Seen in passing

Click to "embiggen" for detail

This alley in downtown Los Angeles gives onto the stage door of the Los Angeles Theatre. A news-stand shelters under a pigeon-spattered awning. Why the potted plant?

Seen in passing from a moving car, it makes you want to go back and be in the picture.

Thematic Photographic - Monochrome madness

Each week Carmi at Written, Inc. has challenged readers with a theme for photographic inspiration. This week the photographic challenge continues with the theme "monochrome madness."

Green, green and green. Limes on a lime tree.

Apostacy

"The Last Judgement," facade tympanum, church of St. Michel, Dijon, France. Attributed to Hugues Sambin, fl c 1540.

In 1209 some 10,000 French Crusaders descended on the town of Beziers in Languedoc in southern France. They burned the town and slaughtered all the inhabitants - perhaps twenty thousand people. Captured prisoners were tortured, their eyes gouged out and their lips, noses and ears cut off before being killed. Even those sheltering in churches for sanctuary were killed. Simon de Montfort, one of the Crusade leaders, justified the killing of fellow Christians by saying "Tuez les tous, le Dieu reconnaitra les siens," - or Kill them all. God will know his own.

This was the Albigensian Crusade, so called because the people who lived in the area around the town of Albi belonged to a sect that believed that the corporeal world was tainted and evil, and that the Roman Catholic Church, with its opulence and wealth and its privileged, politically powerful leaders, was a manifestation of that evil.

Over the 50 years, with the blessing of Pope Gregory IX, Crusaders occupied the Languedoc and conducted an Inquisition that killed over a million people.

The victims were not pagans, atheists, or members of another religion. They were Christians who, observing the corruption and worldliness of the people who held power in the church, turned away from it. For this crime of apostacy, their brethren massacred them.

Vezelay Abbey, facade

History is full of tales about the persecution of apostates. And it's not just Christians - almost all of the world's religions have a history of treating those who abandon their faith with hatred, scorn, and cruelty.

This kind of thing still goes on today, and even when not on such a horrific level, it's still ugly. I recently saw an example of it when a writer I know and respect wrote a guest post at a blog about teaching. Her post was about teaching your children about religion.

She wrote that she had been raised in a certain religious faith, but that as a young teen, she had begun to doubt, observing the inequities of power within the church. Later as a young woman, her growing disenchantment caused her to leave her faith.

She told this as background for her teaching her kids about all the world's religions, so they could explore and make their own decisions. Then she told how her daughter, hungering for more, made her own spiritual journey and found faith on her own despite her mother's agnosticism.

It was a moving and beautiful post, and most responses to it were civil. There was some dissent, of course. A few took offense at what they felt was a negative view of their faith. Some respectfully pointed out what they saw as her error. Some reacted with anger, claiming she was "bashing" their church. Some condescendingly disparaged her lack of devotion and faith, and suggested she was a weak person. Yet others called her a bad parent, and a poor example to her children. Still others demanded that her post be removed and that she never be allowed to write again.

But hey - it's the blogosphere. Controversies can rage in the comments section of blogs. The blog administrator moderated the comments, deleting the nasty ones.

Only it didn't stop there. The anger pursued the author to her own blog. Soon nasty things began to appear in the comment section of completely unrelated posts. Bible verses appeared, warning against damnation in the afterlife. There were namecalling, insults about her appearance, warnings to her family, and libelous accusations.

Notre Dame de Paris facade - figure represents "The Church."

The furor was surprising. Even though internet anonymity often spurs people to say things they would never say in person, it surprised me how nasty it was, and for such a minor offense. How could one brief account of someone's personal decision inspire such ugliness? The original post didn't condemn others who remained in the faith; it didn't try to convince others to follow her example; it didn't quarrel with the doctrine - all it said was "I've left the faith, myself."

And what banal, petty ugliness, too! One person, expressing glee at the opportunity to post on the forum, wrote:

"goodie! it seems like us early birds won't be deleted so soon. "

then went on to excoriate the author for being "rude" and called her stupid.

"goodie"? Tell me, please, what motivates someone who claims to believe in the teachings of Christ, to express such pleasure at being given an opportunity to say hurtful things to another person? Why the joy at being able to express hate?

Notre Dame de Paris - chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Hatred of apostates has resulted in oceans of blood spilt over the centuries. What God would want that done in His name?

"...I by my works will show you my faith." - James 2:18

What are you showing us about your faith, "goodie"?

Elbow grease

I've been spending part of the weekend scrubbing hideous old wax and dirt off our hardwood floors.

A while back, our housecleaner mopped our floors with Mop n' Glo. It's a wax, and it shouldn't have been used on our hardwood floors, which already have a finish. The wax hardened to a malleable stickiness, and trapped dirt. Subsequent moppings trapped more dirt. The floors looked hideous, and even if you mopped again with soapy water, it didn't make a difference. So I searched the internet and read things from other people who'd had the same problem.

The only way to get Mop n' Glo off wood floors is to dissolve it with a gentle solvent, and scrub it off. Board by board. After some experiments with vinegar, soapy ammonia, and Windex, I settled on Windex as the best choice.

Tools - Spray bottle of Windex. Sponge with a scrubbing surface. Bucket of clean warm watter. Roll of paper towels.

Spray a small area about 1' square with Windex. Wait about 3-5 minutes. Take the sponge and start scrubbing. If the wax has dissolved enough, it will peel away almost like dead skin. Rinse the sponge in the water, and wipe down the wood with the soft side of the sponge. Then wipe away the wax residue with a paper towel. Sometimes the wax is stubborn, so you have to spray again.


Now, do that again, for every square foot of your floor.

Between Saturday and Sunday, I cleaned about 80 square feet - which is a little under half of my kitchen floor. And there's the entire living room to go.

My wrists and shoulders ache and my fingertips are all pruney. To be fair, though, it took a while to experiment with the right technique. Once I figured it out, it went a lot faster. I think I'm going to rent a bunch of movies and spend an entire day on the living room floor.

It sure makes a difference, though, doesn't it?

Thematic Photographic - Monochrome madness

Each week Carmi at Written, Inc. has challenged readers with a theme for photographic inspiration. This week the photographic challenge continues with the theme "monochrome madness."

I like the shaded white, buff, and light gray in this shot. There's just the touch of green shown from the vine against the wall. This is a spiral staircase made of stone, in the courtyard of a 1541-built house in Dijon, France.

Plum blossoms

The plum tree in my backyard is beginning to bloom!

Thematic Photographic - Monochrome madness

Each week Carmi at Written, Inc. has challenged readers with a theme for photographic inspiration. This week the photographic challenge continues with the theme "monochrome madness."


Brown lizard on brown dirt. One of our small Topanga lizards that lives in my yard, he hides in plain sight by blending into the landscape.

Except that touch of blue on his belly underside.

Downpour in paradise

Friday evening, after a long and hectic work week, we drove out to Malibu. We had been invited to spend the night in a small cottage overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Our friends own a main house with a garden, and have just put the finishing touches on a small cottage below their property. Recently remodeled, the cottage was perfect for a secret getaway, a retreat, a romantic refuge.

By the time we got there, it was almost dark. The sky was cloudy, and storms were predicted for later that night. A funny kind of rendez-vous, with a thunderstorm predicted, but we were game.

Our destination was high atop a hill above Pacific Coast Highway near Paradise Cove. The road climbs up through a residential neighborhood, past homes that range from modest to massive, from charming to appalling. As the road winds up, the right side drops away into a wild deep canyon. Finally, another ascent past a county water tank on the left, and just before the pavement turns to dirt there's the entrance to Rancho del Cielo.

The main house and garden are beyond the curved driveway, but we had been told to park here and take the rustic stairway down the hillside to the cottage.

The cottage was originally two rooms, a kitchen, tiny bath, and bedroom, but a screened porch that runs the width of the cottage adds more space. The screened openings reveal a view of the Pacific Ocean.


Sofas, daybeds, and cozy couches offer havens to rest and lounge and watch the sky and sea. In summer, the breeze flows through the porch, scented by the native sages and coastal chaparral. In winter the screens are covered with plastic storm windows that shelter the porch from the wind and rain. Quilts and coverlets are there to shield from the evening breeze, or the winter chill.

The cottage opens onto a small lawn and patio tucked under the cliff the cottage clings to. There's a retaining wall that's been cleverly crafted to hold an outdoor fireplace, for warmth and cheer on cool nights. The space is so private that there are outdoor showers, where one can luxuriously clean off the salt and sand of the beach beneath a warm sky.

What could be more relaxing?

Friday evening, we were treated to a home-cooked dinner, champagne, and a chance to catch up with our friends. While we chatted, our dog Jack played with our hosts' dog, Franny. So far, the storm held off the coast. After dessert, our friends headed up the hill to the main house, and we stayed on the cottage porch, waiting for the predicted storm to hit.

And it did. It whirled in, at midnight or so, flinging wind-driven rain at our windows. We snuggled up on the porch. We read our books, and watched the Pacific storm come in.

The next morning dawned bright and clear, and while [The Man I Love] slept in, I explored the path above and an open hillside deck amongst the olive groves, that opened onto the view. I got pretty muddy, too! - in winter you should bring sturdy boots! Jack came out with me to sniff the fresh air. Birds wheeled in the sunlight - scrub jays, mockingbirds, goldfinches and seagulls.

It was clear for a moment, but then another wave of rain blew in, making the plastic storm windows breathe into the cottage. It was a good reason to go inside and take my coffee to the cozy daybed again. And wake up [The Man I Love].

We spent the day watching the waves of rain blow across the sky, clear, and then blow in again. If it was clear, we'd go outside and listen to the birds sing from the brush, but when the next cold breeze blew, we retreated to our cozy nest. We read, we napped, we enjoyed the day.

We took afternoon tea with our host before we got in the car and came back home. And even though we were only a short distance from home, we felt as relaxed and happy as though we had traveled off to a desert isle retreat miles away.

It's a good lesson. Take some little breaks from your work, and the world. Take some time to relax. You don't have to travel far - you can find retreats nearby. Refuge is where you find it.

If you want to retreat to this particular cottage in Malibu - email me. I can guarantee you'll enjoy it. The cottage at Rancho del Cielo is available for short stays and vacation retreats.

Take some time

We had a full weekend, enjoyed our visit to Malibu, took a hike and went out to the movies. I need a little more time to tell you all about it.

I found this little green moth taking a break during the rainstorm. Such a color!