A good day

Jul 17, 2005 22:09

Chris and I went to Mass this morning. There were 4 baptisms, which is always fun. The St. Andrew community really gets into baptisms! Two parts I especially love:
- After each child has the water poured over their forehead and the words of baptism said over them, the parent who is holding them holds their child up high and slowly turns around while the entire congregation applauds joyously;
- And the closing song of Mass for baptisms is "Down to the River to Pray." One of the women dances with a "crown" - it looks like it's made out of sparkly pipecleaners or some other thin and flexible material, and it is deep purples and blues and golds, and is a lovely, light crown, not heavy and oppressive. She dances around the church interior, and the children who want to, have ribbon streamers and they dance with her. She stops and holds the crown over the head of each child, while their name is sung into the song =
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way !

O "William" let's go down,
Let's go down, won't you come on down,
O "William" let's go down,
Down to the river to pray.

And the congregation claps and sings for these children.

After Mass Chris and I came home and made lunch and ate out on the back deck. It was already starting to get quite warm, and we relaxed together, talking about people we wanted to invite over in the remaining weeks of the summer, and our upcoming camping trip next month, and other things. Then we did some independent things, but still nice, because it is a good thing to know that one whom you love is very near. (I watered, and did some remedial weeding.)

Chris works 3:30 to midnight today, so when he went to work I decided to go with him, because the store is air-conditioned, and I could tell that would be much more comfortable. (I heard that it got up to 95 degrees today!) I brought "pleasure reading" with me - magazines, and part of the Sunday paper, and a book I'm reading (The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco ... It's a thoughtful, thought-provoking book, but I'm a bit frustrated because I don't know Latin, and he uses Latin phrases and sentences fairly often, without providing a translation.) I set up at one of the tables in the Deli with an icy-style mocha, and browsed and read, and made up a "To Do" list for myself (16 items by the time I was done.) Chris sat with me during his break and his lunch, and since I then got to have not-so-sneaky-kisses with him, this was a very good thing.

(One of the special gifts of summer for me is that I do get to do "pleasure reading." During the school year I tend to be focused much more on the reading that I need to do for my teaching. Not a bad thing; it's just that it takes away from my reading whatever I want, whenever I want, for how long I want. I still do get pleasure reading done during the school year, just not as much as I would like. By contrast, during the 4 weeks of summer thus far I'm now on my 7th book. Whee!)

Anyway, at the store I also called and talked to my Mom and my sister Sarah in Seattle. (no alliteration intended) And I talked with Arianne earlier in the day. (She and my brother Rob and their 2 children are coming down to visit here the end of August!) Connecting with my family is good for me; I miss them very much.

Left the store at 8:00 (the temperature was still 81 degrees), set the sprinkler going on the front lawn, and did some internet stuff. Now it's time to go turn off the sprinkler, and call it a day.
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