Dum Dum

Tuesday night Husband and I were on our way to class at church. Coming up the hill past the cemetery, we saw a wolfish looking dog, a beautiful creature, crossing the road. We slowed down, stopped, and the dog came right up to the car. I opened the door, and she put her head in toward me. Not seeing any drool or crazed look in her eyes, I pet her and looked for a collar. Nothing. Her icy blue eyes told me she was a Husky. We pulled into the nearest driveway, and walked to the door to see if this was her home.

At the doorbell ring, a man with glasses and a short black ponytail came to the door. He looked like a short Johnny Depp.

"Is this your dog?"

"Yes, it is. Thanks guys."

"Sure. We just saw her out in the road."

"Yeah, she's been doing that. Come in here, Dum Dum. Hey, thanks again."

"No problem. Have a great night."

Dum Dum. I'm pretty sure it was a nickname to emphasize her folly in road-crossing. But it would be cute if it were her given name.

100

100 years since she sank.

I'm a sucker for Leo's Titanic of 1997 and I tend to forget that the ship was real, that she went down on a cold April night 100 years ago, and that people really drowned there in the water. I respect the truth of history, though, and appreciate the tragedy for its historic significance. I enjoyed the chance, on a cruise in 2009, to see some Titanic artifacts in a museum in Canada.

 A deck chair recovered from Titanic

 Sitting in a replica of a Titanic deck chair.

Third Class menu, a few days before she went down.

The grave marker for a J Dawson, who has become assumed to be the famous heartthrob Jack Dawson.

In 2008, when I was in Liverpool, where Titanic was built, I saw some other artifacts.

A life vest and the name-plate from one of the too-few life boats.

I've seen Titanic memorabilia on both sides of the ocean she couldn't quite cross. I respect her failure and the tragedy that her loss meant for so many people. I don't take Titanic's sinking lightly.

Nevertheless, I plan to see the re-released Titanic in 3D this weekend and I am so excited my heart is racing already. I never saw it in the theatre when it came out. I actually thought it would be dumb. "The ship sinks," I remember saying. "I know the ending so why would I want to watch it?" But in high school, probably 2004 or so, when I eventually saw it, I was hooked. The majesty of the ship, the hues of human nature the story illuminates, the sweeping soundtrack, and of course the love story. I'm extremely excited to see it on the big screen. I'll honor Titanic's 100th anniversary the only way I know how: by crying with Jack and Rose and imagining that, for a moment, I'm flying.


Love can touch us one time, and last for a lifetime and never let go 'til we're gone.

http://www.titanicmovie.com/YourTitanicPhoto/

Make it count.

He is risen, just as he said.

I wish I lived every day with the joy that Easter weekend brings. With the joy of remembering Christ's Great Exchange on the cross, everything that happens on Easter weekend seems perfect. This Easter weekend was especially wonderful.

I took Friday off and spent the morning baking Hot Cross Buns, a traditional Good Friday dessert. We went to church at 2:00 and from there, to my in-laws' house for dinner and family time. The meal was great and CatchPhrase and Family Feud after dinner were a blast.

On Saturday, Husband and I took it easy. We went for a drive, stopped for some Rita's, and then I spent some time outside near the cemetery reading.

Sunday morning, I had Nursery Duty at church both services, but I managed to sneak to the lobby and listen to the sermon. After church, we headed to Aunt Ruth's house. OK, so we're too old for an Easter Egg Hunt, but we were intrigued when Aunt Ruth said she had been walking in the woods behind her house and found some old bottles. She offered some alternate footwear if we wanted to go bottle hunting.

The woods aren't quite green yet. They're pink. The redbuds cast this pink glow over everything, a filter of rosiness through which even the bare tree branches look cheerful.

And our hunt? Successful! I vote to make Easter Bottle Hunt a tradition!

But that wasn't even the best part of the day. Later, during dinner, a lone fly was pestering us at the table. Dad was trying to clap it between his hands over the cream pitcher. Husband was trying a method of licking his fingers, then holding them out and waiting for the fly to alight. No one had been successful. The fly landed on a napkin in front of Grammy, my 80-some year old grandmother. With a stoic expression and great aplomb, Grammy brought her arthritis-gnarled hand slowly down on the fly. Then her stoicism melted away and she looked up at everyone with a look of dread and panic. I've seen old people do a lot of funny things; I work with people over 80 every day. But this was possibly the funniest. Husband and I tried to get our laughter under control while Mom got the fly-bearing napkin out from under Grammy's hand.

I love Easter and the spiritual significance it holds for us as Christians. I'm also thankful for the earthly joys God chose to give us this Easter weekend. God is so great in how He cares about providing big eternal joys and little temporal ones.

Happy Easter.

The Sixth Day of April

Four years ago today I was doing this:

Yes, making a snow angel. In the grass, out in the backyard of Number Eight, Crick Road, Oxford, England. It was one week after Easter, and we woke up to a coating of snow over everything.

We built a snowman.

We threw snowballs.

And for a time, we forgot about our massive papers which were due in just a few days.

I remember April 6th of four years ago with great fondness. At my core, I'm a past-dweller. I thrive on nostalgia and happy memories. At times, this can remove me from the present and doom me to wasted hours spent wishing for the good old days. But remembering a day like April 6th, 2008 is inevitable.

Happy Snow Day-iversary!

May there always be snow somewhere on the sixth day of April!