Celebration

Today is a day worth celebrating. I've submitted the semester's grades, so I am on summer break for four months where I only work my day job. I love teaching, but it's nice to take some time off.

Oh, and my crab apple tree is in bloom.

O Fortuna!

Last night Kevin and I went to see our friend Christina perform in the Utah Symphony's production of Carmina Burana as a soprano in the chorus. They did an amazing job, and this is such a rousing piece of music. I found it interesting in its nihilistic lyrics and how those work with the strident, but ear-pricking harmonies.

My favorite part is the most famous refrains that stand as bookends to the piece:

O Fortune,
like the moon
you are constantly changing,
ever waxing
and waning;
hateful life
first oppresses
and then soothes
as fancy takes it;
poverty
and power
it melts them like ice.

Fate - monstrous
and empty,
you whirling wheel,
you are malevolent,
well-being is vain
and always fades to nothing,
shadowed
and veiled
you plague me too;
now through the game
I bring my bare back
to your villainy.

Fate is against me
in health
and virtue,
driven on
and weighted down,
always enslaved.
So at this hour
without delay
pluck the vibrating strings;
since Fate
strikes down the strong man,
everyone weep with me

And here are a couple of mobile phone pictures (hence, the quality) we took in in the lobby of Abravanel Hall. I was inspired by that evening's performance to make all sorts of remarks about this beautiful, intriguing sculpture, but I'm too discrete to mention them here. Christina and Dave have a family connection related to this sculpture and keeping it here in the Hall for the public of Salt Lake City, so that's pretty cool!

Also, on the way home from the performance, Christina and I discovered we have a previous connection in that we both sang in the Salt Lake Children's Choir in our youth. I sang from 1991-1995, and Christina sang in 1995-1996, so we must have song together for at least one concert season. See, I knew we were kindred spirits!

As Sweet Flowers: By Popular Demand (and also very naughty kitties)

OK, I'm a sucker for suggestions. By popular demand, here's the "in-between" picture of the flowerbed by our covered porch. Had I snapped this picture 30 seconds earlier, you would have seen two very naughty cats in the flowerbed: Aja parked right on top of a coneflower, and Phoebe nibbling on the ornamental grass. I hope this garden can take it and lives to maturity.

As Sweet Flowers: Covered Porch Flowerbed

Even though this weekend was insanely windy, Kevin and I got a lot done in the yard. We planted about 70 of our mail-order perennials, including two of the pre-planned gardens I ordered online. In order to do that, I had to finish weeding the beds, then Kevin rented a tiller from Home Depot and we mixed in compost with our flowerbeds to get the soil ready to plant.

So this is the bed I'm most hopeful for, and it also took the most work. This flowerbed is important because it's in our backyard next to our covered porch/patio, so that's where our new bistro dining set is, and that's where we'll spend a lot of time this summer when we're outside.

Here's the "before" picture:

This is before I weeded the bed. It was full of tiny blue flowers that spring from pea-sized bulbs (that's not grass you see in there--it's bulb flowers, about two strands per bulb). In order to weed it and get the bulb, I had to dig in all 120 square feet with a little trowel and sift the dirt away from the bulbs. My advice--never plant little tiny bulb flowers.

Here's what I hope it looks like when we're all done. This garden is called "August Afternoons," because it will bloom through August (longer than most flowers in the desert), but Kevin and I like to call it the "Afternoon Delight" garden based off of this Arrested Development episode.

This garden didn't take up the whole bed, so I planted some additional coneflowers. We're also going to add a little rock path and two dwarf lilac bushes. Really, I have high hopes about this one.

Just Like a Dog, Except for Going on Walks

So they say that Maine Coon cats are the dogs of the cat breeds. This video is proof. And yes, I'm using my special "cat voice," which is how I command the mighty creatures.

The Plants Have Arrived

And now I feel like I can open my own online nursery.

Methodical Miscellany

A few goings-on that I'm interested in:

A precious new arrival:

Christina's thoughts on attending church with me today:

In all my years of living in Utah I had never been to an actual Mormon church service before, so I am so grateful to have had this experience and especially with our good friends who made it such a comfortable situation for us. They even brought extra Books of Mormon and Bibles for us to use!

And a very interesting literature review in the New Yorker about the faith of our founding fathers:

The four books achieve a kind of consensus in four related lines of argument. First, the United States was founded neither as a Christian nation nor as a secular one. Second, by the standards of Evangelicals of both their day and ours, Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison were not Christians; they wrestled, often profoundly, with religious questions, but, as Church points out, “they all doubted the divinity of Christ.” Third, the disestablishment of religion is itself responsible for Americans’ unusual religiosity, which (these writers all believe) is something to celebrate. Fourth, notwithstanding the Founders’ own remarkable secularism, the liberation of religion from government as much as the reverse was their aim. “The separation of church and state has greatly benefited religion, as Madison and Jefferson predicted that it would,” Wills writes. Nussbaum argues that because “the separation of church and state is, fundamentally, about equality, about the idea that no religion will be set up as the religion of our nation,” in the end “separation is also about protecting religion.” Waldman writes, “Madison, I suspect, would . . . be delighted by surveys showing that, compared with most developed nations, Americans believe in God more, pray more, and attend worship services more frequently.”

As Sweet Flowers: Front Flowerbed

This one is Kevin's pet project. Last week we took a couple of trips to Home Depot to buy 100+ bricks to lay in the front. Kevin dug a wonderful-looking trench, and we're getting all set. We're also going to get rid of that nasty-looking juniper bush. I like junipers out in the desert, but not here at my house.

Kevin has a great lineup of flowers he ordered online for this bed. My favorite is the yellow Columbine called "little treasure."

The Road [That Was] Taken

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

As Sweet Flowers: The other south-facing bed

The other south-facing flowerbed in my yard is in a lot worse shape. Dandelions cover it along with all kinds of noxious, yes noxious, weeds. What's worse, as this is right by our back door, our kitties always jump around in this bed, getting dirty and tracking it into the house.

The first remedy I have for this bed is to plant a couple of Jose Lilac bushes there. These bushes bloom from April to September (extra long!) and are mini-sized, only reaching four feet. I hope that they'll help keep away unwanted bugs.

And the last thing I'm going to do is place in a pre-planned garden. I ordered the "Xeric Aroma Garden" from High Country Gardens, and it comes with all the plants and design work done.

I am so excited for this garden to come to me!

As Sweet Flowers: Coneflower Bed

This is the first of a series of posts about the flowerbeds Kevin and I are redesigning all around our yard. There is so much to do, and blogging about it makes it a little more fun, like I'm actually making some progress. The line for this series, "As Sweet as Flowers" comes from the "Song of Solomon," chapter 5, verse 13. I can't think of any line more appropriate than spending this time with Kevin, investing in our yard and making it a peaceful place to be.

The first flowerbed is a south-facing one that houses our early-blooming daffodils featured last week. This bed has been overgrown with weeds because of its old and ripped weed barrier and nothing of substance growing there for most of the year (the weed barrier wasn't even cut for the daffodils! The daffodils just pushed their way through). It's been covered in small landscaping rocks. I spent yesterday ripping out most of the rocks (many, many small rocks).

Here I have planted three coneflower plants, which are my new favorite flowers! I love how they look like daisies in vibrant colors, with a wildflower and natural look to them, which makes them so much more romantic. They are actually very hardy native plants, and they'll need to be strong because with a yard this big, I can't pay a ton of attention to each individual plant. They also make great flowers for cutting, which is important to me so I can bring their beauty inside my home.

Here are the one's already planted:

Purity Coneflower

Tiki Torch Coneflower

Sundown Coneflower

I have room for a couple of additional coneflowers, so I ordered a sampler of these additional coneflowers online. I especially love the pale yellow one on the top right.

After I get all my coneflowers in, I'm going to put in new weed barrier fabric. Then, I'm going to add small red sandstone landscaping rocks in the bed to help keep out the weeds (you can see the huge bags lined up in the first photo). With any luck, I think this will make a very happy, colorful, and easy-growing flowerbed.

Someone Wants to Come Inside

As documented before, Phoebe is quite the little climber. Here she is letting me know she really, really, really wants to come inside.

And with this kind of treatment awaiting her, who can blame her?

When Something That Makes You Happy Goes Away

I love this lamp on my work desk. It's new. It was inexpensive. It's a red shade with pink, red, and yellow beads. It's fancy and feminine. It emits a soft, home-like glow. It makes me relaxed and happy while I work. When I got it, I showed it off to everyone who came to my desk and told them how happy it made me.

This lamp has been difficult for four days now. That is this entire week. It won't work. I've unscrewed and screwed the lightbulb probably over 100 times, this lightbulb that is two weeks old. I've checked its connection to my powerstrip. I keep flipping the switch off and on. Off and on. It won't work. I work in a dark cave. I am not happy.

How My Garden Grows

Despite the snow and rain this week, my garden will grow.

Daffodils:

The first sign of tulips:

My new lovable 7-gallon bendable buckets:

My glow-in-the-dark whimsical flowers in the raspberry patch:

And my first attempt at lawn ornaments so I can fit in with all the 70-year-old ladies in my neighborhood. Funky chickens (to be transplanted later):

First Communion

For a Mormon girl who has never been out of Utah more than two weeks at a time, I can say that I've probably had a somewhat diverse sprinkling of religious experiences outside of my faith. Most of these stem from my early career as a choir member, singing in Presbyterian and Catholic churches, and even Grace Cathedral, the famous Episcopal locale in San Fransisco. Needless to say, I've spent a lot of this time in the choir loft.

In addition to these experiences, I've attended an Evensong at St. Paul's in London on the Epiphany (January 6th--the 12th day of Christmas) and mass at Notre Dame in Paris. I've been to the United Church of Christ to perform pieces of Handel's Messiah, and I've been to an Evangelical Baptist church to hear one of my friends sing. All of these have been beautiful experiences, but I'm only now beginning to get the hang of things a little. This Sunday, Kevin and I attended services at St. Mark's Cathedral downtown with our friends and fellow bloggers Christina and Dave. They will later come to LDS services with me and Kevin, just to see what the experience is like. The first thing I noticed is that this Episcopal cathedral is beautiful! All the pictures here are from the inside.

The service was a little bit of a whirlwind for me. I'm used to parking in my pew for my worship, but this service required a lot of participation by the congregation. It was the second Sunday celebration of Easter, and the hymns were glorious Alleluia pieces. I was excited to hear some familiar pieces we use in Mormon services too, including Randall Thompson's "Alleluia" and the Doxology:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

One thing that always brings a smile to my face is the sharing of peace. I've seen this at other Protestant churches, and it's where the congregation mingles, shakes hands, and offers peace to the neighbors around you. I don't know why I smile--maybe it's partly because I feel somewhat conspicuous as a visitor, but also I think that it's just a happy thing to do.

I was excited to get a closer look at these services from a historical perspective as well. As a graduate student, I studied in depth the religious goings-on of 16th- and 17th-century England. I spent over a year studying the symbols of the Eucharist and how they relate to a marriage between Christ and the Church, and the only paper I've published in an actual literary journal was on John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress and the textual conflicts of predestination and works. I also studied Thomas Cranmer's original Book of Common Prayer, which is used in American Episcopal services today with some modification (as the Dean of the cathedral explained to me after the service). I probably drove everyone crazy with discussing the origins of the book, but hey, that's what gets me going from a literary sense.

The coolest experience was the Holy Communion. I wanted to see the Eucharist up close for the first time, and was humbled that it was all right for me to go up and receive the Body and Blood from the priest even though I'm not a confirmed member of their faith. What I wasn't expecting was the personal way the sacrament was offered, with a blessing said on each individual each time they received these tokens.

The sermon was on Thomas after the resurrection. The pastor had an interesting take, and jokingly suggested that maybe Thomas was one of those people who scored high on the sensory scale of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. One thing that he mentions is that many witnesses said, "I saw the Lord," but when Thomas sees Jesus, he sees the Lord and God. It was a nice turn that reminds me of the sermons I love that re-define Martha's role, and that's why I posted the Martha and Mary window from the Cathedral here.

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Products I Love: One Old, One New

Today was a great day for product consumerism. To be fair, the products aren't all new. In fact the first one is a retro Atari 2600 system that none of my siblings wanted, so I inherited it by default. I bought some new joysticks online for it, and volia: Great date night at home!

There's this endearing video of Kevin playing Jungle Hunt:

And this one of him crashing in River Raid:

Yes, Honey. I write the blog, so I get to pick the videos.

But my new product is the most exciting, and it's just as fun. I've finally joined everyone in Kevin's family by owning my own Dyson vacuum! This one is absolutely amazing: the DC-17 Absolute Animal with all the attachments. This vacuum is so very awesome. My mother-in-law loves her Dyson so much, she keeps saying she's going to start a Dyson blog.

We vacuumed three days ago with our old vacuum, and put this Dyson to our carpet today and we can see a complete difference.

And what's even better, it even comes with a hot guy who will do the vacuuming for you (limited time offer--while supplies last).

Why I Will Never Have Birdfeeders

Incidentally, over one-third of all US households now house a little tiger.

God is a Big God

Thank you to D'Arcy for this literary quote:

Poppy knew from when he was a boy there must be a kernel of truth on every avenue. "Does it make sense," Poppy said, "that any God would choose some people and leave the others out? If only Christians or Jews are right, what about most of Asia and the Middle East? All these millions of people are just--extras? Ridiculous! God's bigger than that!"

Why would God want to be only large enough to fit inside a certain group of hearts? God was a Big God. Once Liyana answered someone that way, but it didn't work very well.

"What religion are you?"

"Big God."

--From Habibi

A Surfeit of Music

In my undergraduate Shakespeare class I was introduced to the word surfeit, which was used much more in the English Renaissance to describe excess and abundance. This has become one of my favorite words, and I use it casually without ever really thinking of it. I suppose it's my equivalent to Miss Lydia Bennett falling into a chair after running around and saying, "Oh, I'm so fat."

So my new surfeitting is music: Lately I've become interested in jazz. I'm by no means a hard-core fan yet, but I tune to KUER, my local public radio station, more during the jazz program and have purchased several jazz CDs in the last year (I never owned any before).

There's something soothing about the beats, and when I've come home from a busy day at work where I've spent the whole day talking and listening, I enjoy hearing something that doesn't have any words. It calms the savage beast inside me.

How this relates to surfeit? Well, last week I was at Costco to purchase some cast-iron chairs to match my new outdoor bistro table, and I was overcome with the feeling to consume music. I bought on the fly three jazz CDs that contain remakes of popular songs. I've spent all of last week listening to these CDs.

I've had a revelation. Do any of you Utahns remember how FM100 was during the 80's, and how they played nothing but instrumental versions of popular songs? My mother loved this station, and that was always what she listened to as she carted me around to the grocery store, the post office, or wherever she had to go. I never understood why she didn't want to listen to the words. And here I am now, doing the same thing.

Reincarnation

When Kevin and I are driving, we sometimes like to ask each other hypothetical questions. The one that’s been on my mind lately is, If you were to be reincarnated, what animal would you choose?

Here’s some criteria that makes sense to me:
1. Assume gender stays the same
2. Assume that you have no choice over geographical placement (in other words, you may be born in the wild, a zoo, etc.)

My first response was to be a cat because, hey, Aja and Phoebe have it pretty good in my home. But then I got to thinking about all the abused cats in the world. A cat can’t even defend herself very well against a determined five-year-old child. And that’s if you even get a home.

I then started thinking that the following were important factors in my decision:
1. I’d like to be at the top of the food chain
2. I’d like to not have to be a predator who is always striving for the next meal
3. I’d like to have a high chance of making it to adulthood
4. I’d like to have plentiful food sources, allowing for occasional recreation
5. I don’t like the water, so marine life is completely out

So given the above, I’ve made the decision that I’d like to be an elephant or a bear. I’d be an African elephant because they’re smart, social, get to eat a lot, and they take long walks.

I’d be a bear because they always seem to be recreating in the woods and meadows, plus they are so cute. I’d even be a big, fat polar bear. I bet they don't even get to feel the cold.

What about you?