Continued
Once I returned, two major events made my season brighter. First, I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings soundtrack and the new movie. And when Gandalf Olorin blessed King Elessar Telcontar, I finished his sentence, "As long as the thrones of the Valar endure."
The second glorious happening was a reunion of my church youth group. I managed to reconnect with many old friends, who were, I imagine, amazed to see me drinking. One of my old friends now teaches at a Jesuit school on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It was to this reservation that my youth group went to do service trips. He brought the senior video from his school and showed us graduating seniors who we knew from teaching Sunday School or whose siblings or older relatives we knew. Everyone is getting far too old. Amazingly, one of the students at this school has just been accepted to Harvard, where he intends to study mathematics, having done a great deal of reading on his own on chaos theory. There always has been light on the Niobrara, but I was really glad to see that some of it is going to Harvard.
My father has described the last few days as my second childhood. What he means is that as the oldest grandchild (and nearly ancient as Roald Dahl might say) on both sides of the family, I have had some opportunity to play hide and seek or kickball with several of my cousins. On Boxing Day, I was talking about everything from football to continental drift to my two oldest cousins (10 and 11). Later, I sent all of the cousins on the other side of the family into paroxysms of excitement and worry, when I hid under my brother's bed for about twenty minutes, until the strategic sleuthing of the oldest one (7, but very clever for her age and far more observant than I ever have been) directed the younger ones into the right place. My cousin Danny, all of four and a half, had the right idea much sooner, but he couldn't believe I could fit into such a small space. (It was cramped.) He commented after he found me, "You're a very good hider, Nicholas." Well, I've had many years to practice.
So no matter your faith tradition or cultural mileu, I hope you've had a wonderful holiday season and have a happy and hangover-free New Year's Day. And may the Scientologists and their yellow jackets keep far from you!
ESA(20031229.1)
Once I returned, two major events made my season brighter. First, I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings soundtrack and the new movie. And when Gandalf Olorin blessed King Elessar Telcontar, I finished his sentence, "As long as the thrones of the Valar endure."
The second glorious happening was a reunion of my church youth group. I managed to reconnect with many old friends, who were, I imagine, amazed to see me drinking. One of my old friends now teaches at a Jesuit school on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It was to this reservation that my youth group went to do service trips. He brought the senior video from his school and showed us graduating seniors who we knew from teaching Sunday School or whose siblings or older relatives we knew. Everyone is getting far too old. Amazingly, one of the students at this school has just been accepted to Harvard, where he intends to study mathematics, having done a great deal of reading on his own on chaos theory. There always has been light on the Niobrara, but I was really glad to see that some of it is going to Harvard.
My father has described the last few days as my second childhood. What he means is that as the oldest grandchild (and nearly ancient as Roald Dahl might say) on both sides of the family, I have had some opportunity to play hide and seek or kickball with several of my cousins. On Boxing Day, I was talking about everything from football to continental drift to my two oldest cousins (10 and 11). Later, I sent all of the cousins on the other side of the family into paroxysms of excitement and worry, when I hid under my brother's bed for about twenty minutes, until the strategic sleuthing of the oldest one (7, but very clever for her age and far more observant than I ever have been) directed the younger ones into the right place. My cousin Danny, all of four and a half, had the right idea much sooner, but he couldn't believe I could fit into such a small space. (It was cramped.) He commented after he found me, "You're a very good hider, Nicholas." Well, I've had many years to practice.
So no matter your faith tradition or cultural mileu, I hope you've had a wonderful holiday season and have a happy and hangover-free New Year's Day. And may the Scientologists and their yellow jackets keep far from you!
ESA(20031229.1)
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