watch your clocks

What’s today? Wednesday, yes. Day before the day before I leave to see my family in Maryland, yes.

It’s July 8, 2009. Put another way, 7.8.09. It’s 7-8-9 today.

This should be easy for you, if you’re one of my working friends. You’ll probably already be watching the clock waiting to spring from work.

Today at 4:56, it will be 4.5.6.7.8.9

Auspicious, I know. Anything to liven up your day.

c. list

I love coffee always, but I have an on-again, off-again relationship with it (don’t want to get dependent on it). Lately, we have been very on.

:: Tuesday ::  Starbucks Breakfast Blend, home-brewed; French vanilla cappuccino from machine at work. Possible stop after work: 50 cent-coffee day at Dunkin’ Donuts.

:: Monday ::  Grande cappuccino from Starbucks

:: Sunday ::  Starbucks Breakfast Blend, home-brewed

:: Saturday ::  Left-over Barnie’s Irish creme, home-brewed.

{Mythopoetic}

contact

There is no evaluative statement in the following. I was just struck by the realization of the diverse communication options available to the average person in developed nations.

If you wanted to get a hold of me, you could…

1. Come see me in person

2. Call me on my cell phone

3. Call me at work

4. Leave a written message

5. Mail me a letter/postcard

6. Email me at one of my two school email addresses, four personal addresses, or work email

7. Facebook me- message or wall

8. Use twitter (I conformed to Wycliffe pressure)

9. Skype me

10. Leave a comment on one of my two stellar blogs.

So if you’ve been out of touch, dying to reach me, please, take your pick.

spring equinox

Today is:
–  March 20.
–  First day of spring.
–  The spring equinox.

I feel like I’ve talked about this before, but I’m just fascinated by this stuff, so I’m writing it for my own pleasure, and it can’t hurt you to know this either.

If you lived on the equator, today would be equal night and equal day. From this point on, there is more day than night.

Part 1

Spring equinox
At the equators, it’s even day and even night. The days are getting longer (sun is up longer) and from this point on, there’s more sun than dark.

*Summer solstice (Midsummer’s Day),
Longest day of the year. The days start getting shorter.

Fall equinox
Similar to the spring equinox, the night and day are even. After this day, there is increasingly  more night than day.

*Winter solstice 
Shortest day of the year. After this day, the days start getting longer.

This is exciting stuff. Please go find a way to celebrate.

* It’s interesting to note that some cultures celebrate these. Particularly, I know of people celebrating Midsummer’s Day and also the winter solstice.

In some Scandinavian countries, I think they observe both solstices. In a place where the seasonal changes of the sun are so dramatic, I can understand why (in the summer, the sun never really sets, and it barely rises in the winter). I believe that Midsummer’s is a big deal, and then I think St. Lucia’s day is used to mark the winter solstice.

Somehow, I think this is why we celebrate Christmas on the 25 of December. Pagans used to have the Celebration of the Sun on the winter solstice. Christians decided to place the Celebration of the Son -which we call Christmas now- over that holiday (I guess as an alternative/way to try to redeem the holiday), and now modern calendars place that day on December 25.

Part 2

I have this aspiration to one day host a sweet Midsummer’s Day celebration.

This is my plan:
– Host it in Minnesota (which seems like the Scandinavian part of the US)
– Have a May pole, unless I discover there’s some pagan tradition tied to it .
– Eat out of doors (obviously).
– Have a white and navy blue color theme, consistent with that area
– There has to be a lake. With a dock. With boats.
– Get some of those sweet old lanterns to use when the sun finally goes down

Since there is little hope of this realistically ever happening, I am going to write down a detailed description of what I want, commit it to memory, hope that we will have all of our memories in heaven, and have my party up there.

Let me know if you want an invite, and I’ll commit that to memory also.

final attempt

 

 

Real computer people would be appalled at the primitive way I cut and hacked out this simple, little text design. I have no excuses. I simply haven’t been learned how to do such things.

attempts one and two

I had to call Kristi to find out how I could create text and save it as a jpeg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  This is harder than it looks. How to graphic designers do it?

christmas carol respite

If you need a break from the twenty-most-played Christmas carols, try this. It cheered me right up.

Speaking of Christmas and encouraging things and while I’m giving you things to click on, read this narrative about God’s faithfulness  from my friend and fellow-blogger and please don’t sell the details to the Hallmark movie makers.

R.

three french hens, two turtledoves, and a partridge

I went running today after work. A great evening, by the way. I finally explored the weird little road by the train tracks. While I was running, I saw a red-tailed hawk, two sandhills cranes, and a mourning dove.

google images

It was great. I haven’t seen a red tailed hawk closely in a while. Growing up, there was one that frequently came and sat on our back fence. They’re really beautiful.

Consequently, on the topic of birds, do any of you know the myth about the ravens and the Tower of London?

Allegedly, there have always been ravens at the Tower. Now, in modern times, there are several ravens kept at the Tower, cared for with names and cages.  Legend has it that when there are no more ravens at the Tower, then the White Tower, the monarchy, and the kingdom of Britain will fall.

There are always sandhill cranes at Wycliffe. There is a small family of them always lurking around the buildings, completely unabashedly. It is said that when the cranes leave Wycliffe, the work of Bible translation will be completed. That’s the new legend I’m trying to start. So spread it around, will ya?

R.

blueberry scones

If there were a blog for Wycliffe USA, I would contribute a piece about their scones.

I’ve only had them twice, but that’s enough to create a word association. Chef Ken’s blueberry scones are sublime.

courtesy of google images

 Apparently, for Wycliffe’s Day of Prayer, it has become a tradition to always have scones for their morning break. It’s endearing and kind of charming. People clapped and cheered at the day of prayer when they announced that we were having scones when we adjourned for break.

R.

certifiable

It’s official. This morning is as nearly perfect as I can imagine perfect.

I didn’t have to rush to get out of the house today. I had a talk with a friend that’s been a long time coming. And it went well. The weather is dry and windy and cool. And, the event that put it over the top, my finiky AM radio worked this morning, so I got ten minutes of Neal Boortz on my way to campus.