Tag Archives: saying grace

Pushy Broad

23 Feb

I have often been called a “pushy broad”. I’ve also been called several other things, but this is one of the few that are repeatable in polite society.

Sunday, we attended another church, just checking it out. If it weren’t almost forty-five NORTHEAST-stmaryanneminutes away, and involved $8 in tolls, we’d probably make it our home parish. A historical church with a largish congregation, but not so big you get lost in the shuffle, active chapter of the Daughters of the King, large ECW, and a youth group. It is located in a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and there is not much for the kids to do, so they started a chess club one night a month, and let the kids decide what to do the other three nights. At the moment, plans are afoot for ballroom dance lessons, so the youngsters will be ready for prom season. Even though we made it very clear that we were “just passing through”, we received a nice gift bag, with a copy of the church newsletter, pamphlets about the town and the county, and a lovely porcelain candy dish with a picture of the church – quite tasteful, and better than One More Coffee Mug.

The rector, when he did show up, spoke personally to everybody in the room, including The Squire and me. Nice touch.

Anyway, the coffee hour was (I assume) a bit nicer than usual because the bishop  was visiting, and several of the ladies had chased the younger kids away from the table with instructions to “wait for grace”. Two young men seemed to think this only applied when they were being watched, and I stepped up and gave them my best School Teacher Glare. A few minutes later, I glanced out the back door of the parish house to see if there was any sign of life at the Vestry Building, and somebody asked if they could help me. “Not exactly. We’ve been beating the kids away from the table with sticks, and I was just looking to see if the rector or the bishop way headed this way to say grace.”

“You’re right. Let me get the Senior Warden. I’m a little hungry myself.”

Once that was taken care of, one of the younger boys was loading his plate with French macaroons, and I reminded him that he was first in line and it would be nice to leave some for the other people. “You can always come back for seconds.”

One child in the congregation is autistic, but everybody seemed to keep an eye on him. As we were leaving, he was standing by the cemetery gate and I asked a man standing nearby if he would be OK. He looked around and replied that the child’s dad was “right over there”. I remarked that we take a “village approach” to kids in our church, and he agreed that was the best way. “I’d want somebody looking out for my kids if I’m not around, especially…” His voice trailed off and he nodded at the boy.

So here I am, a total stranger, trying to get grace said, bossing around the children in the parish, and asking if folks know how to tend to an autistic child.

Just being my usual pushy self.

 

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Happy New Year!

1 Jan

I worked the 18th and 21th, plus the four days this week, and I think it will take me a week to catch up on my sleep. I get home at 6:00, and the Squire has dinner ready, but if I don’t post this before 7, it shows up as the next day, so it doesn’t get done.

We went to bed around 10:30 last night; I was vaguely aware of noise at midnight, but not the sort of full-scale blowout we used to have before the sheriff moved in across the street. The Squire got up this morning at 7 AM, but I didn’t wander down until 9:30. While I was waiting for the kettle to boil, I went out to feed the squirrels, and The Squire followed me out. He joked that I needed to watch out for the “mad squirrel”; he’d brought out some stale muffins and while he was breaking them up to toss across the yard a squirrel had come over, climbed up his pants leg, and grabbed a hunk of muffin right out of his hand, and ran off with it.

“Oh! Did you already fill the feeders, then?”

Blank look. “I never thought of it.” Sometimes I wonder about that man…

By Wednesday, the dog had gotten used to the fact that I wasn’t home during the day, but he was waiting at the kitchen door every night when I came in. We normally feed him three small meals a day, at the end of the dining room table, and he won’t start eating until we have said grace. This evening, we ate at the computer desk, catching up on things that had been done and left undone during the last week or so. Blazer wandered in with his dish in his mouth, so I went out and fed him, then sat back down at the desk. A few moments later, he was back in the den, without the dish, but pawing at our chairs. Once he’d gotten our attention, he went back out and sat at the end of the table, next to his dish, looking back and forth between us and his food.

The Squire turned around and looked at the dog, then raised his hand in blessing, and said, “Lord bless this food to the dog’s use. Amen”

And Blazer settled down to eat.

 

 

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All Dogs Go to Heaven

21 Apr

The Squire and I normally eat our breakfast in front of the computer, checking our email before we start the day. I bring Blazer’s dish into the den and he eats with us.

Dinner and supper, we eat in the dining room, with the dog’s dish on the floor at the end of the table. He will not start eating until we do.  Today, both The Squire and I were out at dinner time, and even though we had put food in the dish, it was untouched when The Squire got home. When he sat down to work a crossword puzzle, the dog came in and sat beside the dish, looking up expectantly. Finally, The Squire bent his head and said grace over his puzzle, and the dog began to eat.

You may make of that what you wish.

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