Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
What’s up, March 1?
Can it really be March already? And the sun is shining and the temperature is in the 40’s. Maybe Winter is over…I know better than that. This is Missouri. But it does seem like we have avoided several Winter’s bullets, unlike people to the North of us. Yesterday my daughter in New Jersey prayed for a snow day, but they only got 4 inches, so the New York City Department of Education called everyone in. I laughed, thinking what would happen here if we got 4 inches. The region would shut down completely.
This reminds me of a little video I have of my grandson, Cameron. He is dressed in his parka with his hood up, talking very earnestly to his father about how there is no snow in Africa. First of all, and I’m paraphrasing his weather report, it’s a hot place and people usually take their shirts off. Also because it’s so hot, snow comes but it melts before it can hit the ground. Also, he declared, there is no Fall in Africa because of the heat but mostly because there are no leaves in Africa. At this point his father had to intervene to correct the message. It turns out that there are lots of trees and leaves in Nigeria, but there are basically two seasons, the wet one and the dry one. After this nugget Cameron declared, “That’s all about Africa.” Weather report concluded.
Anyway, March promises to be a busy month for us, medically speaking. Jan is having surgery soon to remove a suspicious spot on her lung. The good news is that it is very small and surgery is probably the extent of what she will need going forward. So March will be a recuperation month for her. I am asking for prayers for a speedy recovery. I’ve had chest surgery myself and the most annoying part was the chest tube. Annoying but essential if one wants one’s lung to re-expand.
I’ll start March today working on several events. The first one is to get tickets to the soccer match between the US Women’s Team and Team Ireland. They are playing in our new soccer stadium downtown on April 11. There will be three of us Irish descendants attending. Mary is straight from Ireland, so I think I know who she will root for. Rose and I are several generations removed, so we have a choice. USA? Ireland? Both?
Next comes a project for my Unity church. This year we are thinking hard about participating in the Pride fest in Tower Grove Park in September. As an inclusive community, we want to show our support by being a part of the festivities. This is a new initiative for us. My job is to find out details about renting a booth, and to get approval from church to sign up. I have been to Tower Grove Pride and it is a great event, so I’m hopeful that First Unity Church of St. Louis will be a part of it.
Lastly, I have signed up for a webinar this afternoon. It is offered by the US Immigration Services organization, and will cover some new rules for people from Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela. I wish I believed that the rules will streamline processes for people to come here, but I doubt it. I have hope, though. I’ll know more at 2:30 this afternoon.
So, welcome March! Will you go out as a lamb or a lion? That’s the big question.