This beautiful desk currently sits in our poorly lit basement, and that is no place to showcase something so special. Mark designed and made this for his dad! This corner cherry desk has carved details on both ends, with a monogram and a symbol from a favorite ski resort. Mark designed the desk to house Richard’s computer and monitors in a new home office. Today I am celebrating this quiet skill and Mark’s generosity.
What stands out to you in this painting?
For me, it is the woman’s sweet face and attitude.
Here is the artist’s statement,
This painting is a personification of justice being satisfied by the gift of Christ, symbolized by light, and of mercy claiming the penitent man. This stands for the grace extended to all such souls who put their faith in Christ. “For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved. What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God” (Alma 42:24; 25). These figures are complex, multifaceted symbolical elements in the composition. Further elements include a large spacious field representing the world, the sunset representing the end of the earthly life that each person eventually faces, and the balustrade separating mortal life from the next stage of existence.
from the Church of Jesus Christ website
The original painting is on display in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, and I ordered a canvas print of it from the Church History Museum gift shop.
I love what it teaches without words about Jesus Christ, justice, and mercy.
I had never been to New York City, so Richard took me there this week. We stayed in an Airbnb not far from Times Square, but definitely on a quiet street. We could walk to our shows in about five minutes.
Vacations and major family events are tough to condense into blog posts. Trips planned by Richard are usually so full that it’s impossible to cover everything, and this trip was just the two of us, so it also feels more personal.
Still, I know that Paige will probably like to see her old stomping grounds, and the future me will like this place marker in time showing some of our adventures together, so here goes.
Trip Stats, according to Google maps:
Dear Friend,
Here is a letter to begin the month of April.
Our lives feel like they are on pause in this endless winter with so much snow that our canyon is closed.
We watched general conference all weekend. For us, this looks like Legos and blocks on the floor, blankets on the sofas and chairs, a whiteboard and markers for making summaries of talks, and so many snacks. Every crumb of snacks that I poured into bowls was consumed. I made cinnamon rolls and broccoli soup, and served a key lime pie and lots of other things. We walked each day to restore ourselves after the stupor of watching television.
I write this on a scheduled lazy morning. We are expecting another pile of snow today. (Happy spring break to us!) I can’t get excited about this week of snow and the removal of Mark’s wisdom teeth. In fact, I dread, dread, dread the wisdom teeth appointment. (Snuggling deeper into a blanket) Maybe if I think about Easter and make some plans that will help.
I am also watching another flight for Tim. He is always chatty and energized when he gets a transfer, which for the Micronesia Guam mission means an oversea flight. Richard watches YouTube videos analyzing plane crashes for enjoyment when I am not around. He knows that I don’t need to feed my mind any more death scenarios. I will be glad when the little green dot on the website lands in Guam later today, which is tomorrow for Tim.
I had several unconnected conversations with friends last month that led me to pick up my orthodontic retainers and wear them again. Never stop wearing your retainers is my piece of wisdom for today. There are lots of retainers in our lives, not just orthodontic ones: Date nights, repentance, the sacrament, finding God in prayer, finding Jesus in scripture study… Never stop with the retainers.
I have a quilt to finish, but I think I will wait to shop for more fabric. My stack of books is growing. Last week I was a little sick, and one night I went to bed discouraged by what I hadn’t accomplished. But then I felt the impression to consider all I HAD accomplished that day, despite all. Sometimes we just need to make a backwards TO DO list, and simply list what’s DONE. For me, this is the ultimate self care routine.
It is Holy Week. Happy Easter celebrations await.
Love,
A
I chose these oil portraits Paige painted in college to frame. I really love them. I suppose framing her work and hanging it all over the house is one way I am saying goodbye.
I am listening to a different piece of classical music each day as I read the book, Year of Wonder: Classical Music to Enjoy Day by Day by Clemency Burton-Hill. Once I read the few paragraphs for the day, I go on YouTube to search for the piece. I have seen how much the artists matter! Interpretations of the same song are often very different.
I have been doing this for a month now, and I look forward to a new piece each morning. I don’t enjoy every song, but I write simple words in a day planner to describe the music of the day: pensive, incessant, folksy, triumphant… and try to imagine when the music would be most appreciated. I might write that one song would be comforting to listen to when sad, or another captures the joy of a beginning or the tug of a goodbye. I also like to compare different recordings and choose a favorite artist.
The piece I include here today has been playing on repeat all week since Richard and I discovered this recording together. More than a word that best describes this song, its mood and expression, I mark the person I discovered it with. To me, this song will always be about a sweet day spent with Richard in our 28th year of marriage.
It is winter proper; cold weather, such as it is, has come to stay. I bloom indoors in winter like a forced forsythia; I come in to come out. At night I read and write, and things I never understood become clear; I reap the harvest of the rest of the year’s planting.
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
This was a paragraph that I read today and continue to think about. I, too, like the winter habits of reading, being still, thinking, and writing. I can flourish in dark winter as long as I have reminders that I have friends out there.
This afternoon I hung a very large magnetic board to display handwritten notes and some art. You’re right, it isn’t arranged very well yet, but we’re on our way to something good.
Paige and Michael are moving out of state in a few weeks, and we have spent some time sorting her college art projects to consolidate the things she wants to take or leave behind. She is a skilled illustrator, and she also has a healthy collection of portraits and figure drawings that I admire. She agreed to let me keep some of these. But how do I choose?
I will always be thrilled to display my children’s work, no matter their age.
We had some dreary days this week, again. I chased sunlight by working with gold and yellow thread and spending an afternoon with a friend.
I chased it by reading a novel by Amor Towels, a favorite author.
I chased it by listening to a new piece of classical music every day. (See the book, Year of Wonder by Clemency Burton-Hill.)
I found sunlight as I wrote out a story from my dad’s life.
I found it as I studied about the mission of John the Baptist. (See The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ From Bethlehem to the Sermon on the Mount, edited by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment.)
This week, rather than put away the Christmas cards, I hung them on an empty wall in my kitchen where they will stay. The faces on the cards feel like sunlight to me.