'Every day is a good day'

Today Alleluia Boy and I ran some errands, and we ran into an old friend working at one of the stores we were visiting. I asked him how it was going, and he said, "Every day is a good day...some are just better than others."

I was really struck by that line -- what a positive attitude! And how true, especially if we have ever had a brush with a perspective-changing crisis (cancer, a brush with death, etc.). This particular friend -- I will call him Joe -- is someone we met at the local Catholic Worker houses years ago. At first he was a guest, then a regular at evening hospitality. We still see him there and around town about once a week. Our friendship has grown gradually, as has our admiration for him. Without going into the gory details (which actually I am a little fuzzy on anyway), he has really come through quite a lot in terms of personal crises. For a while there, his life seemed like it could go either way.

Today, he's doing so well, no one at this major big box retailer would ever guess anything about his past history. In fact, he's one of the kindest, considerate, generous, gracious, cheerful people I know. He rides bike everywhere, I think because his license got revoked a while back and he never bothered to get it again, but you will never hear him complain, not even in the worst weather. He is also very gentle -- he reads "Winnie the Pooh" to our girls -- despite being very athletic (he did a triathlon last year). He is working in a good, upwardly mobile position, and makes his time with his teenage son (also a great person) an absolute priority.

He's just one of the many people we've been privileged to call friends as a result of our time at the Catholic Worker.

The photo up top? Totally unrelated -- Alleluia Boy taking a bath -- but it seemed to fit the theme: "Every day is a good day!"

(Also, I fixed the video of Starling singing "Bless the Lord" with the girls, two posts back.)

Barn dance

So, the Winona Catholic Worker held a barn dance as a fundraiser last night...we had only light turnout, but the people who came had a great time. Perhaps none more than Mouse, however, who had an absolute blast. Here are excerpts from just one dance:

She had so much fun, she'd like to go again. I danced several dances with her (Starling was home with a fever, watching Mudpuppy) -- and she was smiling like this the whole time.

We were lucky to have great live music. These sorts of old-fashioned dances are so much fun, partly because everyone gets to participate. Jaybird came, too, and danced off to the side with a friend her age (they also ran around the church hall and ate bags and bags of popcorn). Bear came along, reluctantly, and found a friend from school; they sat talking on the sidelines until I harassed him into joining a circle dance. I think he may have enjoyed it -- but only secretly!

Mudpuppy eating while sleeping

I should offer two disclaimers here: First, I did remove the banana from his mouth right after this clip was done. That, unfortunately, woke him up -- he was MAD! Second, Starling says that, in her opinion, this is not funny. "I just want to pick him up!" she says. We will ask Mudpuppy in another twelve years or so what he thinks. In the meantime, I have to say, I was laughing so hard the first time he started eating the banana with his eyes closed that I'm surprised there's not more camera shake.

If you think it's cute, share it around. The link at YouTube is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mksCLVsmtTI

Blizzard

Here are a few nice things about a blizzard:

• A blizzard makes everything look so peaceful (at least from indoors). For once, the busy intersection a block from our house is abandoned; not only abandoned, but obliterated. It's as if the Apocalypse came early, but softly.
• A blizzard brings neighbors together in grim solidarity. This is particularly true on our block, where we share an alleyway. For some reason, the city does not plow the alley, leaving us neighbors to go at it with shovels. One of us will see another brave soul out there with a shovel, and pretty soon there are a handful of us working in concert, making small talk, catching up on news -- basically, everything that has happened since last winter, which would be the last time we spoke like this. People gladly shovel one another's walkways and driveways. (Easy to do when the driveways are less than 10 feet long.) And then the guy with the snow blower comes just as everyone is about to drop dead of a heart attack and finishes the job off. We turn inside, the informal block party over.
• A blizzard is exciting. One of my neighbors admitted this sheepishly as she was shoveling the front walk with me. But, deep inside, everyone knows this. The grocery store last night, crazy busy with people stocking up, was a hum of excitement. A common crisis -- especially one that we can weather out in warm homes in front of the TV -- brings out the best in people. At the very least, it gives them something to talk about in the checkout line.
• A blizzard breaks the normal routine. Can't return those books to the library. Can't run to the hardware store for the parts for that project. Can't go shopping. Oh well; guess I have to stay home and bake cinnamon raisin bread while listening to stories on CD.
• It builds character. "Go back outside," we tell the kids. "It's only 25 degrees. You'll have fun." Back in my day, we played in the snow until well past dark.

As I write this, it's still snowing -- something like 15 inches and counting. The wind is blowing at the windows, but the kids are asleep and it's warm inside. And I can smell the cinnamon bread baking in the oven....*

* Blizzard enjoyment is greatly improved by a wife who is willing
to shovel the walk at 10 p.m.

There's a first time for everything

This morning, as I was changing Mudpuppy, I thought, "Hmm, this little boy has never really tinkled on me like my first one did."

Need I say more?

Summer rituals

As part of our ongoing "What I did this summer" essay. . . .

Jaybird ran a lemonade stand several times, mostly for the free lemonade. That's her brother, Bear, trying some lemonade....

. . . and she also visited several farms; here she is at her friend Rory's farm:

One Sunday the kids spent most of the afternoon playing Monopoly with Starling:

Seeing Red (and yellow)

Blessed are you, Lord of all Creation, Who gives us tomatoes, and tomatoes, and more red and gold tomatoes.

Fun with Mudpuppy

Starling here--just a couple of quick notes on Mudpuppy, now 5 months old.

We sat him up on the diaper changing table today, careful to "spot" him, took our hands away, and voila! He sits! He looked so...happy, mildly surprised, and mature (for a baby)!

Moon has the honor of convincing Mudpup to do his first roll over (from tummy to back). She was thrilled. We were thrilled. Mudpup was worried ("what'd I do?").

And earlier this week, he woke up one morning, and I leaned over and rubbed his cheeks, smiling and saying "Good morning!" And he smiled, reached up with his hands, and touched my cheeks. Awwwwwwwww.

Spring is here

It's hard to believe that just a little over two weeks ago, the kids were ice skating in full winter gear -- snow pants, coats, mittens, hats, etc. And today, they were playing on the shores of that very lake in short sleeves and shorts! In fact, EVERYONE was outside today. Call it our Minnesota Mardi Gras: instead of dressing up funny and partying all night, everyone goes outside all at once to soak up the sun. The paths around the lake were congested worse than a Manhattan rush hour -- we even passed a guy in an electric wheelchair. "Ain't this fine?" he asked as we passed.

Bear and Jaybird in shorts and short sleeves checking out the snow and ice on the lake.

Future Olympians

Starling here.

The kids (esp. Bear and Mouse) have really gotten into the Olympics. We got to watch some of it while visiting their grandparents, and we've looked at a few videos online since then. After much internal debate, Bear has decided to train for snowboard halfpipe (a la Shaun White). He was also thinking about speed skating, but we suggested qualifying for one sport was hard enough. To that end, he created a mini-halfpipe on the sidewalk between our snowbanks. It's certainly innovative and worth a few hours of practice (he did learn how to do a 180!).

Mouse initially wanted to do snowboard cross, now seemed interested in figure skating, and did I mention all of them, even Jaybird, were interested in the luge? I mean, where the heck do you find a luge track anyway? For days, they practiced sledding like lugers down the snowhill across the street (parking lot snow. It's a lot safer than it sounds. And once again--creative!).

And they thoughtfully included Mudpuppy in the action by announcing he's got the gold medal in nursing sewn up. Indeed he does. He's 17 lbs 2 oz, as of his four month checkup.

Sunday at CrossFest

On Sunday, while S was teaching at the Institute for Pastoral Ministry, I took the kids to CrossFest -- or more accurately, to the Catholic event that followed it. Basically Mass with the bishop, a picnic lunch, lots of inflatables, and music by a prominent Christian rock artist. The older kids had lots of fun running around to the different inflatables (there were 11). The only hitch was there were too many kids and they got a little out of control without adult supervision. And the high winds nearly carried off one of the inflatables with a kid high atop it.

J was too little to go on most of the inflatables, except for the bounce house; so when she got tired of that, we headed over to the concert. She danced to the music for about ten minutes. Check out her dance moves:

Oh for the exuberance of youth!

East Mill Street Block Party

So, the block party we helped organize with a few neighbors was a real success -- we counted at least 65 people at one point. (There are about 100 houses in the neighborhood.) We had a band (the Zephyr Valley Strong Band) and a pot luck, and the police and fire department showed up for the kids. We had maybe a dozen or so kids from the neighborhood participate; they ran around a neighbor's lawn and found a nest of bunnies to keep them occupied. People met and exchanged business cards, and all in all it was worth the months of work. Even the rain cooperated, stopping for about 12 hours (save a few minor showers.)

BOO!

Yesterday I was working at the computer with my headphones on, listening to music. J came sneaking into the room, right up behind my left elbow -- and the first I knew about it was when she shouted "BOO!" I YELLED ("AAAAHHHHH!") as I jumped out of my chair and whirled around to face her, hands up in an attack position, eyes wide. Scared the you-know-what out of her -- not intentionally, but you know, millions of years of evolution are hard to overcome in a split second. That old amygdala kicks in to protect you. Well, a few seconds later, we were both crying -- me in relief, she out of fright -- and I started laughing and reassuring her. I have not been scared that bad in many, many years.

The Flower Girl

So we heard, in a roundabout way, that M wrote a note to her teacher asking whether she could be her flower girl. (Her teacher is getting married over the summer, to the gym teacher.) Her teacher wrote a note back saying that she was sure M would make a good flower girl, but that she had nieces who were already signed up for that job. M wrote back with this abbreviated reply: "OK."

Rice Krispie smiles

"I like my marshmallows two ways: gooey or not gooey."

J and I made Rice Krispies today; she always likes helping to cook, even if she doesn't eat the finished product. (A kid who won't touch Rice Krispie bars!)

Sometimes God smiles at us through the faces of our children. In this case, with a somewhat goofy grin.

Epiphany Party at the Catholic Worker

The annual Epiphany party at our local Catholic Worker house was, as usual, packed with lots of good food and good cheer. Click on the video to sample some of our holiday caroling, accompanied by piano, guitar, and -- this must be a first -- banjo.