Traveling

Tomorrow, my sister and I are flying down to Florida to visit my aunt for a week. Not quite sure about everything the itinerary holds in store, but I do know that keywords such as "beach," "pool," and "Disney World" are involved. 

Excepting the unease I'm choosing to ignore which goes along with the idea of sitting in a chair 6 miles up in the sky for 2.5 hours, I'm looking forward to the trip. It's going to be really weird to go from 30 degrees in the morning to 75 in the evening. Oh the wonders of modern transportation.

I really like this picture...not sure why.
And it in no way relates to this post.

So anyways, no posts till the 8th. But I've had some ideas of things to write about, so maybe they'll turn up here when I get back. You were warned.

Oh, and today, I rediscovered this quote I had come across, and I liked it so much, I had to post it here: "Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; wisdom is humble that he knows no more." (William Cowper) Is that not awesome?

Religious hypocrisy

"There are bogus men of God just as there are bogus men of courage. And in the same way as we see that when their honor is put to the test the men of courage are not the ones who make the most noise, so the truly pious men of God, in whose footsteps we should follow, are not those who put on the biggest show."

"....just as I believe that if there are still heroes none should be more respected than those who sincerely believe in God, and that nothing on earth is finer or more noble than the sacred fervor of true faith, I also think that there is nothing more odious than a brazen show of spurious piety by shameless hypocrites and self-advertising Pharisees who strike sacrilegious, two-faced attitudes and unrestrainedly exploit and freely mock everything humankind holds most holy and most sacred; people who, putting their own interest first, turn faith into a profession and a commodity and set out to buy credit and public honors by rolling their hypocritical eyes and faking zeal. I mean the ones you see displaying spectacular fervor and turning the path to heavenly salvation into the road to earthly fortune." 

Moliere, Tartuffe

Miscellanies #2

Spring is coming.......

1. THE PACKERS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Maddie & I are going to be reading the Odyssey soon for the Junto. Get ready for half-mad ravings of admiration for it in the weeks to follow.

3. I got this book the other week at the library for $0.25. Epic win.

4. Today, I finished reading Dante's Purgatory. Not as good as Inferno, but it was interesting to read because I've never really given the place much attention (probably because I don't believe it exists...ha). As is pointed out in the notes of my book, there's no fire until the end, which is odd because I always thought the traditional Catholic view is that the place is a sort of furnace that burns away your remaining sin. Huh. Anyways, I really enjoy watching how Dante chose to arrange the respective "destinations" - examining his reasoning behind the books is really thought-provoking.
5. I hate the lame attempts at philosophy the makers of Dove chocolates put on their wrappers. Apparently, they've gotten desperate and have turned to asking others to contribute their  homemade profundities. So this is what I saw the other day:

"The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?"
Jeremiah 17:9

Blizzard

Cars are buried in snowdrifts, people are stranded in their houses, and friends in Texas are reporting sub-freezing temperatures. Yes, my dear readers, global warming is upon us.

After being summoned from my nice, WARM bed this morning, this is what greeted me when I looked out the kitchen window:

 

The awesome thing about this is that, when people heard there was a blizzard coming, they were like, "Cool. Hey, the Packers are going to the Superbowl." But if North Carolina was expecting 1 inch of snow, there'd be panic and all Walmarts would be raided for bread and milk. Hahaha.

Snow on the icicles

Blizzards are fun until you've been out shoveling in 20 degree weather with 20 mph. winds for an hour and a half. And that's after you've gotten 1/10 of your driveway done. Thank goodness for nice neighbors with snowblowers.

The patio table!

Last night, when we could hardly see out the window, we were pretty sure we saw a lightning flash. Is that possible in a blizzard? I will leave you with that profound thought. Stay warm!