A couple of weeks ago, a neighbor told me about the bats that were hanging from her stucco walls and leaving their droppings on her porch every night. I was thinking how lucky I was not to have this pesky problem. Imagine my dismay when I discovered bat droppings under the vitex tree in the courtyard a week later. And the next day, and the next…
I didn’t want to poison them. (A bat’s got to live, after all.) The general consensus among my neighbors was to add light to the area, so I ordered some hanging solar lights.
Now my courtyard looks like Christmas, and there are no more droppings. Thank you, my strange, winged friends, for bringing some holiday cheer a little early.
I must admit, though – the little darlings are much more charming in their absence.
Although many of the trees in our neighborhood are almost bare, our ash trees have only begun to shed their golden leaves. Soon the ground will be covered with a golden carpet. I am reminded of two of my favorite ‘golden’ quotes:
“All that is gold does not glitter…” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings)
“…I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest….” (Rev. 1:13, NRSV, Catholic ed.)
Advent is a time of expectation, a time of waiting for all that is good and beautiful. Here’s to the once, present, and future King!
Took my camera with me this morning in the hopes of seeing something interesting, but all I saw was an abundance of mistletoe in the neighborhood ash trees. When the trees come into leaf, the mistletoe will be hidden, and the birds will carry the seeds from tree to tree. These parasites eventually kill the trees if left to spread. We had our trees cleared a couple of summers ago, but we will need to carefully watch them.
Who needs mistletoe to kiss your Sweetie at Christmas?
Unfortunately, Gentle Reader, even in the plant world there are some stinkers.
“The Annunciation” by Lynn Miyake (Egg Tempera with 23K Gold Halos)
(This post was originally published back in March. Here it is again for the Christmas Season.)
Have you ever heard that the date for Christmas (December 25) was selected to coincide with a pagan holiday? Don’t believe it. The calculation is actually based on Scripture.
Every year on March 25, the Church celebrates the day when the Angel Gabriel announced the conception of the Christ to Mary. March 25 is exactly nine months prior to December 25. To see how the date for Christmas was calculated, first we need to go back to September 25, when the Angel Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah. (Remember, during the Annunciation to Mary, Gabriel tells Mary that her cousin Elizabeth has also conceived, and Elizabeth is in her sixth month. See Luke 1:36. September 25 is six months prior to March 25.)
September 25 fell at the end of the Jewish season of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. (The date for the Day of Atonement falls on the tenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. It varies from year to year, falling in September or October.) During the ten day period prior to the Day of Atonement, Jews amended their behavior, prayed, repented, and gave to charity, in order to seek forgiveness from God.
According to Luke 1:9, Zechariah was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary to burn incense. The Jewish priests could only enter the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. (See Ex. 30:7-10.) Gabriel says to Zechariah, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.” (Luke 1:13)
So, here is the timeline:
September 25 – Gabriel announces the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah.
March 25 (six months from September 25) – Gabriel announces the birth of Jesus to Mary.
June 24 (nine months from September 25) – the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist.
December 25 (nine months from March 25) – the Church celebrates the birth of Jesus.
Yesterday was the Second Sunday of Advent, so my husband lighted two candles after I read the prayer. In another week, he will light three candles, and finally during the last week of Advent, he will light four candles every evening until Christmas.
While the days are growing shorter and darker outside, the light is still increasing. Inside, my table-top trees light up the house. Outside, every evening more and more Christmas lights appear in the neighborhood. While we await the Nativity of Jesus once again, He is already here.
Contemplation Garden 