A few images to celebrate the feast day of a Saint who loved animals!! I think he’d approve …. The first batch seem to home in on the idea that dogs begin to look like their owners or vice versa :}
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The second, okay St Francis might not totally approve but it made me smile!!
Again, I’m smiling – hope you are too ……
I think St Francis would approve of this one – well the helping out bit anyway …
“That’s what I’m talking about”!!
We were on retreat during the week. We had an excellent Retreat Director (though he preferred the term “Retreat Servant” – since he felt he was there to serve the needs of the group and the wishes of the Lord) Most of our priests were there, together with Bishop Kelly, and it was a grace-filled few days, giving rise to much reflection, a bit of chat, a lot of laugher and a bit of table time as well – dining together. I like that bit!!
The food was good, the conversation great, those who served the food could not have been any more pleasant. All was well – until it came to having a mug of tea or coffee. The jugs were a disaster!!! No matter how much care you took, there were pools of milk at every cup and more than a few comments passed about how bad the jugs were!! The pools were almost unavoidable and the assessment of the jugs totally accurate.
You see those little jugs in so many places. You’d wonder why? Is it that they’re cheap, easy to get or what’s the attraction? Certainly they hold the milk in one place but they don’t do their job.
Big deal!! Of course it doesn’t really matter but maybe there’s a bigger question here. Why do we keep doing things, making things, being the way we are if the job is only half done?
Maybe we do need to cry, even a little, over “spilt milk”!!
I was in Dublin yesterday. I had a few hours to kill and parked the car in Trinity Street Car Park. A quick text to a friend led to a short but welcome lunch. After that I wandered around for a while with absolutely no “agenda”! I spent an hour or more on Grafton Street and bought nothing – well an ice cream – so helped the economy in a very small way 🙂 I was reminded of Nanci Griffith’s song “On Grafton Street” and imagined her, as a visitor to Dublin, finding some space there on what is a very crowded street. Yet she did find space ….
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npaG55vfe9c]
Nanci speaks of “buskers” in her song and there certainly was a fair share of them yesterday. Such talent on an open street. There was a very lively group called “Key West” or maybe “Quay West” – not sure which way they spell it – absolutely excellent. I recorded a piece of one of their songs but won’t post it since it would not do them justice. If you’re passing and they’re playing, stop a while. Around another corner there was a woman sitting on a window sill and a man on the footpath. One had a fiddle and the other a guitar and they were playing “The Foggy Dew” – pure class. I think I was the only one standing there and they played as if they were playing to a packed house in the O2 Stadium. What is it that allows people get lost in a tune? Whatever it is, long may it remain. Along the street there was a variety of musicians and musical styles. Little groups stood a while and listened to each, respecting the talent offered and maybe throwing an odd coin into a waiting guitar case. (No, the ice cream was my only outlay yesterday. I’m blushing a little now with that realisation!) A man had a dog lying on the pavement, looking at a tennis ball. The dog, the towel he lay upon, the ball were all made out of sand …… Somehow rushing feet left this untouched, even one that was un-attended. Respect for an art form – proper order too!
I think the buskers/street entertainers that most caught my eye, never said a word. It was a sculpture in stone, of sorts, featuring five people, three standing and two sitting. One held a guitar. It was the hottest day of the year and the sculpture stood calm, solid but engagingly welcoming on “Grafton Street”. I stood and watched. An Australian woman said to me, “Do you see what happens when you put in a coin?” “No”, I replied, She rushed forward, leaving her group of fellow-visitors, to put a coin in the bucket but I said “No, you’ve done that already, I’ll do it” (Ah, I did spend something more than on an ice cream – my blush fades a little now) so I put in – well that doesn’t matter – and the sculpture bowed in appreciation.
A moment on Grafton Street – May 25th, 2012
I have to say I enjoyed the bit of time yesterday. I went to the Carmelite Church too and was amazed to see so many people there, in the middle of a sunny day, just sitting quietly and praying before the Blessed Sacrament. I thought of the “sculpture” down the street and felt certain that Jesus too would acknowledge the recognition and bow, even a little, to those approaching him in prayer.
Stopped at the Four Ways when this happened!! True or False????
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We’re still in the month of March so this is ………….. worth a run!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEp9M8EtwDg]
I was sent this last night and thought it might be worth an inclusion! Hard to believe this video clip was uploaded a week ago and has been viewed over a million times since then! I’m afraid I don’t have traffic like that!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wt824D1Bqg]
Do I dance? Alas, I have it in the head but can’t seem to get the message to the feet 🙂
