Communication is a Contact Sport

A p r o n h e a d -- Lilly Green

You think you know me.

You know my name; you know my face, so you think you understand me,

and you say, “I hear what you’re saying.”

I say I’m cold;

you think I need a sweatshirt, but I feel indifferent.

I say run;

you think Dodgers, I think danger.

I say book;

you think Nook, while I think Cloud.

I say paper;

you think Times, and I think pages to fill.

I say fence;

you think walling in, I think walling out.

I say dog;

you think ugly girl, I think canine.

I say travel;

you think desert, I think Paris.

I say love;

you think sex, and I think Snickers.

I say like;

you think sex, while I think WordPress.

I say rich;

you think ten-year plan, I think fattening.

I say, “Do you hear what I’m saying,”

and you say, “Yeah, I hear you.”

Good.

I’m…

View original post 5 more words

Energy-Saving Steps and Missteps

A p r o n h e a d -- Lilly Green

With everyone scrambling to cut energy costs, I thought I’d pass along a few of my family’s timely tips:

1.  Replace energy-sucking halogen lamps (350-watts) with fluorescent floor lamps (63-watts) for the equivalent illumination.  I got mine at one store, then of course promptly found them at a neighboring store for two-thirds the price.  When you factor in the cost of gasoline in returning the original purchase, I probably saved fifteen cents.  But as my dad used to say, “If you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.”  Or was it, “Take care of the dollars because the pennies don’t matter a hoot?”

2.  Replace all light bulbs with fluorescent ones.  These bulbs are not to be used on a dimmer, on a 3- way switch, or in a top-heavy floor lamp.  They also shouldn’t be used in recessed receptacles because given the fact that…

View original post 711 more words

A Child’s Snow

A p r o n h e a d -- Lilly Green

Tractor treads in fresh white snow,

perfect form with heel and toe.

Angels fallen, rise again,

thoughtless sins of little men.

Fence posts peeking, winter’s quilt,

woven cold with crystal silk.

Words in vapor down the hill,

carve a path both loud and still.

View original post

A Maze In Grace

Apronhead

Fumbling,

rushing headlong,

hanging on and pressing in path after path,

and the end becomes more and more important than these endless turns and

blank walls. Persevering,

stumbling, and

receiving grace for the task—

amazing.

View original post

And Words Fall

Apronhead

It’s like sign language in the fog;

it’s like shouting into the wind, this barely touch and go we do—

me vulnerable,

me exposed,

left soul-naked and alone. And words fall.

And I can’t care more than you about connection and communion, and

I can’t expect more from the unwilling. So should I stop talking, coming,

trying to imagine your silence might be full of concern, prayer, and even

love.

Though silence might not mean indifference, that’s what it feels like.

Though silence might not mean abandonment, that’s what it feels like. And

closing a door to a sliver of possibility is better than these quiet beatings,

these solo-sadnesses of what is repeated

time

after

time.

View original post

My Book of Uncommon Prayers: State of Mine

Apronhead

It is a selfish state of mine when all the world exists for me; and

in my mind,

I weigh worth against my own need. And

a demagogue rails and acts the fool, and I rail back because of how he makes me feel; and

it’s my opinions that hang in the balance not the fates of rulers and nations.

And a bully’s words never fail to disappoint—and

it’s my cynicism and disillusionment that hang in the balance not the fates of souls.

It is a selfish state of mine when there are so many FundMe’s and so many pictures of the abandoned and bleeding that it becomes easier and easier to scroll on by—

dismissing the problem because it is not

mine.

A lasting look might bring conviction, and I have neither time nor energy for conviction

in this worn state of mine.

*****************

My heart gets smaller as…

View original post 51 more words

Whispers

Apronhead

Whispers thread through the flaming rage,

almost lost, almost imperceptible, drowned out by opinion, history, frenzied fury, and flailing fists.

The whispers tip toe in my tossing mind, seeking a place to land and be heard.

They are the filaments of hope, the clinging truths that cannot be destroyed by rhetoric or abuse or repeated dogma.

They are woof and warp, the solid underpinning of this spinning, unsettled mess.

Are you listening? Am I listening?

We are all the same—blood and bone.

We are all broken—body and soul.

We are all human—color and kind.

God loves. And

He whispers in the tumult

to see as He does and love as He loves.

————————–

Romans 13:10 (NLT)

Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

1 John 4:7-8 (NLT)

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who…

View original post 36 more words

WPC: Face in a Crowd (of Poppies!)

Humming in the Golden Hour

 

 

How to Spend More Than You Make

A p r o n h e a d -- Lilly Green

Being rich is highly overrated.  Not everyone wants to be a millionaire (Cue music!).  There are a lot of us who are quite content to barely get by and whine.  Wealth is too much responsibility; and personally, I chafe at the stifling confines of a budget.

Here are ten helpful hints to follow if you would like to join the two or three of us who would rather spend more money than we make.

1. Always go grocery shopping when you are hungry, preferably with kids.  If your own kids are unavailable, or have perhaps grown up and left home, borrow the neighbor’s.
2. Buy a treadmill (or any other high-ticket workout item) that you’ll never use.  It works well as a clothes tree; and eventually, if you’re lucky, you can sell it at a loss on Craig’s List.  If by any chance you get murdered by your Craig’s List contact, your…

View original post 243 more words