Mother's Day didn't seem to be Mother's Day Off

As one might expect, my Mother spent Mother's Day providing music. She plays the cello in a string trio, and they played at several church services today -- "That Wonderful Mother of Mine" plus hymns. It's not in her nature to sit back and expect pampering on Mother's Day.

But she did get a bit of pampering at a big family dinner which my sister-in-law Julie prepared in the evening, Of course, that dinner was a project requiring initiative by another mother. I also saw several mothers and grandmothers at church who seemed not to be taking a day off from motherly activities. Though they may have received a little more appreciation than normal. I don't know a lot of mothers who loll about all day waiting to be catered to on Mother's Day. I think I might have tried to make breakfast in bed for my mother once, but I don't think that this was ever her idea of a desirable activity. Not very efficient. Could be doing something more productive.

I was thinking earlier in the day about how different my mother, my mother-in-law, my grandmothers, my aunts and the mothers of my friends were from each other as I was growing up. Yet they all had a certain core of motherliness. And each had special qualities which enhanced my life. I feel very fortunate today to still have my mother and my mother-in-law. And I am grateful to have known so many other great women whose special qualities and actions made some aspect of motherliness memorable to me.

I also got an unexpected reminder of the importance of fathers today, especially for teenagers. And David saved the day for me by staying with the kids in the nursery at church while I was presenting music, a lesson and an activity for the older children (more kids than I expected) with the mother of two of them. We read a poem about Mother Love as one of God's gifts to us. I asked what kinds of people provide Mother Love. One boy told us solemnly about a girl he knew whose mother had died when she was 3 years old "so her grandmother is the only mother she has ever known". A ten-year-old boy in our group lost his mother just a few months ago. His grandmother is like a mother to him, and he and his siblings also get a lot of support from their nearby aunt and uncle as well as other family. This seemed especially important today. He and the other children all took special care in preparing their Mother's Day pictures to take home.

David had a little help from a young (pre-teen) mother-in-training, a sister of one of the young ones. They only lost one toddler, a visitor who missed his Nana too much to stay and play with the others. She just had something special, probably related to motherliness.

Auld Lang Syne

Today's a day for looking back and forward. Elizabeth Scalia and Peggy Noonan with some great thoughts on the song.

For us personally, it's been an interesting year. We've had some challenges and lots of blessings. There have been an unusual number of marriages in the family this year, and we've gotten to meet some new family members. David just got an interesting new job. All in all, I feel pretty grateful right now. We won't be going out, but Ken brought us some sparkling cider with which to "tak a cup o' kindness". Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow.

Dougie MacLean with all the lyrics to the great old song here. It really is remarkable that this song has stuck with us through changes in culture and language. I think that's a good thing. Here's Guy Lombardo's instrumental if you want to sing it yourself. Another interesting tradition.

Hope everyone is looking forward to a bright New Year.

If you want something a little different for New Years Day, you might try Blackeyed Pea Confetti Salad

Ray Bradbury - "At play in the fields of the Lord"

I ran across this interesting article on the life and philosophy of Ray Bradbury. He's an original.

Ray's best friend growing up was Ed Barrerra, who was once my landlord.  Ed was an orphan, taken in by the family of his future wife in Los Angeles. Ray and Ed sometimes skipped school and went to the lots in Hollywood and hung around on movie sets, or sneaked into the theater. Ed's wife, Clara, thought that Ray was "crazy" when they were young - when he had some of the wild ideas which were later developed in his science fiction books. He didn't have as much schooling as you might expect for a famous writer.

Both he and Ed were drafted during World War II and went to Europe. Ray stopped driving after the war. When he came to visit Ed at our little duplex in the barrio, it was with a chauffeur, in a big cream-colored limousine. He often wore white shorts and knee socks.

He was a faithful friend to Ed as Ed's health deteriorated from rheumatoid arthritis and Parkinson's disease. I saw him a few times, and he always seemed to have some new and different project in the works. I'm happy to hear that he's still around and still has a zest for life.

Speaking of "zest", we have some zesty and delicious summer fruits on now. Descriptions here.