WORLDS ARE FORMING

Not what I thought this summer would hold.

My aunt Denise died unexpectedly on June 17th here in Spokane.  I hadn't seen her for several months, even though we lived three miles apart.  It was a privilege to serve her and my family during that crazy week.  I find it hard to believe that a month has passed since that week she died, a week which is both foggy and vivid in my mind.

This picture was taken last summer on a liberating trip Denise took by herself to my Dad and Mom's farm.  I now hold memories from her visit really close.

I was out reading at a coffee shop today when Frederick Buechner's words in The Sacred Journey struck me, words pertaining to his experience of his father's death.

"God speaks to us through our lives, we often too easily say.  Something speaks anyway, spells out some sort of godly or godforsaken meaning to us through the alphabet of your years, but often it takes many years and many further spellings out before we start to glimpse, or think we do, a little of what that meaning is.  Even then we glimpse it only dimly, like the first trace of dawn on the rim of night, and even then it is a meaning that we cannot fix and be sure of once and for all because it is always incarnate meaning and thus is alive and changing as we are ourselves alive and changing." (41)

I miss Denise a lot - her laugh, her voice, her loyalty, herself, and am grateful to God to have known her.  I appreciate Buechner naming the fact that meaning changes even as we change, that as we try to figure out this loss of Denise, we will be learning, we will be changed. 

So the task now is to continue to look for Denise's legacy in my life and in the life of our family.

Serious business.

Saturday night, I sit in my living room, hear some rumbling outside.  Curious, I go to my office window and see two men in full camoflauge fatigues climbing out from the pit below the window.

I open the window. 

"Gentlemen," I say, "What are you doing?" I say.

Instead of running, they earnestly exclaim,

"Well...there were these girls...they were NINJAS...we had to run from them!"

Onnnnnnly here.  Camouflaged men running from Ninja women.

Have you seen Jesus my Lord?

He's here in plain view...

Ha.  Seriously.  In my couch, thanks to the aid of my niece's jeans.  I think I'll start charging admission to my apartment.  AND.  No one will ever sit on that cushion again.  Ever.

I love my job.

Spent the last day with my RAs, having an in-town retreat. 

We did an Italian mobster murder mystery, and I was both host and the family priest, Father AlFredo.  Old Pepi Roni (seen in the picture) was murdered by one of the guests.

It was a brilliant time. 

Our menu included a dinner prepared by me: ensalata caprese, caesar salad, bread, rigatoni, and tiramisu. 

Hooray for old-timey photos!  Great time with amazing and hard-working people  I love my job.

My lament: I didn't realize I live in Antarctica.

MARCH 29th 2008. I was going to go on a hike today.  Instead, I was awakened at 6:30 this Saturday morning to the sound of the small Bobcat snow plow clearing the concrete outside of my apartment.  AWESSSSSSOME.  Four inches of snow, we have a "heavy snow warning," and Spring Break is about to come to an end. 

I live in Antarctica.

If you'll excuse me, I am going to go weep salty tears into my cup of coffee.

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff

So, I haven't been able to devour any books since Christmas break.  I've toyed with a few, but none have stuck...mostly because I didn't have time to commit to reading a sub-par book.

At the end of this oddly snowy Spring Break, I've picked up Beautiful Boy by David Sheff - a story, as its subtitle states - about "a father's journey through his son's meth addiction." Just today, I sat at The Service Station,  pouring through this book.  Sheff writes honestly and the content is quite accessible and engaging.   (Both Anne Lamott and Thomas Lynch are quoted throughout the book, and his writing style is very similar.)

As a person who has studied, loved, and worked with addicted persons, I find this to be a "real" book.  Sheff's son Nic wrote a companion book, Tweak, which I imagine I might read after I am finished with this one.  I imagine that I will finish this book by the end of the weekend.   

I realize I am gushing over a book I have yet to finish...but even after reading just a few chapters, I really think it is worth checking out.

Has anyone else read it?

The Guest Room.

My favorite room in my apartment. Aaaaand, I don't spend much time in there. 

The guest room.  I finally finished it mid-January, and really am pleased with how it turned out.  It is approximately the size of a miniature matchbox, but it is a good little miniature matchbox.  I used things that belonged to my Grandpa Nicholls or Papa Cleveland as inspiration - or things that reminded me of them.  I want to add a few more things here and there: pictures of them in the service, some curtains, a little this and that.  You'll also see my orange "Josh" Attic Journal from Michelle on the trunk.  That's the guest book. 

When in Spokane, come, stay, and sign it, ok?  (Don't you dare say its too small.  If there are two of you, you can and will use my humongous bed while I happily sleep in the guest room.  I am a good host, promise.)

Too Much Snow + Banana Bread with Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar.

Winter is getting old in Spokane, and there isn't an end in sight. See the picture above?  That's looking out of one of my windows.   It hasn't stopped snowing here in over 24 hours.  I needed a good snack, and found a recipe for this Banana Bread with Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar here.  (Some great looking recipes there, for sure!)  Here's to comfort food.

WILBUR HUCKLE: He Has His Freedom

He Has His Freedom is the newest album from my new favorite band: Wilbur Huckle. 

My favorite tracks: 1. Not So Crazy about the Crazy Cat Lady 4. Where's my Whiskas?  6. Don't Bother Me (I'm Kind of a Big Deal Around Here)  and 12. So Emo.

(Thanks to Adam, April, and Amy for helping to make me laugh.  My first time playing with Photoshop in awhile, too.  Good times.) 

The Wizard of Oz. Or, What Have I Done?

I joined Oz Fitness.  A gym. 

No, you are not reading the wrong blog...this IS Josh Cleveland's. 

A good friend has joined, and another might...so...let's see some magic happen.