Things more beautiful than a poem.

Some poems are mundane moments with something to teach. Tonight I was embroidering a pattern stitch. I stitch unevenly. The pattern at the end is obvious, but far from perfect. Some lines are longer than others. Where I tied off the end too tightly the fabric puckers with no sign of a kiss. I like to think that it's the only way to know that it was done by my hand.

Then there are mundane moments that will never be a poem because they are just lovely. Sometimes life is lovely without teaching you a thing. Lying on my back in the grass on a summer evening at the park, my niece jumped on top of me. Her blue eyes shone and behind her the sky was dusky blue. I thought, "this is why my favorite color is blue".

For scale

This picture was taken last August. My niece was 2 years old and a little bit scared about walking up to the statue on her own
And here is the two year old with the Texan. I didn't think Margaret's pictures showed you how enormous this statue outside of Oakley is.

2 churches

Damar's St. Joseph
Pfeifer's Holy Cross Church.

I feel like I should apologize because my pictures don't feel up to par in the exploration of these churches which were also nominated for architectural wonders. I wasn't feeling too well when we went into these places and alas, I didn't even notice that I hadn't turned on my flash in the Damar Church. Regardless, they are both beautiful. Between the two, I do prefer Pfeifer. Ultimately it's probably the same reason that the pictures in Pfeifer look so much better. There seemed to be more light in Holy Cross Church. I am a fan of light. The voters in the contest seem to agree... Pfeifer's church was named among the 8 as was the barn I visited.

Holy Cross in Pfeifer

The view from the balcony.

The bar in front of the church leading to the alter is made up of some beautiful wood carvings. Jesus appears to be blessing the fishes and loaves. I've always liked that story. (It's the bar where people took communion pre-Vatican 2... does that have a name?)

There's a mosaic of Jesus as you enter the church. We should go back during the early morning and get a picture. There was no way to get a good shot at the time of day I visited.

St. Joseph's in Damar

This is one of the stations of the cross. My mom saw the artist drawing them when Uncle Monsignor was at this parish.

These pictures are random. I'm very sorry. I didn't get a lot of pictures that turned out at St. Joseph's. Like I said, I wasn't feeling well that day, but I think these pictures give you an idea about what a pretty church it is.

Other moments of interest

My very own fireworks stand.

We discovered a fun bridge over the Saline River

Damar was decorated to make the French feel at home.

Jen resisted the tempation to ring the bell at Pfeifer, but maybe they want us to ring it. Look at it. We should have rung the bell. (we did accidentally in Damar)
Jen with the lion in front of Holy Cross.