#fierceinvalids

[subjunctivewatch]

It was my aunt’s idea, back when she was sister Croetine, that an order of desert nuns be formed that would both honor St. Pachomius and give the Roman Church at least a token presence in the region.

Found in: Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Tom Robbins. 2000. Page 255.

[subjunctivewatch]

Ah, but St. Paul had decreed that women’s heads be covered in church “because of the angels.”

Another excellent example of where mood selection can be critical to the meaning of a sentence. If “be” were “are,” the women’s head coverage could be understood as a statement of fact on the part of St. Paul, rather than an injunction.

Found in: Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Tom Robbins. 2000. Page 180.

[allthingsfunandpretty]

I need to babble in a brook or two, inhale some starlight, make friends with some trees."

Tom Robbins