Ash Wednesday

Good morning!  It's Ash Wednesday.  I always think that's a beautiful pairing of words, full of mystery and implied meaning.  In Spanish it's Miercoles de Cenizas, also beautiful.  But since I am a primary English speaker Ash Wednesday falls more strongly on my ear.

As I was reading about Virginia Wolff this morning, a verse came into my head. As follows:

English has a cadence,
El español un son
Se toman las palabras
And gives to them a bone.

That's ungrammatical, but that is what came into my head.  I sacrificed grammar for meter. Thanks,Virginia Wolff, for making me listen to what's going on in my head this morning.

Music is present everywhere, in informal everyday spoken language, not just formal writing. In formal writing we struggle to make the cadence perfect. I was just reading about John Banville, who makes music of his sentences before they pass muster.

I was reading about Virginia Wolff in http://www.todayinliterature.com/.  That's a wonderful website that I am happy to subscribe to in order to receive a daily compendium of information and excellent writing about literature.  Steve King, the webmaster, has a wonderful site with many byways that go off the subject immediately at hand to expand our enjoyment of our world. I once spent a wonderful morning learning about hay-ricking all over the world, and the ceremonies and celebrations that attend that annual harvest. Take Mr King's links for a great ride into worlds you hadn't expected to visit today, perhaps.

Anyway, it's the Christian's day for introspection, prayer, and the asking of humility for individual selves as we prepare for our year's journey into the
Christian year.  In some cultures, the spring is the beginning of the Christian year, as Christ, to be born in December, would have to have been conceived in March. I will be going to play the piano with Patricia, I to her up in Mission Hills for a change.  We'll play at the Congregational Church and then at noon we are going to go to St Paul's and receive the Imposition of Ashes.  She has not done this before and asks if she needs to wear a hat and gloves.  Wish I'd said yes. I can ask forgiveness for that mischief later.  Or am asking now.  YAZZYBEL