I love the Olympics and have loved them since I was a little girl. My mother and I would watch them, from the Opening Ceremony to the Closing Ceremony. We watched everything: the bobsled, ski jumping, luge, curling, ice skating, all of it. We weren't just ice skating elitists. Oh no, we knew the names of the big stars in every event. Winter and summer, every four years.
I especially remember the Olympics because of my mom. She was interested in lots of things and gave me her love for them. Being with her, watching and talking about the events afterward, what memories! We watched all kinds of sports, not just the Olympics. I learned to enjoy golf and tennis and basketball and, of course, baseball. During school, I listened to the World Series with my transistor radio and earbuds. I was a Yankees fan and fell in love with Roger Maris, mainly because he was my Mom's favorite player.
My mom did homeschooling before the concept was invented. We lived in a very small town and all my friends started school before me. So my mom bought the textbooks for elementary school and taught me at home. I was reading when I was three. She hired a piano teacher when I was four. We studied comparative religion when I was five. And learned to swim. All because my mom did not accept the rules. Mom also taught me to love opera. She took me to museums and to plays. We read Shakespeare's plays out loud. She opened the world to me and gave me permission to explore it.
Mom didn't see why little girls shouldn't love sports. Mom didn't accept that a child had to be six years old before learning how to read and write. Mom knew that minds can be trained to be curious. Mom found a million ways to play rather than do housework. What a woman! So that's why I love the Olympics, and why my daughters love them, too.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thoughts on a cool Monday morning
It's Monday, February 8th, 9:00 a.m. in the Pacific Northwest. The weather should be nice later, but right now it is Oregon gray. There should be a paint in that shade. People in the rest of the country would like the cool light gray-blue. Northwesterners would never buy it. Luckily my mood is not shady at all. It's a sunny pink day to me. I found out last night how many people care for me, and that makes every day sweeter, more golden.
A Twitter friend of mine posted a request for prayers and good thoughts for me because I'm having a surgical procedure in two days, and she understands the potential seriousness of that surgery. So many people responded. I was amazed that over 25 people tweeted me with one who said "A LOT of ppl care. You might be surprised how many do. You're a light in the world. We'll be waiting to hear you're okay." Wow! Thank you, Twitter!
The surgery is angioplasty to open three clots in my leg arteries. Angioplasty is an everyday procedure. However, I had an angioplasty over a year ago that didn't work because my arteries are badly damaged and couldn't handle the stent. The alternatives aren't great if it doesn't work. I don't have many extra veins in good enough shape for bypasses. I don't know if this procedure will work either, but I can always hope!
Another bright spot yesterday was my little dog Rags. I got her a little toy white lamb with a rattle inside. She chewed on it until I could have wrung dog spit out of it. She even took it to bed, hiding it in her special spot under the corner of the bed.
Rags had a bath last night. I wash her in the kitchen sink so I can use the sprayer to rinse the baby shampoo out of her fur. She does not enjoy baths but the little nut can get so dirty. My husband throws tennis balls in the back yard for her to fetch. Now she meets him at the door with a ball in her mouth. Can you tell we love our dog?
The Super Bowl was yesterday. It was low key at our house. I wish we had been at a Super Bowl party with lots of excited people. As it was, I tweeted, watched commercials, and was glad when New Orleans won. I didn't get into the Super Bowl this year, even though I love football.
The other great thing about Sunday was church. I love going to church, seeing friends, singing the songs, listening to the message. Our church is looking for a pastor, and the guest speaker we had might be "the one." He has a nice wife and a couple of teenagers. There were lots of microphone problems when he started, and he handled them with aplomb and humor. He had his message written out but he didn't appear to read it and often became conversational as he talked about his own life and how to "bear good fruit." My husband and I liked him.
After church, we have a time for fellowship. That means food. Yesterday was a celebration of birthdays and anniversaries. So many people brought cakes and cupcakes that some was even left over. There are about 70 regulars and around 30 children. It's nice to get to chat, catch up, relearn the kids' names and who their parents (or grandparents) are. Other Sundays are usually potlucks, soup and sandwiches, Mexican food, and so on. We come to know each other, not just recognize each other. The fellowship time is one of the reasons I love my church.
Next Saturday there will be a kids vs. old guys football game, and I am helping with the hot dogs. Again, food! See what I mean. Eating together somehow seals the friendships. Not having other people and traditional food around is probably why the Super Bowl was less important to me this year.
Sometimes people ask me why I believe in God, and how I can be a progressive politically and still be a Christian. I don't find the two incompatible. It's how I was raised. The two great commandments are important to me. I do love God, and I believe other people should be treated as I want to be treated. I believe in God because I cannot NOT believe. The complexity of creation belies randomness to me. When I consider the human body, the way bodily systems interact autonomically to sustain life; the mind and its abilities and potential; the functions of the muscles and tendons and bones to support the body's frame throughout decades of hard stresses, I just can't write that up to random evolution. And then when I consider nature, the uniqueness of different insects, the way species interact with one another, the universe and its possibilities, I believe. There must be a Creator.
Not that I don't think evolution makes sense. I see evidence of evolution and know that Adam didn't ride dinosaurs or that everything wasn't created 6,000 years ago. That's nonsense. The God who made the universe and nature also created a system of adaptation so that living creatures could survive change events. I just don't see the conflict that many Christians find between creation and science.
But it's Monday morning and I have a new week ahead of me. A surgery. Meals to plan and cook. Political issues to learn about and discuss. Friends to talk to. Now, it's time for more hot coffee! That's another thing that makes mornings great.
A Twitter friend of mine posted a request for prayers and good thoughts for me because I'm having a surgical procedure in two days, and she understands the potential seriousness of that surgery. So many people responded. I was amazed that over 25 people tweeted me with one who said "A LOT of ppl care. You might be surprised how many do. You're a light in the world. We'll be waiting to hear you're okay." Wow! Thank you, Twitter!
The surgery is angioplasty to open three clots in my leg arteries. Angioplasty is an everyday procedure. However, I had an angioplasty over a year ago that didn't work because my arteries are badly damaged and couldn't handle the stent. The alternatives aren't great if it doesn't work. I don't have many extra veins in good enough shape for bypasses. I don't know if this procedure will work either, but I can always hope!
Another bright spot yesterday was my little dog Rags. I got her a little toy white lamb with a rattle inside. She chewed on it until I could have wrung dog spit out of it. She even took it to bed, hiding it in her special spot under the corner of the bed.
Rags had a bath last night. I wash her in the kitchen sink so I can use the sprayer to rinse the baby shampoo out of her fur. She does not enjoy baths but the little nut can get so dirty. My husband throws tennis balls in the back yard for her to fetch. Now she meets him at the door with a ball in her mouth. Can you tell we love our dog?
The Super Bowl was yesterday. It was low key at our house. I wish we had been at a Super Bowl party with lots of excited people. As it was, I tweeted, watched commercials, and was glad when New Orleans won. I didn't get into the Super Bowl this year, even though I love football.
The other great thing about Sunday was church. I love going to church, seeing friends, singing the songs, listening to the message. Our church is looking for a pastor, and the guest speaker we had might be "the one." He has a nice wife and a couple of teenagers. There were lots of microphone problems when he started, and he handled them with aplomb and humor. He had his message written out but he didn't appear to read it and often became conversational as he talked about his own life and how to "bear good fruit." My husband and I liked him.
After church, we have a time for fellowship. That means food. Yesterday was a celebration of birthdays and anniversaries. So many people brought cakes and cupcakes that some was even left over. There are about 70 regulars and around 30 children. It's nice to get to chat, catch up, relearn the kids' names and who their parents (or grandparents) are. Other Sundays are usually potlucks, soup and sandwiches, Mexican food, and so on. We come to know each other, not just recognize each other. The fellowship time is one of the reasons I love my church.
Next Saturday there will be a kids vs. old guys football game, and I am helping with the hot dogs. Again, food! See what I mean. Eating together somehow seals the friendships. Not having other people and traditional food around is probably why the Super Bowl was less important to me this year.
Sometimes people ask me why I believe in God, and how I can be a progressive politically and still be a Christian. I don't find the two incompatible. It's how I was raised. The two great commandments are important to me. I do love God, and I believe other people should be treated as I want to be treated. I believe in God because I cannot NOT believe. The complexity of creation belies randomness to me. When I consider the human body, the way bodily systems interact autonomically to sustain life; the mind and its abilities and potential; the functions of the muscles and tendons and bones to support the body's frame throughout decades of hard stresses, I just can't write that up to random evolution. And then when I consider nature, the uniqueness of different insects, the way species interact with one another, the universe and its possibilities, I believe. There must be a Creator.
Not that I don't think evolution makes sense. I see evidence of evolution and know that Adam didn't ride dinosaurs or that everything wasn't created 6,000 years ago. That's nonsense. The God who made the universe and nature also created a system of adaptation so that living creatures could survive change events. I just don't see the conflict that many Christians find between creation and science.
But it's Monday morning and I have a new week ahead of me. A surgery. Meals to plan and cook. Political issues to learn about and discuss. Friends to talk to. Now, it's time for more hot coffee! That's another thing that makes mornings great.
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