7 Snowy Takes

Friday! Takes! It’s going to be wonderful.
One
Listening, as a write this, to reporting about an attack of some kind on the French Embassy in Ouagadougou. It’s not even trending on twitter but France 24 has suspended all its regular programming to cover it. Seems like whoever the attackers are chose to wait for the auspicious moment when the French Military were organizing some sort of military training activity Right There. It appears, so far, that the only casualties are a number of the attackers themselves. Brilliant.

Two
Here, a world away, it is snowing heavily. Makes sense because it’s March now, the perfect time for a snow storm. Looks like it will carry on snowing for many weeks, according to my inerrant weather app. To console myself I’m going to drown myself in Hygge. I have my firewood, my socks, my hot milky drinks, and my dark brooding moody recriminations. This day is going to be Cozy, dammit.

Three
By the grace of God, who appears to have arranged the weather particularly for me, I did just pop out and back to Louisville, Kentucky with hours to spare before the snow descended. I drove out on Tuesday and drove back on Thursday and in between met the loveliest and most enchanting people. In the evening I gave a little Lenten talk about how much I hate Kon Mari and how much more magical it is to repent of your sins than to hold every single object in your hands to see if it sparks joy. If you only have time for one–cleaning or repenting–pick the repenting. Hopefully will have audio to link soon.

Four
Also got to be on The Ride Home talking about Billy Graham (last half of first hour). Got tongue tied from nerves and an over consumption of coffee, which I don’t drink often enough. John and Kathy asked me interesting questions and I said, “Um” in response. I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to click the link.

Five
While I was gone my mother made gorgeous lunches for husband and children. So delectable that my husband made sure to call me while I was driving home to rave about the chicken. “It was delicious,” he lyricized, “she cooked it in wine and tomato with herbs instead of flinging it in the oven like she didn’t even care.”
“Thanks for calling to tell me that,” I said, “but she’s a foodie. You should have thought of that before you married me.”
And so the long drive wore on.

Six
Listened to a bunch of books to wile away the hours. Wanted to be intelligent and listen to the ever growing list of intellectually demanding titles that will make me a more intelligent and interesting person but it turns out all those ones send me straight to sleep, which is a bad thing when you’re driving. So instead I finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, A Time Of Love and Tartan, and Before Lunch. Loved all three, and will probably write about the Guernsey one tomorrow. But I just want to leave you with this gem, from Before Lunch, breathlessly spoken by one person to another, after a long consideration of whether or not the two would go to church or stay home and get some work done, and who the church is for anyway (they both did finally decide to go). The elegant lady sums up the whole conversation this way, “The Church of England, without it, where would the agnostics be?”
Fell about laughing.

Seven
Go check out more Takes! And have a lovely day or something.