Happy Easter!

"Good" Friday

I have never really understood the name "Good Friday." While I understand that the intent is to look forward to the resurrection event, thus a "good" death on the cross, I still think that a better name would be "Death Friday," or perhaps "Mourning Friday." It is a day to think about the death of Jesus two thousand years ago, a true tragedy from any perspective, as an innocent man was horribly killed. For those from the Christian tradition, it is a day where God's incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ ended in death, a death that for two days seemed devastatingly final.

Today is also a "good" day to reflect on death and mourning in our own lives. This is something I tend to avoid, as such reflection can be rather painful and deeply saddening. Indeed, I have even been known as someone who avoids most funerals, as the profound helplessness that overcomes me is often too much to bear. I think of my own life today, there have been some deaths in my life as of late, both literally and metaphorically. Some physical deaths that come to mind today are my friends Mike and Stacy's son William, who died at four months of age last year. I think of my good friend, Dale Rocheleau, a fit and cheerful man and father in his forties who passed away from a heart attack the evening after I visited with him. I think of a high school friend, George Ritchey, who died in a car accident a few years after high school. I think of Erica Pierson, the daughter of family friends who passed away from a mysterious liver disease before the age of 30. I think of Jacques Deale, the previous pastor at the small Nazarene church that our family moved to in 1995, how he said goodbye to his three teenage boys as he lay dying of cancer.

There have been other deaths in my life. Some dying that has occurred on the inside as I have struggled with depression, my own character flaws, and dreams that no longer seem possible. Right now these things seem to pale in comparison to the tragedies I listed above, but I would be hasty to pass these over, as they leave a profound and lingering mark on my life. Death of any kind has a way of crystalizing things for those left behind. Physical death causes family and friends to remember and cherish the aspects of the person who has passed away. Internal death leads one to determine what has survived, what can be healed, and what is gone. It is a reorientation of sorts, perhaps a preparation for new growth of some kind. But today I hesitate to find the silver lining. Instead I recognize death for what it is, an utterly terrible loss.

Everyone's a music critique!

So during an American Idol commericial break I went upstairs with Kieran to get him a warm bottle of milk. On the way up the stairs I was belting out my favorite song from the nights performances, enjoying the full sound of my cords swelling up the stairwell. My son turned to me with a concerned expression on his face and quickly covered my mouth, stating very clearly, "no noise!" Okay, that's it, no more Simon Cowell for this baby!

Spring Cleaning and the Chainsaw Vortex

Thank God for Craig's List! This weekend I finally got around to advertising some items that have been gathering dust in our garage, several for 2 years! In short order a functional fridge, cabinet, futon mattress, and large desk were carted off from our home. Our 2+ car garage actually has standing room now! If we could only get up the gumption to move my sister's families worldly belongings (left when they went to Bangladesh) up into the attic, we could start using our garage for *gasp* parking our cars!

I bought a chainsaw last year because we have so many large trees/shrubs on our property that trimming them with a hand tool would be a nightmare. What has occurred is very surprising, as I have suddenly found that a chainsaw can be used for many, many different things. Indeed, the presence of the chainsaw seems to be enough to bring my way an endless number of things that need chainsawed. For instance, the crepe myrtles that are in front of our house needed trimming due to lots of growth where they had previously been topped off, chainsaw to the rescue (picture me on a step ladder leaning precariously with an 18 inch bar chainsaw in hand).

A floor joist above the stairwell has been difficult to cut due to the small access area, suddenly it dawned on me, chainsaw to the rescue!! Since I bought my saw a little over a year ago, I have felled over 8 trees on my property!! Maranda has become acustomed to coming home to find a new victim of my voracious saw. Now before you complain about my disregard for rooted dwellers on my property, do note that in all (or at least most) cases the trees needed to go. Indeed, I even had the approval from our favorite arborist on most of them. I have removed two diseased plum trees, one stunted apple tree, a pin oak that was growing next to our deck and was being killed by the Sycamore's shadow, a maple that was under the front yard powerlines, and a "tree of heaven" which is an invasive species that provoked an especially harsh appraisal from our favorite arborist.

So if you are ever passing through Catharpin on a warm summer evening, be prepared to hear the sweet hum of a troybilt 18 inch bar chainsaw as it finds its next project.

Kieran's first sentences!

Right around our trip to Singapore (about 5 weeks ago), Kieran started using sentences for the first time! Since that time he has really expanded to using more and more sentences, many developed without any coaching! I know this is supposed to be normal child development stuff, but I find it truly amazing! Most of his sentences are 3 words, although he has managed a couple longer than that.

Some examples:

Want cook (I want to help you cook)
Want see puppies
See light (pointing at the little light on the baby monitor)
Shhh, quiet
Bottle hot! (or cold)

Now I know that every baby develops differently, so of course that fact that our boy is a little ahead in the talking arena is just a random occurrence in baby development and says nothing about his inherent genius or his parents amazing child rearing skills! ;)