Poetry Friday: Barbara Crooker, In the Middle

This poem leapt at me this morning. Oddly and justly, only yesterday I looked at the clock on our fireplace mantle, a clock that belonged to my grandfather, and it was 9:20 a.m. I thought, "Oh, I need to wind that. I so often forget...." 

Perfect and poignant, then, for this day, this season, for the elusive hours of our lives. 

In the Middle
by Barbara Crooker

of a life that's as complicated as everyone else's,
struggling for balance, juggling time.
The mantle clock that was my grandfather's
has stopped at 9:20; we haven't had time
to get it repaired. The brass pendulum is still,
....

(Read the rest here, at The Writer's Almanac.)

~~~~~

Julie Larios has the round up at The Drift Record.

(Photo thanks to FreeImages. )

Poetry Friday: Spring and Today

Photo thanks to FreeImages.

Because it's spring. 

Because Atticus will soon be home for the summer. 

(I can almost taste his cooking.)

Because we are all in need of a break. 

Because Billy Collins is Billy Collins. 

Because. 

Today
by Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
....

(Read the whole thing here, at the Poetry Foundation.)

~~~~~

Margaret has the round up at Reflections on the Teche.

Thanks, Our Sunday Visitor -- a 34% discount on You Can Share the Faith, and Discussion Questions for Parishes/Book Clubs

Monday's webinar with Our Sunday Visitor went beautifully, thanks to Tracy Stewart (on whom I have officially bestowed the title, "Webinar Master Extraordinaire" with the subtitle, "I can get Karen to use her webcam correctly!") The webinar can still be viewed at this link, if you'd like to see what we talked about. 

And, Our Sunday Visitor is kindly extending to my blog readers the 34% discount they offered to registrants. 

Just go here, to the OSV shop, and at checkout enter the code YCSTF34. 

(Code expires May 27th.) 

Another thing I'm excited about is that OSV has put together a great set of discussion questions for parishes and book clubs. Just go to You Can Share the Faith at OSV and scroll down to the bottom of the page, where you'll find a link to download the free discussion questions. 

I literally teared up (heart on your sleeve much, Edmisten?) when a registrant let Tracy know that they'd chosen You Can Share the Faith for their parish's discipleship group/book club, saying, "It's a great resource for what we would like to see in our parish." Thank you!

Catching Up: Moving, and Grads, and Webinars, Oh, My!

I've been absent from the blog for all the usual reasons (life, life, and life), plus a few new ones, just to keep things interesting:

• We've been helping my parents get settled in at a picturesque retirement community. They are now only about two hours away from us (instead of fourteen) and we are thrilled. Over the last week, my sister, her husband, my daughters, and I helped my mother sift through many (not all...we're not done yet) of her hundreds and hundreds of books. My sister and I each hauled three boxes of books home because you know how much empty bookshelf space I have: 

This is what my living room looked like after the last used book sale we hit. Then we went to another used book sale. I didn't take another picture. 

• Betsy Ray graduated this weekend from the community college she's been attending. She wants to be an elementary school teacher, so she'll continue next fall at a state college not far from here. College-for-Edmistens, so far, seems to have taken the same shape as Homeschooling-for-Edmistens: piece it together in the way that works best, as economically as possible, keeping goals in mind, while not being afraid to shift gears if something isn't working. Classes in the fall, for both Anne and Betsy, will involve commuting to the state college, taking a class at the community college (Betsy can get one class at a better time/price there), and a couple of online classes at a third college (Anne is dipping into a possible new major, which kind of thrills me because it involves English.) Basically, this means we are dealing with three different schools. The FAFSA is so much fun! 

• I've been doing a lot of interviews for You Can Share the Faith, and tomorrow (May 16, at 11 a.m. central), I'll be doing a webinar with Our Sunday Visitor. They tell me loads of people have signed up, but the great thing about a webinar is that the room is never too crowded. You can find out more about it here, on the registration page. Other recent interviews included Busted Halo and Teresa Tomeo's Catholic Connection. 

• On a completely different note, Ramona's latest favorite website is Creativebug. We sketch, we paint, we play, repeat. 

• To sum up: I'm still alive, in case you wondered. 

Poetry Friday: Emily Dickinson

It's been far too long since I shared anything from my beloved Emily Dickinson. 

Here's hoping your life is full of the thing with feathers. 

Photo credit: Stephanie Berghaeuser, FreeImages.com

Hope is the thing with feathers 
Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

~~~~~

The round up this week is at Poetry for Children.