Hazelnut Reflections

bits and bytes

It's been a quiet weekend, here at Casa Wilbur y Houdini. Hootie's snoring has reached acceptable levels for our sleeping, so we've let him back in the bedroom at night. Also, he's eating and drinking again, and he must be feeling better, because he just drank out of my glass. Usually I shoo him away, but I looked on indulgently, relieved that he's (mis)behaving normally again. (We'll be back to shooing tomorrow).

Husband and I celebrated New Year's by hanging out at home and going to bed early. Which was fine until our neighbors turned out their stereo to eardrum piercing volumes at 11:45. So we did ring in the New Year by sharing a kiss at midnight, not exactly a glamorous, end of "Harry Met Sally" moment, but fine by us. We'll have a more exciting New Year's Eve next year, when it doesn't fall on a clergy working night.

If you happen to turn on CNN, yes, the fires in Oklahoma are bad, but somehow the newscaster makes it sound like we're all on the verge of evacuating (we're not). Please pray that some of that rain in the West comes our way, but it doesn't look good. The weather service is saying there's no real chance of rain for two weeks. Winds were high today and the temperature was in the mid-seventies. As I drove back from Guthrie, I could see clouds over OKC--I thought it was rain, but it was one of those weird dust storms. The sky turns a sort of pinkish brown and it's just odd and creepy. Thankfully I came back from Guthrie before the highway patrol closed I-35 because of a fire nearby. There are fires near Guthrie tonight, as well as some in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, and it's too windy and dark for Chinook helicopters. Difficult conditions.

It's been a full week--I presided at a memorial service on Tuesday, and concelebrated at a wedding this morning (the deacon was the bride). And I had an email from a seminary friend saying she had taken a secular position, and noting that "her call to ministry was ended." So the New Year begins, with all the mixed feelings for those of us wandering around the church, but with hope always in the One in whose name we can trust above all others, on this Feast of the Holy Name, and every day of the year.

posted by Emily @ 8:33 PM