Sorry, I tried to post my Seven Quick Takes logo here, giving credit to the host Jennifer at Conversion Diary, but I am typing on my stepmom's computer and her Apple mouse doesn't have a right-click cut and paste feature. I'm lost. Which brings up my first item:
1. For those of you who post a lot of pictures on your blogs (Blogger, particularly), is it time-consuming? Do you use Flicker or Photobucket? Is Flicker faster? Is it my slow satellite connection? I would post more pictures but my technical limitations frustrate me. There are some wonderful pictures of our Memphis wedding trip on Facebook but I have no idea how to get them and post them here. Any advice welcome.
2. Speaking of the Memphis wedding, it was fabulous. The ceremony was high-church Episcopalian and it was breathtakingly beautiful. The music was ethereal. Violin, viola, cello, pipe organ and Bach trumpet. Trumpet Voluntary (sorry don't know which one), and Pachelbel's Cannon in D are the two pieces I remember off the top of my head. The vows and service were straight out of the Book of Common Prayer. Oh my. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. When I told Luke about the service and mentioned the Book of Common Prayer, his reply was "I love the BCP. Unlike Catholic liturgy (which we love) it is the only liturgy written for English and it makes the most of the language." I love my geeky firstborn.
The wedding reception was at the Memphis Zoo, in the polar bear exhibit. It was quite a venue and we had a wonderful time. The rehearsal dinner the night before was on the 20th floor rooftop of an old downtown hotel, with a gorgeous view of the Mississippi River. Southern hospitality, perfect weather, and relaxed visits with family we don't see often enough made for a wonderful weekend.
3. I've been in St. Louis since Wednesday. Luke drove me over so we could go to the Cardinals-Cincinnati game on Wednesday night. It was uncharacteristically cold and the Cardinals lost 9-3 but other than that we had a wonderful time. Seriously! My brother and nephew went to the game Thursday night, which was better weather, Chris Carpenter pitched and the Cards won 3-1. Oy vey.
My stepmom left Thursday morning for a much-needed vacation and trip to her grandson's high school graduation. Dad and I have settled into a nice routine. He doesn't get around much (fell and cracked a couple of ribs again a few weeks ago) but he is not in pain. He sleeps a lot and his hearing is so bad it makes conversation difficult. Still, we enjoy each other's company, tell a few stories, read the newspapers and watch all the Cardinal games on TV. What's not to like? Dad will be 88 next month and I feel so blessed to have this peaceful relationship with him. Only by the grace of God. Maybe that should be my elevator testimony. Faith in God and trying to live a life filled with His peace healed countless relationships in my life.
4. Reading G.K. Chesterton's Saint Thomas Aquinas "The Dumb Ox". Early in, I came across this gem of a passage.
The saint is a medicine because he is an antidote. Indeed that is why the saint is often a martyr; he is mistaken for a poison because he is an antidote. He will generally be found restoring the world to sanctity by exaggerating whatever the world neglects, which is by no means always the same element in every age. Yet each generation seeks its saint by instinct; and he is not what the people want, but rather what the people need.....If the world grows too worldly, it can be rebuked by the Church; but if the Church grows too worldly, it cannot be adequately rebuked for worldliness by the world. Therefore, it is the parodox of history that each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most...So, as the nineteenth century clutched at the Franciscan romance, precisely because it had neglected romance, so the twentieth century is already clutching at the Thomist rational theology because it has neglected reason.
5. I'm planning to go to mass at 4:30 Saturday at the Catholic church in the neighborhood where I grew up. I'm really looking forward to it.
6. This First Things article by Elizabeth Scalia is the best roundup of the Dr. Tiller murder I've read. She pieces together many things in a wonderful way. Read it.
7. Upon our return from Memphis, I found a huge UPS box waiting. It contained an antique tea set from my Aunt M. in Washington. Aunt M. asked me last year if I would like to have this tea set, a wedding gift sent to her and my Uncle D. from Germany by my parents in 1947. Would I like it? Are you kidding me? The set, which according to my cursory research is a Bavarian coffee set, contains a coffee pot, creamer, lidded sugar dish, six luncheon plates and three smaller plates. The set is cream-colored with a lovely deep red-orange stripe around the edges and red-orange floral design. I looked and looked for a match online but haven't found one yet. It is in pristine condition (I'm guessing it wasn't used much, except for a few missing and assumed broken plates). Aunt M. also sent some photos of my family which Mom had sent her over the years. Luke and Cassie were in the room when I opened the package and the tears flowed. It was like opening a time capsule, perfectly preserved for me for over 60 years. The top photo was my parents' wedding photo from February 16, 1946. I have another copy of the photo somewhere but the photo combined with the coffee set was too much. I was holding in my hands dishes that my gone-thirty-years Mom shopped for, purchased, packaged and mailed nearly 62 years ago. I'm crying again as I type this. Thank you, Aunt M., for the beautiful gift.
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