Word and Question 10

This is my March entry for the Word and Question poetry game hosted by Enbretheliel at Shredded Cheddar. (The complete rules are here.) I have made it by this month's deadline, but only because I have decided to settle for scansion but no rhyme -- this one just WOULDN'T. So here you go...

Human Ingenuity

We come, they say, from apes.
Great-grandpa (ten times squared)
Was just a monkey! But
No monkey I have seen
Would ever "sort" his things
Or give a name to what
He saw glow down at night.

It takes a human mind
Imaging that of God
To name, and then to list
Antares, Betelgeuse,
Polaris, and Rigel
In order, so we can
Recall them every night.

So if we question who
Alphabetized the stars,
One thing we know for sure --
It must be one of US!

Word: monkey

Question: Who put the stars in alphabetical order?

If you follow the links above, you can see all this month's entries.

Monday (!!) Daybook

Outside my window... there is still snow. Enough so that some tree branches are still frosted. Since it's above freezing today, that will be gone soon, but I expect the ground to be covered for a while yet.

I am thinking... that I wish this head cold would go away. And I haven't had it that severely OR that long. I expect I am turning into a wimp in my old age. ( Apparently I am embracing my change of decade at least enough to use it for an excuse.) At any rate, feeling as though my head is stuffed with Brillo pads is not my favorite.

I am thankful for... this blog as a place to vent about my cold. Roger has heard all that he wanted to, and then some. And it's NOT anything serious, just an annoying cold.

From the kitchen... leftovers (what the menu plan says) or possibly take-out hamburgers, since Roger -- who is not a big fan of leftovers -- spotted a buy one/get one coupon hanging on the fridge. Maybe I should just throw the leftovers away now??

I am wearing... navy blue cotton pants and socks, and a cream-colored ribbed long-sleeved henley. I have a plaid shawl nearby, but right now I'm warm enough.

I am creating... faschnacht dough for tomorrow. I grew up in an area where Lent was taken seriously, and my family often bought faschnachts from one of the (usually Mennonite) ladies groups who raised dough all night and fried all day as a fundraiser for their churches. One article I saw online said that faschnachts are square (for the four Gospels) or triangular (for the Trinity.) I'm betting that it's simply that those shapes require less rolling out if you're doing massive quantities. Anyway, I plan to use a doughnut cutter, and turn the scraps into doughnut "holes." Yum!

I am going... to Bible study tomorrow morning. That is how I plan to get rid of my faschnachts! Even 1/3 of a recipe makes more than two dozen, and Roger and I simply can't eat that many. But it does mean I will have to get up no later than 6AM to have them done, even if I mix the dough tonight and let it rise in the refrigerator. But it's only once a year.

I am reading... down through my stack of books that's been accumulating. I only have 4 library books out, and I have forbidden myself to check out any more until I have finished all the borrowed/gift/bought myself stack that I have kept pushing aside because they didn't have a due date. Anything and everything from Belles on Their Toes (the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen) through various mysteries to Dune, which I promised Kelson I would try before he went to college.

I am hoping... for a holy and profitable Lent.

I am hearing... the sump pump working on a VERY regular basis. I am grateful to the original owners of this house, who had it designed and built with enormous attention to detail. ALL of the ground water goes through a piping system under the house into the sump, and NONE of it comes through the basement walls or floor. In this part of Michigan, that is a blessing verging on a miracle!

Around the house... I need to deep clean. Usually I get motivated to do it about this time of year because Easter is coming and we will be having guests. But Lent/Easter is very late this year, and we will be going to Arwen and Bryan's for Easter so she doesn't have to travel, so my motivation is quite low.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Bible study tomorrow, Ash Wednesday morning mass with Roger and then noon (Episcopal) Eucharist for me, Pregnancy Care Center banquet Thursday night, Lenten Friday adoration/Station of the Cross/mass, and then Branwen and Larry and their kids arrive for the weekend. Busy, but I hope profitably so.

Words I'm pondering :
"Remember, (man), that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
"Repent and believe the Gospel."

Every Ash Wednesday for quite a few years now, I've received ashes on my forehead twice, once with Roger (and sometimes other family) and once at my regular Wednesday service. I really like that the ashes are ecumenical; other than the veneration of the cross on Good Friday, this is the only time I can "get in line" like everybody else in the parish (only some of whom know I'm not Catholic.) But the two services use different verbal formulas for the imposition, both of which are above. I prefer the first one, which is more traditional. But I really need to hear them both. So I do.



Here is a picture thought I am sharing.... This has been around for a couple of weeks, but I still find it funny. Especially since I'm currently hooked on Angry Birds.