April is the coolest month....

I've always thought that, and not just because April is my birthday month.  April is also the birthday month of several people in my family, which means that, growing up, I associated April with parties.  We always got together with my father's side of the family one Sunday in April to celebrate all of those birthdays, and with my mother's side of the family, to celebrate all of those birthdays, too.  Whoopee!  We were having cake all month!

Easter is also in April, which should be the main thing, and is, really.  It's not just Easter Worship (although you do have to sing "Jesus Christ is Risen Today", and mean it), but it's Easter itself, which is spring, but not the same as spring, more than spring.  Easter means that the things you thought were impossible are possible, that the gardener you see pruning the vines may not really be the gardener, that love and beauty and justice and forgiveness are really true, and possible. 

I used to get out Dvorak's New World Symphony and play it on Easter Sunday because, I thought, Easter isn't just about our own individual lives.  It's about the new world that God is bringing into being.

April is also when spring peeks through here in Minnesota.  Sometimes we don't really get fully into spring here until May, but April is when the hope kicks in. 

In April six years ago our favorite dog, Scout, came home.  She was just over six weeks old.  I picked her up from the nursing home on Friday afternoon and listened to her howl all the way home.  We made many mistakes (all by accident of course) when we first got Scout.  But when she curls up on her bed as we are going to sleep, and I hear her sigh, I believe that she is a good dog.

April is the coolest month. 

My Sister's Birthday

I'm pretty sure, if I'm counting correctly, that this is a significant one for her.

As always, I'm late getting the present in the mail, but I've been thinking about the fact that my mother always told me, when my sister and I were fighting, that "someday I'd appreciate having a sister." In that spirit, I'd like to share ten gifts my sister has given me:

1. She painted a picture for me when she was in 8th or 9th grade. The picture shows children holding balloons. It's a narrow, long picture; entirely unique.

2. She baked me a Boston Cream Pie once, and sent it with my mother when she was visiting me at college.

3. She deigned to share an apartment with me for a short while just after I graduated from college; a little brownstone one bedroom with hardwood floors. It was my first apartment.

4. When we were young, we shared a room; she used to listen to my insomniac whisperings until she fell asleep.

5. She played the guitar and sang songs with me. Favorite duet: "Whispering Hope." (She sang alto.)

6. She let me take the crock from Grandma's house that said, "Jackson Creamery" on it.

7. She thought my stories were good (usually).

8. When we played Tarzan with the little boy down the street, I got to be Jane. She was Cheetah.

9. She let her daughter come to the North Shore with us, one of my favorite vacations, ever.

10. Laughing and singing are my favorite memories: it is good to have a sister.

Scout Is Four Today

Today we have a guest blogger, Scout, who turned 4 today.

Hello, everybody! Thank you for visiting me on my birthday! I am having a good day. My mom put a red thing on my neck this morning, and I got to go on a walk and sniff a lot of places. I even got to cross the street with mom. There are many good things to smell on the other side of the street.

It is my birthday today, but my most fun day was Sunday. We had One of My Friends over because it was his birthday. I really love him a Lot! And we had Other People there and they Paid Attention to Me. I shook hands with Everyone and they petted me and scratched my tummy and let me catch the ball. I did not jump on people even though I wanted to. But I did sniff them and showed them how much I love them. They had some good food and I even got the tiniest piece of salmon! I love Birthday! Mine and other people's too! I did not get cake this time. I am sad about that.

I am sure there will more fun on my birthday! I don't know yet what it will be! Will it be a toy? Will it be a treat? (Lamb -- yum) Will it be more ear scritches? I got lots of ear scritches this morning! I love them!

Now I am four! What can I do when I'm four that I couldn't do before? What should I do today? Maybe open the refrigerator? (No, I can't do that.) Maybe learn a new trick? (what trick should I learn?)

I just want to say that I am grateful to be here every day! I am grateful for food, for snow, for toys, for rides in the car, for aLmost eVerything! What about you?

Me and the Pope

.... or, more properly, Pope Benedict and I

share a birthday today.

For the record,

Henry Mancini was also born on this day in 1924,

Dusty Springfield in 1939,

and Charlie Chaplain in 1889.

April Milestones

April has always been a big month in my family. There are several April birthdays on both sides of my family. I want to shout "Hey!" to my cousins Cheryl, Brian, Karen and Rick, who share this birthday month with me. One of my grandmothers had an April birthday, as well as several aunts and uncles. My brother-in-law also claims an April birthday. As Wayne and Garth would say, "Party on!" That's what we did, all during April!

Like the picture? My mom made the dress. And it was a combined Easter/birthday party that year. My cousin, as you can see, is not thrilled with my display of cousinly affection.

Other April milestones:

1. My car is paid for as of TODAY. The Camry is all mine now, and I hope will be for years to come. It is the first car I bought new (had only 15 miles on it).

2. April 12 is my one year blogging anniversary. Yes, at 4:45 p.m. on April 12, I logged into blogger for the first time, and posted the forgettable entry Saving Newspapers. At the time I didn't know how to do hyperlinks, blogrolls, images, videos: pretty much anything! There is still a lot I don't know (I would now call my computer knowledge "uneven").

3. I get get to meet up with fellow-blogger Jan sometime this week. I think this will be my 4th blogger meet-up. I have met fellow-bloggers RevDrKate, HotCup Lutheran and HubHC, and Fran, and Pastor Eric! (Just last week.) I hope to meet some fellow-bloggers also at the Festival of Homiletics in May here in My Town.

4. April 15 is not only tax day for us. It is the anniversary of the day we brought Scout home, three years ago. I picked her up at the nursing home, and listened to her howl all the way home in the car.

The next day I went to a church assembly the whole day. It also rained all day. My poor husband had to deal with a six-week-old puppy that didn't want to go out in the rain.

But, she did enjoy meeting the mailman, as you can see.

We studied a lot before we got Scout. We thought we knew a lot. But, as with blogging, there was a Very High Learning Curve.

Happy birthday, Janet!

Today is my little sister's birthday. We shared a room until I was in the 9th grade. We fought a lot and had a lot of fun, as well. At least, that's the way I'm choosing to remember it now.

I remember we used to fight over whose turn it was to do the dishes. After my parents developed a system where one of us would wash and one would dry, then we fought over whose turn it was to wash and whose turn it was to dry. We also fought about who would sit where in the back seat of the car, but since there were three of us, with my brother, someone always had to take the "hump" in the middle. Of course, the way I remember it, I was always right. (There has to be some benefit to being oldest.) We must have driven our parents crazy.

On Friday night my dad used to work late at his shop. Sometimes, that would be "pancake night" (my father did not consider pancakes to be a proper dinner). Sometimes my sister and I would have pancake eating contests. A few times we would start laughing so hard we could hardly finish our dinner. My mom always looked a little mad then. I remember thinking, "why is she mad? We're not fighting."

My parents also enjoyed the game we invented, called "Flood." We only played it on Saturday mornings. We pretended that our house was flooded, and that our beds were high ground. Eventually, though, we needed to go out to the living room to watch Saturday morning TV, and also to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Here's where it gets interesting. We would take all the books off the shelves, and use them as stepping stones to get to the other rooms in the house. Yes, our parents were wild about that game.

My sister and I tried not to be competitive. If I liked Simon and Garfunkel, she got interested in John Denver. I played the piano; she switched to violin and guitar. I liked writing; she was interested in art. Sometimes that worked, but not always.

My mom used to tell me that when I grew up, I would appreciate having a sister. I think she would say this during fights, and from her own perspective, she became really good friends with her older sister. In fact, I believe they shared an apartment in Minneapolis after they moved from the farm. I shared an apartment with my sister for a few months after I graduated from college, and while she was a student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. It was a funky old brownstone one bedroom with hardwood floors and a huge walk-in closet.

Then, she got married and moved to Phoenix. The rest, as they say, is history.

I'm proud of my little sister. She became a graphic designer. She designed my ordination announcements, and also our wedding invitations. I used to dream that we would become a writing/illustrating team. But then, I would actually have to finish writing something. Perhaps I could self-publish a book of sermons someday, and have her illustrate them.

What do you think?

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Janet!

emma's birthday

Today is my grandmother's birthday. She died back in January of 1992 at the age of 88. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother -- a couple of weeks every summer. We would walk downtown to go grocery shopping together. People would stop us on the sidewalk and say to my grandmother, "Oh, this must be Arlene's little girl." It made me feel pretty special. I loved to help her out in the garden, or with the laundry. She still had one of those wringer washers. I also spent some time learning to paint on cloth and cross stith. I cross-stitched two pillow cases one year, and made a set of dish towels for my "Hope Chest."

I didn't have a "Hope Chest." I knew what it was, though. It was a place where you put all the things you were preparing for when you would be married. Considering that I was in about the 5th grade when I made those dish towels, I was thinking about getting married for a long time!

Back in the 5th grade, when life was simpler, I thought I would get married and have children. I was sure that my husband would agree with me that our daughter's name would be "Emma." It's funny how life turns out so differently than we have planned.

My grandmother was the soul of fairness. She loved all of us equally. She never played favorites. I tried -- I would ask her, "Grandma, do you think I'm pretty?" and she would answer, "I think all of my grandchildren are goodlooking." or, "Grandma, do you think I'm smart?" "All of my grandchildren do well in school." She was a farmer's daughter and a farmer's wife -- and a farmer's mother as well. She loved hearing and singing hymns. She didn't travel very much. She liked to be busy. She worried too much. She never learned to drive.

Happy birthday, Emma!