Wednesday, January 21, 2009

What's in a Name?

You may stare at the banner and photo on this page, pondering the title. Or you may look at it and say, "Huh?" Besides the use of alliteration, one of my favorite poetic devices, the title of this blog brings in other aspects.

Percolating refers to the brewing process of coffee, my all-time favorite beverage. I linger between a coffee aficionado and addict. Thankfully, a Starbucks lies within walking distance of our house. My students know of my love of coffee and often draw pictures of me holding a Starbucks cup. (heh heh heh, they draw it like they see it!). This knowledge comes in handy come Christmas & end-of-year teacher gifts; many students generously give me a Starbucks card to support the habit. Of course, Mark gets to enjoy the effects too!

I think the great thing about coffee is its versatility: hot, iced, decaf, various sweet additions, milk, etc. Coffee can hit the spot on a cold, frigid day; a Frappuccino tastes marvelous on a hot, sticky day. My hope is to have the same versatility in writing with some cohesiveness.

Petals refers to my favorite saint, St. Therese of Liseux, also known as the Little Flower. She is a simple saint whose path to heaven was forged through the Little Way, i.e., doing small things for God instead of huge things. Her spirituality really appeals to me. Additionally, when I have asked her for prayers, she often sends me roses as a sign. Believe me, these roses show up randomly and without warning. One of the prayers to her I will never forget: just after meeting my future husband Mark, I asked St. Therese to help me know that he was a good man and worth pursuing. A few days later, Mark sent me pink roses for my birthday. The pink roses almost exactly matched the statue I had seen of her a few days prior. The rest is history...and in honor of St. Therese, I carried pink roses in my wedding bouquet.

So now you know...and "knowing is half the battle." Ha ha ha!

2 comments:

Mary Reilley Clark said...

I never heard the pink roses story--what a beautiful sign that Mark was definitely the one.

Mary Reilley Clark said...

argh, I have no idea why my comment posted with my ancient blog name...it's Aunt Mary:)