Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Tuesday morning

Life...is bigger, bigger than you and you are not me--that's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight, losing my religion... --REM song

In college, I had a friend, we'll call her Reina. At pauses in conversation, we'd say, "Life..." and the other one would burst into song, with the above. I suppose it's a grown-up version of this ditty:

A: That's life!
B: What's life?
A: A magazine?
B: Where do you get it?
A: At the corner store.
B: How much does it cost?
A: 25 cents.
B: I don't have that!
A: That's life!
B: What's life?

ad nauseaum.

Or....

So so suck your toe, all the way to Mexico, while you're there, kiss a bear, don't forget your underwear! My mother says to pick the very best one and you are not it!

I took a long walk in the park this morning. It might have been over an hour. My legs are twitching, the sweat is dripping down my back, and a cool bath is drawing as I write these words. Hang on, let me see how full the tub is...

Yeah, I'll catch up with you in a bit. Bubbles call me...

************

So I check my email this morning. Comments, you guys! Can I say how it makes my heart go pit a pat to see "pink sneakers (5)" in my Yahoo! Mail in-box? Plus, Suse hardly ever comments here, so a big thanks from whatever the opposite of down under is. Where was I? Oh yes, checking my email. I get a lot of "newsletters" from Christianity Today. Today was the "Books and Culture" newsletter, with an article on the last movie I saw, Superman Returns.

Ya gotta love the American public. Lordy. You take "...the American Way" out of Superman's motto and the crowd goes WILD! (Truth, justice, and the American Way was transformed to Truth, justice, and all that stuff for the latest flick.) Now, being that I am not a comic book junkie nor do I remember watching any of the Superman movies except for the first one (and Supergirl, of course) I didn't notice that tidbit when I watched. But a whole heck of a lotta people did, and they're stomping mad! So, Jeffrey Lott writes a wonderful article about how you gotta look at the CONTEXT. As my bro Terzo would say, RELAX! How I love reading people that think, that make me think, and let me write about their thoughts...where was I?

And Hallelujah, CT is getting better at catering to bloggers. It's okay to link to their site now. (It might have been okay before, but it wasn't in their reprint policy--it is now.)

*******

So--today is Tuesday. I was gifted a swimming pool tag yesterday, which is very cool. However, our local pool is only open 1pm til 5:45. (I work during most of that time.) I walked all over the park today, past the tennis courts (not the abandoned one--there were actually folks getting ready for a game!) past the community gardens (and longing so much to be in Warsaw) past Carnegie Lake (yes, it is a pond, but that is its actual name) where the lily pads are growing back. I didn't go past the pool, but someone I know in a minivan was dropping off kids for swim lessons (I can only surmise) because they yelled "Sarah Louise!" and I looked around for where the voice was coming from and ahead saw a waving arm out of a minivan headed away from me. I wonder who it was? I walked up the stone stairs where I say prayers for families. (It started when my pastor was in the middle of a divorce and I was walking daily in the park. I always prayed for him and his wife as I trudged up those stairs. So now when I trudge, I just pray for families in general, or families in specific. It takes a lot of work to keep them together.) I was very grateful for the water fountains along the way.

My mind is full of thoughts--so much so that I burnt the first round of toaster waffles and I still have dishes waiting to me rinsed in the sink. There's no real place to sit in my "kitchen" so I retreated to this room to eat my waffles and applesauce and continued blogging.

Here's yesterday's Fabulous Babes Page-a-Day Calendar quote: "Family is just accident. They don't mean to get on your nerves. They don't even mean to be your family, they just are."
--playwright Marsha Norman.

Oh, but how I do long to be in Warsaw. Never mind that when I was there, at 17, 18, 19, 20, I was lonely in the summers and wishing to be elsewhere a lot of the time. I remember fondly walking around, taking the trams, going to the museums to see a traveling Andy Warhol exhibit (SHOES!) and going to the Sculpture museum. In my twenties, I joked (not so jokingly) that I wanted to honeymoon in Poland. That yearning has returned. I mean, yes, Italy is gorgeous. France is divine. But Poland has a grittiness and a loveliness--it's got under my skin. Listen to me, homesick for Eastern Europe.

And I'm meeting Marian for lunch at noon--crap! Off to the phones...because I'll be 15 minutes late.

8 comments:

Paula said...

Your walk sounds lovely, and very peaceful.

We use to say while you're there, comb your hair.

blackbird said...

sometimes I pray on steps too...
but I prefer a strand of tibetan prayer beads.

Joke said...

I forgot what we used to say. But at the time I thought it bloody clevah.

-J.

BabelBabe said...

what about "Ocka bocka soda cracka"? We just taught Primo that one...

It might have been Primo shouting at you....my friend J drove him to his swim lesson this morning...

Sarah Louise said...

No, this was clearly a woman, and she was driving away. Does she have a navy minivan?

My favorite, which I learned from my sibs, is a boom chicka boom

(or janitor style: I say a broom chicka broom, a broom chicka sweepa chicka sweepa chicka broom)

styles ad naseum.

Anonymous said...

i feel like i'm there with you, on the steps.

a lovely post.

Malnurtured Snay said...

I didn't know anything was a controversy until I heard about it on the radio, and now my opinion has been fed to me by professional shills.

MsCellania said...

A Long Walk is a Good Thing. Bubble bath even bettah!

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo. Catch a Tiger by His Toe. If he hollers Let Him Go. Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo. My mother says to pick the Very Best One and You are It!

We also say: Ready, Steady, GO! v. Ready, Set, GO!

And.
Thanks.
For those Prayers on the Steps.
Families everywhere need 'em.