do not know me personally, I should explain what is going on here. Many years ago I decided that since having a December birthday means I frequently get one card saying "happy birthday and Merry Christmas" and only one gift with the explanation that "I knew you wouldn't mind if I gave you one gift for your birthday and Christmas", that I would compensate by trying to make my birthday last for at least 9 days -- sort of like a novena! So, on Monday I met a friend for afternoon coffee, on Tuesday another friend brought lunch with her and we ate and visited at my place and today, as I mentioned earlier, I met my friend, Eugene for lunch. I have received cards and/or gifts on each day, but the most important part of each day has been the opportunity to visit with a particular friend. For example, the friend I saw yesterday I have not seen since last Christmas when we did the same thing the week before my birthday! The next big birthday celebration occurs on Sunday. Then my friend from Alabama arrives the day before my birthday and who knows what else may happen between now and the actual day itself!

FEAST DAY: Tomorrow is one of Our Lady's special feast days. If the weather co-operates, I hope to make it to the noon Mass at the Cathedral. May you all have a joyful Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.

Now, may the peace of God be with us all.

Christmas Cards

2011-12-03T21:46:00.000-05:00

As usual, I have prepared a collection of Christmas cards for those people who may want to order their cards from me. I only charge $1 per card which I think is a pretty good deal for "hand"made cards with original drawings on them!

Anyway, I thought I would show you my selection for Christmas, 2011

This first card uses the flower, Paeonia cambessedessii -- a drawing I posted last month -- with a standard greeting inside.

The second card uses another 2011 drawing -- Ixora (Red)
with another traditional greeting inside.

Here is my one attempt at a humorous card. I have been saving this photo ever since I came across it on the Internet some months ago as I thought it would be great for a Christmas card.

While my attempt at humour may be rather limp, I hope, at least, that it will bring a smile to the face of those who view it.

Here is one of the two "religious" cards available.

I posted this new image of Our Lady recently under the title, I think, of the Virgin Mother and Child.

The greeting on the inside is one of my own personal favourites.

I also decided to make a Christmas card out of the "Burmese Madonna" I posted a month or so ago.

I wrote what I felt to be an appropriate greeting and included a copy of the original drawing of the flowers I used to surround the Burmese Madonna and her sleeping child.

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Some things that are very BIG

A friend sent these photos to me recently and I thought I should share some of my favourites with you.

The BIG Apple!

The GIANT Potato!

The HUGE Cat!

The HUMONGOUS Dog!

The FATTEST Frog and the HAPPIEST Little Boy!

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Suki, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Here is a drawing I was playing around with earlier this week. I was trying to capture that wild-eyed look that Suki gets sometimes when she is planning on pouncing on me the next time I go past her. She hasn't yet figured out how I know what she is planning and am able to avoid her "attack".

She is doing well and had, I thought yesterday, finally mastered one of life's basic tasks: the proper use of the sand box!

I have always used a litter box with high sides for my cats as it saves me a great deal time that would otherwise be spent on cleaning the bathroom floor. Well, ever since Suki came to live with me, she has been quite happy with her box but seemed to have one major problem (I don't know whether she would have had the same problem with a regular cat box or not). That problem is that instead of covering over whatever she has accomplished in the box, she will spend 2-3 minutes uselessly scratching the sides of the hard plastic box. The result is that when she finally seems satisfied with all her scratching, she happily jumps out of the box without having covered anything up at all.

Well, to my amazement, yesterday she finally got the right idea and for the first time in the two years she has been with me, she properly covered things over with sand and then jumped out of the box. I made a big to-do over this accomplishment, of course, hoping that this was the beginning of the desired behaviour; however, this morning, she was right back to her old ways. Since I clean her box out almost immediately after use, she can't be distressed about putting her paws into possibly dirty sand. Maybe it is just that she likes the sound of her claws on the hard plastic! Oh, well, she is still a great companion if a somewhat wacky one.

As for me, I am doing reasonably well considering that I had at least one doctor's appointment every day this past week (two on Wednesday)! Blissfully, I have none at all this coming week. This will give me plenty of time to get my decorations up and prepare a bit more for my friend, Brenda's, visit. In only 10 more days she will be here! Don't be a bit surprised if my writing sounds a lot more Southern by the time she leaves!

Also, I had a message yesterday from the people in the parish in Texas that I am working with to help them prepare their books on lectio divina. They are using a number of my icons as illustrations and my contact person is sending me a paper copy of the draft so I can see just what they are up to. Once I scan them into my computer, I can share them with all of you.

For now, however, I had better get back to work on my Christmas card order!

Have a blessed 2nd Sunday of Advent.

May the peace of God be with us all.

Can't Keep Away from Calla

2011-11-29T16:05:00.001-05:00

Calla Lilies, Orange, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Calla Lilies (also known as Arum Lily or simply Calla) are not true lilies at all. They were placed in the family Araceae and the genus Zantedeschia and are native to southern Africa from South Africa to Malawi.

The Zantedeschia species are poisonous due to the presence of calcium oxalate. "All parts of the plant are toxic, and produce irritation and swelling of the mouth and throat, acute vomiting and diarrhea." None of which sounds like any fun at all!

Single Calla Lily (Red) by
Georgia O'Keefe

Over the centuries some artists have used the Calla as part of their “signature” – always having a Calla Lily somewhere in their paintings. I am considering doing the same because I am so fond of this flower. Of course, I am not sure how I could find a way to insert Calla Lilies into all my various and varied icons! 8-)

Some examples of well-known artists who have made the Calla Lily famous are Diego Rivera and Georgia O'Keefe. Although I do not care for the politics of these artists, I do admire their work.

And to continue... here is another in my ever-growing collection of Calla Lily drawings. I think what I may love so much about them are their curves and I have even named this one "Calla Lily Curves".

Calla Lily Curves, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

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The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork... (Ps. 19:1)

Here are three photos that give me a sense of the glory of God.

"The seas may rage and foam, but I will trust in the Lord."

"Who are we, O, Lord, that you should answer our call?"

The vastness of the earth seems so big but it is really so small --
Yet, God holds each of us in the palm of His hand.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

With all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday news going on, its beginning to feel a lot like "Hark, listen to the cash registers ring".

I asked Suki if she would like a kitten for Christmas -- something that would keep her active and help her to lose some of that weight she is carrying around. She said she would really rather have a broken tail or at least I think that is what she said! Maybe she said something about "hell"; I'm not really sure.

I continue to do reasonably well for which I am very grateful.

The most exciting thing that has happened over the 4 days since my last posting is the plans for a friend to come and visit me. This woman was my best friend starting in Junior High School and all through high school. But then I moved away from the south in 1964 and she had just gotten married and was starting a family so we lost touch. Then, through the magic of the Internet, we connected again about 6 or 7 years ago. We actually have not seen one another in almost 47 years. That is longer than some of my readers have even been alive! Now here we are making final arrangements for her to come for a visit the week of my birthday (in December). I am so excited and at the same time, I can't quite believe it is actually happening! Truly God is so good.

We are joyfully waiting as the days of Advent pass and bring us closer and closer to the coming of the Lord!

May the peace of God be with us all.

The Prophet Samuel

2011-11-25T16:33:00.001-05:00

Icon, Samuel the Prophet, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Samuel the Prophet

Samuel (Hebrew: שמואל) is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. He is also known as a prophet. He was the last of the Hebrew Judges and the first of the major prophets who began to prophesy inside the Land of Israel. He was thus at the cusp between two eras. The Books of Samuel also tell us that he also anointed the first two kings of the Kingdom of Israel: Saul and David.

Samuel's mother was Hannah and his father was Elkanah. Hannah, at the beginning of the narrative, is barren and childless, like Abraham's wife Sarah. Hannah prays to God for a child. Eli who is sitting at the foot of the doorpost in the sanctuary at Shiloh, sees her apparently mumbling and thinks Hannah is drunk, but is soon assured of her motivation and sobriety. Eli was, according to the Books of Samuel, the name of a priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel. He blesses her after she promises the child to God. Subsequently Hannah becomes pregnant; her child is Samuel. After he is weaned, she leaves him in Eli's care.

Like so many people, my favourite part of Samuel’s story occurs one night, while Samuel was still a lad and heard a voice calling his name. He initially assumed it was coming from Eli and went to Eli to ask what he wished to say. Eli, however, sent Samuel back to sleep saying he had not called him. After this happened three times Eli realized that the voice was God's, and instructed Samuel on how to respond. He was to say: “speak Lord, your servant is listening.” (I Samuel 3). When Samuel responded, God told him that the wickedness of the sons of Eli had resulted in their dynasty being condemned to destruction. The next day Eli asked Samuel to honestly recount to him what he had been told, and upon receiving the communication merely said that God should do what seems right to Himself, or in effect, let God’s will be done.

The saddest part of this story, to me, occurs after Samuel's death and burial. Saul had followed God’s commandments and driven all necromancers and magicians from Israel. Then, in a bitter irony, Saul sought out a witch, anonymously and in disguise, only after he received no answer from God from dreams, other prophets, or the Urim and Thummim [priestly means of divination] as to his best course of action against the assembled forces of the Philistines. Following the orders of the king, the woman summons the ghost of Samuel from the abode of the dead, to give Saul advice. However, no such advice is given. Rather, after complaining of being awakened from his long sleep, the prophet's ghost berates Saul for disobeying God, and predicts Saul's downfall, with his whole army, in battle the next day, and adds that Saul and his sons will join him, then, in Sheol, the abode of the dead. Saul is shocked and afraid, and the next day the army is defeated and Saul commits suicide after being wounded. (I Samuel 28:3-25ff).

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A Delightful Correspondence

On November 16th, I received the following enquiry: "Sallie.... On Thursday, March 18, 2010 you posted a picture of a little girl sitting on a suitcase with her dog. My granddaughter saw that picture and wanted to paint it......I've the pleasure of teaching her how to do watercolors.......and she loved that particular "story". Did you take that photo or find it somewhere? My interest is in getting permission to paint it without any copyright infringements. Please let me know......."

I responded and said: "The photo is one of a series of dog and children photographs that I have collected over the past few years. It is not one of mine and I have no idea who actually took the photo in the first place. It has been “floating” around the Internet for the past little while. As for getting permission to paint it, you do not need any permission. If your granddaughter is using the photo as a “model” for her watercolour, then there is no copyright infringement. Artists do this sort of “copying” all the time. I, for one, cannot draw something without having a photo of the item I want to draw in front of me. In fact, in art school, you are taught to paint by copying the works of other artists. So, I would recommend that you worry no more and simply enjoy helping your granddaughter complete a watercolour of a little girl and her dog. Her finished work will be her own creation and not an infringement of the copyright of anyone. Actually, I would love to see a photo of her finished work. Maybe I could even post it on my blog and tell her story. Let me know. God bless you and your granddaughter, Sallie"

The gentleman wrote back saying: "Sallie. I appreciate your response and your input. Erin (my grand daughter ) loved her experience painting that picture. It's her first attempt at painting anything......and she did it in watercolors. I was very pleased with her first attempt. She just turned 12 and was excited about trying a watercolor. Attached it a photo of her and her painting."

I was so impressed that I wrote back immediately, asking: "Thank you so much for your photo and information. I am really impressed with the finished work. Has Erin been studying art for very long or is she just a natural talent? Would it be possible for me to use the photo on my blog along with a copy of the original photo Erin worked from?"

He wrote back, immediately, giving me permission and saying: "Erin would be delighted to see herself on your blog. You're welcome to use her photo......and first name. She has drawn for the past several years.....and after I picked up painting last year she had shown some interest. This is her first attempt......and my first attempt at teaching..... I have to admit.....I'm pleased with both. She has a lot of natural ability. I barely get by......but she's a natural. I'll keep you posted......she's going to do an oil next."

So here you are -- the original photograph that Erin wanted to work from and the photo of Erin and her finished work. As you can see for yourselves, Erin is indeed a natural.

"The Long Goodbye" photograph by unknown artist

Erin with her finished work!

I am frequently delighted these days by how the this blog reaches out, bringing me into contact with all sorts of wonderful people. I feel so blessed.

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Suki and Sallie

Suki as outsiders see her!

Yesterday a friend came by for a visit. She had not met Suki previously and was delighted to see Suki come out from under the table to investigate her. After Suki had a few sniffs, she made her way slowly over to her favourite chair. As we watched her walk across the floor, I saw what I usually see -- my NOT overweight cat, but my pleasingly plump cat. My friend, however, saw the reality. She said: "we once had a fat cat like that and my children called her stomach hanging down her 'jelly belly'."

I quickly spoke up to correct her, saying: "I don't know why Suki's tummy hangs down that way as she is not really that overweight." My friend looked at me in amazement and said, "She is definitely overweight, Sallie. She is fat."

Suddenly my eyes were opened. Like it or not, I had to admit that she was telling me the truth that I had been denying. Poor, Miss Suki is fat, but then I told myself right away, she is a happy, fat cat, isn't she? I hadn't wanted to face this truth as now I feel as though I must do something about it -- but what? I have never had a cat that was so demanding about eating frequently. I feed her low-fat food, but I am usually in too much pain to try to do any serious play with her -- the type of play where she would really get some good exercise. Perhaps I should get an extensive cat condo like my friend, Eugene, has for his cat, Desi. I wonder if that would work? So I am turning to you, kind readers of my blog, for suggestions and recommendations. Please help.

As for me, this old body of mine continues to fall apart!

On Wednesday I learned that the artificial joint in my right jaw has fractured and that the broken part is trying to push its way through the bone and up into my brain! This explains the occasional pain I have been having there.

I had to have both TMJ's replaced back in 1999 due to osteoarthritis in the joints -- so now I will have to have both of the prostheses replaced. Why both, you may ask? Well, the artificial joint design has been greatly improved over the past 12 years. The new ones sit just a bit differently so it wouldn't work to have one new and one old. Thus I have either one or two surgeries ahead of me (back in 1999, the surgeon did two operations but I don't know if the replacements can be done in one or will also have to be done in two).

The surgery is, of course, just the beginning. After the surgery comes the weeks of soft food, the frequent exercises to make certain that my mouth will open properly again and just simply learning to use my jaws again. The fact that I have been through all this before is both good and bad -- the good part is that I already know what is involved and I have no delusions about the amount of pain and rehab required, but, then, that is also the bad part in that I cannot wait for my surgical date in blissful ignorance. BTW, the date for surgery has not been set yet as I am simply in the queue. So, please pray for me that I will continue to trust in God's willingness to provide the grace I need to go through all of this again successfully -- and that I will joyfully join all my suffering to that of Christ's Passion so that both I, and others, will be blessed.

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Now, after all that serious stuff about me and Suki, I will leave you with a cute image that almost every computer user will wish that they had on their computer.

Wishing everyone a blessed beginning of Advent on Sunday. May your Advent Season be filled with the joy that the Christ Child alone can provide.

How amazing, how incredible, that God sent a wee babe to save us.
May the peace of God be with us all.

More Tillandsia cyanea "Pink Quill"

2011-11-21T11:36:00.001-05:00

Tillandsia cyanea "Pink Quill", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Here is another version of Tillandsia cyanea or Pink Quill, a species of flowering plant in the Bromeliad family, subfamily Tillandsioideae. An epiphyte* native to Ecuador, T. cyanea is among the most commonly cultivated bromeliad species. The foliage grows in a rosette of thin, recurved leaves with a plume of pink or red bracts from which violet flowers emerge. *[An epiphyte (or air plants) is a plant that grows upon another plant (such as a tree) non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other objects (such as a building or a telegraph wire), derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone (as many mosses, liverworts, lichens and algae) and in the tropics (as many ferns, cacti, orchids, and bromeliads)] definition taken from Wikipedia.

As mentioned above, Tillandsias are epiphytes in their native Ecuador and have small roots, mainly used for anchoring themselves on trees. Because the roots don't drink up water, these tree-dwelling plants gather moisture and nutrients through their leaves and bracts.

Tillandsia cyanea "Pink Quill",
drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

REMINDER OF PREVIOUS DRAWING:

You may not recall the drawing of this same plant I did some months ago so to refresh your memory, here it is. At the time I posted it, I mentioned that this plant also has lovely blossoms and that I was already working on another drawing which would show the blossoms. I finally got around to finishing it!

As usual, I could not resist playing around with this drawing on my funny software. The original drawing, shown just above, actually had its most popular form in one of the versions I developed using the funny software. So, just to remind you of that, here is the modified drawing.

Tillandsia cyanea "Pink Quill",
drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

So now let me show you the modified versions I ended up with for this drawing. There are three of them. One was accomplished by using "colour inversion" which provides some lovely, pastel colours.

The second version was created using the familiar "solarization" technique. It was actually this particular software choice that created the popular version of that first drawing immediately above. This time, the solarization software did not create a modified image with the same kind of attractive appeal as the original drawing.

The third is a version achieved by using something called "Hue correction".

Anyway, I have confused you enough so let me just show you the modified images and let us get on with it!

Tillandsia cyanea "Pink Quill", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011
Colour Inversion Software

Tillandsia cyanea "Pink Quill", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011
Solarization Software

Tillandsia cyanea "Pink Quill", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011
Hue Correction

Now, what would be really kind of my readers -- would be to tell me what you think of these various versions or, at the very least, which version you like best. Just a one sentence comment in the comments section -- that would be so nice. Thanks.

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SOME DIFFERENT AND UNUSUAL PHOTOGRAPHS

Lightning/rain storm with sunshine (the Devil's beating his wife)

Where I grew up, we had an expression that we used whenever it rained while the sun was shining. People said: "Oh, the Devil is beating his wife again!" Since I had no idea why we said that, I looked it up on Wikipedia and this is what I found: " In the United States, particularly the South, a sunshower is said to show that "the devil is beating his wife"; a regional variant from Tennessee is "the devil is kissing his wife". In Canada, it's typically related to the devil beating his wife, then marrying numerous offspring." Apparently, throughout the world, sunshowers are related to something bad happening or about to happen. If you are interested in seeing all the variations, just put "the devil is beating his wife" into your search engine and see them all.

Red Hole in the sky -- is someone coming or going?

I really would like to know more about this photograph and the one following. I assume that they are both caused by some sort of weather pattern, but I have never seen either one. They appear to be natural although there could be some sort of photoshopping going on here. If you know what is happening in either photo, please let me know. Thanks.

Another hole in the sky (or clouds actually) -- just what is going on here?

This is a photo taken in west Texas -- there is no ground fire, the fire in in the clouds!

A cloud sitting on a mountain top -- or could it be a spaceship? Look at all that ancient light from the stars!

Here is another strange looking cloud. Once again, I have no idea of what is going on and would be very interested in finding out. I really enjoy looking at the sky which appears to be full of stars but which is really full of starlight from eons past. We are looking at the ancient past, not the present moment. This is one more case where appearance and reality are not one and the same.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Believe it or not, Suki has not done anything unusual, destructive or vindictive since my last post. I am watching her closely just in case she is ill. But so far, all she is doing is her normal eating and sleeping and eating and sleeping and sleeping. You get the picture!

As for me, I am just enjoying getting a bit more sleep (thanks to Suki sleeping more) and preparing myself, mentally, for the onset of real winter weather. It is always a good idea, I find, to start reminding myself that the days are coming when I won't be able to get out to do my usual errands and so I need to start stocking up on supplies to make certain my cupboard is full. There may even be days when I won't be able to get across the street to the gym. But that would take a really big snow storm (the kind where you have to call out the army for help!!) and I doubt that we are going to ever have another one of those storms. 8-) [this is a Canadian joke about snow storms and the army]

Otherwise, I am trying to get myself in gear to start doing some preparations for Christmas. I need to get busy as I haven't even decided which icon I will be using for my Christmas card this year. Although I no longer send out many cards, there are those few people that I can't contact by email and who still really appreciate getting one of my special cards. I also need to get busy and write a Christmas letter to each of my "adopted" girls. That needs to be done very soon, actually, as those letters have to be sent early since they are going to foreign countries via the agency, CHALICE, through whom I sponsor the girls.

So, with all that in mind, I think it would be wise for me to finish off here and go and do some work on the letters!

Remember to pray for all the holy souls during this month of November.

May the peace and love of God be with us all.

Deborah, Prophetess and Judge

2011-11-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

Icon, Righteous Deborah, Prophetess and Judge, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Deborah (Hebrew: דְּבוֹרָה, Dvora‎) was a prophetess of the Lord, the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, counselor, warrior, and the wife of Lapidoth according to the Book of Judges chapters 4 and 5. Being the only female judge in the vast history of Israel, Deborah led a successful counterattack against the forces of Jabin king of Canaan and his military commander Sisera, the narrative is recounted in chapter 4.

Judges chapter 5 gives the same story in poetic form. This passage, often called The Song of Deborah, may date to as early as the 12th century BC and is perhaps the earliest sample of Hebrew poetry. It is also significant because it is one of the oldest passages that portrays fighting women, the account being that of Jael, the wife of Heber, a Kenite tent maker. Jael killed Sisera by driving a tent peg through his temple as he slept. Both Deborah and Jael are portrayed as strong independent women of faith.

Not much is known about Deborah's personal life. Her name in Hebrew is pronounced Dvora. Some sources, such as chabad.org, state that she judged Israel from 1107 B.C. until her death in 1067 B.C. The Dictionary of World Biography: The Ancient World, claims that she might have lived from 1200 B.C. to 1124 B.C., which would have made her about 36 years old at the time of the battle against Sisera, and 75 at the time her death. The book also says that she was most probably born in central Israel to the tribe of Ephraim, and was also the author of The Song of Deborah.

To get the complete story, read Judges 4 and 5 in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament.

When I was young, I always enjoyed reading the story of Deborah the judge and of Jael, the wife of Heber, who so cleverly dispatched that nasty villain, Sisera. I think I first met them in the Children's Bible in a more sanitized version, but then as I got older, I could read the actual Scriptural account. I do recall thinking that doing God's work in those days seemed to be a rather violent and messy business at times -- I mean driving a tent peg through the head of a sleeping man is not a task for the faint of heart -- but I figured that it was all part of the dangerous and violent times in which they lived.

Now my two favourite passages in the story are the following: "At that time Deborah, a prophetess ... was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim and the Israelites came up to her for judgement." (Judges 4: 4-5) from the beginning of the story...
AND
"And the land had rest for forty years." (Judges 5:31c) from the end of the story.

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IMAGES OF AUTUMN

A friend recently sent me a bunch of Autumn photographs. I cannot include them all so I chose my favourites. By now, you all know how much I love this time of year -- mainly because of the colours! The changing leaves framed by a bright, blue sky bring such joy to my heart.

I remember reading an account of a young girl in the US who had been painting since about the age of 3 years. At the time I heard of her she was around 10 years old and was doing very professional looking painting without, supposedly, having any formal training. According to her, so much of what she painted came from things she had witnessed in visions God had granted her. She said that He had shown her Heaven and that the colours she had seen there were indescribably beautiful -- and that although she tried to show them in her paintings, it was beyond the power of any earthly palette. I often think of that statement when I see the colours of Autumn. Now, scroll through the following and enjoy the beauty.

Autumn Reflections

Did someone paint the train cars to match the trees?

The Water is on fire!

What incredible colours -- so vibrant against the background of green and misty blue.

A Mill back up in those Tennessee mountains in the Autumn.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Let me begin tonight with the latest Suki episode...

Yesterday, I got our superintendent to cart away the old recliner in my bedroom. This was Suki's favourite chair and for that reason alone, I hated to dispose of it, but because I must use the wheelchair more frequently now in my apartment, I really needed the space to manoeuvre.

To say that Suki was distressed is putting it mildly! She barely acknowledged me for the remainder of the day and even refrained from asking me for food when I knew she must be hungry. She just wasn't talking to me. So, on that unhappy note, I went to bed last night. Suki did not even come to say goodnight as she usually does.

I fell asleep quickly but was suddenly startled from my sleep by something that sounded like a police siren right underneath me. At first I couldn't figure out what was going on as I struggled to get up and, at the same time, scan the bedroom by the light from the hallway. It was then that I saw a terrible sight: Suki was sitting on the keyboard of my laptop computer which she had somehow managed to turn on. She had her bum planted on top of the keys and the computer, in protest, was actually screaming! And most distressingly, it seemed, by the dim light filtering into the bedroom, that Suki was smiling! I yelled loudly and lunged towards the computer and Suki but was only able to move slowly because of the pain. Suki broke and ran at the sound of my yelling and was well hidden by the time I actually got to the computer and was able to shut it down again. I looked at the clock -- I had only been asleep for 45 minutes -- just deeply into that sweet sleep of the first hour. Now I was wide awake and it took me several hours before I had settled down enough to fall asleep again. I slept fitfully for the remainder of the night, often awakening.

My questions are twofold: How was Suki able to turn on that computer? and, is it possible that cats can really be purposely vindictive? Let me know what you think!

The poster I created for our December meeting

As for me...

Here is a copy of the poster I created this week for the next meeting of the Seniors' Club at St. Michael's. As you can see, on the 13th of December (the day before my birthday), I will once again attempt to take the elevator from the main floor to the basement in order to attend the meeting. Will I make it is the question.

I would really like to attend as the children from the Choir School will be performing and will also lead us in a sing-along. God alone knows if I will be able to reach the location where it is being held. Maybe this third try to get the elevator to work and down to the lower level will be successful -- no more being stuck between floors, no more doors that once locked will not unlock, etc. This entire saga is certainly teaching me more about how to trust God in all things!

Otherwise, I am doing fine -- just a bit sleepier than normal!!

Don't forget to pray for the holy souls during this month of November.

Righteous and holy Deborah, pray for us.

May the peace of God be with us all.

Blue Fan

2011-11-13T11:54:00.000-05:00

Scaevola aemula Blue Fan Flowers

drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Scaevola aemula (Fairy Fan-flower or Common Fan-flower) is a small shrub in the family Goodeniaceae, native to southern Australia although now available for gardens wherever the climate and soil are suitable. It grows to 50 cm in height and produces white or blue flowers in spikes up to 24 cm long from August to March in its native range. These are followed by rounded, wrinkled berries. The species is thought to be the most commonly cultivated of the genus Scaevola, and a large number of cultivars have been developed.

Scaevola is from the Latin, scaevus, meaning on the left side, referring to the flowers which have petals arranged to one side - fan shaped. Aemula is from the Latin aemulus, meaning comparing with or rivalling or of uncertain origin.

For (a little) more information go to:
http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2002/scaevola-aemula.html

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NEW MEXICO, USA

As some of you know, I lived in the State of New Mexico for 2 or 3 years back in the 1960s. New Mexico is a somewhat sparsely populated state sitting between Texas and Arizona. It is that very "sparse-ness" of people combined with a large rock population that made me fall in love with the southwestern part of the State at our first encounter. All that empty land with huge standing stones -- many of which look just like giants from a distance -- combined with caves, canyons and the occasional cottonwood tree and water hole. Then just when you think there is nothing around you other than these few things, you look more closely and see that there is a whole world of creatures carrying on their daily lives. I had so many adventures there and met so many wonderful animals, birds and beautiful reptiles. And, yes, there were wonderful people as well.

You know how much I love trees, but somehow those powerful and primitive rocky landscapes had a profound effect on me. I have longed to return there for so many years, but it just doesn't look as though it will happen. However, I have wonderful memories, including many photographs and even a few paintings. So, since New Mexico has been much in my thoughts lately, I felt that today's posting would be a good time to share a bit of my New Mexico with you.

Sunrise as seen from one of the thousands of caves which are found throughout the State
Some of the most famous are found in Canyon de Chelly where the Anasazi people
built their homes into the caves and then one day the Anasazi just disappeared...??

Geronimo, a high mesa near where I lived. This beautiful place was one of
the last hideouts for Geronimo when he was being sought by the U.S. cavalry.
Photograph taken by Frank Thayer, circa 1965

"Geronimo", oil painting by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 1966

New Mexico lightning storm as seen from outside our house in Hurley New Mexico.
Notice the big smokestack pouring out smoke from the Kennecott Copper Smelter.
Photograph taken by Frank Thayer, circa 1965.

Look what happened to the smokestacks in 2005! The smelter was closed for good in
1999 due to the low price of copper on the world market.

"New Mexico Village", northern New Mexico, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2007.
One of my first attempts at drawing on the computer using a similar looking painting
by a New Mexico artist as my model.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

I have been thinking about putting Suki into one of those animal talent shows. She is really a very talented cat!

One of her most amazing skills is her ability to tell time. I would put her up against a 6 year old any day! She is usually accurate to the minute. For example, I can be doing whatever, paying no attention to the time when, suddenly, out of the blue, I hear a plaintive meow coming from the kitchen. The first time I heard Suki meow this way, I rushed to find her as I thought she was dying. What did I find? I found Suki lying on the kitchen floor as though too weak to stand, crying pitifully. I just happened to glance at the clock where I noticed that it was one minute past 12 noon. Her original cry had occurred at exactly noon.

Every day since then, the same thing has occurred at exactly the same time. Suki is ready for her lunch and refuses to take "no" for an answer. This all started several months ago when I made the mistake of saying to Suki: "Stop fussing, I promise I will feed you at noon". See what I mean. She can obviously tell time and has practically forced me to keep my promise to her each and every day since then. It is almost scary -- and rather annoying to tell you the truth. I keep hoping she will sleep through lunch, but so far, no such luck! Ah, what a cat I am blessed to live with!
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As for me, I have had a very uneventful week since last Tuesday's episode with the demonic elevator at the Cathedral's parish hall! I have been resting a lot. I think getting trapped by the elevator twice in 7 days has left me feeling rather piqued! So, I have been spending most of my time resting, drawing (which I also find restful) and just plain resting. As well, most days I do exercise at the gym for a little over an hour. My body needs to prepare itself to face that elevator once again in about three more weeks. This time I am determined to win!

Today, once I have dealt with the Suki-drama described above which will occur in about 5 minutes, it will be time to get ready to go to the gym. I wonder what would happen if I tried to sneak out without feeding her royal queen-ship?!

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Meanwhile, remember to pray for the holy souls -- especially those who have no one to pray for them --during this month of November which is dedicated to praying for those who have died. And don't forget to ask Our Lady and all the saints to pray with you.

May the peace of God be with us all.

Joshua, Son of Nun

2011-11-09T22:49:00.001-05:00

Icon, Joshua, Son of Nun, Leader of the Israelites after Moses, by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Joshua is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel (Num 13-14) and, in few passages, as Moses's assistant; however, he turns out to be the central character in the O.T. Book of Joshua. According to the books Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he became the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses; his name was Hoshea the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him Joshua, (Numbers 13:16) the name by which he is commonly known.

According to Joshua 1:1-9, Moses appointed Joshua to succeed him as leader of the Israelites. The first part of the book of Joshua covers the period when he led the conquest of Canaan. At the Jordan River, the waters parted, as they had for Moses at the Red Sea. The first battle after the crossing of the Jordan was the Battle of Jericho. The Israelites faced an alliance of Amorite kings from Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. Then later, at Gibeon, Joshua asked God to cause the sun and moon to stand still, so that he could finish the battle in daylight. This event is most notable because "there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:14). Joshua was born in Egypt prior to the exodus and he lived to the grand old age of 110 and was buried north of Mount Gaash.

The English name, Joshua, is a rendering of the Hebrew language "Yehoshua", meaning "Yahweh is salvation". "Jesus" is the English of the Greek transliteration of "Yehoshua" via Aramaic. In the Septuagint, all instances of the word "Yehoshua" are rendered as (Iēsoūs/Jesus), the closest Greek pronunciation of the Aramaic "Yeshua". Thus in Greek Joshua is called "Jesus son of Nun" (του Ναυή) to differentiate him from Jesus Christ. Joshua and Jesus are called with the same name, adding Navin ("son of Nun") for Joshua. Among the early Church Fathers, Joshua is considered a type of Jesus Christ. For instance, just as Moses did not lead the children of Israel into the promised land, but Joshua did, so Moses' law could not lead them into Heaven but the new covenant mediated by Jesus (the same name as "Joshua") could. Hebrews 4:8-10 identifies Jesus as a better Joshua, as Joshua led Israel into the rest of Canaan, but Jesus leads the people of God into "God's rest," salvation.

I remember as a child learning the words to the old spiritual "Joshua fit the battle of Jericho". I loved to sing that song and sang it with great gusto much to the dismay of those standing nearby! In preparing this posting, I went and looked up the words for that grand old song and am including them here:

Chorus: Joshua fit the battle of Jericho Jericho Jericho;

Joshua fit the battle of Jericho And the walls came tumbling down.

1. You may talk about your kings of Gideon, You may talk about your men of Saul

But there's none like good old Joshua At the battle of Jericho. Chorus:

2. Now the Lord commanded Joshua; "I command you and obey you must;

You just march straight to those city walls And the walls will turn to dust." Chorus:

3. Straight up to the walls of Jericho He marched with spear in hand,

"Go blow that ram's horn," Joshua cried, "For the battle is in my hand." Chorus:

4. The lamb ram sheep horns began to blow, And the trumpets began to sound,

And Joshua commanded, "Now children, shout!" And the walls came tumbling down. Chorus:

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MORE AUTUMN

Autumn "wall-to-wall" carpeting!

It seems that ever since I started focusing on "Autumn", I have come across a number of photos that show various aspects of this beautiful time of year. This is one of them. Whoever took this photograph did an excellent job, but, of course, the Person who created the scene in the first place gets the most praise!

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THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CATS

Like all creatures, cats have their unique way of doing things -- and many of these make us laugh because of the "catness" of their behaviour. Below are some photos that I find show how delightful that cat-behaviour can be.

Cat (Kitten) Teamwork

Cats are the only creature I know of that cannot stand to see a closed door. Over the years, every single cat I have shared my life with has always behaved in the same fashion whenever a door was shut. I mean, they have no interest in going into a particular room until someone shuts the door. Then they suddenly appear, position themselves right outside of that closed door and wait... for a minute or two. Then the scratching and meowing begins and continues until someone opens the door for them. Once the door is open, they quickly enter, check out the room, leave and return to their favourite sleeping chair. Here we see two determined kittens finding a way to open a closed door using what appears to be teamwork!

Whoever said cats can't fly had never seen cats participating in serious play fighting!

When cats play at fighting, they can do the most amazing things with their bodies. These actions are usually not only amazing but extremely graceful as well. All those beautiful muscles working together and enabling the cats to almost appear to dance through the air. I wonder how it feels to have such strength and co-ordination so that you can twist and turn in the air and still land on your feet?

"Uh-oh! I thought I saw a pussy cat! I did. I did!" (quote from Tweety Bird)

This pigeon had better get a move on if he expects to survive to fly again tomorrow! Whoever captured this moment was truly in the right place at the right time. The expressions on the cats faces combined with their body language says it all. Nothing sets a cat into attack mode more quickly than the sight of a bird. This, like it or not, is true "catness"

"Yum! More cream please"

But, if you can't have pigeon pie, why not have some thick cream? This cat is totally focused on getting that spoon to its mouth one more time! One of the reasons I enjoyed this photo so much is because of the cat's tongue. As I have told you previously, my one claim to fame when I was in elementary school was my ability to stick out my tongue and touch the top of my nose with it. On occasion, people would come to me and say that they had heard that I could touch my nose with my tongue and that they didn't believe it. I never failed to impress them with my "talent". Sadly, with the advent of my store-bought teeth, I can no longer do this!

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Suki at her food dish -- an unhappy cat!

Suki is sound asleep at the moment; however, earlier today we were engaged in a struggle of wills over her food. Lately, she has decided that all she really wants of her wet food is the gravy. I will put her plate down and when I look in her direction a couple of minutes later, she is gone, her dish is still full of food with all the gravy licked off of it!

I decided today that I simply was not going to put up with this nonsense any more and so every time she asked for food, I put the same dish back down in front of her. She expressed her disdain by scratching the floor around the dish in the same way she does when she is covering up her mess in her litter box! As you can imagine, this is a very expressive gesture!

Finally, by mid-afternoon, she was so hungry that I sensed victory. I sprinkled the same old food with a bit of warm water and set it down in front of her again. Amazingly, she ate it. I have had cats that would go on a hunger strike for a couple of days rather than eat anything they did not want. Suki's hunger got the best of her.

Now she is a very happy cat once again and has gone to sleep. The real test will be when I serve her a bedtime snack -- will she actually eat it or just lick the gravy off once again?!

As for me, I have another story to tell you about the same elevator that played such a large part in my "Sallie" story in the previous posting. I am now convinced that the thing is truly possessed! Here, then, are the events of Tuesday, November 8th.

As you may recall from my previous posting, I had tried to go to the wrong meeting. The meeting I wanted to attend was scheduled for this past Tuesday, November 8th, not November 1st. So, the meeting was scheduled to start at 12:45 in the basement of the parish hall at the Cathedral. I attended noon Mass and left the Cathedral at about 12:35 to cross the street to the parish hall. I managed to get into the hall entryway where the receptionist came and helped me get into the elevator -- this tiny little box of an elevator. Once I was locked in, she tried to send it down to the lower level. It did not work. This gave me an uneasy feeling; however, she said that she would go and get the maintenance man to use his special skills to get the elevator to move. Soon the maintenance man was there trying to make the elevator move. He was unsuccessful. I began to pray seriously because when they suggested that I get out of the elevator so that they could try it from the inside, it was discovered that the door would not open -- for some reason, the elevator thought it was in service and so the door remained firmly locked. Once again, I was locked into that little box only this time I was surrounded by people who were peering over the edge of the elevator "hole". Now I was not only worried, but I began to feel like an exhibit at the zoo!

At one point there were five or six people all looking over the edge and offering their varied opinions as to why things were not working properly while, at the same time, telling me not to worry -- all would be well. I managed to keep a happy face, but I was not so happy on the inside as I had visions of spending the rest of my life in this little box being looked down upon by each passerby. Finally one of the maintenance people found a way to get the door open. What relief! However, that relief was short lived as we discovered that all our attempts at getting the elevator to move had lowered it just enough from the floor level so that I could not back out. Now the maintenance people went off to find some boards that they could put under my back wheels that would act as a ramp. Once they had the boards in place, I was able to force my chair to move backwards and was finally free! The time was 1:12. I had been in the elevator for almost 30 minutes! Fortunately, the same Theresa I mentioned in my previous posting stayed with me the whole time. I don't know if I would have been able to keep my composure without her friendly presence and encouragement. By the way, by the time I was freed from the "box", I was too exhausted to want to attend the meeting and just turned and ran my chair at top speed all the way home whereupon I took myself to bed and rested, giving great thanks to God for my deliverance.

In December, there will be another meeting in the basement of the parish hall that I very much want to attend. However, attending will require me to get in that elevator once again as that is the only way for a wheelchair to get down to the basement level. I intend to send up a number of prayers for the trust I will need to get on that elevator once again! I may even ask one of the priests to perform an exorcism on that contraption. Stay tuned.

Remember to keep praying for the holy souls during this month of November.
May the peace of God be with us all.

Another Hibiscus

2011-11-05T20:51:00.002-04:00

Hibiscus Double Rare, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Hibiscus are spread throughout the world in various species. The most famous is Hibiscus rosa sinensis, the so-called Hawaiian Hibiscus to many. Malvaceac, a family of plants noted both for its economic and horticultural importance, includes such genera as Althaea (the hollyhocks), Abutilons (Chinese lanterns) and of course Hibiscus.

Probably the largest and certainly the most variable with respect to its vegetative and floral expression, as well as its adaptation to diverse habitats, the genus Hibiscus contains plants that vary from small annual or perennial herbs, under-shrubs and shrubs to small trees. Hibiscus is derived from an ancient Greek word hibiskos which Dioscorides, a Greek physician of the first century, used for the plant commonly known as marsh-mallow. In 1735 when Carl Linnaeus described the marsh-mallow, instead of using the old name he chose a different name –Hibiscus.

Hibiscus are distributed primarily through tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, but a few species are found in temperate zones. Their habitats may range from mangrove swamps to coastal and inland marshes, desert, savanna or woodlands The number of species in the genus is difficult to estimate. The most recent comprehensive treatment of the genus recognised 197 species in twelve sections. At the present, it is assumed that 250 is not an unreasonable estimate of the number of species of hibiscus. The most important group of all the species is Hibiscus rosa sinensis.

It appears to me that hybridization of Hibiscus is fairly easy. Thus there seem to be an untold number of hybrids or cultivars. In one posting, I found the author saying that he had two new cultivars that had not been named yet and he was thinking of having a contest to name them! The one that I have drawn is simply referred to as “Hibiscus double rare”. I have no more information than that. Perhaps this is another one that needs to be named. Shall we have a contest?! The prize could be a free subscription to my blog!

By the way, I hope you notice that I restrained myself from playing with that strange software I love so much! So, this time you get only the drawing in its original state.

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ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE ON THE GO!

I heard back from the people at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in West Chester, PA this week and they sent me some copies of the holy card that they had made using my drawing as well as the letterhead that they will be using during this 25th anniversary year. As I have mentioned in the past, it gives me so much pleasure when Catholic and other Christian groups want to use my icon drawings. It is truly at times such as this that I feel my activities are being used by God for His purposes. Nothing makes me happier for I feel as though I am right in the middle of His will for my life. Now for the actual items...

Front of prayer card made for the 25th anniversary celebration
at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in West Chester PA,
using my icon

Back side of the prayer card described above.

Letterhead from St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in West Chester, PA, using my drawing

Below is the original file that I sent to them.

My original drawing.

Truly, God is so good in enabling us to help and support each other.

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FRIENDS CELEBRATE THEIR DIFFERENCES

I have been collecting these "unusual friends" photos for some time now so I feel it appropriate to share a few of them with you. They always remind me of how wonderful it felt when I first arrived in Canada and realized that I could now be friends with anyone. I was no longer restricted by my culture and by the foolish prejudices of my community. For example, the first friendship I had with a person of colour made me feel so free and so happy. Unless you have lived with segregation, you really cannot understand how awful it is to be surrounded by people who, because of the colour of their skin, are supposed to be largely invisible to you. Most certainly they were not people you could be friends with -- no matter how interesting they looked. Your eyes might accidentally meet on occasion at which time they would quickly look away and towards the ground, hoping that they had not offended you. I would often be left with the feeling that there was a real person behind those eyes but our culture said we could not be friends. One of the very sad memories I have occurred while visiting my sister in north Florida in the late 1970s after I had lived in Canada for over 10 years. I asked the black woman who did the housekeeping for my sister and her husband if she would give me a ride into town so I could visit with my parents who lived there. This woman was truly like a member of my sister's family and was welcome to sit down with us to talk and to eat with us while she was in my sister's home. I expected her to say immediately, "of course I will give you a ride." However, she hesitated before saying "yes" to my request. She then said that she would ask that I agree to sit in the back seat of her car so that it would appear to anyone who saw us that she was chauffeuring me somewhere (shades of Driving Miss Daisy!) -- if I sat in the front with her, people might think we were friends and try to hurt us! Remember, this was in 1979. So, let us be grateful for all our friendships just as these animals appear to be with theirs!

Rather than the wolf and the lamb laying down together, we have here a dog (a relative of the wolf)
and a lamb who seem very fond of one another! Maybe this is what Isaiah meant! (see Isa. 11:6ff)

Truly an unusual friendship: a cat and a Pelican. Maybe the
Pelican started sharing leftover fish parts with the kitten and
the friendship grew from there.

This dog looks very happy to have her friend nearby. The friend, a deer, seems happy too.

The friendship of a sheep and a goat is not that unusual, but this one seems very loving.
Of course, the day will come when the sheep and the goats will be separated -- one on
God's right hand and one on the left. I do hope these two are prepared for that separation!
(see Matt. 25:31ff)

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Well, Suki has been a bit more aggressive than usual these past few days. I am not sure why, but her behaviour truly does make me

Suki ready to attack: ME!

laugh. She is so silly; thinking I can't see her hiding. Then she comes bounding out from behind the bookcase and I try to act as terrified as possible which seems to please her immensely!

It is very interesting to observe how there are certain actions and places that seem to trigger Suki's aggressive play behaviour. For example, the wing-back chair in the living room was claimed as a "Suki safe place" soon after she came to live here. She loved to sleep in that chair and whenever I dared to sit in it, she felt she had the right to sit on the back of the chair, meowing at me occasionally until I finally moved! Since those early days, whenever I get anywhere close to this chair, Suki comes running, ready to attack. So, of course, I often go by the chair just for the fun of it.

Sure enough, here she comes a'runnin', her eyes big and black. First, she crouches down on the other side of the chair acting like she thinks that because she can't see me that she, too, must be hidden. If I continue to noisily touch the top of the chair, Suki will make a sudden leap toward my hand. My part is to move my hand away quickly while making mewing noises (sort of like the sound a frightened kitten makes). The movement and the noise seem to make her feel victorious and she settles down quite quickly in her favourite chair -- that is so long as I don't make the mistake of trying to touch her chair again! She must know this is a game; however, for when company comes and either I or one of my guests elect to sit in "her" chair, she ignores us. Poor Suki -- life is just play and eat and sleep and more play!

As for me. I continue to do very well in spite of all my aches and pains. I haven't gotten stuck in any more elevators or tried to attend meetings that I am not supposed to attend -- so that is all good. Next week looks like a busy one for me -- including the Seniors' Club presentation that I thought I was going to attend last Tuesday! I will give you a full report on how I managed to deal with the demon-possessed elevator this time around!

Don't forget to pray for the Holy Souls as well as your deceased family members during this month of November.
May the peace of God be with us all.

All Saints, 2011

2011-11-01T22:15:00.000-04:00

Icon cutouts from drawings by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer
Look at the bottom of post for identification key

All Saints Day, the day on which Catholics celebrate all the saints, known and unknown, is a surprisingly old feast. It arose out of the Christian tradition of celebrating the martyrdom of saints on the anniversary of their martyrdom. When martyrdoms increased during the persecutions of the late Roman Empire, local dioceses instituted a common feast day in order to ensure that all martyrs, known and unknown, were properly honored.

The current date of November 1 was instituted by Pope Gregory III (731-741), when he consecrated a chapel to all the martyrs in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and ordered an annual celebration. This celebration was originally confined to the diocese of Rome, but Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended the feast to the entire Church and ordered it to be celebrated on November 1. By Scott P. Richert

For more information, click on http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/All_Saints_Day.htm?nl=1

The noon Mass at the Cathedral today lasted longer than many Sunday Masses I have attended. There were two reasons for this: one was the fact that the Church was packed so Communion took a long time; the second was the presence of a mixed age choir from the choir school -- beautiful sound, but those special numbers take a bit of time. Still, it was a beautiful and prayerful liturgy -- a proper beginning to this month where we honour the saints and remember all those dear ones who have died as well as all those souls in Purgatory who have no one to pray for them

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AUTUMN AGAIN BUT THIS TIME WITH BOTH PHOTO AND POEM
Below is a beautiful photo of an Autumn sunset up in the Smoky Mountains. As well, I want to print a poem I wrote when I was about 15 concerning an Autumn sunset I experienced in the Alabama woods around our house. Our farm was way out in the middle of nowhere and you only had to go a short distance to leave pastureland and be in deep wood. As for the poem -- it is nothing special but it does show my early love of Autumn and of vibrant colours. As well, when typing it in, I took the liberty of leaving out all the "ands" and "buts" that I somehow felt were necessary at the time! Enjoy.

Autumn Sunset in the Smokies

One day while walking through the woods,

I came upon a hill, I stopped and listened,

All was very still --

The birds had stopped their twitter, the wind

its mournful song...

Then I looked

I saw the sun low-hanging in the sky

The trees all gold and crimson seeming to shine

As though filled with some magic light!

Then I looked again

I saw the brilliant light of the sky had cast

its beauty down around me with its

colours so radiant that it set the soul within

me burning -- my whole being was afire!

Then I looked once more

The sun had set,

The skies were dark.

I shivered and set my face towards home.

Poem by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 1957

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GRAFFITI ART

A friends recently sent me a number of photos of so-called "graffiti art". I enjoyed them so much that I went to their web site and found even more. Following are the ones I enjoyed the most!

Graffiti Art 1 -- This tree can zip up when it gets cold in the winter time

I really enjoyed this one. Taking advantage of a natural fork in the tree, the artist painted a big size zipper. This kind of art delights the viewer without harming the tree!

Graffiti Art 2 -- Painting of children drawing on wall

When I first saw this one, I thought, "what is a photo of two children drawing on a concrete wall doing in here?" It actually took me a moment to realize that the children were actually painted onto the wall. I was delighted then by the realism.

Graffiti Art 3 -- L O V E

This is a very easy painting to understand and to enjoy. Here is a blank wall at the back of a building and then someone goes and creates a powerful statement by painting three large left hands and one large right hand in a dark gray shade. Three of the hands could belong to either a man or a woman while the hand making the letter "V" is definitely female.

Graffiti Art 4 -- Seed painted on wall appears to be thrown by the sower statue
At night the same seed graffiti art now appears to be thrown by the shadow

This is such a clever idea, but it must have taken a lot of work as the artist had to observe the statue in daylight and "nightlight" in order to make things work so perfectly. This type of art awakens what is whimsical in us and I delight in the experience. How does it make you feel?
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SUKI and ME

I have shown this photo to Suki and told her that if she doesn't stop
sticking her head into the base of my recliner when I have my feet up;
one of these days she will get caught in there and be stretched like this cat!

There is not much new to report on Miss Suki other than the issue referred to in the above caption. She, like most cats, has that overpowering curiosity which seems to continually put her at risk as she tries to investigate whatever appears to be new or different. You can certainly understand why we have the saying "curiosity killed the cat"!

I, on the other hand, have a brand new story to tell concerning my problem with getting events and dates confused and ending up in all sorts of difficulties because of it.

The story begins with my attending the noon Mass at the Cathedral. As I mentioned above, it was a lengthy Mass and did not finish until 1 p.m. at which time I hurried across the street to the parish hall to attend this month's meeting of our seniors group. Well, it did seem strange to me that the front door of the parish hall was locked, but I just assumed that it was because I was the only one entering through that entrance (most people enter by the side entrance). I managed to get the attention of the receptionist who kindly let me in and even helped me get into the tiny elevator to go down to the lower level. Once there, I exited the elevator hurriedly, letting the door close and lock behind me as I quickly removed my scarf and unbuttoned my coat in preparation for entering the meeting already in process.

However, the door to the meeting room was locked and I could see by looking at the floor at the bottom of the door that the lights were not even on. Dilemma: I am locked in the lower level, apparently alone, with no way to contact the receptionist. I began to pray just a little bit harder! I wandered down the hallways until I saw a light in the distance. When I got to the open door, I found an older gentleman who asked me if I was looking for the meeting. When I replied in the affirmative, he informed me that he had seen a sign on the side door which said the meeting had been transferred to the new Starbucks on Victoria. I was very surprised but accepted what he was saying. Knowing I needed to get back to the street in order to attend the meeting, I asked him if he could get me back on the elevator so that I could return to the upper level. He apologized for his inability to help me, but kindly offered to go and get security to assist me.

The security guy arrived and begin to try different keys in an effort to open the door to the elevator. We finally heard a click and the door swung open. He helped me into this tiny elevator -- just big enough for my wheelchair with me in it! He then locked me in this narrow shaft as he tried to turn the elevator on so that it would take me up one floor. I could hear him trying many keys and combinations of keys and buttons, but nothing brought the elevator to life. There I sat. I begin to encourage this young man to just go up one flight of stairs and ask the receptionist to help him, but, like too many men, especially young ones, he refused. Finally I began to talk about feeling claustrophobic at which point he agreed to ask for help. Soon thereafter, with the skilled help of the receptionist, the elevator was moving and upon reaching the upper level, I was quickly released from my prison.

By now, I was really late for my meeting so I set off in haste to locate the new Starbucks on Victoria Street. I went all the way up to Ryerson and all the way down to King, but could find no new Starbucks. By this time, I had decided that it was simply too late to go barging into the meeting and that I should just make my way home. Fortunately, I believe strongly that I need to accept whatever God allows into my life each day -- no matter how crazy it seems -- so I had not gotten upset through all of this. On occasion I had thought that maybe I had the right to be upset because people didn't seem to be aware of the special needs of a person in a wheelchair, but I was able to put that aside as well by the grace of God. This attitude turned out to be of great importance.

When I finally returned home, I called the pastoral associate at the Church to let her know why I had not attended the meeting. When she heard what had happened to me, she was all ready to get upset on my behalf, but when she heard me laughing, she laughed as well. It was at this point that I made a major discovery: I said to Theresa, "I am so sorry I did not get to hear Marg's daughter speak". Theresa was silent for a moment and then said, but today's meeting was just a planning meeting, Marg's daughter's presentation isn't until next Tuesday at 1 p.m.!! I had gotten my days confused. Everyone around me was talking about the planning meeting which was held today at 1 p.m. while I was talking about the monthly presentation to the seniors' group which, it turns out is being held next Tuesday at 1 p.m. What makes all this even funnier is that I had the job of making up the flyer announcing the meeting so I, of all people, should have known that the presentation was November 8th, not November 1st. What a good laugh Theresa and I had after I finally realized what was going on.

Oh, and by the way, I finally discovered where the new Starbucks is located. It is in the new St. Mike's Hospital building at Victoria and Shuter on the north side of Shuter and it faces Victoria!

As Theresa said: "thanks be to God for the gift of laughter".

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KEY

Key to icons shown at the beginning of post

All you saints and angels pray for us and may the peace of God be with us all.

Helianthus maximillianii

2011-10-28T20:59:00.002-04:00

Helianthus maximillianii, aka Maximillian Sunflower, drawn by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Helianthus maximiliani (also, H. maximilianii) is a species of sunflower known by the common name Maximilian sunflower and is a member of the Aster Family (Asteraceae). Originating in Texas, it is native to much of the western half of North America, it is found in parts of the eastern half as an introduced species. The plant thrives in a number of ecosystems, particularly across the plains in central Canada and the United States. It is a branching perennial herb, reaching heights from one half to three meters. The lance-shaped leaves are narrow, pointed, folded down the mid-vein, and up to 30 centimeters long on large plants. The plant reproduces by seed and by vegetative sprouting from the rhizome [a thick underground horizontal stem that produces roots and has shoots that develop into new plants]. The thick rhizome is edible and provided a food similar to the Jerusalem artichoke for Native American groups such as the Sioux. The flower heads are attractive to insects and the fruits are eaten by birds.

This sunflower is named for Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, who encountered it on his travels in the North American west in the 1830s. Native Americans grew sunflowers as a source of food, oil, dye and thread. Early pioneers planted sunflowers near their homes. They believed that sunflowers repelled mosquitoes and that a bath in boiled sunflower blossoms relieved arthritis pain.
For really detailed information, go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/helmax/all.html#INTRODUCTORY

Helianthus maximillianii, aka Maximillian Sunflower (Solarization effect), drawn by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Here is the result of applying the "solarization" option of my funny software. I always enjoy seeing what this option does to the colours I have used. In this case, the greenish-yellow shade I had used for the leaves is turned into a deep burgundy. Fascinating -- to me anyway and, hopefully, of interest to you!

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MORE AUTUMN PHOTOGRAPHS

Autumn sky on fire.

Such incredible beauty occurs every day across this planet and so often no human eyes are there to witness it. How playfully extravagant our God is each day with His paintbrush!

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PHOTOS OF INTEREST

Below are four very different photographs I came across this past week. I find each one of them interesting for different reasons. I hope you enjoy them as well.

I think this makes it pretty clear who it is that wants people to keep being addicted to tobacco!

Just more evidence that the "Father of Lies" really exists and encourages people to do things that will make them addicted, sick and smelly like stale tobacco smoke! How clever have been the advertising campaigns this Liar has used over the years to associate such addictive and unhealthy practices with being young and attractive and part of the in crowd. Look at the face in the smoke and see the evil in it and then never believe the lies about smoking in the first place. If you never start, you will never have to go through the agony of trying to quit!

Talk about a kindle! (methinks this has been photoshopped)

What makes this photo so interesting to me is that at first you don't realize that it has been photoshopped. However, when you look more closely, you see more than one cat in exactly the same position with exactly the same look on its face. You can make areas lighter and darker so that it appears that this is a real photo, but no two kittens would ever been in exactly the same position!

I wonder if that dog in the centre is named Joseph by any chance....

First off, let me say that I have no idea what this photo is supposed to represent. It really is very strange. The dogs in the circle are each in a position of submission. However, the dog in the centre, although sitting up, is in a position we normally associate with begging. Then there is the soldier standing and saluting -- what does that mean? The reason for my comment about Joseph in the caption under the photo is that when I first saw this photograph, I thought immediately of the dream that the "Joseph of the coat of many colours" had: he saw himself in the centre while all his brothers were bowing down before him. Of course, Joseph had a lot more brothers than the number of dogs shown here so I am sure that his story does not apply. So, I am still puzzled. If anyone out there knows what on earth we are supposed to make of this scene, please let me know. Meanwhile, it is just sort of funny all on its own!

Tell me -- what is wrong with this picture!

This photo simply made me laugh. Here we have two, very comfortable camels stuffed into the back of a pickup truck. Normally, the camels are carrying loads on their backs while walking not sitting down. I mean you might even see camels pulling a pickup truck if the truck had broken down. But to see them being the load that is carried strikes me as funny. As you can see, the owner of the truck has attempted to secure the camels in place so that they are unable to stand -- otherwise, just imagine what would happen if one of them suddenly decided to stand up and go for a walk!

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SUKI AND ME

Well, I had a marvelous retreat which officially ended on Tuesday morning when my director came by and we reviewed everything that had occurred. I feel very refreshed spiritually and very grateful to God for His goodness to me. The remainder of the week has passed by too quickly so that it is difficult for me to believe that we are already at Friday evening again!

I saw my friendly chiropractor again today and told him about a new exercise I had discovered at the gym which seems to be giving me tremendous relief of the pain I have had in the chest wall ever since I fell several months ago. I was told that the pain was the result of damage to my spine so I assume that the exercise is actually doing stretches similar to those a chiropractor might do. This is very good news as my chiropractor really can;t do a lot of stretching exercises with me since I cannot recline on the exercise table -- whenever I do, I end up with a severe migraine. No, I don't know why that happens -- all I know is that it does. Anyway, I am just grateful to have asked one of the personal trainers at the gym about an exercise that would strengthen my upper body which led to my discovery of this new exercise that is bringing me so much pain relief
.
As for Suki Cat, she is -- surprise, surprise -- sleeping at the moment. We had great excitement earlier today when she discovered some pigeons congregating on the balcony above ours. She begged me to help her get those pigeons even though I told her that it is just not possible. Poor kitty.

You may recall my telling you of Suki's fixation with the toilet. Well, recently I made the mistake of deciding to removed the few items I had been keeping on the top of the toilet tank, leaving the top of the tank clear. Once Suki discovered this change, she took full advantage of it by perching on top of the tank, giving her a new perspective on the entire toilet. Now, whenever she hears the flushing noise, she comes running, jumping first on the laundry hamper next to the toilet, then on to the top of the tank, back down to the laundry hamper, back up to the top of the tank. I am so grateful that thus far she apparently has not realized that the little "handle" is what causes that flushing sound and makes the water move. Should the day ever come when she learns to flush the toilet herself, I will have to ban her from the bathroom forever! Can you imagine being awakened from a deep sleep by the sound of your toilet flushing when you live alone! Enough said...

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HALLOWEEN

Suki says "Have a safe and happy Halloween
and then don't forget to go to Mass on All Saints"

A Controversial Holiday: Every year, a debate rages among Catholics and other Christians: Is Halloween a satanic holiday or merely a secular one? Should Catholic children dress up like ghosts and goblins? Is it good for children to be scared? Lost in the debate is the history of Halloween, which, far from being a pagan religious event, is actually a Christian celebration that's almost 1,300 years old.
The Christian Origins of Halloween: "Halloween" is a name that means nothing by itself. It is a contraction of "All Hallows Eve," and it designates the vigil of All Hallows Day, more commonly known today as All Saints Day. ("Hallow," as a noun, is an old English word for saint. As a verb, it means to make something holy or to honor it as holy.) All Saints Day, November 1, is a Holy Day of Obligation, and both the feast and the vigil have been celebrated since the early eighth century, when they were instituted by Pope Gregory III in Rome. (A century later, they were extended to the Church at large by Pope Gregory IV.) by Scott P. Richert

For more information about this interesting topic, click on the link below:
http://catholicism.about.com/od/thecatholicfamily/p/Halloween.htm?nl=1

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Today is the Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude. Five years ago today, my godson and his wife were married. I want to wish them another year filled with blessings. May God protect them and grant them the desires of their hearts.
Sts. Simon and Jude, pray for them and for all readers of this blog.

May the peace of God be with us all.

Saint Mary Magdalene

2011-10-24T17:09:00.000-04:00

See a new icon of Our Lady at the end of this posting.

Icon, St. Mary Magdalene, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

5th Sorrowful Mystery, S. Thayer, 2009
St. Mary Magdalene is shown directly
behind the Blessed Mother

St Mary Magdalene (Greek Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνή) was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples. She is famous because she is said to have been the first person to see Jesus after He rose from the dead (although tradition says He surely appeared to His Mother first), according to John 20 and Mark 16:9, part of the so-called "Longer Ending" to that chapter. According to Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9, Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons". Some modern scholars suggest that this is New Testament code for serious physical illness; however, major Christian saints, including Bede and Gregory, interpret the seven devils to signify that she was "full of all vices". This is the interpretation commonly held by the Church.

Over time the Church has come to see Mary of Bethany as possibly the same as Mary of Magdala who was delivered from seven devils -- that it was the same Mary who anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair who also shared a home with Martha and Lazarus in Bethany. Thus St. Mary Magdalene became a symbol of repentance from the vanities of the world to various believers. In 1969, the Catholic Church indicated that Magdalene's standard image as a reformed prostitute is not definitely supported by the text of the Bible. However, while the revised Roman calendar no longer states explicitly that Mary Magdalene is a repentant sinner of ill repute, many in the Church continue to believe that she was such and to pray to her for her assistance in converting family members who have fallen into serious sin.

Mary Magdalene was present at the cross after the male disciples (excepting John the Beloved Disciple) had fled, and at His burial. Mary was a devoted follower of Jesus, entering into the close circle of those taught by Jesus during His Galilean ministry. Mary Magdalene is referred to in early Christian writings as "the apostle to the apostles" and "Equal of the Apostles".

Mary Magdalene is considered by the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches to be a saint, with a feast day of July 22. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrh bearers. She is also an important figure in the Baha'i Faith. Consistently in the four Gospels, Mary Magdalene seems to be distinguished from other women named Mary by adding "Magdalene" (η Μαγδαληνή) to her name. Traditionally, this has been interpreted to mean that she was from Magdala, a town thought to have been on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Luke 8:2 says that she was actually "called Magdalene." In Hebrew מגדל Migdal means "tower", "fortress"; in Aramaic, "Magdala" means "tower" or "elevated, great, magnificent".

For more information, especially about the cultus of St. Mary Magdalene which developed in Catholic France and how her followers believed the Saint had come from Jerusalem to Provence during the first Jerusalem persecution, click on the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene St. Mary Magdalene pray for us.

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MY FAVOURITE TIME OF YEAR

As some of you are aware, Autumn is my favourite time of the year. It is not just the colours (which I, as a "colouration" person do love), but it is the whole combination of shorter days, blue sky when it isn't raining, of course and that wonderful coolness in the air. I also love the colours of the season as expressed so intensely in this photograph. I am sure the colours have been saturated, but that makes me like the photo all the more.

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WEIRD, WONDERFUL AND JUST PLAIN SILLY PHOTOS

I continue to collect many strange and unusual photographs that I come across so I thought I would share a few of them with you in this posting.

What kind of Peacock is this?

You may have seen this previously, but if you look closely (you may have to enlarge it to really do it justice), you will see that every bit of this "peacock" is designed using individual human bodies. Take a good look and enjoy!

What a strange looking sea creature!

Once you know that this sea creature is actually made from pencils, it becomes very easy to see -- but when you first look at it, it really does look like the real thing -- at least it did to me. Someone spent a lot of time and effort in creating this "creature"; however, I am unsure as to what you would do with it. Talk about a dust collector...

Photoshop will get you every time!

These Photoshop designs are a lot of fun. This one I found particularly amusing. I remember when I first saw it come up on my screen and couldn't figure out, at first, what I was actually seeing! I am sure that there are a lot of guys (maybe gals as well) who would think this was a pretty cool way to get your clothes ironed: put them on first and if they look too wrinkled, then just put yourself up on the ironing board and iron away!

Make a copy of this photo and the next time the doctor asks for one of these, just hand this to her!

This photo really made me laugh because it is so silly -- but then silly things often tickle my funny bone! Of course you do have to wonder about people when you think that someone had to spend all that time making a "stool" that would fit into a pill bottle, making a sign small enough to fit on the pill bottle and then taking a photograph of their finished work. Oh, well, it did give me a good chuckle so I guess I have to say that I am glad that someone did this. I hope it gives you a chuckle as well.

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SUKI AND SALLIE

Why is it that cats will squeeze themselves into small spaces and then fall sound asleep? This Suki lookalike is obviously quite comfortable in what looks like a narrow shoe box, but I think it will take a bit of squeezing to fit her head comfortably into the space

that is left. Suki does not show a great liking for small boxes, but she does seek out small spaces. For example there is a very narrow space between the glass top of my dining table and the ledge just below the glass. Somehow she manages to squeeze herself in there and sleep quite comfortably for hours on end. Because she is black and the ledge is sort of brown/black, you don't notice her there even though there is glass on top of her. Of course the glass reflects everything around it so your eyes really don't try to look beneath it. This means that on occasion when I or guests sit down at the dining table and are suddenly grabbed by a furry, black paw, the shock can be a bit overwhelming at first!

At this moment, however, Suki is plainly visible. She is dozing comfortably in the recliner that I vacated just moments ago. She seems to watch for me to get up sometimes as I guess the seat is nice and warm. Of course, should I want to return to my chair, I would have to try to convince her to move -- or at least share! She has actually been a very happy cat these past three days as I have been home, except for an hour and a half at the gym each day and Mass on Sunday, for the entire time.

Why, you might ask, have I been home almost the entire three days? Well, it is because I have been on retreat and I am actually taking a break from my retreat to write this posting. As soon as I finish, I will return to my retreat practices. This is a "stay-treat" that I am on. You may have heard of "stay-cations" (stay at home vacations made famous by the Corner Gas TV sitcom) -- well this is a stay at home retreat! My spiritual director set it all up for me and it has been quite a wonderful experience. I had not been on a retreat for many years since retreat houses are not really set up to accommodate disabled people. They may be wheelchair accessible, but don't have the kind of bathroom facilities that I need such as a roll-in shower, shower bench, etc. So, when my director came up with this idea, I was all for it. I have been greatly blessed by the whole experience and it isn't over until tomorrow morning at 10.

So, now I shall return to the silence of mind and heart which enables me to hear what the Lord is saying. Please pray for me.

Before I go, I will leave you with a new icon I have been working on -- another one of Our Lady. May it be a source of grace for you as it has been for me.

Icon of the Virgin and Child (Russian), drawn by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, October, 2011

May the peace of God be with us all.

The Last of the Dahlias

2011-10-20T09:30:00.000-04:00

Dahlia, Unknown species, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

Here is another of the cactus-variety of Dahlia. I have no idea what its other identifier is other than it is surely one of the many, many cultivars found in this huge group of flowering plants. As you may recall from my posting of a few weeks ago, "Dahlias are a group of flowering tuberous-rooted plants that belong to the aster/daisy family of plants. Dahlias have been hybridized extensively, and there are now more than 20,000 cultivars of this showy Central and South American native plant. Flowers range in size from as small as 2 inches wide to as large as 10 inches wide. Colors come in pinks, white, reds, orange and purple and combinations of all of these."

You may recall a similar drawing from last year. It, too, was a "cactus" Dahlia. I was not certain of its species or cultivar either. You can see the similarities in the drawing posted below.

Somehow I don't think it matters that much for people such as myself as I am really mainly interested in making certain that I draw the flower correctly. I mean with 36 species and 20,000 cultivars, identifying a single blossom is almost impossible for a "laywoman" like myself.

Dahlia, Unknown species, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011 (using solarization)

And, I am sure you are not surprised to see a variation of my drawing using my fancy software. The above effect was achieved using the "solarization" option. It is not very interesting, I think, other than the beautiful greens.

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MARIAN CELEBRATION
A member of the African Catholic community in Salt Lake City, Utah contacted me a few months ago regarding the icon I did of Our Lady of Sudan. I was happy to share my drawing with them as they wanted to use it to make a banner for the celebration on October 16th. I just received an email from them on Tuesday which included the photo shown below

Salt Lake City African Community at Marian Festival, October 16, 2011

Icon, Our Lady of Sudan, drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2011

It is such a great joy to share my drawings with others as the requests come in since I never know what God is going to do with each drawing as I send it out to be used by others. It is very exciting to consider that souls may be touched, deeply, by viewing a drawing in a particular setting surrounded in love by the members of their parish community.

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SOME DELIGHTFUL PHOTOS
I continue to receive delightful photographs from various friends and I thoroughly enjoy selecting ones to share on my blog.

1) This first photo of a duckling having a conversation with a great ape is such a sweet picture. How pleased the ape appears to be with his conversational partner. I wonder what they are saying! When I first saw this photo I thought "oh, here we have a simian St. Francis -- how wonderful"!

With friends, differences don't matter.

2) I always enjoy photos of Pandas. Like almost all bear photos they are funny without even meaning to be. A friend sent me a bunch of new Panda photographs which I will be sharing with you in time. This one, however, is one that I have had for a while and just happened to remember tonight as I was gathering photos to show you. What makes this one so funny to me is the fact that this difficult climb seems so pointless as there is nothing ahead of the bear to make all that effort worthwhile! Silly bears. Maybe they are like cats and just want to climb to the highest spot they can find -- a perch from which to look down upon the world!

"Do you remember why you wanted to get up here in the first place?"

3) Finally, I want to show you the following which I received from my nephew's wife, Michelle. Do you remember the song and Boy George? I find the word play using symbols and a photo to be delightful. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Do you remember this song?

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SALLIE AND SUKI

Well, the cat is quiet for the moment and appears to be asleep; however, I know that the minute I get up, Suki will come a'running talkin' and meowin' up a storm!

The above sentence was written last night just before I finally admitted to myself that I was sooo sleepy and just couldn't finish this posting right then no matter how much I wanted to. So, this newest addition to my blog is about 12 hours late! BTW, I was right about Suki -- as soon as I stood up, it was just like someone turned on an electric switch! She was up and waiting for me when I reached the kitchen -- sitting right next to her food dish!

This morning she is right next to me in my recliner just sleeping away the hours after a big breakfast. I, also, had a big breakfast and would love to be sitting in that same chair taking a little snooze myself; however, I want to get this posting finished before it gets any later -- and besides, Suki would be rather upset if I moved her! Seriously, I would move her if I really wanted to sit down -- I would move her right onto my lap where she would continue sleeping happily. Ah, the joys of a lap-cat.

As for me, I am doing reasonably well. I have had a number of close calls but no real falls -- for this I am extremely grateful. As well, I have been very busy organizing all my Rosary icons. A Catholic Church in Texas requested permission to use all my Rosary icons in a Lectio Divina publication for use in their parish [Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or "holy reading," and represents a traditional Catholic practice of prayer and scriptural reading intended to promote communion with God and to increase in the knowledge of God's Word. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray and even sing and rejoice from God's Word, within the soul.] The Rosary files had gotten scattered over time since the publication of my book ROSARY ICONS in 2009 as I used them in various postings and publications. As well, I just couldn't help "cleaning" them up a tiny bit as I brought them all together. They will also want to use the Stations icons eventually, I believe. Anyway, I will receive a copy of the publication and at that time I will share pages from it on my blog. As I mentioned earlier when talking about the Marian celebration in Salt Lake City, I continue to receive requests from churches and charitable organizations who want to use one of my icons in some way or another. As I do not charge such groups for the use of the icons, any organization can afford to use them. I feel so very blessed when this happens -- blessed and very grateful to God.

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FINAL PHOTOGRAPH FOR THIS POSTING

Hang in there, little frog!

As most of you are aware, I am very fond of amphibians, lizards, snakes, etc. and I always delight in good photographs of these various creatures. I posted a similar photo recently of a frog in a similar position as the one above; however, I really like this one because the frog is hanging onto a lovely flower. So, I get two of my favourite things in one photograph. BTW, if anyone knows what kind of flower is shown in this photo, please let me know as I would really like to do a bit of research on it. Thanks.

Until the next posting, may the peace of God be with us all.