Color Help Needed

We are finally beginning the project of fixing up the outside of our house. (I'll spare you the entire history of this endeavor.) We are down to the point of choosing paint colors for the windows, eaves, front and back porch walls, ceiling, trim and floors.

Here's the trick: for now, the north side of the house has siding which is a sort of oatmeal tan color. The rest of the house is the burnt (but dirty) red color, and the trim is currently cream. We will need to choose a trim color and colors for the porch which will be painted before the rest of the siding will go on. The timing for finishing the siding will be measured in months, and hopefully not too far into the double digits.

Ideally, then, the color for the trim will need to contrast with the siding and coordinate well with the brick on the front porch, but also not look completely ugly when contrasting with the burnt red, which our neighbors to the south will have to endure for a little while longer.

And I have no sense of color, which is why I am posting these pictures and asking for ideas.

Without further ado:Here is the siding with current cream trim. (And yes, the contractor admits it was a mistake not to paint the trim first.)

This shows the north side of the house and the brick of the front porch. Note that the ceiling of the porch is the same cream color right now.


Here's the front porch. The green carpet is going to be ripped out.

Here is the in-process south side of the house where the wood is being repaired and the eaves are being primed.

What was suggested to me was to do the trim and eaves in a forest green, and to paint the front and back porch to match the siding. The green would contrast nicely with the siding and the brick, and not look too hideous with the burnt red. The color for the floors of the porches is still up for grabs, but obviously something that would hide dirt decently.

The house next to us (north side) is also getting a face lift, and it has a nice forest green on its upper portion.

I do think it looks nice with the brick.

So, I need some comments and feedback. I just have no visual sense whatsoever. I had wanted the whole house to be a deep blue, but that was before we realized that siding was how we needed to go (lest the house crumble to bits in a few years).

2+2 = Infinity

I've been thinking about what I've been thinking about. Do you think it is because it recalls baptism that things always seem to "click" in the shower? Or is it just a meditative moment where thoughts can line up side by side. For whatever reason, I said to myself this morning, "Of course! Naru hodo!" The reason why I am so overwhelmed with beauty and joy at the reality of the lives of the saints is that it is a truth that Lutheranism says is impossible. Luther's understanding of salvation is of something that covers us. Jesus substitutes His holiness for our sin. His famous illustration is that we are the dung hill covered by snow. This is not the Catholic understanding of grace at all. The Church teaches that grace elevates nature, so that the participation we have with the life of God is real, lived, actual, and not merely positional or legal.

To be unable to be truly freed from sin in this life is to accept a life of misery. It is to accept a life that can merely be endured if one has a sense that the things of this world are fleeting and do not hold ultimate meaning. It is to accept that we are not made for anything great. It is to behold a God who is either impotent or uncaring. It is grossly irrational.

To "meet" a saint who all generations are calling blessed because of what God has done for her or him is to be hold a real, powerful, loving God. He knows me. He made me, He knows me, I have purpose, I have dignity that has been seriously messed with but which He restores. It isn't about brownie points or some silly earth-bound idea like that. God saves us to be His sons, His heirs, to participate in His very life. That is the promise, and that is the reality.

I still have some questions about the journey. The big one I have is about Reconciliation and its relationship to sanctity. If I bring my Lutheran mindset to the confessional, I end up needing to "confess" that I exist, basically, since "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." I have even thought about the advice Luther was said to have received from his confessor: "Martin, don't come here with all these peccadillos. Go out and sin some great sin, and then come back and tell me about it." (And all you cradle Catholics thought you received lousy catechesis!)

As I have the chance, I have a small handful of other nuggets from the retreat I want to cook up and serve here. Good thing my daughter woke me extra early this morning.

What does it mean to follow a charism?

I have been doing a lot of pondering about what it means to follow a charism, and particularly what it means to follow the charism of Communion and Liberation, whose Fraternity I joined almost a year ago. There is a pattern I tend to repeat in my life: I say yes very quickly to Christ's call, but then have to stagger and ponder what it is I really said yes to. This was my experience becoming Catholic in the first place, and it was rough sledding for the first few years.

Paul at Communio describes the CL charism this way:

The essence of the CL charism is twofold: 1) the proclamation that God became Man and the affirmation that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, who died and rose again, is a present reality whose visible sign is communion - that is to say, the unity of a people led by the vicar of Christ - and 2) the awareness that it is only in Jesus Christ that the deepest needs of the human heart are fulfilled. CL's mission is thus the education of its members toward Christian maturity and collaboration in the mission of the Church in all spheres of contemporary life.

This simple explication captures quite well what has drawn me to CL.

What I am pondering right now is what exactly is meant by "communion - that is to say the unity of a people led by the vicar of Christ". It strikes me that at face value, this means people who are living a Catholic life. I don't want my pondering to turn into a torturing of Paul's words, but I do want to have a full understanding of what it is I supposedly follow. I have this constant need to translate and re-phrase things until I understand them with my own words and heart.

So. If Jesus of Nazareth is a present reality in this world, and the charism of CL is about experiencing this presence through unity of people led by the vicar of Christ, then what exactly does this unity look like? How do I know when I see it? What is disunity? How do I know when I see that? Is the relationship between myself and fellow CL followers different from that between myself and other Catholics who don't follow CL? And what about a person like myself who can experience feelings, attitudes of unity with Catholics whom I barely know, yet might struggle or take significant time to connect with fellow CL people who are sitting right there with me? Do these aspects of my personality even have anything to do with this definition of communion that is to mark this charism?

That's a big load of questions. The way I would answer what unity is for myself would be in a picture, if I could draw, and if I could put it into this blog. It would be a cross in the center, people walking towards the cross, there finding each other, and then facing out to bring this beautiful discover to the world.

Now, wait a second. Is that what this little diagram is supposed to mean?
I honestly don't know, but it would be my educated guess that it goes something like that. Essentially I would say that the way to unity is embracing the cross, in whatever way the cross presents itself. That's just what I've picked up from my living with Christ, not quoting Giussani. Of course, I've read so little of his writings, I couldn't quote him if I tried.

I know that when Paul speaks of the deepest needs of the human heart are met "only in Jesus Christ," this resonates with me in a huge way. And I think some of the deeper needs of the human heart have to do with how we humans relate to each other. Maybe my question here becomes, does the charism mean that the deepest needs of the human heart are met by Christ's presence experienced among us as people? In other words, do we re-translate this "the deepest needs of the human heart are met by, or through, other Catholics"? That is where I get a little panicky. It is not that I don't get that we are a sacramental Church, and that what we do to the least we do to Him (though these elements still strike me as either absolutely astounding or scandalous!). But I just want to keep what I can't help but calling in my head "the real Jesus" in the picture. Ok, so He has no hands or feet on earth but mine, but He does, in reality, have His own hands and feet, and they are in heaven. He really does exist. There is Scripture which is the Word of God, and then there is the power of the Holy Spirit active in a variety of ways. I just get a bit weirded out when it seems that a theology or spirituality could do just fine without there being a "real" Christ, or Holy Spirit, or when Christian maturity is thought to amount to our "replacing"Jesus on earth (you know, because I have an updated God message for our world). I know this is mostly residue from my various Protestant exposures, not to mention some odd Catholics I've met. But I feel the need to air the thought, just a small child needs to tell someone about the monsters in his closet; it's a real fear to me, even though I know it really isn't grounded in the reality of CL. Maybe I just need to get my Trinitarian theology more precise. Maybe I need the Holy Spirit to deal with whatever creates this panicked reaction in me.

So, my dear CL friends (I say somewhat ironically since I don't participate much in the CL blogging world and I don't hardly know any of you), if you would be so kind, please weigh in with your thoughts and feedback. Of course, anyone is welcome to do so!

But, the sky actually IS falling (or at least the ceiling)

Here it is, unschooling vacation day, and I learned something anyway. I learned that I get very unsettled when I have something that needs to get taken care of, but it is not taken care of. Like those times when the computer is wonky or we lose our internet connection. I just cannot rest until I get it resolved.

What I currently need to get resolved is this:



We returned from grocery shopping yesterday to discover part of our kitchen ceiling laying on the floor. Apparently some bathroom plumbing had been seeping for who knows how long, and our lovely false ceiling hid the fact, until the whole thing fell in. I used to be able to get in touch with two or three fix-it types very quickly, but I called eight different folks and have only had semi-positive responses from two so far.

It is so unsettling to me to know of a need like this and not know yet how I will get it squared away. It's not nearly as compulsive an unsettled feeling as a computer problem (because I usually see to rectifying those problems myself, so I'm on full-throttle "project" until I get it done. But it is one of those can't-seem-to-concentrate, spacey kind of unsettled feelings.

Perhaps contributing to this is that this week I seem to have lost or damaged my ability to feel tired. I was awake until at least 2 most nights (mornings!) this week. I had to mentally convince myself to go to bed; I didn't feel tired at all. This afternoon I slept for an hour, which is normally impossible for me (daytime sleep). Perhaps I need to experiment with different forms of mental challenge or relaxation during the day so that it is easier for me to shut down at night. Who knows.

Hey, if you are local and know of a good fix it person who is actually available, drop me a comment!

The Future of Food

I recently watched the documentary The Future of Food. It is an extended discussion of genetically modified organisms, and I found it fascinating. I would like to spend some time doing a bit of research into these ideas. If anyone has resources that point to strong scientific arguments for the benefit and food safety of GMOs, send 'em my way.

As one of the endorsement blurbs says of this movie, if you eat food, you need to watch this!

Gardeners, Lend Me Your Thumbs (Or at least your ideas!)

We are enjoying a Spring-like day, so we've been outside this afternoon. Ok, so it's only 48 degrees, but the sun is shining! I'm attracted like a moth to a lightbulb.

But, when I venture out my door, I discover that our little side yard is a complete mess. There's something about spring and hope for change that spurs me to wonder whether I could do something different with this little plot of ground which seems to only be effective at gathering dead fall leaves.

I enjoyed all the feedback from my request for interior decorating ideas last spring, so I thought I'd try again with this gardening thing. That is, if you aren't disillusioned by the fact that I still have not painted my living room or purchased drapes. When our shade broke I hung a blanket over the rod. Hey, it's attractive enough. Have I mentioned that I am decorating-challenged?

So, here's what I have to work with:

And yet another view


Here are a few facts to consider. This is on the north side of the house, so it gets some morning sun, but not much. There is supposed to be a border of slate rock around the dirt, but as you can see it has pretty much been destroyed. We have this tenacious ivy that refuses to die, even after numerous attacks. We also have a large bed of hostas that grow closer to the fence. We plan to have the house painted (that's been the plan for the last two years!) and the rotting wood repaired. So complete destruction of the current, motif (if you can call it that) would be very doable.

Can anything pretty grow without lots of sunshine? Can anything kill off ivy? I'd love to do a "natural" look with wildflowers, but I have my doubts. This blog post is the most attention I've given this piece of ground in almost a year, and I'm not likely to give it more anytime soon.

Realistic ideas, anyone?