Spring break is over.
ST. PATRICK'S DAY
In honor of the day, Rose mentioned that she had learned in U.S. History that the Irish were dreaded as immigrants because of the quantity of their drinking. "Oh, dear God, not more Irish!" is how she reported the town fathers reacting when the boats would come in. The only immigrants worse were the Scots because they enjoyed nothing more than a good fight to go along with their drinking, although they tended to live in the back country so that kept involvement with the towns to a minimum. Did I mention that Tom and I have a lot of Irish ancestry? We are a sad tribute to our hard drinking forebears.
Also, when at the grocery store the next day (note to self, avoid any contact with Greenville avenue for the entire length of St. Patrick's day), a Sudanese checker asked with a wide smile if I had been at "the celebration" yesterday. (The store is on Greenville where the parade goes.) I told him that although we had a lot of Irish in our backgrounds, we tended to avoid the parade. He then said with evident delight, "Oh, I was here at work but I enjoyed so much seeing all the happy people at their celebration. It was so much fun to watch! Why is it for the Irish?" Whereupon I gave him the quick story of St. Patrick and his day. He then said again, "It is a good day. I love to see everyone so happy and cheerful." I liked to get this completely neutral take on the "celebration."
LENTEN WATCHING AND READING
Rose began watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended version, of course!) on Saturday. As soon as I saw it I couldn't pull away. It has been a long time since I've seen it and I had forgotten how much Peter Jackson had retained of the original themes. Good and evil, free will and choices, temptations, what constitutes a heroic effort ... what fantastic contemplation this has provided me for the weekend. We progressed through the second movie yesterday and halfway through the last one. I also began rereading the trilogy and am about halfway through the first book. Again, I am amazed at Tolkien's masterpiece. (Note to self: use this for future Lenten reading and watching. Note to others: see the sidebar for any links.)
HOLY TOAST
A late Christmas gift given to me by one of Hannah's friends ... Holy Toast. We were cracking up.
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