“From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

a light from the shadows shall spring;

renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.”

• J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship Of The Ring.

It was a challenging week, sometimes heavy. Our friend Mary Kellogg is in an adult home recovering from a  broken hip, Ed Gulley was diagnosed with a brain  tumor, I set off to start my own small refugee and immigrant support group, i was bitten by a spider and experienced great discomfort.

At week’s end, joy and hope. We bought a used van to help some of the refugees and immigrants coming to America who are in great need.

I learned again that joy comes from sorrow and light after dark. This is what it means to be human, no one escapes life or runs from it. I face it squarely or not at all. I was challenged on many levels this week, some I wrote about, some I couldn’t share. And here i am, standing tall and proud and ready for another week.

I am spent, but at peace.

The Bog was a perfect place to go to end the week, it was a cold, rainy Friday. I love to watch the pool players there, the sound of the stick hitting those balls is calming to me. So is our friend Kelly. I used to play pool and love it, the sound of the game and it’s pace still ground me.