QuidNunc/QuidTunc?

Whenever Joel goes to Longwood, there are certain trees he expects to see, and they are usually waiting for him (and everyone else!). When we were very young, and we would have some spare time after setting up for a concert, we would roam the streets and he would stop and gaze at trees. I would worry someone would come out and chase us off for loitering! When our children were very young, we spent a lot of time at Longwood Gardens and Joel would make (want) us to stay next to him while he tree gazed. It was a little hard reining in all that animation, so that when he said “Who wants to go to Longwood?” , Mary., whose middle name is “Go!”, would be the only volunteer. She would walk alongside him, leaning on his leg and sucking her thumb, stopping when he stopped and going when he went. They were pals. The other day we made a late afternoon trip to Longwood and , sure enough, the ‘old friends’ are still there. I have a camera I can liberally click away with and ‘trash ‘ what I don’t want and I don’t get bored while he ‘gazes’.

The Buckeye Grove

The oxydendron tree

The Happy Trampers

My reading is beginning to pick up speed and lately I have read two books I’ve been meaning to blog about. The first one was Camille by Alexander Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers. Never see him given credit for much else. Camille is told as a narrative as someone relates his relationship to a woman in Paris described as a ‘kept woman’. It is an upper class prostitute. She’s not working the streets, but the men know who she is and pay her for her favors when she grants them. When the teller of the story sees her for the first time, he falls in love with her. She grants him an audience, but he doesn’t go for her favors, he goes for her. When she feels sick and leaves the room, he goes to see if she is all right, and she is astounded by the act, because no one had ever shown her that kind of attention. He keeps up his relationship with her until she sees no other. Then she wants to leave Paris, so they find a cottage in the country. She lets all of her old life go in the face of this man’s love for her. I won’t spoil the story for you, but it made me think. People often see becoming a Christian as a cutoff from doing or being something they desire, or people they desire to be with. They see it as some sort of bereavement. I would say they do not understand what happened at the cross. Sometimes I have not understood what happened at the cross. For a long time I heard . “In view of God’s mercies, OFFER YOUR BODIES AS LIVING SACRIFICES.’  Especially loud ’sacrifice’. Always got to be thinking about what I am giving up. One day in church it hit me as “IN VIEW OF GOD’S MERCIES, offer your bodies as living sacrifices. ‘ Really no big deal when you think of God’s great mercy. So this woman was getting rid  of the things that had entangled her in that other life.

The other book was A Thing of Beauty by A.J. Cronin. I think ‘The Citadel’ is his claim to fame, but he has wonderful character development and this book was not a disappointment. I got it on vacation at my sister’s library in the ‘for Sale’ room. This was about a young man whose father expected him to ‘go into the church’ as a fourth generation and inheriting all he had and the son wants to paint. The father can’t see any future in painting and his world generally looks the same. The painter’s world is always changing. It is sort of like reading the book of Proverbs as different characters go in an out of his life. The father is always waiting for a return and he does return for a painting job that goes awry. I think this is the 4th  A. J. Cronin book I read. All good.

I was just thinking about a period of time in our early 40’s we felt exhausted all the time. One morning when we woke up Joel said, ‘If we feel like this when we’re in our 40’s, what do people in their 60’s do???”  I replied,’ Well, I guess if you’re not dead, you get put of bed!’ One of my most profound moments. I’m not in my 60’s yet and I think it has been a long time since we felt so draggd out like that all the time. Maybe it was all the responsibilities of raising kids as they got older and all the crises of the time or we just got used to the way it felt, I don’t know. I do know that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning and the sun just peeped out! And two funny girls named Mary and Annika will be here soon with bagels. I think I’ll go boil some eggs!

There is always a little something stashed away in a corner around here. Lotsa corneres, lotsa stashes! So in a ‘closet’ there was this bag of letters  I wrote to Joel’s mother and so here is a glimpse of our life on February 12, 1990. I knew it was imporatnt to date letters!

” This is as close to Valentine card as I can muster (stationery with a pair of wood ducks). Mary colored you one that’s in another envelope. Makes her feel like she has done something official. She really enjoys school and is reading quite well. She’s a hands-on type… she has fidgety fingers! She scratches my back when she sits next to me.

I’m working on a quilt, the hand stitching part and I’v e gotten so sleepy. I’m making great progress, too. (???)

Samuel is really enjoying listening to records. He’s so much like Dad (mine). I went to a funeral with Dad and Mom on Saturday. Dad walks past the baptistry and pokes his head in! Samuel gets so involved with the music he listens to! This morning he was dancing around on the rocking chair.

Joel is making some sales again this week. Once we get a customer they’re very pleased. Getting them is not easy but he’s very encouraged. Last year at this time he didn’t really know if he could do it and now he knows he can— the growing part. The making money part has its queations, too, but that always will, I’ve been out dibbling a few times. I’ve just hired one of the students to help me after school. We ought to make some real progress.

I cleaned Nicky’s closet ;last week and concluded that everything that disappears is wedged behind something in Nicky’s closet. He sleepwalks.

Jeannette is sick today. I think she’s exhausted . Growing bodies can’t always take what you dish out to it. She got to go to a chamber concert performong Mozart’s Requiem with her English teacher. Saturday before last Andrew B. took a bunch of little boys to see ‘White Fang’.”

That’s it folks. In Feb. 0f 1990 I was 31, had 5 kids aged 2-12! I think I did the math right on that one! Everybody is pretty much in character. Where is Luisa??? She played and sang and sang and played back then!

If I have time to find a pictue I ight update this post, but now I am going to scramble!

The reason there isn’t a pictue of Joel pointing is that I can’t find it!!

I wonder who made those words up. I am sure if I look it up in my lovely online dictionary, it’ll tell me, but I am not going to take the time. We were looking over our bookshelves, I think Joel had a sacrificial eye and he said, “It’s not like we use them.” I followed his gaze to the World Book Encyclopedias and said “No sir. I am always paranoid of a Tower of Babel experience and said “I’m keeping all my hard copies!” At least they are good through 1989. I keep all my dictionaries, too. I have 6 English ones. One is about eight inches thick. I kept a couple in the car for a while when I was teaching homeschoolers so I was sure to have something with an etymology.

Joel just finished repointing all the points in our brick that needed it. It has been about a 3 week project. He is really glad to have it done. He figured by the time he finished he would have the hang of it.

We celebrated Two Years of New City Fellowship of Lancaster today. I made Mississippi Mud in honor of it. One day as i was with Mary when she picked up K from Nursery school and K called out to her teacher , “Good Bye Mississippi!”  Instead of ‘Mississ Hilton’.

This is me saying good bye to the Midwest on ourway home. Three weeks ago. I couldn’t find my camera cord. it showed up on Friday.