Strange Sighting at My House

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Poetry Blogging

A couple of years ago one of my children was studying poetry in middle school English class, learning different types of rhyme/rhythm schemes.  The following poem was given as a perfect example of a triolet (a form I had never heard of before). TO A FAT LADY SEEN FROM A TRAIN O why do you walk [...]

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Liturgical Music and Inclusive Language

When I was a freshman at Georgetown, Father von Arx, a history professor, handed back my first paper marked with the following:  “May I suggest you try using inclusive language?”  Now, I didn’t have the slightest idea what he meant by that, and I didn’t find out for years.  And a good thing, too, since [...]

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Liturgical Music III – The 80s and after

Continuing with my post about the development of my own perspective on liturgical music brings me to what seemed like an exciting time to me music-wise:  the beginning of the Glory and Praise years.  For us at St. Joseph this actually began, I’m guessing, around 1978, when a group of UT students began coming to [...]

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Whose Judgment?

Here’s a column reprint from 2003, which I was inspired to run today by a Facebook post by my friend Amy Wilson (you can see her here) whom I have known since first grade.  She said:  “The difference between a flower and a weed is judgment.” It was a rare sunny day, and 9-year-old Jake, 2-year-old [...]

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Liturgical Music II – the 70s

Before I expound further on this topic I thought it would be appropriate to set the scene with a brief background of what my experience has been with church music.  If you, like me, were born in the late 60s, you will probably relate to this.  If any pre-Vatican II folks are reading, I wish [...]

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How big is big?

A lot of people think our five-kid family is really big.  Actually, nowadays parents seem to feel threatened at the idea of being outnumbered and think a three-kid family is big, not to be sought after if you are lucky enough to get “one of each” after two tries.  But a five-kid family doesn’t seem [...]

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Liturgical Music

I’ve contemplayed writing about liturgical music for some time.  I think I will make this “Liturgical Music” week (remember “Education Week” back in the first days of this blog?) although I am not promising to write every day! I am only a lay person, with a lay person’s understanding of this topic–I want to make [...]

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Carnivores

A couple of months ago I was stopping at the grocery store on the way home from wherever I have been (I am ALWAYS stopping at the grocery store, no matter where I have been or what time it is!) and I got the following text message from my 15-year-old stating his needs:  “Milk.  Cans [...]

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More about Cornelia

My cousin Ward sent me a copy of a letter today, written by my great-aunt Bodae Hagan Saxe to a cousin some time in the 1970s, in which she recounts some of her family memories and stories.  Here’s what she had to say about Cornelia, my great-great-great grandmother’s personal servant: I am sure your mother [...]

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