Mistletoad

Day 319, and it's Christmas Eve!! Merry Christmas, everyone! I thought it was important to share this mistletoad with you, actually the fire-bellied toad, in case you are over the top with Christmas images.

And to share the fact that lots of people give poetry books as Christmas gifts, a fact I learned from working at Babbitt's. And Emily Dickinson is a fave!  Along with the Romantics. I was also pleased to learn that Mary Oliver and Sharon Olds are in demand, so much so that I had to send people off to the new book stores and hope they are stocking plenty of O poets.

So here's a coincidence of the sort I love. I finished The Death of Adam this year...deep, informative essays on history and theology, among other things, by Marilynne Robinson, who seeks to restore the reputation of John Calvin (Jean Cauvin) and also to give Marguerite de Navarre her due (as women of the past were so often overlooked, and are still neglected), and what to my wondering eyes should appear in my hands yesterday at work but a book of Original Letters Relative to the English Reformation, published in 1846 for the Parker Society, which is dedicated to such things.

I could not resist pausing in my examination and description of this book to read three of the letters to John Calvin, all three written in tones of great respect and acknowledging his kindness and generosity.  I am amazed by the world, over and over again.

And just in case you want to stand under the mistletoe with someone, here's this.