Let your light shine

A chaplain asked his church council to buy a new chandelier for the chapel. A few weeks later he had heard nothing and so approached the chairman of the board. "How is that request for a new chandelier going?" he queried. "Oh well, we had three issues with your request. 1. None of us could spell chandelier. 2. We wondered if anyone in the congregation even knew how to play a chandelier. And 3rd we decided what we really needed in the chapel was more lighting." What is wrong with the story? Firstly a good dictionary would have prevented the first problem. And secondly, the dictionary would also have revealed the meaning of chandelier and thereby canceling out the problem of two and three. Well, actually a dictionary is what they needed to shine a light on their ignorance. Intelligence is the glory of God. Maybe the chaplain could have given the council a picture of the proposed chandelier? Or explained what he wanted? And yes, the council should have asked someone what the word meant. Why are we so scared to ask for clarification? Many of us feel that others will look at us as idiots if we ask for more details. This made me think about all the times I have tried to look intelligent and ended up looking like a total air head. I bought a ticket to a forum on family history at the National Library some years ago. Went along and couldn't see any signage. So I looked in rooms until I found one with people inside. Went in and sat down... only to discover that it was a committee meeting. No one asked me why I was there. They just gave me weird looks till finally, I asked if this was the right place. Apparently not. The forum I was looking for had decided on the spur of the moment to decamp to some obscure venue. No one was prepared to give me directions. What did I learn? Be loud, be obnoxious or pay the price of ignorance. I never did find the right room .. or even get my money back. I should have opened the door to the committee meeting and said: "Where is the family history forum?" This is what is called paying the school fees of life, being meek does not get you where you need to go.

We are being plagued by flies. Yes, I know its the cost of sunny weather. Fly sprays only kill 20% of flies. The intermittent spray kills almost none. It just looks good. And even if you spray directly onto a fly, it will only kill them 80% of the time. My Dad had a "come fly and die with me" policy with the pests. He had one of those old-fashioned swatters. Kills 100% of the time. Last year we bought our own, Made in China, fly swatter and Barry has taken up the mantle of "come fly and die with me" baton. We have also bought those sticky pieces of brown paper that hang so decoratively from the ceiling and catch those little beasts.... sometimes. They do a whole lot better than the sprays. Back in the day there was an advert for a cockroach killer that promised 100% kill rate. When you sent off your money ... a fair amount of money, but worth it for the desperate anti-pest people ... you received two blocks of wood in the post. The instructions were: "Place cockroach on block A and hit firmly with block B. The advertising authorities could do nothing about these charlatans. There were being truthful. No false advertising involved at all. Seriously there is no fail-safe solution to bugs in Summer. We went down to the river to swim on Friday with the grandkids. Beautiful setting with towering limestone cliffs, giant tree fern forests and burbling steam just the right depth for little children to play in. Happy hours spent building dams with the rocks on the river bed. Even the youngest at age 2 was safe and happy in the water. The adults, on the other hand, had our hands full with midges nipping at our ankles. Gee those little blighters are a blight on nature. Insect repellent had no effect! You either sat in the river up to your neck in water or spent the time smacking and yelping. We smacked and yelped because sitting in water sounds good until you have to lever yourself upright afterward.. and I am battling with that concept at the moment. Getting up off the floor is a challenge.

We have a new kitten. She is really cute and loves a good cuddle. Sadly this cuddle time is not always at a convenient time for us humans. I will be fast asleep at 3 am, when Venus, the kitten decides that she is awake and so, therefore, I should be too. In this hot weather, we sleep with no covering. Well actually no, sometimes we haul out a sheet, but this offers no protection from sharp claws and tiny teeth. Barry has offered to give the kitten flying lessons .. by throwing it out the window. But, no, we chuck it out into the passage and close the bedroom door only to have it scratch and scribble on the outside of the bedroom door. Which in turns means no sleep. I know that when I was younger I coped with the sleeplessness quite well ... except for those moments when I was so tired I could fall asleep during a blink. But as age has advanced, my need for a full night's sleep has increased. Sleep and good food are my drugs of choice these days.

As to food, well that is always an ongoing drama in our lives. Barry loves crunchy, hardly touched the boiling water, vegetables. Where I like a well-cooked one. Don't give me carrots that are so raw that I can still see them growing unless it's in a salad. Rather cook it with a touch of honey glaze and tender as a baby's breath. I bought some eggplants/brinjals/aubergines a while ago. Most days I cook my own breakfast, but sometimes my husband feels he should spoil me with breakfast in bed. In this, he also feels he should educate me on the "proper' way to cook bacon .. just singed in the pan for a second ... where I like it resembling a piece of pork crackling ... anyhow back to the eggplants. I cook them till they are transparent and with a nice bit of caramelizing for flavour. How do I handle a husband who takes offense if I refuse to eat his offering of uncooked bacon and eggplant? Well, I get out of bed and re-cook the offending items ... oh yes, and eggs too. Maybe I am too fussy? Should I learn to grin and be thankful that he does want to feed me? Sorry, I shouldn't be whining so much. I ask my grandkids if they want cheese and crackers with their whine .. maybe I should take my own advice?

What I think I need is more "light of kindness" in my life. I should have a new chandelier implanted in my brain and psyche. More light, less ignorance, more love, less pests, more sitting neck deep in clear fresh streams and less whining.