DaddyRoBlog

No Joy in Mudville

My older daughter left today.  A friend picked her up at about 7:30 this morning and they made the 12 hour trip back to college together.  She did call tonight to say that they made it safe and sound.  

But of course I cannot feel too bad for myself while thinking about the residents of the Gulf Coast as Gustav approaches.   Here, for instance, is a post from David Knight, who lives in Long Beach, Mississippi, and who is one of my personal heroes.  As he writes, "the level of anxiety down here is off the charts."

We're going back to Mississippi in October to help contine the rebuilding.  And we are praying that is exactly what we do--rebuild, and not clean up...

Please be Kind, Rewind

I don't know if you've ever seen the science fiction classic Alien.   It's one of my  younger daugther's favorite movies.  Here we are using kelp  to reenact one of the most famous scenes from that film.

I do think Mary's acting needs some work.   But hey, she's just a kid.  Maybe when she has a few more  years under her belt and a little more life experience, she'll master the fine art of drama like her dear ol' dad.

Now if science fiction is too much for you, how about a kid's show?  Here is Sponge Rob reunited with his long lost friend, Patrick.  (That's Patrick on the left.  I'm not quite sure who the other character is; just some extra who wondered on the set and wanted to get in the action, I guess.) 

Memories of Mary Jane

So that's what marijuana looks like, huh?  Thanks everyone for your help.

When I was in graduate school one, of our philosophy professors was named Stu Hackett.  He wore a prominent belt buckle  fashioned in the form of a cannabis leaf.  Remember, I went to graduate school at a seminary, a place where people go to learn to be a pastor or priest.   A a marijuana leaf was probably not the first thing you expected someone to be wearing.  When questioned about it, he simply said his son gave it to him and left it at that.

The point being is that as you all correctly surmised, I did recognize the leaf. 

In fact, as my mother correctly recollected, I found another marijuana patch when I was in high school.  Though I do not remember this, my mom says I brought some home and a neighbor danced with it in her teeth. 

As a good father who is always interested in educating his kids, when my younger daughter and a friend told me they were going on a walk, I asked them if they wanted to see some marijuana.  I  figured they should probably know what it looks like too. 

My daughter knew I had found the plants and that I was offering to take her to see them.  The friend, however, had no such back ground info and looked horrified when I offered to show him some marijuana.  He quickly said no, he wasn't interested, dropping his eyes in what I suddenly realized was a very awkward moment.

Need Help Identifying This

Can anyone tell me what this plant is?

As  you may know, my younger daughter has a praying mantis for a pet.  I was out getting her grasshoppers and saw this plant in a pot at the edge of a field.  It was the pot that caught my eye or I most likely would not have noticed it.

A little further down, while still looking for grasshoppers, I came across this one that had already been planted in the ground.  I imagine that if one were to look a little bit, it wouldn't be too hard to find more.

I guess this isn't the kind of plant you'd want growing in your back  yard... 

Who Did It?

 OK, which one of you left a message on my phone?  Didn't your mother ever teach it's not nice to leave anonymous messages?  (On Saturday I got a message on our answering machine from a barking sea lion .)

On a more serious note, does any animal know how to relax better than sea lions and harbor seals?  Cats come close, but I don't think any animal quite has lolling down like these guys.  I'm sorry I missed seeing them.

To Tell or Not to Tell; That is the Question

Some years ago, the church I was attending had their church picnics at a local farm.  At the picnic site there were two small ponds, and it was thought one of these ponds might be an ideal spot to do baptisms.

But which pond?  One pond was a bit closer, but it was used for fishing and not swimming.  So the second pond seemed like the better choice.

The farmer’s sons also recommended using the second pond.    However, they had ulterior motives.  They knew that in the swimming pond there were lots of minnows (since this pond wasn’t stocked, there were no bigger fish to eat them), and they also knew that those minnows liked nothing better than to nip at the legs of anybody standing in the water for any length of time.   Of course they didn’t tell the priest this, who would indeed be standing in one place in the water for at least several minutes .

Sure enough, the priest hadn’t been in the water very long before he jumped and said “Ow!”  As expected,  the fish had found him and were going on the feed. The farmer’s sons had tipped me off about this set up, so we couldn’t help but giggle.

This did not go unnoticed.  After the service, the priest (a very good guy who remains a dear friend to this day) asked us what was so funny, and—proud of ourselves, I think-- we told him.  We were a bit surprised when he didn’t see the humor in the situation, expressing concern that the biting fish might make a person’s baptism a scary experience.  Granted, that probably is not what one is striving for in a baptism.

I tell you this story because the wedding I did yesterday was at outdoors at Great Falls National Park.  When I was talking with the groom just before the service started, I couldn’t help but notice that a juvenile eastern five lined skink (a lizard) had taken up residence under the lapel of his tux.  It was a beautiful animal, with a bright blue tail and brilliant yellow lines running down its iridescent black back.

You are probably wondering whether I mentioned the lizard to him (he clearly didn’t realize it was there), or whether I let him wear it for the ceremony.  Imagine what would happen if it decided to crawl out during, say, the vows.  That would make for a memorable service, don’t you think?

I did tell him.

I must be getting old…

Ups and Downs

Today I did a wedding.  The couple was nice, the service went well, and all seemed right in the world (well, except that my family is still in California and I am missing them.  They did call today.  At least I think it was them.  The actual message was sea lions barking.)

Tonight I got a phone call about a tragic accident that took the life  of a young husband and father.

The day, ripe with promise and filled with joy, ended on a very different note.

Sometimes it is hard to make sense of it all.  But that's life, I guess. 

Clergy Titles

In the Episcopal Church, a priest who is in charge of a financially independent congregation is called a "Rector".  (If a church is still receiving financial support from the Diocese, a larger geographical grouping of churches, he/she is called a "Vicar".)    

No, this is not my car.  But it did catch my eye!

Enjoying Life

My younger daughter tends to be rather shy.  When you have a shy child, it often makes it hard for others to know what a great kid she/he is.  As her parents, who are admittedlydeeply biased, we know what a great kid she is--her thoughtfulness and insight, her great sense of humor, her deep sense of feeling.  But I don't think it is always easy for others to see her like we see her. 

Anyway, that explains a bit of why I love this picture of Mary kicking up her heels, having fun, and enjoying life.

Eating our Way Through San Francisco

or, perhaps I should've entitled this:  I Left My Stomach in San Francisco.

My food waits in San Francisco

Above the blue and windy sea

When my wife comes home to you, San Francisco

Your golden restaurants will shine for me (anybody know how to do single spacing on TypePad?)

This first picture is of the ride down on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit.)  Can you tell Linda is excited?

Where do you think the first stop on our culinary journey was?  Ice Cream, of course.  Here we are standing in line at the Bi-Rite Creamery, where they hope their "artisinal confections bring a smile to your face."  I tried their malted vanilla, salted caramel, and roasted banana.  Yep, we were all smiling all right.  And ready for dinner. 

So we walked up anddown the streets looking at the menus of the various restaurants, our mouths watering more and more.  We went by Delfinas, Limon, Pakwan, Farina, Luna Park, Fritz, The Monks Kettle, a host of "taquerias" and so on.

Finally we settled on Tapas at Ramblas Tapas Bar, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  I've never had tapas before, sheltered child that I am.  I found it a very satisfying way to dine, enjoying a variety of foods without eating too much and feeling guilty and stuffed.