Bonnets, Baskets, and Bunnies: An Easter Linkup

Published by CAstfalk on 04/05/2015

Resurrexit Sicut Dixet, Alleluia! Alleluia!

To celebrate Easter, let’s share our Easter-ly things. Post some pics of your family surrounded by Easter flowers on the church altar, cute kiddies in their Easter outfits, what the Easter Bunny used to fill your baskets, or bunnies – of the chocolate or live variety. Let’s share them here and celebrate the end of what was for many a very long winter, and best of all – our risen Lord!

Don’t have a blog? That’s okay. Let’s hear about your Easter in ten words. [Use the comment box.] (For example, Jelly bean overload, Easter grass in hair, too much chocolate. Or, Mass at dawn, decorated eggs, live chicks, Alleluia! He’s risen!)

Easter blessings to you and yours!

Easter Sunday, 2015

After twice being woken by our oldest daughter wondering if it was time to get up, we let the kids loose to find their baskets.

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Seven Quick Takes Friday

Published by CAstfalk on 04/03/2015

Signs of Spring

My two pregnancies characterized by round-the-clock severe nausea coincided with spring. For several years after the second of those pregnancies, the dawn of spring itself nauseated me. Associations are tricky things. Thankfully, those seasons have past, and I can appreciate the beauty and wonder of spring again.

Being that last week’s egg hunt and baseball practice were canceled due to snow, I’d started to wonder if spring would actually show its face in 2015. It may be a little late this year, but all the signs are there.

–1–

Our hyacinths are poking their way up through last year’s leaves.

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Should Cursive Go the Way of the Dinosaur?

Published by CAstfalk on 03/30/2015

Since Common Core Standards require the teaching of legible writing in only kindergarten and first grade, the possibility of cursive writing becoming extinct has spawned discussion about its value.

As a child, I remember the eager anticipation of learning cursive. It was as if I were being introduced to a secret language, one known only to adults and older children. In my mind, it was second only to using invisible ink.

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You’re Invited to an Easter Blog Party!

Published by CAstfalk on 03/29/2015

It’s been a long winter for many of us. Extreme cold. Loads of snow. Lots of sickness. Let’s celebrate Our Risen Lord and the return…

A Little Photo Fiction

Published by CAstfalk on 03/25/2015

Two-hundred words based on this photo prompt at Sunday Photo Fiction:

Tabitha steadied the gun and took aim. A red line marked her target, wiggling as her wrist quavered. She pulled the trigger.

“There.” She foisted the gun on Stephen, then returned the flatware to its shelf. “What’s next?”

Stephen sighed and studied the papers he held. “Uh, twelve chargers?” He glanced around the housewares section, empty save for another browbeaten guy and overeager woman. “Wouldn’t that be in electronics?”

She giggled. “No, silly. It’s a decorative base for the plate.”

Five Favorites: Lenten Check-in, Check-up

Published by CAstfalk on 03/24/2015

Prayer Edition

I missed the Lenten midway checkpoint. Maybe on purpose. I haven’t exactly done a bang-up job with Lent this year. I can’ t say I mustered any great ambition to kick off the annual forty days of preparation for Easter. I share a bathroom with five other people, have no automatic dishwasher or microwave, and no hot water in the bathroom sink. Don’t I sacrifice enough every day?

Uh, no. Not really. Not that those couldn’t be legitimate sacrifices, but it would require performing them with the right intention. Which I haven’t.

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Is the Happily Ever After Ending a Meaningless Trope?

Published by CAstfalk on 03/23/2015

A recent Smithsonian article (“Why Can’t Romance Novels Get Any Love?”) discusses the lack of academic and intellectual respect given to the romance genre. It’s an interesting read, but just as illuminating were the comments, some dismissive not only of the genre but specifically the “happily ever after.” (HEA) The article offers many points for discussion, but I’m going to focus specifically on the HEA element.

Is the HEA a product of our deluded imaginations – our desperate grasp at a world in which everything turns out well in the end? Or does it point to a divine hope – something more profound than a feel-good conclusion? Is it a meaningless trope or does it point to the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love?

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My Guest Post: What 10 Minute Novelists Means to Me

Published by CAstfalk on 03/19/2015

Read my guest post today at 10 Minute Novelists, What 10 Minute Novelists Means to Me. Writing time was—and is—whenever I can grab it amid diaper…

Category: My Scribbler’s Heart

Resurrexit Sicut Dixet, Alleluia! Alleluia!

Easter Sunday, 2015

Signs of Spring

Prayer Edition