Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to welcome everyone to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers---whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between. Come back here and enter the URL of that post below. Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments! 

If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup. I'm glad to have everyone here, and just want to remind you that posts linked below should contain a link back here. 

Well, I'm home.  Unfortunately, we didn't win.  I wrote a post comparing the ritual of the courtroom to the ritual of the church.  I have to say though that if I have to be stuck away from home working for a month, Lexington KY is a nice place to be.  Except for the jury, the folks were all as nice as they could be to us.  (and I'm not knocking the jury,only wishing for a different outcome).

I have two book reviews up this week.  Woodrose Mountain is a romance I read some time ago.  Day After  Night is about holocaust survivors in Israel.  

I'm Home--and Some Thoughts About Ritual

I'm home.  Closing arguments were Monday and I was on a plane Tuesday.  I didn't stay and wait for the verdict, and unfortunately, I"m glad I left.  We lost.  If you want to know more about the trial, google "Michael Leman".  I'm not going to discuss it, though I will say the press coverage was biased.

The thought struck me in court about how we use ritual to place a sense of importance and gravity on a situation.  The Mass, the source and summit of our faith, is scripted almost start to finish.  Whether the response is "and also with you" or "and with your spirit", it is known by all involved regularly and it is a response not common outside the ritual.  Everyone has his/her place.  There is a beginning and an end.  Perhaps it would seem more like going to see my buddy Jesus if it was more spontaneous, or if the format was less set, but are we called to relate to Jesus more as buddy or more as authority?

Courts have their rituals from the knock stating  that the judge or jury is entering the room, to those in attendance rising to greet the judge and jury.  Witnesses are sworn, dress codes enforced, movements limited.  If anyone doubted that Court was serious, an afternoon of observing the rituals would quickly convince them that it was.

Have you ever observed a trial?  What did you think?

Book Review: Day After Night

Day After Night: A Novel

About the Book:

Just as she gave voice to the silent women of the Hebrew Bible in The Red Tent, Anita Diamant creates a cast of breathtakingly vivid characters—young women who escaped to Israel from Nazi Europe—in this intensely dramatic novel.

Day After Night is based on the extraordinary true story of the October 1945 rescue of more than two hundred prisoners from the Atlit internment camp, a prison for “illegal” immigrants run by the British military near the Mediterranean coast south of Haifa. The story is told through the eyes of four young women at the camp who survived the Holocaust: Shayndel, a Polish Zionist; Leonie, a Parisian beauty; Tedi, a hidden Dutch Jew; and Zorah, a concentration camp survivor. Haunted by unspeakable memories and losses, afraid to hope, the four of them find salvation in the bonds of friendship and shared experience even as they confront the challenge of re-creating themselves in a strange new country.

Diamant’s triumphant novel is an unforgettable story of tragedy and redemption that reimagines a singular moment in history with stunning eloquence.

My Comments:

I found this on the bargain rack at a bookstore near my hotel in Lexington last weekend.  Since I loved The Red Tent,I thought I'd give it a try and I'm glad I did.  It is hard to imagine the horror the Jews of Europe endured during WWII, and easy to understand why they wanted a place of their own.  I don't really know the history of the Middle East during that era, but I know that the people of  Israel have not really been at peace since then.

This book tells briefly of the wartime experiences of the four main characters and then follows them into and out of Atlit. They are women tortured by the past, but women looking to the future.  They love--and they hate.  They are victims; yet they are survivors too.

I highly recommend the book and  give it an A.

Books by Anita Diamant

Review: Woodrose Mountain

Woodrose Mountain

About the Book:

Evie Blanchard was at the top of her field in the city of angels. But when an emotional year forces her to walk away from her job as a physical therapist, she moves from Los Angeles to Hope's Crossing seeking a quieter life. So the last thing she needs is to get involved with the handsome, arrogant Brodie Thorne and his injured daughter, Taryn.

A self-made man and single dad, Brodie will do anything to get Taryn the rehabilitation she needs…even if it means convincing Evie to move in with them. And despite her vow to keep an emotional distance, Evie can't help but be moved by Taryn's spirit, or Brodie's determination to win her help—and her heart. With laughter, courage and more than a little help from the kindhearted people of Hope's Crossing, Taryn may get the healing she deserves—and Evie and Brodie might just find a love they never knew could exist.

My Comments:
This book is  a sequel to Blackberry Summer, which I reviewed a few months ago.   Taryn was one of the kids hurt in the accident which happened in that book, but you do not have to have read it to enjoy this one. The book takes us through rehab after a major incident; both the rehab of Taryn's body and the rehab of Evie's heart.  The mystery person from Blackberry Summer is back, and if this person is who I think s/he is, I'd love to read his/her story--I'd like to read it even if my guess is wrong.

While the book includes passionate kissing and one couch scene with a couple of undone buttons, the characters stop at that point, definitely putting this in the "clean" category.  However, the physical attraction between these two crackles every time they are in the same scene.

I really enjoyed this quick easy read and since the rehab subplot was almost more important than the romance plot (which was pretty standard and predictable, I'll give the book a B+.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  I was not obligated to write a positive review, or any review.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to welcome everyone to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers---whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between. Come back here and enter the URL of that post below. Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments! 

If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup. I'm glad to have everyone here, and just want to remind you that posts linked below should contain a link back here. 

I'm still out of town but have had some spare time this weekend so I shared a few pictures.

Where Have I Been?

If you are a regular reader, I'm sure you've noticed the dearth of posts. Since the beginning of March, I've been in Lexington Kentucky spending my days and nights in the life role I speak little of here, my day job as a paralegal.  I'm up here with two attorneys defending a criminal case.  Hopefully next week I'll be able to tell you that we won and give you some details, but until then, I'll talk about the weather and other such stuff.

We got up here on a Thursday and on Friday we found ourselves in the hotel hallway during a tornado warning.  Nothing here in Lexington was damaged, but there was extensive damage in Eastern Kentucky.  At Mass Sunday morning the priest said that one small parish had its entire church destroyed.  Lots of folks around here are collecting for the relief effort.  

Sunday when I came out of church, snow was falling, but it was melting as soon as it hit the ground.  However, Monday morning I woke up to see (ok, the picture was taken that afternoon, but you get the idea)

I haven't seen this much snow since I was eight years old and we spent December in Wisconsin.  Of course I had to capture such a memorable moment for posterity's sake.

The first weekend we were here, I rented a car and played tourist a little.  I saw Waveland, a plantation home located not far from out hotel.

I then took a drive into the mountain area to a state park.  I didn't venture too far from the parking lot because the park was pretty empty and I was by myself.  However, for a girl from the flat land of New Orleans, the hills are a treat.

After spending a week freezing, it then got warm.  In New Orleans, we have a few flowering trees/shrubs but other than azaleas, we don't really have any common plants were the flowers turn the whole tree or shrub into a riot of color.  I've really enjoyed seeing the flowering trees here and wish I had some better pictures but I was too busy last week to play photographer and it poured last night, knocking many of the blossoms off the trees.  Still, I walked to the park today and took these pictures.

It's funny I guess--I know dandelions are considered weeds and folks work to keep them from their lawns, but the grass around the here is covered with them and I think they are beautiful, so I took some pictures.

I supposed I could say something profound about outsiders seeing things in different ways or appreciating what we take for granted, but I'll just close by saying that Lexington KY is a beautiful city and that the people we have met have been very nice.  That being said, it will be nice to go home. 

I'd like to welcome everyone to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other. To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival. In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers---whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between. Come back here and enter the URL of that post below. Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments! 

If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup. I'm glad to have everyone here, and just want to remind you that posts linked below should contain a link back here. 

I'm still out of town and still working rather than blogging. Hopefully everyone else has had a more productive blogging week.  

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to welcome everyone to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival.  We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers---whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.

I'm glad to have everyone here, and just want to remind you that posts linked below should contain a link back here.


That out of town trial is still going on.  I got some time off yesterday afternoon and chose to play tourist rather than blog.  I'll tell you more about where I am and what's going on  after it is over.  Hopefully everyone else has had a more productive blogging week.  I'm going to go crash now with a junky non-mind engaging novel and then head to mass tomorrow--I lucked into a nearby parish I really like.  Have a great week and enjoy each other's posts. I doubt I'll get around to reading many, I have a disc full of records to review tomorrow.  

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to welcome everyone to Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival.  We are a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share our best posts with each other.  To particpate, go to your blog and create an entry titled Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival.  In it, highlight one or more of your posts from the past week that you believe would be of interest to Catholic bloggers---whether they are posts reflecting on spiritual matters or posts about antics of Catholic kids, or anything in between.  Come back here and enter the URL of that post below.  Finally, go visit other participants, and leave comments!  If you want a weekly reminder to post, join our yahoogroup.

I'm glad to have everyone here, and just want to remind you that posts linked below should contain a link back here.

This has been a slow blogging week as I am now out of town working on a trial, so my last week in town was busy at work too.  I did post an interview with Sunday Snippets regular Ellen Gable Hrkach, in which we talked about self-publishing and digital publishing.