How did serving as one of the first nurses of the Civil War lead to Louisa May Alcott’s runaway best seller, Little Women? Children’s author Kathleen Krull explores this journey in a delightful picture book entitled Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War led to Little Women, published by Walker & Company, New York.
Making extensive use of Hospital Sketches plus quotes from Louisa’s journals, Krull tells the story of Louisa’s burning desire to participate in the historic war by means of serving as a nurse. She writes,
“ ‘I long to be a man,’ Louisa May Alcott scribbled one day, ‘but as I can’t fight, I will content myself with working for those who can.’ Coming from a family that was part of the Underground Railroad to shelter runaway slaves, she burned to help the war effort.”
Krull presents a very human Louisa, fighting her fears and…
Recently I posted a review for my monthly column on Catholicmom.com that was a sheer pleasure to write. For years I have longed for my lifelong friend from high school to write a book. Overcoming many odds (some of which you will find out about in the following review), Reg has finally done it, assembling her many award-winning columns into a collection. If you think that holiness is just for long-dead saints, read on.
Written by M. Regina Cram, Do Bad Guys Wear Socks? Living the Gospel in Everyday Life is a collection of her award-winning columns from the Catholic Transcript (of the diocese of Hartford, CT) and the Hartford Courant. Cram’s candor, laced with humor and free of self-indulgence and melodrama, makes this book a breath of fresh air.
I must insert a disclaimer here: Reg Cram is a lifelong friend but I had no idea she could write like this. The book grabbed me in an instant and never let go.
The season of Lent is a tradition in Christianity offering a time to turn back to God (also known as repentance). Once viewed from a strictly negative perspective (guilt over sins, giving up chocolate or some other treat during the 40 days before Easter), the very perception of Lent is being transformed into a great gift for the person who wishes to embark on the journey. For it is a journey of the heart to conversion and live-giving transformation.
I look forward to Lent despite the custom in our household to forgo meat for 40 days. I miss greasy cheeseburgers and juicy chicken sometimes but there’s something purifying about focusing on vegetables with a sprinkling of pasta and rice. The benefit of a gentler diet and less calories is a nice tradeoff.
The Transfiguration – from flickr, by fantartsy JJ *2013 year of LOVE!*
I am familiar with the cycle of readings for Lent as I used to plan music every Sunday for mass. It always struck me as hopeful to read during the second Sunday of Lent the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor in front of three of his disciples. I imagine I would have been babbling nonsense too like Peter were I seeing my teacher and master suddenly glorified in a heavenly body while a Voice from above exhorted me to “listen to Him.”
And that’s where conversion and transformation begins, with listening. Tuning into that small voice inside where Jesus dwells. But in order to hear, the noise needs to be turned down, the life made simpler.
It begins with listening and translates into action. I am asked to first dig down deep inside to that sacred place where He dwells; once fed I am asked to step out of myself so I can share that nourishing love with others.
The Church asks three things of the Lenten pilgrim: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. For me, prayer is carving out spaces in my busy day to just be still, to listen and then, to ponder. Fasting is, yes, giving up things, but in an effort to shed those extras that hold me back from listening to the Still, Soft Voice. And almsgiving? Carrying out those things that my Lord has instructed me to do during those times when I listen. Giving generously of time and treasure.
Today I was presented with a beautiful opportunity for almsgiving and I’d like to share it with you. It is being done through Catholicmom.com in partnership with Ave Maria Press:
The goal of this project is to provide spiritual support to expectant mothers. Catholicmom.com and Ave Maria Press hope to send 50 copies of A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy—a week-by-week spiritual companion for pregnant women—to 20 pregnancy centers around the United States. Your donations will be used solely to help them achieve this goal.
Pregnancy can be a challenging time even in the most desirable circumstances. The expectant mothers whom this project seeks to support are often scared, lacking in financial resources, and needing guidance, love and care. They are courageous in their desire to resist societal pressure and bring their babies to term.
Sarah A. Reinhard, the author of A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy is well acquainted with the needs of these women. She writes, “I used to volunteer in a pregnancy center. It broke my heart. After I had my own kids, women who seek help from pregnancy centers became an even more intimate part of my prayers. To share my book with them is the least I can do.”
By simply donating $10 or more, these women can receive spiritual guidance that will help them on their difficult journey.
I see this as a wonderful way to participate in the almsgiving that our Lord desires during this season of Lent.
Visit The Catholicmom.com Project if you would like to help send this wonderful book to women in need. The pregnancy centers offer material help and moral support. You can aid in providing needed spiritual support.
For the many thousands of you who have followed the lives and antics of this mother tuxedo cat and her five kittens online, you know that today is bittersweet. As one chat member dubbed it, it’s “Graduation Day.” Ripley and her kittens will be adopted out to their forever (aka “furever”) homes bringing joy into households in the Washington state area.
It may seem like a waste of time to foster kittens (and even more so to spend hours watching them online). The true mystery and beauty of life, however, lie in these little things. There are countless stories of kitty watchers (who call themselves “stalkers”) finding comfort from the grind of daily life: grief, pain, physical ailments and loneliness are assuaged for a time watching a family of kittens grow and thrive.
Foster dad John with Ash
There is something very touching about a grown man cradling a kitten in his hands, giving the little tummy the raspberries. 🙂
The commitment of time and resources is far more than anyone could imagine. Especially the emotional commitment.
It’s all very life-affirming. God, I’m sure, would approve.
So on this adoption day I wanted to share the customary goodbye video created by Cherry Martini on http://animoto.com:
One is a goodbye and good luck to new friends that I met just a few short weeks ago. Six furry friends who gathered around them a community of thousands, wishing them well. Cared for by a man and his son, who bring laughter, comfort and meaning to people they will never meet.
the whole family (from The whole family (from The Critter Room, capture by Doreen Allerkamp)
This family of black, white and grey fluff, paws, tails and sweet faces leaves behind happy memories of adventures, “zoomies,” “baffing” and comforting moments at the milk bar with little paws kneading to and fro. We bid farewell to yet another successful foster family of kittens as they go to new homes.
Who can forget Mama Ripley’s intense and riveting stares? Or rambunctious tabby Parker, scaling new heights in his bids to escape and explore? Mild-mannered tabby Dallas, wishing to follow his brother’s path yet content to just chill? Teddy bear tuxedo Ash, a mass of “floof” and personality? Princess Newt, cool, aloof and beautiful? And sweet pansy-faced Bishop, also dubbed “Batgirl” who loved her tummy rubs from foster dad John?
Ripley’s kittens by name (from The Critter Room, assembled by Antti Kivilahti)
I feel the familiar catch in the throat, and the eyes well up a little when I observe them this last day on the kitty cam, and I feel immense gratitude and inspiration that people such as John and his son Chris give so generously of their time to take care of God’s little creatures.
Godspeed to Ripley and her kittens.
Then, there is the more significant goodbye to someone I’ve known all my life. My older sister Chris, and her husband Tom, begin their new life of retirement today as they move away from snow-encased Massachusetts to the warmth of Alabama.
The family homestead has been scrubbed from basement to attic and the furniture is on its way. After some thirty years, they venture out again on a new adventure.
It reminds me of the last time, in 1976, when the then 20-something couple left Massachusetts for Arizona in a Datsun 280-Z, dragging behind a U- Haul trailer. My father captured the last moments in pictures.
Tom, Chris, Tim and Jeff
Construction work was scarce in Massachusetts so Tom and Chris hoped to take advantage of the building boom in Arizona. Several of Tom’s family members eagerly awaited their arrival. They were to stay several years in Arizona where two sons would be born, only to eventually return to Massachusetts, much to the delight of our family.
This time around, Chris and Tom will return each summer to Massachusetts, to the family-built cottage on the shores of Lake Winnekeag in Ashburnham. So it’s not forever. Communication will continue as usual by phone, text, email and Facebook.
The family “Camp” in Asburnham, MA
But in a way, it is forever. It began with the passing our parents, first with our father in 2003, and then our mother in 2010. We became orphans at that point but we also became free.
The heart aches often for the “old days” when we all gathered around the table to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. When we took family vacations together. When we’d pick up the phone or receive a call, nearly on a daily basis, just to shoot the breeze and talk about our lives.
Once there were three generations … myself, my mother, my sister and my daughter
Parents die and a way a life goes with them. Sometimes it feels like the foundation has fallen away. This is the hardest goodbye of them all.
The orphans, however, must go on. They are now the first generation, the elders that the younger generations look up to. We now set the example, embracing life again, saying “yes” to adventures and opportunities, allowing ourselves to be transformed from within with those “yeses.”
So I won’t say “goodbye” but bid “farewell” to Chris and Tom and wish them well on their new adventure. I look forward to visiting their new home and catching up on all the news.
I won’t have a heavy heart today but the catch in the throat will undoubtedly creep up on me when least expected.
For now I will just elude to it because I am reading it for a second time and taking copious notes, some of which I promise to share in future posts.
I simply want to share that Beston’s observations about the arctic bird migrations observed on the outer shores of Cape Cod in the middle of cold and dark January were enough to inspire me to give winter another chance.
Life does go on, even in the cold and darkness.
Silence does not necessarily mean an absence of life.
Those of you who read this blog regularly know of my lunchtime walks. I work in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a town with the vision to set aside beautiful walking trails in the heart of the town center. I have been walking regularly since the spring and still find new places to go.
My favorite trail is the Brook Path. The town cleared the path of snow and I was able to enjoy a gorgeous and crisp winter’s day walking past the brook. And I realized it’s just as beautiful in its own way in the cold of winter as it is in the warmth of summer.
The sun, of course, is in a much lower position during the winter and with the absence of leaves on the trees, dances on the water in a most delightful way.
There is a greater force in the flow of the water because of the melting snow. At times it nearly rushes despite the small size of the brook.
There are wonderful sensations in the winter. That crunching sound under your feet as you walk. The glistening snow. And the sweet silence.
Walking introduced me to all these things and Henry Beston’s book gave me the impetus to give winter a try. The cold no longer bothers me; movement takes care of that.
I am so grateful that I can find beauty in winter. It’s very different from the carefree summer breezes, fluttering leaves and the air filled with singing birds. It’s quiet and stark, the lines somehow clearer.
“It has been a glorious winter day, its elements so simple,—the sharp clear air, the white snow everywhere covering the earth, and the polished ice. Cold as it is, the sun seems warmer on my back even than in summer, as if its rays met with less obstruction. And then the air is so beautifully still; there is not an insect in the air, and hardly a leaf to rustle.” Henry David Thoreau
And when I finish The Outermost House, I will share some of the most beautiful and poetic writing about the natural world that I have ever encountered.
A big blizzard with lots of light, powder-like snow … a crystal clear blue day and warm February sun … the fields at Tufts Veterinary School in Grafton … how could I resist not trying out my snow shoes today?
Except …
It was way harder than I ever imagined! A major workout.
I had to give up after just a half hour.
Naturally I ran into a couple of seasoned users as I trudged back through the deep snow with my snow shoes off. 🙂 Still, it was lovely outside none the less.
I’ll have to try them out in the privacy of my backyard before going public again. 🙂
Do any of you go snow shoeing? What advice can you give a newbie? And yes, I know that next time, I should try a groomed trail.
Well, the “big one” came and delivered as promised. Here’s how much we got (we’re the red dot):
And here’s what it looked like at our house:
Rameses needed a boost!
I’m awfully glad I got snow shoes for Christmas!!
I want to give a big ‘shout out’ to our local cable station, NECN and their meteorologist, Matt Noyes. Even now he is tweeting about the major coastal flooding in Plymouth, Scituate, Hull and Cohasset (on the Massachusetts east coast) as it is happening! He is every weather nuts’ dream – a total wonk. He updates constantly on Twitter which was a real lifeline to me during Superstorm Sandy when we lost power so early in the storm. He is bold in his forecasting and has been dead on with all of these extreme storms.
Keep these folks on the coast in your prayers – many have lost power and it’s frigid outside. Scituate and Quincy have no power at all; Scituate is even experiencing communication problems with their emergency personnel.
Noyes and one of the other NECN meteorologists, Tim Kelley, were talking about the potential for another big storm around Valentine’s Day and how there have been an array of big storms that we’ve missed; in their words, “it was not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.'”
Yikes!
Noyes tweeted in mid January about his long-range forecast for February and predicted it would be very cold and snowy.
Looks like my wonk will be proven right again.
Did I mention already how glad I am to have my snow shoes??
You’ve seen my son, now may I introduce you to my daughter? This is Meredith, and she just graduated from Framingham State University with a BS in Business Administration. She is an incredibly dedicated, tenacious hard worker, having taken nearly a full course load each semester while working 30 hours a week at Bed, Bath and Beyond as a supervisor. Yesterday was a day of celebration with both sides of the family and, the most sinful, delicious vanilla ricotta cake with chocolate icing we’ve ever had!
Meredith’s graduation marks the official end of our children in school. It didn’t really hit me until last night on the ride home from the dinner. I felt a little sad and shed a tear or two thinking of her, but my pride in her achievement was far stronger.
I admit it, I am totally hooked on watching live kitty cams. It is tremendous, harmless fun. Often the comments from fellow chatters is more entertaining than even the kittens.
Six of the seven – Hank is the one missing
It all started rather innocently with a text message from my son whose girlfriend alerted him to Noodles and her seven kittens. A beautiful and loving blond mother, seven beautiful kittens and a great storyline (the adventures of Runty-now-Loki) coupled with a long, slow summer at the office had me hooked.
That litter inspired me to begin this Be As One blog with this post.
Ripley’s Kittens (names based on characters from the movie “Alien”)
Ripley, the mother
Ash
Bishop
Parker
Dallas
Newt
What would it be like to foster a litter? How do you prevent yourself from becoming too attached?
From the Tails from the Foster Kittens blog comes an interview with John of the Critter Room where we learn what it’s like to be a foster dad:
Interview with a Fosterer – The Critter Room
Today’s interview comes from John of The Critter Room.
I first became aware of The Critter Room though his totally awesome web cam. With nearly 18,000 facebook fans and 24,000 followers to his Livestream webcam, you know he’s doing something amazingly adorable! I want to thank John for taking the time to participate! (and I admire and am amazed at the fact you kept your word on not adopting!!)
I don’t know if I could do what John does but I’m sure glad he does it! Not only does he save countless cats and kittens, he provides entertainment and oftentimes solace and a peaceful refuge for tens of thousands of viewers each day.
There are so many ways to serve in God’s kingdom and His creatures, human and animal. John’s work is just one of them.
How did serving as one of the first nurses of the Civil War lead to Louisa May Alcott’s runaway best seller, Little Women? Children’s author Kathleen Krull explores this journey in a delightful picture book entitled Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War led to Little Women, published by Walker & Company, New York.
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Be as One 