Sunday, October 2, 2022

 Sunday, October 2, 2022

    I made it to the 9 a.m. mass as I have been doing regularly. I still sat on the outdoor lanai. It’s not only to avoid Covid or flu contamination. I like being outdoors in the fresh air rather than in the air-conditioned church. I wouldn’t like it under any circumstances. I particularly like it because it’s not as cold as it is inside the church.

    After church, I greeted Fr. Lio and Sandor, as always. Sandor was in the last deacon training class Mike worked with. He and Sandor were close. Sandor and his wife are my optometrists. I told Sandor how my eyes were failing. He realigned my glasses, commenting he only had his fingers to do the work. He should bring a pair of plyers to church and readjust everyone’s glasses after mass. It helped somewhat.

 

On the way home, I stopped at Island Naturals to pick up a gallon of Dr. Bronner’s Rose shampoo. I ordered it ahead. Here in Hawaii, you get while the getting’s good. You never know when it will be available again. They called yesterday to say a gallon had just come in. They would hold it for me.

      I’ve been using the shampoo for about thirty years since I discovered what it did for my hair at a meditation retreat. When I was in my fifties, my hair became dry and brittle. I tried other shampoos, conditioners, and oil treatments. Nothing worked. One day on the retreat, I arrived at the bathroom to shower and discovered I had forgotten my shampoo. The retreat provided soap dispensers with Dr. Bronner lavender soap for hand washing. Having nothing else, I used that to wash my hair. The difference was immediate. My hair became soft and fluffy again. I’ve used it ever since. I’ve recommended it to others. It didn’t work as well with their hair. Their hair was coarser than mine. The shampoo made their hair heavy and dull.

  When I got home, I napped after reading some more of Beyond the Bright Sea. The book was in a slow section for me.  

I had a long nap. Something is wrong with me; my head feels dense.

  I had a 2 p.m. session with the M & W sisters. M requested continuing work on the ‘question game.’  I love that she considers this work, which can be challenging, a fun game.

  It was clear W was doing well in school. I asked her if she had participated in class. I can believe she does. She is a  bright, confident, outspoken girl. Last time, I asked her what she wanted to work on. She requested the Gating Game. I used the text from The Westing Game, the book she was reading for her English class. She did well. 

  After the session, I spoke to their dad. We agreed the girls were doing well. They were enjoying school. Both girls come home from school and sit down to do their work. He’s amazed. He hated school. I had been concerned that I wouldn’t be able to overcome the impact of his anxiety about the girls. Their mom told me he felt that all their problems came from him. He was right, but not in the way he thought. He thought they had their learning disabilities from him. What they had was fear of making a mistake. That pretty much eliminates learning.