Lil' T's Top Ten Books of 2005

I didn’t read ten books this year, but I’ve read these ten (over and over and over).


Where Are Maisy’s Friends? by Lucy Cousins
Who will be hiding under the table? And in the closet?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The mystery of transformation captured in a little book has the hungry caterpillar eating through a piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake and one slice of watermelon before he gets a tummy ache.

Where is God? by Lawrence and Karen Kushner
Of course, Cowboy Buddy reads it to her saying, “I am God . . .”

Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Clement Hurd
Read Psalm 139 and tell me it’s not the same thing.

Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field
Mommy’s favorite.

Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathman
How does Zookeeper Joe NOT know there’s a gorilla, an elephant, a giraffe, an armadillo, a hyena, a mouse and a lion in his bedroom? I personally like how the little red balloon drifts further and further away.

Tails by Matthew Van Fleet
Sometimes tails can be stinky . . .

Brown Bear by Eric Carle
A classic.

Snuggle Puppy!: A Little Love Song by Sandra Boyton
Sung to the tune of “My Baloney Has a First Name.”

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Clement Hurd
I just read somewhere that they’ve photo-shopped the cigarette out of Clement Hurd’s hand in the picture on the back cover. About time, I say. We love, love, love this one.

The Peaceable Kingdom

Or cold, drafty house.


This is a bitter-sweet time for me. Two weeks ago I announced that I'll be leaving the church I've served for the past ten years for a new parish. I'm excited about the move. I'm ready for my own church and feel like it is time to spread my wings. But I've been with the same church for a decade now, and it's hard to imagine anything else. Yesterday, after our main service, there was a reception to honor my ten year anniversary. I had just preached a sermon on the Magnificat, Mary's prophetic speach in Luke 1. There was lots of music in the service, including one anthem some of the our youth, just the girls, sang. Little did I know at the time, but the anthem had been commissioned in my honor. Here are the words:

She was so young, not yet mature

an undistinguished youth;

yet from her mouth came poetry

with life-affirming truth.

"My soul is bursting!" she exclaimed.

"The Lord of heaven and earth

has looked with favor on a girl

of common, humble birth,"

She said, "The proud have had their day!

The mighty are undone.

The poor and hungry eat like kings.

The rich are on the run."

They might have scoffed in her own day

"Who cares what you believe?

You're no one, just a troubled teen

as mutable as Eve."

Will we allow this youthful voice

to penetrate our core?

May Mary's briliant freedom song

inspire our faith to soar.

The lyrics were written John Thornburg, and Jane Marshall wrote a tune to accompany it. Needless to say, I was moved to tears. I'm just glad they waited until after the service to tell me about the anthem, or would have NEVER made it through the service. It's a good but emotional time, and I feel nothing but gratitude for the past ten years.

Where Are You, Wesley Downs?

He almost always sat next to me in class because I followed him alphabetically. In high school, he and about six other brainy guys saved my ass in AP Calculus. It took a village. Wes was pure-T-odd-ball. Even though he was brilliant at math, his passion was a story he continually worked on, a handwritten, illustrated manuscript called “The WesCon Delta,” a story of a kid named Wes who, after the destruction of earth, was the only surviving human and was trying to make his way alone in the galaxy. Even then, I knew it was a sad thing for a teenager to write about. He gave me his book to read once, which I’m pretty sure I pretended to do. I was nice to him, but not too nice. One day he gave a beautifully drawn picture of a cross on a hillside in a sunset. I Googled his name last night and found nothing. I don’t know what made me think of Wes, but now I can’t stop wondering what happened to him.


By the way, I think these guys are slackers.

And here's a lovely gift idea for the clergy-people on your Christmas list.

Our Morning So Far

I simply was not going to get out of bed before 6:00 am. Lil’ T was none to happy with me, but that was my decision, and I fancy myself in charge. Cowboy Buddy is conveniently out of town for our morning dance of juice, Wiggles and now ever-present tension between Rufus (the dog) and Lil’ T, who gives him toys and then screams when he actually takes them. And then there’s Ditty, T’s knitted blanket, her companion through thick and thin. She’s standing at my knee as I write this, Ditty held up to her nose, middle two fingers in her mouth, head against my leg. Very sweet, but sometimes I feel like I have an extra appendage. I know there will probably be a day when I’ll long for the time that she wanted to be with me, so I try just to let it be. But having an extra appendage makes it hard to type.

Lil T’s Ditty was lovingly knitted for her by Sandee, our favorite baby sitter, who nannied for T for about nine months after I went back to work part-time. We love Sandee and Sandee adores T. She made the first Ditty as a shower gift for me while I was still pregnant, and since then has made two more: School Ditty (for day care naps) and the newly-arrived Car Ditty, which she just brought over the other day. Both school Ditty and Car Ditty are smaller versions of the original. Car Ditty lives in the house and travels back and forth to the car, so right now we just call them Big Ditty and Little Ditty. Sunday after noon I found myself at the Verizon Wireless store purchasing a new cell phone after Lil’ T dropped mine in a glass of water. Usually I like to buy new gadgets, but I was not thrilled about having to make this purchase. Anyway, T was in her stroller in the Ditty position, fingers in mouth, blanket held to her nose. Another customer looked down at her and said, “She’s all about that blankey, isn’t she?” “If you only knew,” I said. “If you only knew.”