People used to think Heather and I were twins

This picture of three of the four Bluemlein girls was on my screen saver slide show this morning

In the brief time it was up, I was unable to identify whether or not I am one of the Bluemlein girls in said photo. I searched my highly illogically "organized" pictures files for some while before finding it. Upon further study, I have concluded that I'm the one of the left. The glasses are definitely mine at least.

Another preliminary Europe post

For those interested parties, my photos of Europe are now posted on Facebook. The "best of" hits will be appearing on my blog before too long.

The Unofficial Europe Post

Internet time is scarce, but I flatter myself that some of you might be wondering what I'm up to. I will give a brief report.

I arrived in London safely. And then "Bienvenue a Paris" (pronounced Par-ee). Four beautiful, whirlwind days in Paris (motto: "I'm getting too old for this") and back to London (motto "I thought 10 days would be enough, but I think I was wrong).

I'm getting home next Wednesday and will give a more complete report, although I'm already forgetting a lot of the details. Hopefully I'll have pictures at that point, but I can't promise since I haven't been able to use my camera and am dependent on the file-sharing of others.

Having a lovely time.

In the subway? Seriously?

I hopped on the subway this morning in an unusual state of mental unclarity, perhaps even bordering on anxiety. My mind was caught up in stressful and vaguely unpleasant thoughts. As my mind was jumbling along with a general lack of sunshine, I was utterly surprised to look up on the subway wall and find that monks have started recruiting via subway advertisements:

I was fascinated--FASCINATED I tell you-- with this sign. I must have spent half of my commute staring at it and pondering it. I mean there are so many different things to think about! At the end, I was intrigued by how happy, fulfilled, intellectually stimulated and diverse they all looked. Although my monk loyalties have always been firmly with the Jesuits (this is based entirely on the book "Silence"), I felt a certain kinship with the men in the ad. I found myself thinking that surely being a Franciscan would be a definite step to life-long bliss. I would have seriously considered it for myself except for the fact that I'm not 1) Catholic, 2) male, and 3) willing to be celibate the rest of my life.

But as I stood there pondering the state of the Catholic church, the continued existence of Franciscan monks, and mostly a life officially and very publicly dedicated to Christ and forgetting self to serve others, somehow the cloud from my mind lifted, my morning prayer for clarity in my mind was answered AND the answer I had been looking for came almost without me realizing it. And my typical feelings of peace and calm returned to me. The Lord works in wonderful and mysterious ways.

And, I really really love that subway ad. On so many levels.