Just another skiing hot shot

Rex, in his element.
(And, yes, he landed it.)

It is pouring....again

but I took time out on Wednesday to capture the sunshine for the next dark day.

In every room, on every surface, there was brightness and warmth.

As quotidian as bubbles, as temporary as popovers, as elegant as silver, all reflected the rays beautifully.

The afternoon read-aloud, the sniffling youngster, the precariously perched espresso, all were targets for the fleeting beams.

Pour down, life giving rain. We've sunshine memories bottled for the duration.

Yesterday

Someone was skiing in paradise.

Someone else was outside in their jammies and gardening clogs, photographing the ribbon of light across the valley in the early morning,

and being surprised by a rafter of turkeys. (yes, a rafter....),

and being delighted by the fact that this book

is the real deal. Homemade artisan bread really is possible (and easy.)

The Friday Clive

"The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this. Just as every natural event is the manifestation at a particular place and moment of Nature's total character, so every moment of Nature's total character, so every particular Christian miracle manifests at a particular place and moment the character and significance of the Incarnation. There is no question in Christianity of arbitrary interferences just scattered about. It relates not a series of disconnected raids on Nature but the various steps of a strategically coherent invasion - an invasion which intends complete conquest and "occupation." The fitness, and therefore credibility, of the particular miracles depends on their relation to the Grand Miracle; all discussion of them in isolation from it is futile."

The view from my window may be sunny....

but just ten minutes down the road, the fog and gloom are still firmly in place. In the same way, we are currently experiencing a lull in family crises, but many we know are having hard times. Yes, I am thinking of Haiti but also of ones I know who are suffering much closer to home. Unemployment that shows no end in sight, beloved teens who are walking dark roads, marriages that are crumbling under the pressure of life, relationships that are strained through lists of rules and expectations rather than built up by grace, medical horrors that result in long hospital stays. In big and small ways, many I know are bent down and weary.

So in my day filled with crisp sunshine and brilliant blue expanses, I am praying for mercy, grace, endurance, and wisdom. For rest and peace when anxiety and sleeplessness are a choice away. And for love to be known, experienced, felt, seen and lived out for them.

And the sun came out at last ...

Hymn

THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
Th' unwearied Sun from day to day
Does his Creator's power display;
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The Moon takes up the wondrous tale;
And nightly to the listening Earth
Repeats the story of her birth:
Whilst all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all

Move round the dark terrestrial ball;
What though nor real voice nor sound
Amidst their radiant orbs be found?
In Reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice;
For ever singing as they shine,
'The Hand that made us is divine.'

Joseph Addison. 1672–1719

Cooking with Guiness

Since the rain shows no sign of stopping , hot comfort food is the special du jour around here. This weekend we had:

Guiness Stew (adapted from a Guiness Meat Pie recipe found on Facebook)

1/4 C oil, preferably olive
1 1/2 lbs beef top round, or stew meat
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
8 oz mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
2 Tbsp. flour
1 C beef stock
1 C Guiness beer
salt
pepper

Heat oil in a medium pot. Add beef and bacon; sear over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until beef is browned on all sides. Add onion, garlic clove, carrots, celery, and mushrooms, and cook 8 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle in flour and cook 1 minute before adding the beef stock, and Guiness.

**At this point stop and breathe deeply...the stew smells heavenly**

Season with salt and pepper, turn down heat and simmer at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

You can make a double pie crust and serve this as a meat pie, but we served it to a football watching group as stew with french bread on the side. Excellent.

Serve with Guiness or a peppery red wine.

Next Guiness recipe to try:

Irish Brown Beer Bread

2 c. raisins
1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. allspice
1 (16 oz.) bottle Guinness Stout beer

Soak raisins in warm water for 10 minutes until they fluff up a bit. Dry on paper towels and coat with a little flour. Cream butter and sugar well. Add eggs and mix well by hand. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, salt, and allspice; add to creamed mixture alternately with beer. Then add floured raisins. Bake in greased tube pan at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes -- check with toothpick.

If we like the bread I will then try and replicate the Guiness Bread Pudding we had in Eugene. We'll see how it goes.

Winter fun

I was able to keep myself from coughing long enough to snap pictures of the latest basketball game. Great boys, hard work, big win. So glad I was there.

I slept through the second half of the winter fun: Mud Football. Football games are becoming a regular thing in our crowd, as are scenes like this from my front porch:

Flags, shoes, pants, socks...it's all just a big wad of mud now. It's messy but I sure am glad my boys can have fun outside in the winter.

Sunday at home

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to your service,
and by walking before you
in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages.
Amen.

When I am home sick, The Book of Common Prayer never fails to give me sustenance.

Health care cost rant...you may want to skip this

Back in November we received the bill for my mom's fifteen days she spent in the hospital in September/October.

Total cost: $216,666.43.

It also stated that it had been submitted to Medicare and refused. Oooooookkkkkaaaaayyyyy.

Our medical bill routine is something like this:

Mom gets the bill.
Mom reads the bill.
Mom panics.
Mom brings the bill to me.
I smile and say, "I'll take care of this."

This time the smile was fake. No way around it, being confronted with a $216,666.43 is a little staggering.

So I called and asked a) why was it rejected? and b) can we please have a detailed bill to understand what the costs were?

That phone call revealed that it had been rejected inappropriately, so that was good news. There was hope that we would avoid debtor's prison, or whatever place they throw people who can't pay their medical bills.

And then the itemized bill came.

I don't know how much the going rate is for a single Tylenol, but my mother was charged six dollars PER TABLET.

I am not sure when and why they gave my mother speech therapy, but it cost $750.

Something is rotten in Denmark, my friends.

I had about a week of obsessing unhealthily on the bill, and then we had more jolly things like Thanksgiving and my daughter's return from college and Christmas and New Years and a debate tournament to think about. It was good to ignore it for awhile.

And now the new bill has come back.

Medicare is paying $22,445.63.
My mother is paying $1,068.00.
Medicare has told the hospital they have overcharged by $193,152.80.

Don't get me wrong...I am thrilled to pay MUCH less. But this still makes me sick.

How did we get here? How did we go from charging what things cost to this crazy, six dollar Tylenol life? And what is an "I don't want my health care to be managed by the federal government" person supposed to do when their mother is in the hospital? Do I sit by her bed and question every test, every therapist who walks in the room?

"Yes, she needs that antibiotic."
"No, she is speaking just fine, thank you very much."

Of course not. And so we end up with a $216,666.43 dollar bill that gets chopped down to $23,513.63.

Again, something is rotten in Denmark. And nothing I have read in the news headlines is going to solve it.

Rant over.

Back to our regular programming.

The Friday Clive

"The function of allegory is not to hide but to reveal, and it is properly used only for that which cannot be said, or so well said, in literal speech. The inner life, and specially the life of love, religion, and spiritual adventure, has therefore always been the field of true allegory; for here there are intangibles which only allegory can fix and reticences which only allegory can overcome."

Black and white days

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967)

Monotone


THE MONOTONE of the rain is beautiful,
And the sudden rise and slow relapse
Of the long multitudinous rain.

The sun on the hills is beautiful,
Or a captured sunset sea-flung,
Bannered with fire and gold.

A face I know is beautiful—
With fire and gold of sky and sea,
And the peace of long warm rain.

It's ark weather here in Northern California. Rain, wind, and the occasional crack of thunder have been our constant companions since Sunday. The fences are close to deciding if they should just give in and collapse on the ground, and we keep wondering why it is that we still have power. Amidst all the possible disasters, the view really is beautiful.

I am grateful for a good roof, a warm fire, and the fact that I have no place I need to go. Soup is on, apple pie is cooling on the counter, and espresso is five minutes from ready. I am right where I belong.

Concordia Tournament Recap

It was a terrific week.

Our students did well. They worked hard, looked out for each other, and many of them won the right to go to our national tournament in May.

The leaders worked hard, too. Coaches coached and tournament folks announced winners. Those were exciting moments.



Whatever we faced, we faced it together.




And Wheeler/Wheeler, along with three other Auburn teams, are headed to the national tournament for debate. Yahoo.

And then the competition was done and we were on our way back to the BEACH.

When you see the pier with Ruby's red roof at the end, you know its time to stop. Sand, surf, Starbucks..what more could you ask?

And now the rain is pouring down, the trees are bending back and forth in the wind, and we are home in front of the fire. It was good to be on the road, but home is the place to be for stormy weather.

The Friday Clive

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."

Courage is a word I think a lot about when I am at a speech and debate tournament. The students in our club are challenged to be courageous over and over and over throughout the week, speaking to strangers, speaking in front of their peers, working to get better and better. I am proud of them.

Laguna

What a beach! What a day!

A perfect place for the calm before the debate storm.

Surrounded by beauty.

Time to serenade the waves.

Life is good.