Trampolines and 4-Leaf Clovers

Today was warm and alluring.
It was the kind of day that you find it utterly impossible to stay indoors. It's impossible to sit within the confines of walls and glass and doors and responsibility - while a world of dazzling sunlight and color and life waits for you. Whispering. Beckoning. Calling.

Flinging off my socks and running through the clover-dotted grass, I flew out to the back meadow where the boys were laughing on the trampoline. We bounced and laughed for nearly an hour, shrieking with excitement when one of us would get unexpectedly rocketed skyward. It was very kid-like and glorious. Mark, who just turned twelve, egged me on to try a flip - and while I was initially terrified of breaking my neck in the attempt, I managed to pull off a full 360-degree flip. He laughed at my un-graceful attempts, but I couldn't help beaming at my new-found acrobatic talent.

Nearly falling over with jelly-legs and breathless giggles, we laid on the trampoline and gazed up at the drifting clouds. Little insects hummed around our sweaty faces. The rich, beautiful scent of the blossoming roses floated through the warm air. A bee buzzed by. It was quiet and peaceful.

Exactly what I needed.

In the midst of graduation preparations, college planning and paperwork, scholarship applications, speech writing/practicing, finals, SAT tests and more - escaping to the trampoline for a few hours was refreshing. Rejuvenating.

We migrated off the trampoline and laid in the grass, Mark making goose sounds with blades of grass, and I searched for 4-leaf clovers. Our knees got a little muddy, and our tummies itched from the grass (we decided it was the invisible microbes that make us itch).
What wonderful moments. I wish I could bottle those wonderful, warm, happy moments - just laying in the grass, humming and looking for lucky clover - bottle them up and save them for those not-so-glorious days.
It'll be bottled up in my memory for a long time yet.

A Day To Remember...

This is wonderful. I'm sitting on my bed, it's 11:15 at night, and it's too hot to go to sleep. I'm sitting here sweltering in this pre-summer warmth....loving it! This is what summer is all about! This is what feeling alive and healthy and happy and wonderful is all about! I love this heat. I love the sweaty, sticky, hot feeling. The sleep-on-top-of-your-sheets feeling.

Summer is almost here. I can feel it. Literally.

Happy things that happened today:

• Met with the ARC counselor and drew up a brilliant new plan for a wonderful new major.
• FOUND MY CONVERSE!
• Clapped when Danny Gokey *didn't* get voted off American Idol
• Discovered a fun song on the radio
• Sat in the sun and listened to the breeze, insects and neighbor children laughing
• Nursed sore thighs after over 3 1/2 hours of hip hop yesterday. (Yes, it IS a good feeling...painful, but it makes you feel alive and powerful)
• Became quite enlightened about the religious ceremonies of indigenous Javains (in a World Music class no less...)
• FOUND MY CONVERSE!
• Sang at the top of my lungs in the car

Oh yes. It's been a good day.

Thoughts from Apologetics class

What do rednecks and dancing have in common?

I'm a dancer.
I know the wonderful thrill of smoothly gliding across a wooden floor. I know the fantastic feeling of allowing your heartbeat to match the rhythm of the music. Polkaing in the grass as the world whirls by in a swirl of color. Twirling. Spinning. Flying.

I'm a dancer.
I know the pain of bruised, blistered and tired feet. I know the hours spent learning the steps, tripping over myself, trying to memorize grace. Practice. Exhaustion. Soreness. More and more practice.

And yet, if you go to a dance, it's expected that you've studied the steps. It's expected that you've practiced the moves and tried to learn the technicalities. Everyone studies the dance steps so they can move smoothly and gracefully, so they don't step on their partners' feet, so they can have fun, so they can really dance. It's a social courtesy.

Manners are also a social courtesy. Manners, chivalry, etiquette - they're all steps to the dance we call life. It takes much practice, it takes messing up sometimes, it might mean sore pride and bruised dignity. And yet, if you master those important steps; if you know how to be courteous, socially acceptable, graceful and polite, you'll be able to soar on that dance floor. Doors open, opportunities arise when you can glide and whirl on the dance floor of life.

A redneck is the guy that refuses to learn the dance steps.

An Easter I'll Not Soon Forget

- My gorgeous mother, dressed in a slimming green and black floral summer dress, with a pink lily from my father gently fastened above her heart, is outside snapping photos.

- Ryan, the epitome of what a “cool” 14-year old should do and act, has seemingly forgotten societal expectations of a pubescent teen, and is sneaking around the backyard adorned in furry bunny ears….hiding eggs.

- Daddy sits and talks with the aging and comically frank Mr. Bob Sawyer; the lonely old scoutmaster. Without family or friends to celebrate Easter with, Mr. Sawyer was stoically excited when we invited him to eat Easter dinner with us.

- I sit inside, observing all this….while listening to a newfound favorite soundtrack; Slumdog Millionaire. It’s Easter, Spring, and absolutely stunning outside, yet I’m pounding out scholarship applications and essays. And then...in a couple hours I'll be off to work. Hmmm, never thought I'd be doing that on Easter. How dreadfully responsible and "grown up."

Snippits of Favorites

It's interesting to see what your favorite songs have in common. Disjointed yes, but put pieces of them together and you find an interesting picture beginning to form:

You are the bearer of unconditional things
You held your breath and the door for me
Thanks for your patience

--

But deep inside, I see the light
I'm a runaway victim left alone
At night though you lay so far
We both stare out at the same old stars
Wishing for direction where to go

Ah, the night is callin'
And it whispers to me softly, "come and play"
But I, I am fallin'
And if I let myself go I'm the only one to blame
I'm safe up high, nothing can touch me

--

I'll take every moment, I know that I own them
It's all up to you to do whatever you choose
Live like you're dying, never stop trying
It's all you can do, use what's been given to you

--

So hoist up the john b sail
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the captain ashore
Let me go home, let me go home
I wanna go home, let me go home
Why don't you let me go home?

We belong to the light
We belong to the thunder
We belong to the sound of the words
We've both fallen under

--

Memories made in the coldest winter
Goodbye, my friend

--

He met her up in Delaware in 1937
She was wearing red lipstick to match her pretty dress
December 24th at a quarter 'till eleven is when he finally
Gained the courage to ask her to dance

And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
There were churches, theme parks and malls
But there was nothing there all along

--

Baba yetu, yetu uliye
Mbinguni yetu, yetu, amina!
Baba yetu, yetu, uliye
Jina lako elu tukuzwe.

Ufalme wako ufike utakalo
Lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni

Have you ever....

Danced with a stranger?
Smiled at the moon?
Searched for the end of the rainbow?
Ridden horses along the shore?
Talked to yourself in the mirror?
Rocked out in a smoky bar?
Cried over the injustice in the world?
Dropped a penny from a castle wall?
Danced in the pouring rain?
Bought stilettos?
Tried to paint a canvas?
Sung in front of an audience?
Evangelized in a different lanugage?
Chittered with squirrels?
Caught a snowflake on your tongue?
Eaten tomatoes so fresh you can taste the earth?
Played your guitar in the mountains beneath the stars?
Watched a satellite cross in front of the moon?
Cried yourself to sleep?
Built a sandcastle?
Laid in the grass and listen to bats?
Made daisy chains?
Swam with sea turtles?
Worn scandalous lipstick?
Planted a garden?
Watched a baby learn to walk?
Laughed so hard you cried?
Wiggled your toes in the cool grass?
Searched for a four-leaf clover?
Held a stranger's hand as they cried?
Braked for a crossing squirrel?
Looked in your rearview mirror to see police lights?
Danced like a lunatic at a live concert?
Played air-guitar on a broom?
Run away from home?
Climbed to the stop of a tree in a storm?
Counted the stars?
Donated blood?
Blown bubbles at a fish?
Twirled on your toes?

I have.

Current Responsibilities....