Right on Time

When Easter is early, the red bud trees celebrate with vibrant pink blossoms , but often the dogwoods don't bloom.
Children brave the chill to gather colored eggs, some plastic, which have been brought or perhaps laid by an Easter Bunny.
Girls don Easter frocks and winter coats.
If rain falls and obscures the sun for the sunrise service, some might express disappointment,
Easter lunch of ham, sweet potatoes, lime jello congealed salad, green bean casserole and rolls is finished off with either coconut pie or pineapple pie. Time for a nap. Easter has come and gone.

Easter comes early this year and glorious sunshine brings warmth, but so do jackets and sweaters.
Rain, even storms, are predicted for this Sunday, March 27,2016.

Easter can never be held hostage. A boulder did not keep Jesus in the tomb. What's a bit of a frost or a deluge?
Holy week began with Hosanna! on Palm Sunday and ended with darkness and grief, doubt and questions on Good Friday.
They did not know what we know.
They did not know that Sunday would be the day that changed everything.

With belief in a risen Savior, everything changes. Nothing is impossible.
Easter never "comes and goes."
Easter is the promise that the God With Us (Emmanuel) of Christmas continues through a Savior who understands our human condition as no other. He lived, served others, illustrated his points as a Master teacher, was betrayed, though tempted had no sin, suffered cruelty beyond measure, forgave, and died.
On the third day, however, he overcame death and the grave.
That kind of power does not "come and go."

Our Savior Lives - Sunday's Coming!
We will celebrate Jesus' Resurrection - Not Early. Not Late. He's always Right on Time.

Fashion Mantra on a Cracker Barrel Magnet

              After a shopping trip to the Outlet Shops in Pigeon Forge with splurges at the $5 rack, I had a consciousness raising experience. I saw a magnet while gobbling breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The magnet featured a mismatched, middle-aged woman wearing a tacky outfit carrying a Queen Elizabeth handbag and sporting orthopedic shoes. Across the bottom the caption read, “Just because it’s on sale does not mean you should buy it!”  It capsuled my new mantra for shopping trips.

            While I can’t bring myself to pay an eye-popping price for any outfit, especially since I’m now on a fixed income,  I’ve come to understand why I should not purchase fashion items crammed onto a circular rack with a sign telling shoppers to “take an additional 75% off already reduced prices.” There’s a good reason the item was making that kind of fashion statement.     

       Today, I was suckered into purchasing a style watcher magazine for Spring 2016. A few

moments of waiting in line at the grocery store and I spotted these headlines: “What’s in for

SPRING,” “Best New Trends, Colors, and Pieces to Wear NOW!” The featured color on the cover

was pink which reminded me I once swished and twirled in a two-piece Miss Pat full skirt and

blouse combo in pretty pink paired with a contoured pink leather belt. Black and white saddle-

oxfords with white socks completed the look.

            As I paged through the style magazine at home, I was taken aback by the pages I thought contained a What Not to Wear feature. Instead, I was surprised by  “new looks” in boho prints, jungle patterns, and giant geometric designs for the "curvy" body type. The caption: “Wear it long to feature the thinnest part of your legs.” 

        “Street fashion” must be the euphemism for “what to wear at the corner of Lamar and

Lamar” in Memphis. Red spike pumps with fringe at the heel caught my attention. In another

magazine section, models displayed wardrobes epitomizing their advice to “go crazy with

mismatching prints – just repeat some of the same colors for cohesion.”

            A subtle skirt with a whisper of pink shading, cream silk blouse,topped with a soft pink, sleeveless long vest coupled with pretty pink heels caught my eye. It was the prettiest, classiest outfit in the magazine. The headline screamed, “Just the Shoes: $1045” and advised me I could make Spring headlines in a similar outfit, a knock-off for a mere $371, spending a pittance, only $99 for pink satin pumps. That’s at least a whopping 65% savings when buying everything from a discount retailer at "substantial markdowns on already reduced prices."
           Perhaps I should rethink my shopping mantra.

A Million Four-Leaf Clovers

    Found in an autograph book tucked away in my cedar chest was the very first inscription, penned in my loving grandmother's own hand:

Love be true to her,

Life be dear to her,

Health stay close to her,

Joy draw near to her,

Fortune find what your gifts can do for her,

Search your Treasure House through and through for her.

Follow her steps the wide world over,

You must, for here is the four-leaf clover!

  The wish serves as one of the unifying motif's for The House on Harrison Street. (www.houseonharrison.blogspot.com)
Writing the ancestors' story has been as marvelous as finding a million four-leafed clovers.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Nurse Nancy vs. Nurse Ratched in March Madness

It's been quite a number of years since I saw the Chicago River turn green in honor of St. Patrick's Day. It's also been quite a number of years since I've had no interest whatsoever in March Madness.

Not one of my teams made the Big Dance: Not Memphis, nor Arkansas, not Tennessee, and even Kentucky (the team I love to hate) is a 4-seed with opportunity to lose early.

I don't plan to fill out a bracket and that hasn't happened since forever. Even if I choose the winner by mascot or uniform colors, I've always had a bracket. Not interested this year.

I even missed Selection Sunday, knowing that though Memphis played pretty well in the final going, there was not a chance they'd make the cut. And that's two years in a row. I like Josh Pastner, but the Tigers seem to have more chances to lose than win.


The weather is great, so being outside will add the excitement I look forward to this time of year.
I think I'll have plenty to keep me occupied for a while, though.
You see, I'm about to don my Nurse Nancy persona.
Marvin will undergo out-patient shoulder surgery on Thursday.

I hope March Madness does not include an appearance by "Nurse Ratched."