Ah! Relaxation …
Spent the past weekend visiting our best friend out in Pittsburgh. It was basically a testosterone-free forty-four hours, really, surprisingly enjoyable: my wife, my two daughters, our friend, and her three daughters, the oldest of which was having her sixth birthday party and the youngest two being twins, age three.
Let me reiterate: it was surprisingly enjoyable.
I’m not one for the small-talk chit-chat cocktail party scene, and even more so do I dread – and I mean dread – the uncomfortable parents-taking-children-to-other-children’s-birthday-parties scene. So, to my pleasant surprise, the ladies let me off the hook Saturday afternoon and allowed me to hide, monk-like, in an upstairs room with my books. I reciprocated later by helping clean up various rooms at various times as the pre-adolescent hurricanes tore regularly through the house.
I feasted on some mighty fine organic veggie lasagna, some broccoli pasta, homemade pancakes and plain old scrambled eggs, which I don’t have very often. Went a bit off my diet by indulging in some brownies, but hey, with all the cupcakes and chips and cheese doodles the little ones were assimilating, I think I did a pretty good job. Remember, this is my heart I’m eating for (actually, my pulmonary vein). Got to do some yoga, too, and watched some very funny SNL skits.
What did LE get done? Well, I finished Augustine’s On True Religion. The first go-round. Did not understand most of it – no, that’s not exactly true. I understood it as I read it, it made sense to me intellectually and intuitively, but once I finished I realized that I could not adequately summarize the book and its message in a post. So, I’m re-reading it, slowly, noting stuff that I found remarkable and profound. I always had a fascination and a deep respect for Augustine, finding somewhat of a kinship with him, I suppose, having read his Confessions many years ago. I’m about a third-way through the second reading. I think I’ll put a book by Pope Benedict in the batter’s circle after this.
Also put away two very, very awesome stories by Borges: “The Immortal,” and “The Theologians.” I think I’ll post some thoughts about them tomorrow and the day after. I can only shake my head and hope that one day I may write something half as good.
The trip to and from Pittsburgh went better than I expected. Let me just say that for all the bad publicity GM is getting right now, Chevy Impalas ride like you’re on a cloud. We made the trip, one-way, in six hours both times. Hit a lot of sporadic heavy rain showers and some traffic resulting from numerous convoys of eighteen-wheelers, but I found the highways actually fun to drive. And I hate driving. The girls were excellent – even Patch, who, at seven months, had to man-up and skip a feeding so we could maintain our schedule.
All in all, a good time had by all!
Thanks RL!
Spent the past weekend visiting our best friend out in Pittsburgh. It was basically a testosterone-free forty-four hours, really, surprisingly enjoyable: my wife, my two daughters, our friend, and her three daughters, the oldest of which was having her sixth birthday party and the youngest two being twins, age three.
Let me reiterate: it was surprisingly enjoyable.
I’m not one for the small-talk chit-chat cocktail party scene, and even more so do I dread – and I mean dread – the uncomfortable parents-taking-children-to-other-children’s-birthday-parties scene. So, to my pleasant surprise, the ladies let me off the hook Saturday afternoon and allowed me to hide, monk-like, in an upstairs room with my books. I reciprocated later by helping clean up various rooms at various times as the pre-adolescent hurricanes tore regularly through the house.
I feasted on some mighty fine organic veggie lasagna, some broccoli pasta, homemade pancakes and plain old scrambled eggs, which I don’t have very often. Went a bit off my diet by indulging in some brownies, but hey, with all the cupcakes and chips and cheese doodles the little ones were assimilating, I think I did a pretty good job. Remember, this is my heart I’m eating for (actually, my pulmonary vein). Got to do some yoga, too, and watched some very funny SNL skits.
What did LE get done? Well, I finished Augustine’s On True Religion. The first go-round. Did not understand most of it – no, that’s not exactly true. I understood it as I read it, it made sense to me intellectually and intuitively, but once I finished I realized that I could not adequately summarize the book and its message in a post. So, I’m re-reading it, slowly, noting stuff that I found remarkable and profound. I always had a fascination and a deep respect for Augustine, finding somewhat of a kinship with him, I suppose, having read his Confessions many years ago. I’m about a third-way through the second reading. I think I’ll put a book by Pope Benedict in the batter’s circle after this.
Also put away two very, very awesome stories by Borges: “The Immortal,” and “The Theologians.” I think I’ll post some thoughts about them tomorrow and the day after. I can only shake my head and hope that one day I may write something half as good.
The trip to and from Pittsburgh went better than I expected. Let me just say that for all the bad publicity GM is getting right now, Chevy Impalas ride like you’re on a cloud. We made the trip, one-way, in six hours both times. Hit a lot of sporadic heavy rain showers and some traffic resulting from numerous convoys of eighteen-wheelers, but I found the highways actually fun to drive. And I hate driving. The girls were excellent – even Patch, who, at seven months, had to man-up and skip a feeding so we could maintain our schedule.
All in all, a good time had by all!
Thanks RL!
I was going to say "Wow, OUR LE enjoyed a party.." but just before the words came out you mentioned that you hid in an upstairs room! Oh, LE! Oh well, game on, get-together again this Sunday for Mother's Day! Enjoy your week and see you then, J
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