When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even...

I am in the process of learning how to use the digital camera that I received for Christmas last year. As I looked at the 504 images that were uploaded, it became obvious that my photography skills developed as the year progressed.

None of the photos I took last Christmas are of particular interest...and this one is the only one I have with snow.

No, it's not a Christmas picture--it was taken on April 24, 2008. My daughter is pushing angrily through the snow on her way to a swim meet, while my husband trails behind. It was easier to walk to the pool than to shovel out a vehicle, especially as the roads had not been ploughed. Tell that to a 10 year old!

But it does remind me of the legend of King Wenceslas, whose steps melted the snow so that his servant was able to follow. I am surprised that this photo doesn't show the steam rising from my daughter.

..to see ourselves as others see us....

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

Robbie Burns was inspired to write his poem after watching a louse climb through the hair and bonnet of the lovely young woman in the pew in front of him.

I have just watched myself on DVD, teaching a lesson on reflective journal writing for a group of teenagers.

There is much to be pleased with and proud of--this is an earnest and dynamic woman...but the picture I had of myself before looking through the lens of a camera did not include multiple chins or sausage fingers...

Does this woman look like she lives with respect in creation? To seek justice and resist evil? Or does her appearance proclaim her a full participant in the affluenza epidemic?

"They also serve who only sit and wait." This has become a mantra as I wait...and so I sought the origin of the quotation.

I don't know why I didn't remember it was Milton--except that Milton belongs to a time and place of grey sky and limestone and eager study, my brain hurting in its growth, Professor Barnes, Queen's, 1978...

In that classrom was that electric moment when I first read the words "Batter my heart, three-person'd God"--John Donne, robust, manly, earthy, and spiritual--the man who wrote "The Compass" and "The Flea".

Milton flew under my radar.

And now, I see, the misquoting that I and a million others are guilty of: "they also serve who only stand and wait."

To stand, not sit. Standing: poised, ready, for that first moment of imbalance we must risk in order to take a step.

Get out from under that tree, Jonah! Recognize the difference between the reason for this waiting and the purpose of this waiting.

After the Staff Meeting

Dark brittle branches against an indigo sky; horned moon with Mars and Venus.

A clarity of snow.

Soft prayers on the sidewalk.

Alone, going home.