Saturday

 And the same old drill happened.  You have read it often so I'm assuming you have it memorized, and I'll skip it today.  

                                Cleome comes in lavender white, pink and then a real deep purple.                                                                      They self-seed and are such an easy flower to grow.                                                   And of course, purple and yellow, opposites on the color wheel make them good neighbors.                                                             I see a little zebra grass photo bombing. 

At 8 I was off to church for another soup kitchen Saturday morning gig.  There was a lot to do.  The counter was filled with boxes of bread donated by one of the Kroger stores.  Sometimes we have little and sometimes we have lots. Today there were about 6 boxes of bread. The food recovery program brought fresh vegetables and fruit packaged in individual packages.  There was chocolate and white milk.  One of the first decisions that needs to be made is what goes in a take home sack along with a meal from Second Helpings.  Then what stays in the community room for folks to eat with their meal, The third choice is what do we make available for folks to decide for themselves what they need.  All that needs to happen when the delivery made on Friday has brought a lot of options. And it's best to have those decisions made before the workers arrive.  

We had a new worker, a student from Crispus Attics who was a terrific learner. We were missing three of our regular workers, and he was well received.  This Saturday morning of work counted for a leadership class he is taking.  He will be back next month.

The visitors were many and there was quite an eruption of emotions by two ladies who had met in prison.  It was quite evident that they did not like each other, and it was best that one be escorted out the door.  She had eaten but it was clear to all that these two ladies did not need to be in the same room with each other participating in what seemed to be a contest of who could yell the loudest at the other.  It happens but not very often and I would say it's the first big blow up since Covid.  It just happens.  Just a little excitement.  

It is important that we provide a safe place for the community folks to have a good meal.  It was a little shaky today for a little bit.

Since teaching 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds it's become evident to me that we all are capable of having childhood emotions in us that can come out in unexpected ways.  I saw that again this morning.  One difference is that adults can make more noise and can be harder to redirect.  

Heidi, James and I put together altar arrangements for tomorrow after soup kitchen was over.  We filled the vases with pinecones from the oven and red berries, allowing the berries to spill over the top. I love to put together arrangements like this.  It makes my brain work very hard to put together things we have for the altar arrangements.  When we don't have flowers during lent, the arrangements are thistles painted purple which is the color of the season.  Lent, a time of reflection.  Thistles invite us to reflect on what we carry with us that needs to be redirected. 

                            No flowers for tomorrow.  That gives us a place to play and display.                                                   There was a huge funeral this morning, so the sanctuary was not open to us.  

On the way home I stopped at JoAnn's for more yarn and a little flannel.   No explanation is needed why that happened.  It just did. You all know me very well.  

                                        At some point, more scarves and more burps.  

The afternoon was another knitting and sleeping afternoon.  Those two go together well.  Basketball happened and that sort of concluded the day.  I felt like there was an abundance of energy left even after a busy morning. I'm thinking more than a few months ago.  That's a very good thing that brings a lot of gratitude.  

And one more thing for F. Cass.  It's so hard to find calves liver.  I fixed beef liver.  I think there is a big difference with some similarities but it's different.  So, we ate beef liver.  There is more in the freezer. 

Fried in bacon grease and butter.  A heart attack waiting to happen.