Why Buy Expensive Toys?

This is very possibly the. Funniest. Video. In the world.

This came with the title 'why buy expensive toys?' Now, they must be referring to the paper being an inexpensive toy for the baby, rather than the baby being the toy for the dad... The dad sure is enjoying his plaything, though!



Caution: Perusal of this video may result in extreme spit-taking, gut-busting, snorting, and side-splitting. Watch at your own risk.

meow meow song

ummmm... luxuriating in the expanse of a king size bed, soft fresh hotel linens that somehow always feel better than clean linens at home, get to bed at a decent time for a change...

...and I wake up at 12:15 am with the same song running through my head that's been there for the past week.

(ba-dum, ch, ch, ba-dum) It's such a good feeling to know you're alive, it's such a happy feeling, you're growing inside. And when you wake up ready to say (piano glissando) we're gonna have a snappy new day (snap, snap, snap)...

Ghost of Fred Rogers, I love you (just the way you are), but get your song OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

(meow meow song out meow meow head right meow!)

Stargazing

When I took Lucy out for her walk tonight, I was struck by the beauty of the clear night sky. The Big Dipper was immediately visible as I looked up, quite the rarity in the city.


Sometimes I wish I could go out and stargaze every night, in a place where the night sky was unpolluted by city lights. Here's a picture of the constellations in the winter sky. Hmm... not quite what I see when I look up at the sky in winter. If I'm lucky, I can count maybe 20 sky objects on a clear night.



Tonight there's supposed to be a red moon due to a lunar eclipse.
Historically, they say Colombus fooled the Native Americans into giving food to him and his men by telling them the gods would make the moon turn red in anger if they didn't... of course he had an almanac on his side. Cheating Spanish bastard...

But I just can't see dragging myself out at 3:30 on a frigid winter night to look at the moon - even on a beautiful clear night like we're having here. *sigh* I'll just google images tomorrow and see if anyone captured it and wish I would have taken the picture myself.

Year of the Rat

It was Chinese New Year a week ago. This is the year of the Rat, also known as Wu Zi (woozy?).

I'm a rat. At least, according to Chinese astrology. As a kid, going to a Chinese restaurant was fun, until we started examining our printed paper placemats. I would be reminded that I was born in the year of the rat. Now, wikipedia lists all kinds of nice and complimentary things about rat people, which is all well and good. But come on, a rat???

...... Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking (sounds good, can you just change the animal? maybe a puppy?). Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat's natural charm and sharp demeanor (oh, yeah, that's me!) make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.
...... Behind the smiles and charm, rats can be terribly obstinate and controlling, insisting on having things their way no matter what the cost. Rats are masters of mind games and can be very dangerous, calculative and downright cruel if the need arises. Quick-tempered and aggressive, they will not think twice about exacting revenge on those that hurt them in any way. (um, er...) Rats need to learn to relax sometimes, as they can be quite obsessed with detail, intolerant and strict, demanding order, obedience, and perfection.
...... Rats are fair in their dealings and expect the same from others in return, and can be deeply affronted if they feel they have been deceived or that their trust has been abused (really now, who wouldn't?). Sometimes they set their targets too high, whether in relation to their friends or in their career. But as the years pass, they will become more idealistic and tolerant. If they can develop their sense of self and realize it leaves room for others in their life as well, Rats can find true happiness.
...... Traditionally, Rats should avoid Horses (well, I did fall off a horse once), but they can usually find their best friends and love interests in Rabbits (please, no rabbits!), Monkeys, Dragons, and Oxen.
...... Professions include espionage, psychiatry, psychology, writing, politics, law, engineering, accounting, detective work, acting, and pathology (hmmm... no mention of secretarial work).

Oh well, at least I can call my son a Rat and get away with it - he's one, too!

The Franklin Sings!

Well, little movie clips from my camera, anyway. He sang with me a little bit yesterday. Here's a verse of Amazing Grace and the chorus to The Holy City. He made up a little song, too, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch it. It was cute, though!
(Now if I could only figure out how to rotate the image so that I don't have to bend over to view!)

Amazing Grace
The Holy City

Lobster...

...is what I feel like about now (not eating it, being it!), after 5 hours on the beach! Various limbs and other exposed body parts are about as red as one of the lifeguard stations here.

We went to Siesta Key, off the coast of Sarasota, and spent hours just reading, sunbathing, listening to the waves. Great relaxation method.

We took a look at Turtle Beach first, but went on to Siesta Beach because of its beautiful sand...white sand some call sugar sand, because its consistency is like confectioners sugar. It's so soft, so white, kind of sparkly when it's on your skin. That's because it's made from quartz.

Hardly anyone was on the beach when we arrived at about 9:30 this morning. Kids being in school, not prime vacation season, plus the early hour guaranteed us a close parking spot and a choice of locations to park our beach chairs.


We had seen the weather forecasts change from possible rain showers to sunny, so figured it was a good day for the beach.

But after a while the clouds started blowing in. We held our ground though, and after an hour or so of threatening clouds, they blew away and the sky cleared again.

Of course the clouds moved so fast because it was so windy, in fact, perfect kite-flying weather. I don’t know when the last time was that I’ve seen people flying kites. But there were a number of them there, including this cool pelican kite.

There was one shaped like a big barrel, another bird shaped one, one that had some noise-making thing in it, one with a long multi-colored tail, a red, white and blue kite (which later had a flag hoisted up its tail). Finally we saw a kite that had two gliding heads connected to each other that made loop-de-loop shapes with the tail connecting them. Pretty cool.

We stayed out probably an hour to 90 minutes too long. Both my sister and I got burned, me far worse than she. Good thing we had plenty of aloe back at Mom’s house! Hopefully the worst of it will be gone by the time I go home.

One of the most interesting things was all the people watching. This guy was out for quite a while, doing what looked like TM or something. He would put his hands in a receptive posture for a while, then stretch them out, then bring them together in a prayer pose. And he sat there in a lotus position for the longest time.

There were also lots of parents with pre-school kids, some really cute and laughing, one that kept crying (and finally left, to our relief!). Some people had their metal detectors or sand sifters, looking for natural or man-made treasure.

All in all, it was a great, relaxing way to spend a day. It’s probably been 30 years since I’ve just lain out a beach like that, and 10 years since I’ve spent any quality time at any beach (last time being mission trip free day on the other side of the Gulf).

So I think this time the lobster skin is a small price to pay!

Chairs

Many people have written about this, but one aspect of snowy Chicago just cracks me up.

Chairs.

I refer, of course, to the time-honored tradition of saving the parking spot you've taken the time and energy to shovel out by blocking it with a pair of folding chairs. The last several winters, we haven't had tons of snow, so the chairs haven't manifested themselves much. But we just got 12 inches the other day, and they're baaaaaack!

Some people don't have chairs, and use things like cardboard boxes and sawhorses to mark their spots. Other people get a little more creative. Like this picture - it looks like a broken vacuum cleaner piece and a giant spring. Who knows?

The day I saw a kid's Fisher Price riding car out on the street, I just about lost it!

Part of a Family

During this past week of Midwinter, I realized something. At some point in the week, I connected with people from every decade and every phase of my life.

• Becky and John E have known me since I was a year old, and Karen H was my pastor's wife at our church in the mid sixties. (Of course, I could also name my own sister, who attended Midwinter, and whom I've known since, well...)
  
• I met Keith S, Bob A, Pete H, Bruce L, Rick M all at Camp Mission Meadows in my early teens in the seventies. I would have been at Scandia Cov at the time.
  
• I met Eric Sparrman, Dave G, Dave K and Lana H at North Park in the late seventies. I went first to North Park Cov, then Iglesia del Pacto de Albany Park.
  
• Baxter and Margie S let me live in their home in Medellin, Colombia in 80-81. I also met Carol B that year (in Ecuador), and Ray D, who was head of World Mission at the time. In Colombia, I mostly attended house services.
  
• I had classes with Noel C, and knew who Pat G was at North Park in the early eighties. Back to IdP Albany Park.
• Bob S, Dave and Laurel G, Eric H, Steve and Mary Jane D are all friends made at Grace Covenant in the early nineties. Stuart M and Deb G were my two pastors during the nineties.
• The list of people met since 2000 is simply too long to name - people both at Grace and through work, and who were all at Midwinter.
  

This list is just people I know; if I expanded the list to include people who knew Mom and Dad, or siblings, it would be huge. (And I run into people who knew my sisblings from their camper days or working stints at Mission Meadows, or those who know my siblings from the churches they've attended, or from their time at North Park.)
Family. Awesome... gives me a warm feeling inside.

Being a Witness

"There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear...
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down"
- Buffalo Springfield, For What It's Worth

There is something happening here, although it is clear that it's something good that's going down in the ECC. These are interesting days; this is a very interesting and critical point in our history as a denomination.

And I feel like I'm a witness.

I've been able to personally watch the 5-fold test emerge from a brainstorming session in an Ethnic Commission meeting into a movement of the ECC. (photo: Gary Walter tallying responses at the 5-fold round table in 2004)

I've been able to watch as the position of director of congregational vitality went from proposal to funding approval to hiring to practice. And the word is spreading. Churches around the country are excited and hopeful of reigniting that spark again.

I've been able to watch as data was collected and predictions made about the future of the ECC if our attendance continues to grow as it has been. This past week, numerous presentations / discussions were held on the topic of the ECC in 2020.

I'm watching now as our denomination prepares to vote on a new President in 5 months time. It's exciting to think about both what has happened under Glenn's presidency and what will happen under Gary's.

Being a witness is cool...

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down