Stay

 

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

I can’t do this, Sam.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

I know. It’s all wrong.  By rights we shouldn’t even be here.  But we are.  It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo—the ones that really mattered.  Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end, because how could the end be happy?  How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?  

But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow.  Even darkness must pass.  A new day will come.  And when the sun shines, it’ll shine out the clearer.  Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why.  But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand.  I know now.  Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t.  They keep going, because they were holding onto something.  

What are we holding onto, Sam?

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

The night is dark but I am not forsaken

For by my side, the Saviour He will stay

And this is going to be a glorious unfolding.

Photo by Thandy Yung on Unsplash

The Two Towers

CityAlight, “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me”

Steven Curtis Chapman, “Glorious Unfolding”

Birthdays and other celebrations

Pandemic fatigue, n.: the predictable mindset of helplessness and futility realized as a consequence of failing, long-term attempts at pandemic management.

-Urban Dictionary

WHO describes pandemic fatigue thus:  “people are feeling demotivated about following recommended behaviours to protect themselves and others from the virus.”

You think?

From UC Davis Health:

We’re tired of being cooped up, tired of being careful, tired of being scared...

“We know there are two kinds of stress that have long-term effects on our mental well-being and physical health—intense stress and prolonged stress,” [psychologist Kaye] Hermanson said.  “We have both.

...Eventually that heroic spirit wears thin as the difficulties and stress build up.  That’s when we hit the disillusionment phase,” Hermanson said...

That’s about where we stand now as a society.

We haven’t completely thrown in the towel around here.  But we have relaxed our standards bit by bit.  And the relaxing is not data-driven, no, not at all.  We see the scary charts.  But our souls are missing human contact.  

Truly it is not good for man to be alone.

New birthday fleece.

Caleb’s very accurately detailed answer to the question “How do glaciers move things?”

Ears poses for the camera.

Almost unbelievably, Bob Ross has further devolved from his rather horrifying life cycle last year.  He got knocked over so his head cracked in half, and then Jeddy drilled holes through his eyes to make him into a jack-o-lantern.  Here, Ears poses with his bestie, Zombie Bob Ross.

This picture of Jeddy doing the dishes with Caleb on his shoulders:

reminded me of this one from six years ago, of Jeddy doing his schoolwork with little baby Yoda on his shoulders, a la Luke Skywalker’s training montage:

Halloween.

And Vickie’s Jo’s birthday.

Social-distance trick-or-treating: three main strategies.  The most common, shown here, is to leave treat bags on a table and invite children to approach and choose one.

The most innovative:  clip bags of goodies to a low clothesline for kids to pick off.

And the most fun:  the new classic, PVC-pipe candy slide.

Stay safe, friends.  And be as kind as you can, to paraphrase Maclaren, for everyone is weary.

 

Wordless Wednesday