Category transcendence
FMM 2 17 17 Sweet Mouth
“To handle a language skillfully is to practice a kind of evocative sorcery.”~Charles Baudelaire. Welsh, it is often said, is the language of heaven. To be honest, it is mostly Welsh people who say this! It was my father’s first language, the language of home and church. It is a challenging language, full of strange sounds […]
FMM 2 10 17 Cations for Change
“Every day brings new choices.”~ Martha Beck. My mother had a special personality. She could be quite harsh, but often didn’t realize how that came across. She was, in fact, a contrarian, not trying to be like others, she never made an effort to fit in. But she had a sense of humor, and could […]
FMM 1 27 17 Selah
“Every time I hear the sound, the sound, the sound…” ~Mutabaruka. I grew up surrounded by music, music of every description. There were hymns and choir practice of course. My father was a singer (the Welsh are famous for their Male Voice Choirs), and long road trips were often accompanied by family sing-a-longs. Included in […]
FMM 12 30 16 I am no Martha
“For when the One Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He writes – not that you won or lost – But how you played the Game.”~Grantland Rice. I grew up the youngest of five children, until we adopted an older sister, so then we were six. And there were always miscellaneous others in […]
FMM 23 16 Meditation on the Moon
“There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.”~George Carlin. I have no definitive memory of when I saw my first full moon. Spending my first seven years mostly in a city was one factor. Even when we went on vacation to the less light polluted seaside, I have no recollection of […]
FMM 12 16 16 From Fairy Princess to Feminist
“A woman is like a tea bag, you can’t tell how strong she is till you put her in hot water.”~Eleanor Roosevelt. As a child, I hated the color pink. I don’t know how early this started, but I detested it. There was a saying: ‘Pink to make the boys wink’. I detested that too, […]
FMM 12 2 16 Moving out, Moving in, Moving On.
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.”~Margaret Mead. Many years ago, when I was a child in England, I somehow got drawn into a small playground game. This older girl was pulling the caps off the younger boys’ heads and throwing them up in the air. I have no idea how […]
FMM 11 25 16 Trailblazers!
“Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties.”~Gail Sheehy. In 2006, on a trip to the beautiful YS Falls in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, I was invited to take a chance, to take a leap of faith, to branch out. Zip-lining. I was tempted but. Perhaps it was too much money (a friend offered to […]
FMM 11 18 16 Chant a Psalm
“Just living is not enough…one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”~Hans Christian Andersen. My father was chaplain and teacher of Bible Knowledge at a high school in the heart of Jamaica. Since the school was founded under the ‘auspices’ of a Christian School, the subject was not Religious Knowledge. There was no […]