Bex Hall

Bex Hall > Miscellany

Miscellany

Start your day with some literary first lines

First lines of literature.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  —A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

It’s Monday and what I consider the first day of the week. So what better way to start it? With first lines of literature.

A thank you to my daughter for this thoughtful gift from Philosopher’s Guild.

Answers to these and some of the other first lines are below.

Happy Mugshot Monday!

“A screaming comes across the sky.” —Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” —Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

“124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom.” —Beloved, Toni Morrison

“You better not never tell nobody but God.” —The Color Purple, Alice Walker

“All this happened, more or less.” — Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” —Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. —1984, George Orwell

Have a cup of love this morning

Cup of love

Good Monday morning!

My dear neighbor and friend gave me this beautiful mug and when I drink from it, I think of her kindness. 

May you be blessed with a cup full of love today.

xox

I drove a 310 but it wasn’t to Yuma

It was actually 10:30 a.m. in N. Judson, Indiana

Guest Engineer on the 310

At the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, I fulfilled a lifelong wish to drive a train in their Guest Engineer program.

My absolute favorite part of the experience was pulling the cord to make the whistle blow. 😊

39/61 Micron pen sketch and Koi watercolors.

For train enthusiasts: The No. 310 was built in 1947 and is powered by a McIntosh & Seymour 539 series engine rated at 660 horsepower. It was built for the Erie and became Erie Lackawanna No. 310 in 1960. The engine was donated by Silcott Railway and arrived at the museum in 1997. It underwent an extensive overhaul and is currently operational.

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is dedicated to preserving the railroad history of North Judson and seeks to keep the town’s railroad heritage alive via display and operation of vintage railroad equipment atop the history rails that bend their way around the museum. You can visit The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum for details.

A surprise gift

Located within a shop, of all places

Love is the key

In the middle of a shop in Franklin, Tennessee, there’s a small room filled with a thousand voices, each a prayer, handwritten on a tag and hung on a nail. The mission of their prayer wall is to be an open canvas for prayer requests and praises.

The prayers walls within the shop Philanthropy

The shop is called Philanthropy and it was an amazing and grace filled space I shared with my youngest daughter. Unexpected tears flowed as I read a child’s scrawled words “Pray for my Sissy” with two misshapen hearts drawn below the message.

Pray for my Sissy

Another child wrote “that my goats and chickens stay safe.” 

Adults wrote too.

“I pray that my son Rick will talk to me again. That we can resolve & mend what is broken. Amen.”

“Dear God, thanks for letting me see another year!”

Prayer wall

“For my daughter Ryan to find peace from depression/anxiety and to know your presence.”

“Dear Lord, please keep my family safe from this horrible virus.”

“God. I pray for the little church in our town of Darlington, PA that had a fire. May they be able to rebuild.”

“To know your will for my life’s purpose and my daughter.”

The Prayer Wall

Hundreds of tags, front and back. Hundreds of prayers and worries, wishes and desires, hopes and fears, flowed from hearts through fingertips onto a tiny tag and hung on a nail. Released.

A few days later, on the long drive home, my daughter texted me:

“I was just thinking about what you said at Philanthropy, how it made you feel like you wanted to create something. I got to thinking about how God gives us unique gifts and when we invite Him to be a part of that, how creativity flows more freely. The Holy Spirit was so present there and I could see him having an effect on you and I found it interesting that your desire in that moment was to create something beautiful. Your art and your creative mind is your God-given gift.”

On the drive home

Kind words and answered prayers.

May you have both.

xox