An en'light'ning conversation

“..they will try anything to push their secular agenda down the throats of the religious community..” Boy, this made me sit up and take notice! I was ‘watching’ my radio show and heard this horrific declaration made by a guest on the program, the spokesman for the Catholic League. He was speaking in regard to the battle being waged against the edict from HHS requiring religious hospitals and medical facilities to provide “services” contrary to their doctrine. Nancy Pelosi, herself an R.C., said, “But we have to pass the Bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy…” Controversy about contraception, and also abortion. Um, yeah, that’s a good idea, Nancy, and, now, according to Rev. Wright, “the chickens are coming home to roost!”

A letter was composed at ‘headquarters’ for all priests, bishops, chaplains, etc. of the Roman Catholic faith to read to their parishioners explaining the church’s position on this matter. That’s fine, except that the Dept. of Defense stepped in and forbade the chaplains to read the letter. Oh oh! Might that be construed as government interference in the church? Who ever saw THAT coming?? All the soldiers swear to protect and defend the Constitution which speaks to religious freedom, and yet, the chaplains are barred from reading the letter. Hmmm…A variation on the famous Niemoller quote from the late 1930’s: “When they came for the Jews, I said nothing because I am not a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I said nothing because I am not a Catholic; but when they came for other Christians, there was no one left to speak for me.”

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My breakfast this late morning consisted of two leftover mini-subs from the Super Bowl party. Judy had made them and left a couple for Justin to take for lunch. He forgot them twice so now, they are mine! Monday at Bible study, one of the ladies asked how the party went, wondering if it was standing room only. Judy and I laughed, reporting that only 4 people were there. The ladies were stunned, and said they didn’t come because they thought it would be too crowded!!! I should have posted a sign-up sheet, I guess. 


Monday night the same remarks were made. Though it was not how I planned it to be, I am quite happy with those who did come and the great food we enjoyed! Amber, our prospect/friend, came over after Judy called to tell her there was plenty of room for her. Amber doesn’t like crowds, so no worries!

While Amber was here, her first visit, she kept saying, “You could have some mean parties here…” I assured her that usually I do have a larger crowd and have plenty of room for entertaining. She said she remembered ‘my’ parties in the past and I told her I was glad she back in my realm again. I hated it that we lost track of each other when her spouse stopped working for us. So glad that Judy told me that she worked with her at Moosehaven, and now, we go to church and BIC together!

After the Tea on Saturday, Justin and I cleaned the chandelier which badly needed attention. First I tried using the compressed air to push the dust out but that did no good. Simply wiping the cups on the fixture would not do it either, so Justin must dissemble it in part for me to wash the cups in the sink. We have a fairly good system, having done this about twice a year since 2007. However, this time, it was different---when it came to rotating the fixture to remove the bowls, the yellow one tipped right off the bracket!

It seems some Super Glue might be needed to secure the clear ring which supports the cup to the clear ring, attached to the arm. He had not touched it yet, but it tipped off anyway. Now, it would seem to me it was already detached, which leads me to think one of the housekeepers might have had an encounter with this and knocked it loose. The cleaners I ‘bought’ from Groupon used a vacuum cleaner for much of its dusting of fans, etc. and I am guessing this might have loosened the part. Oops!

Not having time to make the long-term repair, he asked me if I had anything in my scrapbooking supplies to hold the cup in place for now. YES! I had some blue tack which he applied between the cup and clear ring, hardly noticeable, and it held! Boy, that was pretty upsetting because I don’t know how ‘we’ would get that repaired otherwise, short (ha, ha, electrical humor!) of taking the fixture down and having it repaired by a glass artist, I guess. Such an artist repaired one of the flowers which serve as a center-piece on the dining room table. The repair is not visible at all! Perhaps the blue tack will stay in place for the rest of my days!

Before I left for the Tea event, I told Justin we would take care of that chandelier when I got home. He muttered, “That thing is more trouble than its worth…” and I corrected him immediately. It is of great value, if nothing else, it warms my heart! To remind you all---I had seen this chandelier hanging in a Murano glass shop in Florence, Italy when on a cruise with the Nichols’ ladies and fell in love with it. However, there was no place for such a fixture at the lake house, so I left it behind.

In 2006, after moving to this home, I took Justin on a cruise for his graduation, and we went to Florence. Instead of touring the Santa Croce and seeing those famous graves of Michaelangelo and Rossini, we went in search of the shop. In my mind’s eye, I knew exactly where it was, but in reality, I did not. He was relentless and eventually found the shop. And there it was!!! I am sure we surprised the shop clerk by being so decisive when it came to buying it. The price was less than I remembered and I was happier than I ever imagined!