My First attempt at a Sonnet

The Bard's great sonnets have intrigued me since I was introduced to them in my high school English class, but I was never brave enough to attempt one...until now.  That being said, I'm not sure what to title this, and I'm sure it could use some work.  If you have any suggestions for a title or better word choice, I'm all ears.

Love lost, like Winter's bitter waxing fruit
Chills the heart, breathing frost to all corners.
Its rind shatters, a pernicious sharp brute
With edges pricking quick-fingered mourners.

Ev'ry waxing must wane in tired coats
Of fallen leaves and musty mothball bins.
The detritus swept within handheld totes
And carted out with empty Christmas tins.

What compost may transform such toxic shards:
Brittle Bastions to healthy fertile soil?
Which words of wisdom grip sleeping bards and
Mend long fallow tracts with frivolous toil?

Like all perennials, the fronds of hope
Unfurl to absorb, revamp, heal and cope.

Some of the beautiful flowers to be seen on campus

My Day In Pictures

A friend of mine has been posting a picture daily of ordinary things in her life that bring her joy, and has tagged them #100OrdinaryDays on her Facebook page.  I really like the idea of doing something like this, but often forget to take a picture a day after about the 15th or 20th day.  I have also been talking online with someone I met through CatholicMatch.com  for the last 2 weeks.  Since he has an M.A. in philosophy, I will call him the Philosopher for any future posts that include him.  Anyway, because I was trying to think about ways to get a better idea of his day to day life (he lives near Dallas), I asked him to chronicle a day of his life in pictures, then promised to do the same for him.  It seems like a more doable option than the picture a day my friend is doing on her Facebook feed, anyway.

Beyond this, I'm going to try to keep my captioning to a minimum and let my pictures speak for themselves...

Morning, Sleepy Head!

Now that you're awake...Breakfast?

Did you say "WALK???"

You did! You did say  Walk!!!

Pretty as a picture

Prayer while Commuting

The paths around the construction

Beautiful Summer Morning

My Building Straight ahead!

Finally to work!

Breakfast and my current favorite tea.

Back to my Car via the parking Garage

Now to look at the other foot...

Waiting for the Doctor

View from the bridge between my parking lot and the parking garage.

Lunch!

My view of the Lab I work in.

Keeping from burning myself on the steering wheel.

You can see Juarez from here!

Looks like Monsoon season is starting early!

A lazy dinner

Typical Rush Hour Traffic a few hours late

Hi, Aunt Ruth. Take my picture!

Do I have to get my picture taken???

Who's There?

Welcome HOME!!!!

Chores before Bedtime!

Icing the site of injection.

Lighting the Candle on the Family Altar...and Lucy. Time to go to Bed!  'Night all!

Possibilities

One of my pictures from the Camino. I called this the Pom Pom tree because it has little green balls that look like pom-poms.

I smile
Just to myself
As I think about
The path before me.

Right now
The dappled ground
Soaks the bright sunshine
Beneath leafy boughs

The warmth
Bathes my heart in
Anticipation
For treks yet to come.

The chill
May mark my time:
The metronome in
Rain, snow, leaves and dust.

And yet,
I am immersed
In wonder, in awe
At right now, at Grace.

For Grace
Has lead me to
Stumble upon this
Path in giddy shock.

It leads...
I know not where.
Only God knows and
He's not telling me.

The Run is Dead. Long Live the Run.

Me on the last day that I (semi)successfully ran.  I've made attempts since then, but none got past about a mile

I love running.  I love the euphoria from working my muscles hard, the sweat as it cools from a self-made breeze, and the way I can eat because I've burned over 500 calories that day.  I love the way it clears out the cobwebs in my cranium, and how it helps me to untie the knots in my thinking and feelings.  I love the ability to call myself a runner...something that I never thought I could say about myself!

And, because I'm just a little too stubborn and a little too competitive, I have not been able to run since the beginning of March (I pushed myself too hard at the half-marathon in Feb. because I wanted to beat my time from my half-maration in January--which re-injured my tendons).  After resting for close to 8 weeks, I finally realized that I wasn't getting better.  So, I went to the Orthopedic Surgeon, and then scheduled an MRI.  The diagnosis: partial thickness tears in the Peroneal tendons of both feet.

What I have...

It means that I will not be running any time soon, and I will probably need surgery to fix it.  My appointment with the foot specialist is on June 10th, and we will see what happens from there.  I'm really missing running, and am having a hard time finding exercises that don't use these particular tendons, but I'm also willing to do whatever it takes to work up to being able to run again.  At the same time, I realize that I will likely never be able to run a full marathon, and I'm actually ok with that.  I'd rather be able to be a middle distance runner than not a runner at all.

If I can't run, at least I can spend time with friends at Chihuahuas baseball games!

In the process, God is teaching me patience and, while I don't like the lesson, I'm pretty sure that I need it.  I've always known that I am not the most patient of people, and I even prayed for patience for most of my high school years.  Then I realized that "tribulation worketh patience" and stopped at the first real lesson God gave me....not because I suddenly became a paragon of patience, but because the lesson was just too painful.  Either someone is praying that I acquire a little more of this virtue, or God has decided to answer the prayers I prayed way back in high school.  Either way, learning to wait and to dial back my exercise has required that I develop a measure of grace for myself, whether I want to or not.  Now that my body has gotten accustomed to moving on a regular basis, this enforced inactivity makes me feel antsy and out of sorts.  I've found that bicycling doesn't hurt as long as I rest a sufficient number of days between exercise, but it isn't the same thing.  All I have to say is that, the Lord willing, I will be back pounding the pavement someday.  I'm willing to put in the work if it means that I can run another half marathon.  Until then, I wait and I pray.  And that is a blessing all its own.