a summer project

What a lovely day I had yesterday! We met up with my sister-in-law and her two precious little boys, and had a glorious afternoon of estate-sale-shopping and front-porch-sitting. Jake made some iced tea and we sipped cold drinks and watched as a shower of helicopters rained down for a good fifteen minutes! They shimmered in the saturating light, spinning and flashing like bits of gold. Now, the ground is covered with them.

Sara (my sis-in-law) also gave me some plants. I am now the proud owner/caretaker of two cherry tomato plants and some oregano. Um, I generally have a *black* thumb, so basically my goal this summer is to not kill them.

I scoured the closets, shelves and the whole garage for a spade...something to dig in the dirt with! I found...nothing. Thus, out came one of our lovely serving spoons from the registry (my thanks to the nice relative who got it for us!) It was the most elegant (and sturdy) of digging tools.

Keep your fingers crossed for these poor plants! Hopefully I will keep them alive long enough to reap some tasty benefits.

Vacation Daydreams

Ugh. I want to be on vacation SO BAD. Still a few weeks, though. I'm working through the revision process on my thesis, which is interesting and good for me as a writer. I am not a very patient person, though, and I want it to be done...yesterday!
Cue the breathing. I know that this is another excellent opportunity to practice contentment. Also, hope. (as in, I hope that my thesis is finished soon, so I can play!)

Part of my thesis involves a word study. I investigated hope, among other terms, to help define my personal beliefs. Hope can be defined as a noun or a verb. In one sense, it is the act of confident expectation, the act of anticipating. In another sense, it is the object of the confident expectation, the “someone or something on which hopes are centered” (Merriam-Webster).To help more clearly visualize the concept, we can look to the sixth chapter of Hebrews for a particularly concrete metaphor, “…hope is the anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19 ASV).

Anchors appear in our lives and our subconscious, in myriad ways. We have HTML anchors, taking the shape of a lower case “a” between greater-than and less-than symbols, < a >, which help create hyperlinks in the digital texts we negotiate daily. We sink anchors into our drywall before hanging heavy pictures and shelves, to support the screws or nails. Most archetypal, however, is the ship’s anchor. Even here, there is rich diversity of imagery, from the classic shape on Popeye’s forearm to German-engineered sculptural anchors carried on yachts.

For practical purposes, a good working anchor will “set” quickly, or penetrate the seabed to secure itself, while less desirable anchors will “plough” the seabed instead. It is also desirable to get maximum “hold” from one’s anchor, which can be measured by the pounds of pressure it takes to dislodge the anchor from it’s resting place; the more pounds it can resist before being moved, the better (ROCNA). Applying these concepts to the Biblical term, might lead us to the following picture: A ship, that in any sort of weather, no matter how violent or threatening, can always be seen holding steadily in its position. Why? Because there is a strong line attaching it to a quick-setting anchor that gives it maximum hold. It doesn’t budge. The steady ship is the substance, the anchor is what the substance comes out of, or connects to. The ship is our faith. The line that connects it is the verb usage of hope, or our confident expectation. The anchor itself is the noun usage of hope, the Someone on whom hope is centered: Jesus Christ.

BAKED

My friend, Jen, just got me this cookbook for my birthday. There are some heady recipes here, and it's been fun just flipping through the glossy pages and gazing at the delicious-looking treats. Some seem pretty complex, with looong ingredient-lists, so I decided to start with the basics: the "baked" brownie.


Holy cow. Those brownies were fan-f*ing-tastic.

I made 'em for dessert for our pizza n' prosecco party, which went famously. We had the both of our fams over for make-your-own pizzas: I rolled out individual sized dough circles, and had all the toppings on the table so everyone could sit around and chat while they created their pizza masterpiece. Even my brother-in-law, the self-proclaimed pizza connisseur, was satisfied with his pizza. It was really fun! My favorite part, though, was standing in the kitchen, absorbed in rolling out dough, and sensing my family, Jake's family, our friends, hanging out, chatting, laughing. The rapid little thumps of the kids footsteps as they ran around. It was all like music to me.

eat, read, type, realize that you've gained fifteen pounds...

I just finished the book, Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert, and I gained fifteen pounds. Not necessarily in the span of time it took me to read the book, but still. Finishing up grad school (just final thesis revisions to go!) has freed up some time for "fun" reading, and I scored the Gilbert book with some other great finds at the used bookstore down the street. On the one hand, I was totally won over by Gilbert's conversational tone. On the other, I was seething with jealousy, that she got to spend a year traveling and writing about it. I guess you could say it is my dream to do exactly that. Having a book on the New York Times Bestseller list wouldn't hurt, either.

Something I was thinking about while reading this book, was the approach Gilbert takes toward "God", defining God, relating to God...It is a head-spinning topic, and one that is divisive. I found myself not able to agree with Gilbert's take on the whole God-thing. I took this as a good sign. Meaning, it is probably healthy to read/interact with art and literature and humans that I don't necessarily agree with. Not only can it help me practice listening and learning, but it can reveal perspectives I would never have considered before.

Ah, summer reading. I'm excited for summer, for new books, and for a chance to shed these extra pounds that have caked on from a few semesters too many of sitting, studying, and snacking. This means I will need to balance (a key word Gilbert explores!) my time: reading, yes. Walking, too. Maybe even a few softball games. Bring it on.

at last...

...it is spring! I feel lighter, somehow, with the new freshness in the air and the budding trees, and the thoughts of summer vacation dancing in my head. I definitely heart spring.