You know what I love most about Easter?
It's a wonderful celebration for Christians of the signature miracle that defines their faith; along with celebrations among others of the return to growth and fertility, it is a time of hope and optimism.
But my favorite thing about Easter is shared with Halloween, Christmas, and birthdays. It is an opportunity for grown-ups to share a view with children that the world can be a magical, generous place, in which they are welcome, and loved.
I attended my high school reunion this weekend. Not gonna say which one ... but the Senate Watergate Hearings were on TeeVee as we donned cap and gown.
It's nice to see these folks I grew up with as we mature, and continue the process of growing up (yours truly possibly excepted). Friday evening Abby's Pizza; Saturday dinner and live music at Sylvan Ridge winery; Ah! sylvan indeed, not to mention verdant, pastoral, perhaps even bucolic – but I digress. Sunday, of course, was the mid-day potluck at Emerald Park, where we shared time together with everybody's (or their spouse's) best dishes. Unlike that same park, when we were growing up, nobody offered to sell me any pot, and only one person witnessed to me about Jesus – and he is a lifelong friend, who backed off before I had to witness back to him about the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Bless His Noodly Appendage). So it was all smiles.
I love these gatherings! With the mellowing of age, many who occupied the highest status have been chastened by time, and become truly enjoyable company – and a few of the wallflowers have sprouted into bold self-actualized extroverts.
I'm already looking forward to the next gathering!
A couple weeks ago, Craig Bruhn, North Eugene high school's student body president my senior year, not so long ago, posted a clip from an Australian sketch comedy team, Clarke and Dawe.
It piqued my interest, so I looked into these guys, and have watched a few (less than a hundred) of their clips. Much of my humor is dry – some dry as dirt. But, for my money, it's the best deadpan humor since Pat Paulson ran for president.
Their regular setup is that Dawe is interviewing a corporate or government exec (Clarke), and can never get a straight answer from him.
Some of the skits land like a thud in my American ears, without the Australian context. But lots of them, like this one, require no translation!
With all the antics going on in Washington, it's so tempting for me to post about politics. But I'm finding that I get along better if I am less controversial.
In order to avoid controversy, and maintain a warm consensus among friends, I would like to simply share an interesting fact.
Bruce Springsteen's timeless 1975 album, Born to Run, is the best Rock and Roll album ever recorded. It's not even close.
This album has everything, with each song making a contribution that is indispensable to the whole. With no aspersions to any other cut, I believe that Jungleland has all the elements that define excellence in this genre; composition that changes mood from intense and loud to whisper-quiet, lyrics that could stand alone without musical accompaniment as poetry – evoking a sense of place and time that irresistibly draws the listener to the gritty 1960s-70s streets of working-class New Jersey; all supported by unsurpassed unique contributions contributions from throughout the band – particularly the saxophone solo by the late, great Clarence Clemons.
I'd love to know what other albums people particularly appreciate ... with the understanding that anything else is competing for second.
I jumped off the Metro for a few minutes on the way to the airport today, at the Arlington National Cemetery stop. It had started to rain, and I was hauling all of my luggage, so I didn't walk all the way to the gardens of stone. But the pause did afford me a moment to consider the meaning of this place.
Both times I have been to Arlington, it has made me remember the final scene from Saving Private Ryan; as the title character returns decades later to the grave of the man who gave his life to save Ryan's. The now-old man gives voice to the same existential questions all survivors face - and the need to feel that he has been worthy of the price paid in his behalf.
Seems like a good question for all of us to ask ourselves.
Man, this week has gotten busy!
Mayday on Monday, then a couple days later we had Polish Constitution Day, followed by May the Fourth (be with you), and now, it's suddenly Cinco de Mayo. When am I going to have a chance to get ready for tomorrow's Kentucky Derby, and good Lawd! I haven't even STARTED on my fascinator for King Chuck's coronation!
I don’t usually copy and paste things I see on Facebook, even if they make me smile.
But we’re approaching the end of the school year, and I know that some of the hardest-working people I know, are getting burned out. Please know the difference you make every day, in the hearts and minds of those who look up to you. I tell this to authors, who write for children; as well as to teachers - from those who care for kids who still need diaper changes, to those who would inspire a graduating thermodynamics or history student to consider graduate school, to better share their knowledge with others.
There is never a wrong time to use your abilities to validate others. Thank you for all that you do!
