Camouflage'Twas another beautiful day in Seattle and I'm now looking out over a soft pink sunset as I face west and the snow-capped Olympic mountains.
I'm whooped again. Today I spread compost, roto-tilled garden beds with my dad's monster Troy-bilt, ran things through his 20-year old chipper/shredder, cut back some bushes and did some general straightening. That doesn't sound like as much physical labor as it was but my body assures me it was strenuous work.
You have to admire the optimism of a guy who starts new compost barrels at the age of 87.
I eat too much when I stay at my folks' but that's easy to do. My mom is a GREAT cook and everything is made from scratch. For b'fast I had Swedish rice (you gotta try it) and her cinnamon rolls. They have their big meal at noon so it was more pot-roast, mashed potatoes, vegetables and a frozen salad that is to die for. Supper was soup & sandwiches, but the bread is homemade, the salami and cheese are deli quality, the split-pea soup mom's recipe (mmm) and for dessert her tapioca pudding and brownies - again, from scratch. I am stuffed!
I was telling my dad about the movie "The Soloist" which was released last month. It's the true story about a columnist for the L.A. Times, Steve Lopez, who encountered a homeless street musician and develope a relationship with him. I heard Lopez interviewed on NPR a few weeks ago. He wrote a series of columns about the guy and then developed the story into a book which has now been made into a movie starring Jamie Foxx as the musician, Nathaniel Ayers and Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez. Lopez first heard Ayers playing the violin on the streets of L.A. But he later learned that Ayers was primarily a cellist who spent two years at Julliard and had a very promising career ahead of him as both a cellist and a composer until schizophrenia hit in his junior year. Lopez worked with Ayers to get him back on his meds, get him quality instruments to play and back into the music scene. Very cool story. After hearing that interview I decided I need to read the book and/or see the movie.
I didn't watch the game because we were still eating supper but I see that the UConn women won the women's half of the NCAA championship, finishing the season 39-0. I watched them play in the semi-finals and was struck by two things. The first was how good they were compared to their competition. The second was how much the women's game has changed in just the last few years. I never enjoyed watching women's basketball. Reminded me of Jr. Hi b'ball. They shot from their hip like the ball was too heavy for them, their ball-handling skills were limited and it was just generally powder-puff. But not now! These ladies have game! In some ways I preferred it to the men's games because you could see them running plays instead of the run-and-gun game of the men's teams, which is too much like the NBA, IMHO. These gals were quick, athletic, very fit, and had real b'ball skills. It makes me wish I had paid more attention to televised games earlier in the season. I'll know for next year.
Iworked in my head on Sunday's Easter message as I did chores today.
Have you heard the phrase "Who'll give a witness?" Very common expression in the Black church and in traditional gospel music. Also a very biblical phrase. Particularly apropos at Easter.
My body has used up all of its energy for the day and my mind is pretty much gone, too. It's supposed to start raining tomorrow about noon, so we'll spend the morning finishing up some projects outside and then I'll work inside on my mother's list. But never fear; I'll be back here tomorrow night, if only briefly.
bye
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