Our Lady of the Rain Lamp.....

So I had a rather dreary One Of Those Days, when everything was just in a snit at The Major Concern. After a particularly ridiculous appointment, I did what I do when I need to unwind: Headed for St. Vincent de Paul.

That's where I found this little lady - veterans will no doubt know her as The Blessed Mother. Others might know her as The Virgin, still others will call her Mary. Mary: The original Jewish Mama. Or, as the Baptists would say, That Woman that The Papists get so worked up about.

Of course, I was delighted, and snatched her up right away (any residual Catholic guilt I may have simmering under the surface was relieved by knowing that St. Vinnie's is a Catholic charity) and hung her in the Sala Grande of Chez Vel-DuRay. A gallon or so of mineral oil (which is the only oil you should use in a rain lamp) later, She was up and running merrily, and fitting in nicely with a picture of San Francisco that The Colonel gave me. That, in an of itself, would probably be considered blasphemy by some of the more fanatical Catholics, but I figure that the Mother of God would have to have some sort of sense of humor about herself.

Here she is....



The thing I really liked about her is her face. I've spent a lot of time looking at the faces of statues when I was growing up, and this one has a nice face. She sort of reminds me of Alice Kramden.



Now I just have to find some plastic roses or greenery to wind along the bottom and catch the rain. That will complete the picture.

I'll let you know if she starts speaking to me, or sheds tears or anything like that.