TOWANDA!!!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Well, here's a picture that brings a few words to mind... words I won't elaborate, because my blog is G-rated and my kids read it!  But, if I had a pet-peeve section of the blog, this post would definitely qualify!

We've all seen this one, right?  Pretty universal meaning... say it with me, "right lane ends, merge left". 

It's far from ideal, especially with gas prices what they are, but I have a 32-mile each-way commute to work.  I needed a job and they aren't too plenteous, so I have to make the best of 64 miles a day and frequent shopper status at the gas station.  But, what adds to the inconvenience is that none of my commute is via interstate.  Oh, I have a very direct and time-saving route that runs practically from my backyard to the front door of my employer... it's known as the Ohio Turnpike, but being frugal as I am, I choose to not increase my commuting expense by the $3.50 in daily tolls.  So, I spend one hour each way, mostly on two-lane highways... not ideal, but relatively tolerable.

Which brings me to the above sign... FIVE times each day, to be exact... twice in the morning, and thrice in the evening.  Without fail, I contend daily (from my proactive position in the left lane) with two interpretations of this sign:

• Casually ride the right lane until the very last minute, then merge left, as though you're the only car on the road.  Or, the more popular...
• Race up the right lane, passing as many cars as possible, then squeeze left at the very last minute, as though you own the road.

Each option requires me (who proactively grabbed the left lane WAY before the right lane ended) to yield the right-of-way to the MORONS in the right lane (if you, Dear Reader, happen to be one of them, I make no apology for calling you a MORON!)  Is it just me, or is this backwards?  I thought I had the right-of-way since my lane is continuous?  I thought the idea of merging left was to yield and blend in with the left-laners as unobtrusively as possible, thereby fostering an atmosphere of cooperation and manners?  Nope, instead I'm expected to make room for their sorry butts, and they get mad at me if I don't just roll out the red carpet and make it easy on them to cut me off and crowd me out (fingers, gestures, horns...)! 

Really?

Didn't we all learn in elementary school not to cut in line?  How does a few thousand pounds of steel and several horses under the hood make you feel that it's perfectly acceptable to become a highway bully and throw everyday courtesy out the window like the finger you just waved at me?  Why don't you try that at Home Depot... just zoom around the burly contractors in line and zip your cart into the register just as the front customer pulls away?  Yeah, I didn't think so!

I can't really do it, but there are times when I just want to channel the spirit of TOWANDA!  If you're saying, "who's TOWANDA?", it's likely that you've never seen the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes...

"Face it girls, I'm older and I have more insurance!"

Right lane ends, merge left... perhaps I'll start sporting a red sunvisor as I drive my 64 miles per day... TOWANDA!!!

strike up the band

Dylan is now a second year band student, and he has considerably expanded his knowledge of percussion.  In fifth grade, percussion students focused on the bells, but in sixth grade he has added snare drum, bass drum, crash cymbal, suspended cymbal, wood block, triangle, and sleigh bells.

He is not quite as excited about band this year, mostly, I think, because he has a different band teacher than he had last year.  He is pretty sure he gets his original teacher back next year, as he transitions into marching band in seventh grade.

The fifth and sixth grade band concert was a few weeks ago.  He played bells, snare drum and triangle in this year's concert.

Dylan is in the back row, just to the right of the director, wearing a white shirt and dark tie.

Sixth grade percussionist

Dylan rarely gets dressed up, so I wanted to capture the moment.  Just before I took the picture, he had his hands full of drumsticks, mallets and music, so I told him to lay it on the ground, except for his drumsticks, for a picture... to which he vehemently protested, "No, Dad, give me my mallets, too... I played bells and drums tonight!"  Sorry, Dylan... you're right, percussion isn't just drums!

another happy birthday

This is one of those short snippets of life that I never want to forget. 

I've mentioned before that my youngest, Benny (age 3 1/2), is developmentally delayed, and although growing, his verbal skills and vocabulary are behind most kids his age.  One big example is vocabulary to express emotions.  As previously written here and here, he knows what "I'm sad" feels like, but he communicates it, "I sorry".  He also knows what "I'm happy" feels like, but he communicates it, "happy birthday!"

This weekend, Jen was away with her Mom on a women's retreat with her Mom's church.  I was in charge... which means I put aside many of the projects that often distract me, and focused on just being a Dad a little more than I usually do. 

Saturday was unseasonably warm in northeast Ohio... like 70-degree-range-two-months-earlier-than-normal warm!  Saturday evening, I got the fire pit out of the shed and set it up for the first backyard fire of the season.  I was sitting around the fire with all the kids, with Benny cuddling on my lap (the ONLY safe place for Benny to be when a fire is burning!)

Benny looked up at me and sweetly asked, "Dad... this a happy birthday?"

Yes, Benny, not by the calendar, but the moment feels a lot like a happy birthday to me!

sap's a risin'

Last Sunday was a beautiful day (as is this one, as evidenced by the fact that I am blogging outside... in my shorts... in mid-March... in northeast Ohio!)  One of the metro parks in our area hosts a maple sugaring event each spring.  We have wanted to go for several years, and finally made it this year.

Sap's a risin'... a typical early springtime sight in northeast Ohio.

There were live demonstrations of maple sugaring techniques beginning in the 1700's...

1800's...

Sampling raw sap straight from the tap.

Zachary giving the 1800's auger a try.

Lily's turn.

The buckets were empty, but normally each side would weigh over 20 pounds.  They offered Dylan a job carrying sap for 10-11 hours a day for 25¢ per day... 1800's wages!

30¢ per pound in the 1800's!

Enter the 1900's... maple syrup $1.50 per gallon.

The 2000's... gas augers and plastic tubing that connects trees together in a "pipeline" to a central collection.

Boiling down the sap at the central collection.

43 gallons of sap = 1 gallon of maple syrup

Free samples!  I don't think I've ever had real maple syrup before.  It was delicious!  Jen was all set to purchase some... but the $30 per half gallon price tag deterred her!

Small fishing lake at the park.

Appalachian music

that took guts

My oldest, Dylan, is in a challenge reading class this year.  The kid can read well above his grade level, and he often chooses a pretty broad range of both fiction and non-fiction.  Recently, his reading class had a project called, "The Wax Museum", for which they had to read a biography and "perform" as a talking wax figure of the person they studied.

Sometimes your kids really make you proud.

This was one of those sometimes.

Dylan originally chose Mark Hall, lead singer of the Christian music group, Casting Crowns.  Great choice... except there isn't a lot of biographical content written on Mark Hall.  One evening, he was telling me about his choice to do Mark Hall because it would be a way to bring God to his public school, and that he was bummed that it didn't work out.  (Did I mention that I was proud of his choice?)  He wasn't sure who he would choose, since this first choice didn't work.  I told him I had a half-dozen, or so, biographies of Christians on my bookshelf that he was welcome to use, if any of them interested him. 

He hadn't really heard of any of them (Umm... Billy Graham?), but he thumbed through my books, and Jim Elliot, missionary to the Auca Indians of Ecuador, caught his attention.  Dylan read about the life of Jim Elliot, and was quite impressed... and was happy that pictures showed him mostly in a t-shirt, so it wouldn't be too hard to get in character!

He chose his "frozen pose" as standing while reading an open Bible.  When someone hit the "button" on his display, he tucked the Bible under his arm and told about his (Jim Elliot's) life.  When he was done with his memorized monologue, he went back to his reading pose.

He and I took a walk one evening, after the project was done, and he started telling me about what he learned from the life of Jim Elliot... which is pretty heavy stuff.  You see, Jim Elliot was killed in Ecuador at age 29.  I could tell the project had really impacted Dylan.  He also told me that some kids made fun of him for having a Bible at school... but, "it was worth it."

Whose kid is this?  I don't think I had that much guts at age 11... hmmm, do I now, for that matter?

he said what?

I heard a word in church this past Sunday that I don't believe I have ever heard in church before!  What's more, it was spoken by my Pastor... from the pulpit, no less!

And, the word was...

Lent.

Some of you may be scratching your head about now... wondering why this is such a big deal.  Well... it's just that I grew up with a Baptist background.  I have always attended Baptist (or Baptist-similar) churches, and, from my experience, Baptists don't do Lent.

Now, if you regularly partake in the Lenten season, please forgive my possible ignorance in this post... I'm no expert on the subject (see above).  But, I have to give props to my Pastor for bringing a "foreign" concept to the pulpit of our church.  It caught my attention, and I've given it quite a bit of thought over the past few days.

I think that there are two main approaches to religion, and, even more specifically, to Christianity... performance and grace.  Performance based is the mindset akin to "impressing" God.  Grace based is the realization that there is nothing we, as mere mortals, can possibly do to impress God.  I subscribe to grace based Christianity.  I believe that there is nothing we can do to earn our way to God.  All I can do is accept the grace he freely offered when He gave His son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of mankind.  Therefore, any "good works" are performed out of gratitude for what has already been done on my behalf.

That said, I still often find myself falling into the trap of performance based Christianity... doing things because I think I should.  But, herein lies the beauty of Lent for a Baptist, like me... since we don't normally do Lent, there are absolutely no preconceived ideas or expectations.  Elements of our regular worship practices can become habitual, almost ritual.  But, stepping a little out of our norm once in a while can allow us to get a fresh perspective.

This was the point my Pastor was making.  His entire sermon was not about Lent.  It was actually from the 11th chapter of Mark's Gospel, where Jesus is found cleansing the Temple. 

(15) On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, (16) and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. (17) And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (NIV)

The point being made was that the Temple area and the "worship" that occurred there had become something it was never intended.  In many ways, the genuineness had been lost and perspective and right motives needed restored.  The same thing can happen with individuals.  Hence, Pastor suggested changing our normal "routine" once in a while to gain a fresh perspective... perhaps Lenten participation as one possible way to prepare the heart for the upcoming Easter holiday.

Ah, Easter.

I have addressed my frustrations with the Easter holiday in a previous post.  It ties in very well with this post, if you have the time to read it.  If not, the crux is this:

"I think a big part of my Easter frustration is due to the fact that my church background has focused so much more heavily on the Resurrection and tended to gloss over the Crucifixion. And why not? Resurrection is happy... crucifixion is not. But, how can you fully rejoice in the Resurrection, without first sharing in the sorrow of the cross?"

I believe Resurrection Sunday is the holiest of days for the Christian.  And yet, I think many of us do it a great disservice by not preparing our hearts through the events leading up to the Resurrection, or by doing it in such a routine way that the significance and genuineness have been lost.

Technically speaking, Lent has already begun.  I mean no disrespect to those of you who adhere to a more strict practice of Lent, but since it is not a regular part of my faith practices, I don't feel the need to adhere to as strict of an iterpretation of the observance as others might.  But, I am considering it... perhaps a "modified" version this year... or observing it another year... or, maybe not at all.

He said what?

Lent?

Yeah... and the cool thing is... he made me think a little out of the box.