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“…Conversation should be like juggling; up go the balls and the plates, up and over, in and out, good solid objects that glitter in the footlights and fall with a bang if you miss them. But when dear Sebastian speaks it is like a little sphere of soapsud drifting off the end of an old clay pipe, anywhere, full of rainbow light for a second and then – phut! vanished, with nothing left at all, nothing.”
Part 1, Chapter 2
-I am an Easter person! Allelujah! I love everything about this season!
-Every year I have this scene in my head of Mary Magdalen running through the wet grass to the tomb on Easter morning, a crying hysterical mess, her beautiful hair completely tangled, and her eyes red and swollen with crying. The hem of her dress completely soaked with dew, the skirt clinging to her ankles as she walks, and the wet leather of her sandles. And then the complete joy when she recognizes her Lord. It makes me cry to think of of it! What makes me laugh is to think of her arriving in front of the apostles, the same crazy-haired mess, out of breath from running, hardly able to formulate a sentence. And she says over and over again “he’s alive, he’s risen! he’s not dead! I’ve seen him!” The apostles looking at each other and then at poor distraught Mary thinking, “oh, dear, the stress was too much for her.” Then tired themselves and worn with grief they soothingly say to her, “yes, Mary, of course Mary, yes we’ll go to the tomb with you, okay Mary, let me grab a cloak.” And then to each other, “maybe she’ll calm down if we humor her.” What joy awaited them!
-I must be getting old because the thought of too much Easter candy make me feel sick. . . but I’ll still eat another Cadbury egg.
-Baptists came to the door on Easter Sunday and tried to save me. Me flustered + ham that needs to be taken out of the oven + need a review of my Bible quotes = epic fail on my part. At least I let them know 1) the Jews revised their canon in 70 a.d., pulling out the books that showed how Christianity fulfills Judeism; its the same canon Martin Luther used, hence their Bible isn’t the same as mine 2) I am Roman Catholic 3) I invited them to come to Mass 4) I wished them a happy Easter and told them I wasn’t prepared for theological arguement. Why does evangelization make me flustered? I get so worked up when people try converting me because I feel attacked that I can’t say anything coherent back.
-I made garden boxes for the back yard. Pictures to come.
-My brothers fixed the lawn mower and mowed the lawn!
-Allelujah! I can say it again! Allelujah!
This film and the storybook made from stills of the film will always remind me of being a little girl. I loved the contrast of colors. And the sound of leather shoes on cobble stones.
I post the two other parts tomorrow and the day after.
Every year I wait for Holy Thursday so I can hear this piece. I die every time I hear it. Tonight I heard it sung by the Dominicans at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and I think it was one of the best performances I have ever heard (if you can call it a performance, they were praying it, not singing it, that makes a huge difference). Sadly I wasn’t able to capture it, and it doesn’t really matter anyway, so much of a piece of music is lost when it is recorded.
The Day Before Vacation
Hear the never ceasing drone of air,
Moving through the building bare;
Hear the fluorescence, hear them hum,
Irritating and invasive, like a warpath drum.
Feel the paper crisp and dry;
From cubical there is a sigh;
See the colors drab and grey;
Here the distant echo of a child at play.
Never were there more hidden times;
Never were there more quiet hours;
Never were there more endless electronic rhymes;
Than time spent in a paper bower.
And somewhere below,
Cars come and cars go.
While escape artists in a world of cells,
Find freedom in Angelus bells.
Why is this night different from all other nights? Because it is the night the Passion of Our Lord begins.
Dogwood Flower from the Tree Out Front
Boustrophedon
Pulled by oxen first one way,
.Day whole the this like work they
Then pulled down the row again like this,
.Amis was naught thought Greeks the
Using Hebrew it works too,
.You unlike way this read they
Don’t get dizzy in the strophe,
.Sophie be may name your it get you if
So I planted my watermelon today, and while I was doing that I discovered violets in the yard!
Violets Hidden in My Backyard
And so I did what any normal person would have done. I got a bowl, got on my hands and knees, and started picking violets to freeze into ice cubes as a garnish. I am pretty sure the neighbors think I am crazy, but that is okay, it will help keep their life interesting.
Here are the violets that I picked:
I call it "Violets in a Bowl"
And here is the half finished product, I’ll show you what the ice cubes look like when they are frozen, they aren’t quite done yet.
Shrinking Violets in a Ice Bath, Poor Violets!
So I encourage you to visit some time, I’ll give you a glass of water with violets in it.
And in case you are wondering, here are my zucchini. And my pasty white leg. I don’t think I’ve mentioned the zucchini before, I figure I better show you them now while they are still cute. Zucchini grow up to be such monsters.
The zucchini!
