What would we do in the zombie apocalypse?

Scene 1:  Small suburban brick home on a cool summer evening. Windows are open.  Sound of cat meowing.

Mother (on sofa with ice pack on her foot) :  Can you let the cat in?
(sound of light flicking on and screen door opening)
Son 2:  Fluffy...Fluffy...Oh, sorry, you're eating.  (sound of screen door abruptly closing)

Son 2:  (turns to mother)  Nope.

Scene 2:  Clock shows an hour later.  Sound of car pulling up, car door closes, house door opens.

Mother:  Can you let the cat in?
(sound of light flicking on and screen door opening)
Son 1:  Whoops.  (sound of screen door abruptly closing)  Sorry, Mom.  I don't do dead things after midnight.

What, I wonder, will we do come the zombie apocalypse?

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Illustration is from XKCD.

Ignatius of Loyola 24: Where's Iggy?

Last year, Ignatian Spirituality had a delightful app for mashing up your own image of St. Ignatius (I've been sporting mine on my tea mug).  Find Your Inner Iggy is back again this year. Check out Ignatian Spirituality’s Facebook page to read contributions from Fr. James Martin, SJ, Margaret Silf, and Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, on how they’ve found God: in an unlikely place, in decision making, in prayer, in imagination, in service to others, and in all things.

Share how you’ve found God in these places by posting on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Vine with the hashtag #FindIggy.  Loyola Press is giving away cool prizes for the best images.  Iggy tattoos?  Who knows!   Join in here:  Find Your Inner Iggy

How to tell The Boy is a Scientist

In the car on the way home today he wails, "They put a camera up my nose and down my throat and I didn't get to look!"

But the guy who knew what to look for did, and said the throat is looking much better.

Ignatius of Loyola 22: Ignatian Spirituality and me

From Science is Awesome

When I went on retreat this summer, my director for the eight days began by giving me a four sentence summary of what made a retreat "Ignatian" -- today I'm guesting at DotMagis, reflecting on what make me Ignatian.  Why is St. Ignatius of Loyola's approach to prayer (to life) so attractive to me?  Short answer:  mystics, pilgrims and explorers.   Long answer:  here.

(You have to read the piece to get the joke in the picture!)

Toads and transformations

I have a big spool of string in my kitchen, (mostly used for trussing chickens for the wondrous Chicken Bonne Femme from Julia Child's Art of French Cooking) but it never occurred to me that I could make string.

Last week I learned to make string from a stick of dried dogs bane.  First we learned to scrape off the outer coating using an obsidian point, then pulled the fibers free from the stalk.  Twist and wrap, twist and wrap and pretty soon I had a serviceable (and strong) piece of twine.  Made from a stick.  Now when I walk I look at the plants and see them as potential strings and fishing nets.  This experience definitely gave me new eyes for my every day landscape!  ("The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust)

What do toads have to do with this transformation?  We were warned about being careful with the green dogs bane, since ingesting the sap can disrupt your heart rhythm.  Not surprisingly (at least to a chemist) the sap contains a chemical relative of digoxin (derived from foxgloves or digitalis). A number of plants, including the oleander my mother planted all over her garden, have similar toxins in them.  (If you want to see if you can see the similarities yourself, you can read what I'm writing about this on my other blog.)

Toads. Right. Toads secrete a similar compound (which I found interesting because it's typically made by plants). Don't kiss a toad.  It won't turn into a prince, though it still might make your heart pound...