The February scent of Daphne is fabulous. As is the January scent of Sarcococca confusa, otherwise known as Sweet Box. It amazes me that Sarcococca's tiny white flowers can give off such a powerful aroma. I have three bushes growing by my front porch, so I get to enjoy their scent every time I leave the house or return home, but my neighbors notice it too, and comment on how intoxicating it is.
Reading about the color blue always makes my brain say, "haint blue," probably because I find it fun to say, "haint blue." Our church bathroom (the one on the left) is painted haint blue, and it always makes me giggle.
Fran, really nice to chat yesterday. And what a fun and interesting post. I found that red garage door eye-popping. So enjoy your observations and thoughts.
First, on "Frasier" brother Niles enjoyed the scent of Daphne year 'round.
Now: a post that erased all else from my mind but your memories. What a joy! As you know, my mood has been very dark due to the doing of a certain Orange-fleshed lunatic with maniacal tendencies too thick and scorching that even a heavy dew would melt upon forming.
I'm slowly withdrawing from my fanatical protesting agaiñst Fascism. Let them. They'll fail.
When I was a boy my Ma gave me permission to leave the Catholic Church to explore the Protestant world. Ugh
Ma and I had different reasons to dislike the Catholic Church; she hated wearing a hat with a see through net hanging down. She preferred wearing a plaid flannel shirt, jeans, cowgirl boots, and riding her black stallion named Smokey with the men in the neighborhood. This was the early 1950s.
My reason was that I found it difficult to follow the Mass given in Latin in the little prayer books the Church provided for we younguns. That and the standing, kneeling, genuflecting, and shaking hands with the persons on either side of you. The adults all knew when to react to the tinkling of little bells.
The Protestant cults were a nightmare to me. The preachers accused entire congregations of being sinners who needed to go forward to the altar so those shouting idiots could touch them and forgive their sins as a duty to Jesus. It was important for children to learn where in the New Testament one could find the shortest line of something Jesus did: Jesus wept.
The ruination of the Word of Jesus was also the ruination of the congregations who believed the accusations agaiñst them thus causing them to pass judgment against and hate the people who didn't live up to what those preachers demanded them to live up to.
The absolute worse were the Southern Baptists whose harping incorrectly the Words of Jesus worked its way up to the Heritage Foundation's authoring of Project 2025. In their behavior they proved to their congregants that it was perfectly all right to dress up in white sheets with matching pointed hats, gather in groups, and hold onto homemade wooden crosses that they set afire from the cross upward, teaching, offering suggestions of how to abuse and even murder black people.
I suggest listening to Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" that perfectly describes the world of the KKK v. Black Humans.
Okay. So I can't just say, "Let them." I know too much about them because I lived amongst them when, against my will, we moved from Michigan to segregated Panama City, Florida, arriving on Christmas Eve, 1959.
Yes. I applaud your post today for distracting me away from my angry thoughts that are being brought back to life by the building right here on American soil The Fourth Reich. Once again I'll have to, for my own safety, hide the fact that I'm gay and that I'm fine with having friendships with the world's diverse humans wrongly given names other than human so those who love to hate can abuse and murder. But through the centuries each 'race' has turned against others due to the doing of us white people. And that is caused by the disinformation given by religious leaders making hatred and warring just fine.
Fran, I have so much to shake off my memory tree. At my age and the buildup of resentment in me, the fact that I've had to hold so much mental pain quietly inside, if I hadn't become an Atheist, an unbeliever of a man in the sky who, in one breath can tell me how many hairs are on my head; miracles, including a Virgin Birth and walking on water, etc., I would have allowed them to destroy me completely.
But all is not lost. One day I learned that the First Four Books of the New Testament were the only ones the Catholic Church considers sufficient to give us the Story of Jesus.
So I went ahead and read the First Four, only accepting the Words spoken by Jesus as Words to live by. No need for church going. Accepting others as all humans being of one race is where my heart lies and, even more, loving the most precious Gift given us by the Universe, the wondrous Planet we've been blessed with. You know, the place that gets abused every moment of every day by the warring humans.
The earth will repair itself of the horrors of the human race. If an Apocalypse actually occurs and if what Jesus says that the meek shall inherit the Earth, it doesn't matter if I croak today. Our glorious Home will survive on its own until our Star burns out.
Hi Richard, Fran’s sister here. I find it heartening to know the Quakers have filed a lawsuit against the current administration ICE raids on houses of worship. See https://democracyforward.org/updates/sensitive-locations/. So there are some religious groups still trying to follow the message of Jesus without the judging and hell fire talk. And I am seriously concerned for all my friends and relatives in the States (I live in Ireland) in these troubled times. You are not alone.
Beautiful thoughts, Catherine. I just learned today that there are actually some true Christians in the USA. In Minnesota and Texas, someone in each state has set up Tiny House properties for housing homeless people and help them get back to a normal lifestyle. My best friend, his mate, and I were forced out of the house we were renting when during the pandemic American landlord greed put millions of us onto the streets.
My two friends and I lived in my Hyundai Elantra for almost 2 years. Finally my friend's mother allowed the two of them to live in her garage and I could park in front of her house.
2022's heatwave gave me a heatstroke. I was hospitalized in Veterans Hospital (Vietnam Veteran here) and was released with having to use a walker.
The VA then placed me in a place called Veterans Village where I was rent free while they worked to get me Section 8 housing. In July 2023 they moved me into a 500 sq. ft. apartment in the middle of San Diego's beautiful LGBTQ COMMUNITY.
Just before my birthday in 2024 I was hospitalized with pneumonia. Recovery has been slow and being so deeply involved in politics hasn't helped.
I'll be 79 April 1st. Have to get away from this political horror show and try to enjoy what's left of my life. Thank you again for the Post. I've been seeing a lot of beautiful Ireland on our Public Broadcast stations. Beautiful people, too .
Wow, what a read! I’m sorry for your pain. You have connected with the wrong Protestants. Many denominations believe in Jesus’s words of love, forgiveness and grace without resorting to shame or hate. If it moves you, take the Belief-o-Matic quiz at belief.net to find a religion that aligns with your beliefs. You do yearn for connection to the divine.
I'm so glad I opened up this post again. I didn't know you had responded to my comment. I was all set to apologize for writing such a gloom-filled comment on a post that was as brilliantly bright as the morning sun.
Thank you for the advice showing the way to more positive forms of Protestant Christianity. What Episcopal Ms. Budde had to say was enough for me.
My two friends here brought some cheer into my life. They walked in with the biggest TCL ROKU screen they bought for me to enjoy my favorite TV shows on . It's like sitting on the first row in the movies.
I don't have cable due to the expense but one of the stations this screen picks up with just an antenna is Antenna TV. My two favorite comedy shows since childhood are played on that station: The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and The Jack Benny Program.
Best of all, that I have these caring friends in my life is better than gold.
Anyway, I'm so very pleased you weren't upset with my comment. I've been chastising myself since I left it.
I loved your article about Bezos etal. Good on you. Being a woman reporter is weird and I had a few embarrassments too which I will never divulge. I learned a lot, though, especially writing. Newspapers were, and I hope still are, the birthplaces of great writers. Samuel Clemens for example became Mark Twain. I enjoy your rundowns of the week of all the things life presents to you. And I love your word definitions. It is your specialty. Thank you, Fran.
Surely you are right, Pat. I’m not familiar with sarcococca, also known as sweet box. I thought all good smelling winter scents came from daphne. Thanks for letting me know. I’ve added a note in the posting.
I love the smell of Daphne, which for me serves as a herald for the approaching Spring.
The February scent of Daphne is fabulous. As is the January scent of Sarcococca confusa, otherwise known as Sweet Box. It amazes me that Sarcococca's tiny white flowers can give off such a powerful aroma. I have three bushes growing by my front porch, so I get to enjoy their scent every time I leave the house or return home, but my neighbors notice it too, and comment on how intoxicating it is.
Yes, Sarcococca is powerfully scented. As you may have noticed from another note, I did confuse it with daphne. I’ve fixed the error
Oh, I didn't see the other note! Sorry! :)
Reading about the color blue always makes my brain say, "haint blue," probably because I find it fun to say, "haint blue." Our church bathroom (the one on the left) is painted haint blue, and it always makes me giggle.
Great post, Fran. Not sure I can always say “let them” but a good reminder. Great pics too.
Fran, really nice to chat yesterday. And what a fun and interesting post. I found that red garage door eye-popping. So enjoy your observations and thoughts.
Good Sunday morning, Fran.
First, on "Frasier" brother Niles enjoyed the scent of Daphne year 'round.
Now: a post that erased all else from my mind but your memories. What a joy! As you know, my mood has been very dark due to the doing of a certain Orange-fleshed lunatic with maniacal tendencies too thick and scorching that even a heavy dew would melt upon forming.
I'm slowly withdrawing from my fanatical protesting agaiñst Fascism. Let them. They'll fail.
When I was a boy my Ma gave me permission to leave the Catholic Church to explore the Protestant world. Ugh
Ma and I had different reasons to dislike the Catholic Church; she hated wearing a hat with a see through net hanging down. She preferred wearing a plaid flannel shirt, jeans, cowgirl boots, and riding her black stallion named Smokey with the men in the neighborhood. This was the early 1950s.
My reason was that I found it difficult to follow the Mass given in Latin in the little prayer books the Church provided for we younguns. That and the standing, kneeling, genuflecting, and shaking hands with the persons on either side of you. The adults all knew when to react to the tinkling of little bells.
The Protestant cults were a nightmare to me. The preachers accused entire congregations of being sinners who needed to go forward to the altar so those shouting idiots could touch them and forgive their sins as a duty to Jesus. It was important for children to learn where in the New Testament one could find the shortest line of something Jesus did: Jesus wept.
The ruination of the Word of Jesus was also the ruination of the congregations who believed the accusations agaiñst them thus causing them to pass judgment against and hate the people who didn't live up to what those preachers demanded them to live up to.
The absolute worse were the Southern Baptists whose harping incorrectly the Words of Jesus worked its way up to the Heritage Foundation's authoring of Project 2025. In their behavior they proved to their congregants that it was perfectly all right to dress up in white sheets with matching pointed hats, gather in groups, and hold onto homemade wooden crosses that they set afire from the cross upward, teaching, offering suggestions of how to abuse and even murder black people.
I suggest listening to Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" that perfectly describes the world of the KKK v. Black Humans.
Okay. So I can't just say, "Let them." I know too much about them because I lived amongst them when, against my will, we moved from Michigan to segregated Panama City, Florida, arriving on Christmas Eve, 1959.
Yes. I applaud your post today for distracting me away from my angry thoughts that are being brought back to life by the building right here on American soil The Fourth Reich. Once again I'll have to, for my own safety, hide the fact that I'm gay and that I'm fine with having friendships with the world's diverse humans wrongly given names other than human so those who love to hate can abuse and murder. But through the centuries each 'race' has turned against others due to the doing of us white people. And that is caused by the disinformation given by religious leaders making hatred and warring just fine.
Fran, I have so much to shake off my memory tree. At my age and the buildup of resentment in me, the fact that I've had to hold so much mental pain quietly inside, if I hadn't become an Atheist, an unbeliever of a man in the sky who, in one breath can tell me how many hairs are on my head; miracles, including a Virgin Birth and walking on water, etc., I would have allowed them to destroy me completely.
But all is not lost. One day I learned that the First Four Books of the New Testament were the only ones the Catholic Church considers sufficient to give us the Story of Jesus.
So I went ahead and read the First Four, only accepting the Words spoken by Jesus as Words to live by. No need for church going. Accepting others as all humans being of one race is where my heart lies and, even more, loving the most precious Gift given us by the Universe, the wondrous Planet we've been blessed with. You know, the place that gets abused every moment of every day by the warring humans.
The earth will repair itself of the horrors of the human race. If an Apocalypse actually occurs and if what Jesus says that the meek shall inherit the Earth, it doesn't matter if I croak today. Our glorious Home will survive on its own until our Star burns out.
Thanks again, Fran. You really made my day.
🌈💘
Richard
Hi Richard, Fran’s sister here. I find it heartening to know the Quakers have filed a lawsuit against the current administration ICE raids on houses of worship. See https://democracyforward.org/updates/sensitive-locations/. So there are some religious groups still trying to follow the message of Jesus without the judging and hell fire talk. And I am seriously concerned for all my friends and relatives in the States (I live in Ireland) in these troubled times. You are not alone.
Beautiful thoughts, Catherine. I just learned today that there are actually some true Christians in the USA. In Minnesota and Texas, someone in each state has set up Tiny House properties for housing homeless people and help them get back to a normal lifestyle. My best friend, his mate, and I were forced out of the house we were renting when during the pandemic American landlord greed put millions of us onto the streets.
My two friends and I lived in my Hyundai Elantra for almost 2 years. Finally my friend's mother allowed the two of them to live in her garage and I could park in front of her house.
2022's heatwave gave me a heatstroke. I was hospitalized in Veterans Hospital (Vietnam Veteran here) and was released with having to use a walker.
The VA then placed me in a place called Veterans Village where I was rent free while they worked to get me Section 8 housing. In July 2023 they moved me into a 500 sq. ft. apartment in the middle of San Diego's beautiful LGBTQ COMMUNITY.
Just before my birthday in 2024 I was hospitalized with pneumonia. Recovery has been slow and being so deeply involved in politics hasn't helped.
I'll be 79 April 1st. Have to get away from this political horror show and try to enjoy what's left of my life. Thank you again for the Post. I've been seeing a lot of beautiful Ireland on our Public Broadcast stations. Beautiful people, too .
Thanks for reading.
Richard La France
Wow, what a read! I’m sorry for your pain. You have connected with the wrong Protestants. Many denominations believe in Jesus’s words of love, forgiveness and grace without resorting to shame or hate. If it moves you, take the Belief-o-Matic quiz at belief.net to find a religion that aligns with your beliefs. You do yearn for connection to the divine.
I'm so glad I opened up this post again. I didn't know you had responded to my comment. I was all set to apologize for writing such a gloom-filled comment on a post that was as brilliantly bright as the morning sun.
Thank you for the advice showing the way to more positive forms of Protestant Christianity. What Episcopal Ms. Budde had to say was enough for me.
My two friends here brought some cheer into my life. They walked in with the biggest TCL ROKU screen they bought for me to enjoy my favorite TV shows on . It's like sitting on the first row in the movies.
I don't have cable due to the expense but one of the stations this screen picks up with just an antenna is Antenna TV. My two favorite comedy shows since childhood are played on that station: The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and The Jack Benny Program.
Best of all, that I have these caring friends in my life is better than gold.
Anyway, I'm so very pleased you weren't upset with my comment. I've been chastising myself since I left it.
Bless you.
Richard
Hint: Don’t do regrets.
I loved your crack about Frasier.
I also have a TCL Roku setup. I love it, but try to limit my TV watching.
To you and all your followers who love words, I'm sharing the OED Word Of TheDay for Jan. 31, 2025: omniverbivorous
Having a large or inexhaustible appetite for words.
I loved your article about Bezos etal. Good on you. Being a woman reporter is weird and I had a few embarrassments too which I will never divulge. I learned a lot, though, especially writing. Newspapers were, and I hope still are, the birthplaces of great writers. Samuel Clemens for example became Mark Twain. I enjoy your rundowns of the week of all the things life presents to you. And I love your word definitions. It is your specialty. Thank you, Fran.
Isnt’t that sarcococca in the photo? Great fragrance, blooming now.
Surely you are right, Pat. I’m not familiar with sarcococca, also known as sweet box. I thought all good smelling winter scents came from daphne. Thanks for letting me know. I’ve added a note in the posting.