Holiness Issues in Blasts

What a lovely morning. 59 degrees, drizzling. The Bird is squaking away in her crib, and I'm sure her mom is trying to squeeze in a few more minutes of precious sleep. Here's the perfect song for the morning.

Alex, Ben and Jason left for their bike trip through the Columbia River Gorge this morning at 6:30am. I hauled myself out of bed to wave them off with a white rag, like a good Adkison-Ott girl would. Then back to bed with a hot cup of coffee and a good book. Annie Dillard is my favorite essayist. She writes about the details of things, and I think I move through the world more appreciatively after I read her writing.

"This hospital, like every other, is a hole in the universe through which holiness issues in blasts. It blows both ways, in and out of time. In wards above and below me men and women are dying. Their hearts seize, give out or clatter, their kidneys fail, their lungs harden or drown, their brains clog or jam, or die for blood. Their awarenesses lower like lamp wicks. Off they go, these many great and beloved people, as death subtracts them one by one from the living-about 164,000 of them a day worldwide, 6,000 a day in the United States-and the hospital shunts their bodies away. Simultaneously, here they come, these many new people, for now absurdly alike-about 10,000 of them a day in this country-as apparently shabby replacements."


Last night's Torchlight Parade was awesome. My favorite, of the at least 12 drill teams, was the Baby Dangerettes. All between 6 and 12 years old, these little girls rocked the tasseled cowgirl boots and sequined uniforms with attitude. "Bang, bang, choo choo train, come on girls and shake that thang!" Indeed! The high school marching bands were poignant-all arms and legs and tubas, faces temporarily ravaged by acne, playing for all they're worth. At the end of the parade the Seafair pirates come through, blasting realistically loud cannons, terrifying small children, and running off with pretty bystanders.


I've been working on my Must-Do List. Here is a start on it.

1) Be a foster parent
2) Ride the Duck
3) Complete a triathalon (Next August, Danskin Women's Triathalon)
4) Catch 10,000 babies in my lifetime (9,998 to go!)
5) Catch babies somewhere else in the world, too
6) Live in NYC (With Alex in Philly, I should be able to at least visit NYC sometime this year!)
7) Kill my TV for good
8) Learn to play the fiddle
9) Hike a National Scenic Trail (or all of them...)
10) Host a Love Feast
11) Go ice skating each winter
12) Try rock climbing
13) Rent a canoe on Lake Washington
14) Become a nurse-practitioner (nurse-midwife/FNP) (On my way to a BSN from UW!)
15) Make a budget and stick to it for 6 months (2 months down!)
16) Consistently balance my checkbook on the first day of the month (REMOVE FROM LIST: HUBBY IN CHARGE OF THIS NOW!!!! MUAHAHAHA!!!)
17) Go to yoga at least once a week
18) Develop my spiritual practice in some way-need to think about how
19) Learn to play cello
20) Volunteer at a hospice
21) Earn my board certification as a lactation consultant


More to come!

I'm off to church, then to see Mama Mia with Alex's sister Jennifer and her kids, who are visiting from El Paso, TX this week.

All my best!
Caren