Friday, June 16, 2006

Catching Up

It’s been an exhausting week. Don’t get me wrong, it was also a good week. We won again on Monday night in softball and, from what I hear since I was unable to make it, lost our first game last night. Losing wasn’t good. I wish I could have been there, but I wasn’t one of the guys they really needed. But the rest of the week was good.

I’m going to briefly break my two rules of blogging and talk a bit about work and family. For two days this week, I hosted a visitor from Ghana. He was interesting and the experience fun, even though it was exhausting for me (and probably more exhausting for him). He’d never had Mexican food. There are no Mexicans in Ghana, but I learned that there are Chinese restaurants run by Chinese there. So to give him an American experience, we ate in a local Mexican place run by Columbians. He put his palate into my hands. As there is a city in the north of Ghana named Tamale, I thought it was suitable to have one. Obviously the city and the food are not related, but he ate it all. I have never really thought about going to Ghana, but after seeing pictures of red rocks (and with my withdrawal from Utah going on three years), my mouth began to water. Maybe I should visit. Besides, English is the official language and about half the people can actually speak it, which I figure is about par for parts of this country.

As for family, my daughter floored me again last week. We were coming back from the lake and I had NPR on and she was listening. They were reporting on the celebrations following the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. “I don’t get it” she shouted from the backseat, “why are they celebrating someone’s death.” I tried to explain that he was a bad guy and killed lots of people and that there is evil in the world, but that she still had a valid question. Death should always be a humbling event because we’re reminded that we’re mortal. Somewhere in the good book it says something like “and a little child shall lead them.”

I fly to Atlanta on Sunday and will be in Georgia and Alabama next week. I’m sweating just thinking about it. Pray that the jet stream drops out of Canada and bring cool air to the Southeast. According to the local cult in Ed Abbey’s neighborhood, if just the square root of one percent of the people on earth meditates, we could have world peace. So maybe if a similar percentage of my blog readers beseech God, the Southeast will experience a short-lived ice age. Since I should be in places where wireless is available and will hopefully have more free time on my hand, I’ll try to post some more of my recollections.

17 comments:

  1. sounds like a cool thing to do - host a foreign visitor. neat post

    here from michele's

    cheers,

    Shane

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  2. “why are they celebrating someone’s death.”...

    ...well, that's the way the bushies do things, celebrate the demise of the bad person he created in the first place...grrrrrrr!

    As hubby put it to the FlintJournal, "George Bush, our hero! If only he'd fought in the Vietnam War, we'd have won it."


    anyhoo sage, how the weather cools down for ya. :-)

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  3. Sounds as if you have had a busy and rewarding week. I somehow doubt that Atlanta will be that cool though!

    And Hi, Michele sent me!

    rashbre

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  4. Your daughter is wise well beyond her years. That sense of innocence is something I wish we could bottle and share.

    Safe travel...looking forward to reading your musings from the road. It's something I relate to all too well.

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  5. Michele sent me, Sage.

    I agree with your daughter. While I certainly don't mind Abu not being around anymore, I find the "celebration" over his demise in very poor taste. It's the sort of thing that once accomplished, should be put in the past with haste.

    Your post today was quite full of humor, Sage. I love the tamale comparison as well as your fondness for red rocks.

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  6. you're in luck Sage. it is certainly cool today (sarcasm). yesterday it was 98 and today it is an overcast and breezy 90! it's not a dry heat either. :( I'd say you get used to it, but hot is hot. Hope you have a good trip.

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  7. Don't hold your breath on that ice age thing.

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  8. thanks for stopping by Shane!

    Karen, you're right on our role in the creation of Abu! And you're husband sounds like someone I'd like to meet, wise and a wise ass!

    Rashbre, does that mean you're not going to pray for a cold front, where is your faith?

    Carmi, thanks for the comments about my daughter, you blog is also often lifts up the wisdom of children and I thank you for that.

    Utenzi, I agree. The Greeks expected reverence to be shown even to a fallen enemy, because once dead, the body can no longer defend itself and a body always reminds us of our own mortality, which should be sobering, not reasons for celebration.

    Kontan, since I think you're from one of the cities I'll be in, can you recommend a good tavern in which to cool off?

    Poopie, the air in my lungs are becoming quite stale. I may have been raised down south, but when the temperature and humid start to rise, I realize that advantage of being in exile.

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  9. When I lived at home with my parents, I always enjoyed it when they hosted a person from another country. I think I viewed it sort of as an adventure learning about people from places I'd probably never get to go to. Now, I live in a small two room efficiency with no extra bed. Not so good for hosting people overnight.

    Your daughter definitely has a point. I felt uneasy about how people were celebrating his death, too. A death carried out by warfare or other human means is not something to celebrate.

    Hope you don't melt in the South. I spent yesterday at the Jersey Shore - a great place to be in hot weather.

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  10. i also agree with your daughter. though i am kind of glad he is no lomger around it is still a life, be it a wasted and dangerous one. better he was captured and locked away. and sadly as people celebrate the bomb, a child was also killed. and even more sadly 'our' coaltition forces have killed as many inocent as he has.

    sorry i didn't really mean to get into that.

    i had a helper until last year from ghanan who was alovely woman and the country looks incredible. do go if you have the chance. africa has an indescribable presence. the sky, the space. amazing.

    so what i actually came to say was, happy fathers day babe! :)
    as my word verification says.. 'may it be ugful!'

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  11. Hopefully your visitor from Ghana is gone now. Following the world cup, the U.S. is going to have to kick some Ghana ass to make it to the next round.

    I'll make you a deal. I'll pray for a cold week down south if you send some prayers for rain up this way. It's turning into a dust bowl right now.

    My brother lives in Alabama and I think goes through four or five shirts a day. If you got some spare time, I suggest finding a pool.

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  12. It's in the 90's here--usually my favorite weather--but it kind of hit quickly, and I'm in the midst of a minor breakdown over the end of my dental work--know how strange that sounds

    Your daughter keeps getting smarter

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  13. We've been away for so long I don't know of any place these days. Now if you were going coastal there are a lot of neat little places to relax.

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  14. your daughters question is valid. Sometimes it takes some one with out an untainted view to really put the correct perspective on something.

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  15. Have a safe trip....sorry but we aren't looking for any cold weather any time soon down here. I imagine Hot 'lanta will still be smoldering.

    Hope you had a nice Father's Day....smart girl. If only we could find peace in our lifetime.

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  16. I could write a blog post in response to your blog post.

    As you well know, Columbian food is NOT Mexican food. Sheesh. Even Mexican food is diverse...Sonoran, Guadalajaran, and various others. :-) Couldn't resist...but I'm a Mexican food snob. ;-)

    I completely agree with your daughter. We should never celebrate the death of another (unless, like my mother, they want you to have a party when they die - an extension of the wake, I suppose).

    We're getting the heat, too (and more fires). I will send out hope for both of us that it dissipates soon.

    Happy and safe travels, Sage.

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  17. Nice to catch up, Sage. You've made me intersted in Ghana. And you're daughter warmed my heart.

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